CPD - the Case for a New Approach

Suddenly applied loads Readers will recall a letter from Mr N. W. Sutton (September 1985) in which he sought help in resolving a difficulty he had found in calculating the stress in a tie bar due to a suddenly applied load. His letter brought a very substantial response from members, which was referred to in the column in December. Since then we have had more letters on the subject, from Mr F. Myerscough of Preston, Mr N. Jackson of Dundee, writing from Riyadh, and Prof. S. R. Reid of UMIST. Each of the writers points out the error in Mr Sutton’s reasoning, and Prof. Reid adds further comments of more general interest. Verulam

Conspectus The fifth report of the Standing Committee, issued in June 1982*, referred to the decision made by the Presidents of the Institutions of Civil, Municipal and Structural Engineers to reconstitute the committee under a new Chairman, following the retirement of Lord Penney, who had been the committee’s Chairman for 6 years. Sir Derman Christopherson was subsequently appointed Chairman, and the new committee started its work in November 1983.

The term ‘model’ was formerly used mainly to denote physical scale representations of objects. Our usage of this term in engineering is widening. For example, we talk more of ‘analytical modelling’ rather than of ‘structural analysis’ because we do have a much wider choice of models than in the pre-computer era. To some extent it is the development in the use of computers that has caused us to think more deeply in terms of models. In order to program a design process, a model of the process is needed. Professor I.A. MacLeod