Statics for Building Construction

Rating:
Summary: A horrible text
Review: The first 5 chapters covering forces, vectors, work, energy, moments, and beam reactions do a poor job of introducing these subjects. In addition to simple math errors and sample problem definitions that do not match the accompanying figures there are simple misstatements of fact. The one I remember best is "a moment is actually a type of rotational work". A moment has the same units as work, but it is not work. A moment can perform work on a system by rotating that system, but a moment by itself is not work. To perfom work, a force has to move through a distance. In addition, I can only describe the authors treatment of beams with more than 2 reactions as goofy. Beams with more than 2 reactions are statically indeterminate and require consideration of the beam's deflection in order to calculate reactions. This is beyond the scope of the text. The author attempts a simplified treatment that will at best confuse a student.

The final 5 chapters are better, but still flawed. The author presents a formula for beam deflection without qualification. He should explain that it is strictly applicable only to uniformly loaded, simply supported beams. The author also needs a better explanation of moment of inertia to help the student understand why distance from the neutral axis is so important and that it is just a function of geometry. Finally, the author needs to include discussion of stresses in this text. Deflection is not everything in beam design. We must also consider material stresses. A chosen beam may satisfy deflection criteria, but still fail because stresses exceed allowable limits.