Mechanics of Composite Materials with MATLAB Review

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(More customer reviews)
We are writing this review of the book as our response as authors to the other review posted on this page. This book is intended to be an introductory text for students and beginners of Mechanics of Composite Materials. The presentation is simple and brief. Furthermore, it is accompanied by a CD-ROM that has numerous MATLAB functions that can be used to do the basic calculations in this subject. And we stress that we emphasize the basic calculations with no attempt to introduce advanced topics.
It is true that the calculations in this book could also be done using EXCEL. However, it is not straightforward and very difficult to perform some of these calculations in EXCEL. In fact, EXCEL is not designed to handle matrices and matrix operations like MATLAB. The choice of MATLAB for this book is based on the fact that MATLAB is a Matrix Laboratory - it was specifically designed to handle matrices and matrix operations. And we know that these types of calculations are exactly those encountered in Mechanics of Composite Materials. Thus MATLAB and not EXCEL is the right choice for this kind of book.
The subject of damage initiation is mentioned briefly in a short chapter at the end of the book. Indeed this is an advanced topic that is not normally covered in texts on Mechanics of Composite Materials. The most popular books on Mechanics of Composite Materials (like the books of Kaw, Jones, Gibson, etc) do not even mention this advanced topic. The only book that we are aware of that shows some discussion of damage initiation is the book by Herakovich - but this is the exception not the rule. We have included a short chapter on damage initiation solely to introduce the subject and guide the reader where to find additional detailed information. Furthermore, we as authors have written another book especially on the topic on damage initiation in composite materials. The book is entitled "Advances in Damage Mechanics: Metals and Metal Matrix Composites" by Voyiadjis and Kattan, Second Edition, published by Elsevier in 2006. The interested reader may refer to this advanced book for details on damage initiation in composite materials.
We have included another short chapter on homogenization at the end of the book. Again this is an advanced topic that is not normally covered in other books on Mechanics of Composite Materials. We have included this short and brief chapter to introduce the topic and guide the reader where to find further information. The interested reader will have to look into advanced specialized books on homogenization such as the book by Nemat-Nasser. He will not find this information in any competing books on Mechanics of Composite Materials.
We feel that we are fully justified in leaving out the detailed presentation of these advanced topics of this book. Again, the book is intended for students and beginners who do not seek these advanced topics in an introductory book like ours. Finally, we should note that we included the complete Solutions Manual to most of the problems in the book at the end of the book and also on the accompanying CD-ROM. The rest of the book is a printout of the Solutions Manual which some people may erroneously perceive as MATLAB output.

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This textbook makes use of the popular computer program MATLAB as the major computer tool to study mechanics of composite materials. It is written specifically for students in engineering and materials science, examining step-by-step solutions of composite material mechanics problems using MATLAB. Each of the 12 chapters is well structured and includes a summary of the basic equations, MATLAB functions used in the chapter, solved examples and problems for students to solve. The main emphasis of Mechanics of Composite Materials with MATLAB is on learning the composite material mechanics computations and on understanding the underlying concepts. The solutions to most of the given problems appear in an appendix at the end of the book. The accompanying CD-ROM includes a set of MATLAB functions that are written by the authors specifically to be used with the book and a detailed solutions manual.

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Introduction to Approximate Solution Techniques, Numerical Modeling, & Finite Element Methods (Civil and Environmental Engineering) Review

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(More customer reviews)I used this book as textbook for an introductory course in Finite Element Method (FEM). Most of the book deals with linear FEM (Ch.6 to Ch.13). It is a well structured book written for (seniors and first year graduate) students in Civil and Mechanical Engineers. Therefore, the math style is the one typically seen in Engineering Mathematics texts. The FEM is described mostly using matrix notation (rather than index notation specific to Continuum Mechanics texts).
The book has two introductory chapters: Ch. 1 presents some of the differential equations commonly encountered in engineering; Ch. 2 describes errors appearing in obtaining numerical solutions.
Besides FEM, the book presents additional methods for solving differential equations. Namely, it presents Finite Difference Method in Ch. 3, the family of Method of Weighted Residuals (i.e. Collocation Method, Least-Squares, Bubnov-Galerkin etc.) in Ch. 4 and Variational Methods (i.e. Ritz method) in Ch. 5.
Chapters 6 to 10 explains fundamentals aspects of FEM such as: deriving FE equations from the differential equations via Galerkin and variational approaches, interpolation functions and element mappings.
Chapter 11 is dedicated to scalar field problems (e.g., heat transfer) and Chapter 12 to elasto-static problems.
The book is well documented, citing an impressive number of publications (612 references) which cover more advanced FEM topics. It contains useful information in the appendices about solvers, integration formulae, finite difference formulae etc., appendices which sometimes I use as a reference.
Although the book does not address FEM for time-dependent problems (e.g., transient heat transfer, elastodynamics) (maybe in a future edition), I consider this is good book to start learning finite element method.
Unfortunately, the book is a bit pricey.


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Functions as a self-study guide for engineers and as a textbook for nonengineering students and engineering students, emphasizing generic forms of differential equations, applying approximate solution techniques to examples, and progressing to specific physical problems in modular, self-contained chapters that integrate into the text or can stand alone!This reference/text focuses on classical approximate solution techniques such as the finite difference method, the method of weighted residuals, and variation methods, culminating in an introduction to the finite element method (FEM). Discusses the general notion of approximate solutions and associated errors! With 1500 equations and more than 750 references, drawings, and tables, Introduction to Approximate Solution Techniques, Numerical Modeling, and Finite Element Methods:
Describes the approximate solution of ordinary and partial differential equations using the finite difference method
Covers the method of weighted residuals, including specific weighting and trial functions
Considers variational methods
Highlights all aspects associated with the formulation of finite element equations
Outlines meshing of the solution domain, nodal specifications, solution of global equations, solution refinement, and assessment of resultsContaining appendices that present concise overviews of topics and serve as rudimentary tutorials for professionals and students without a background in computational mechanics, Introduction to Approximate Solution Techniques, Numerical Modeling, and Finite Element Methods is a blue-chip reference for civil, mechanical, structural, aerospace, and industrial engineers, and a practical text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students studying approximate solution techniques and the FEM.

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