Steel structures

Engineers working with steel will find here a treatment of structural design that relies on finite element analysis, reflecting German and wider European practice. The opening chapter reviews the fundamentals of design before the text turns to how finite elements reveal internal forces, deflections, critical loads and mode shapes. Linear analysis covers normal force, biaxial bending and warping torsion, while nonlinear analysis is treated in less depth.

The central chapters address three stability phenomena: flexural buckling, lateral torsional buckling and plate buckling. Design rules from Eurocode 3 for these cases are presented and critically discussed. Foundational topics, including how cross-section properties are determined and how elastic and plastic cross-section resistance is calculated, are also covered. The book closes with finite element methods applied to cross-sections, a technique the authors expect to grow in importance.

The text grew out of the author's teaching in the course Computer-oriented Design of Steel Structures, part of the Master's program in Computational Engineering at the University of Bochum. It aims to cover the range of considerations needed for safe, economical and modern steel design.