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The Structural Engineer, Volume 70, Issue 9, 1992
I was extremely interested in the ‘viewpoint’ by D. Goodger published in The Structural Engineer, 3 March 1992, as this is a subject that has much occupied my thoughts over the last few years. B.J. Shaw
Dr D. Johnson (M) (Nottingham Polytechnic) The author has presented an interesting spreadsheet application in tackling the torsion problem by the stress function formulation, using the finite difference method. While agreeing that such an approach has the attraction of simplicity, it should perhaps be recognised that it also has some limitations. Box and other 'multiply-closed' sections, for instance, are cumbersome to analyse by a stress function formulation and are more conveniently analysed by the use of a warping function. It may also be argued that it is desirable to produce solutions by both warping and stress function based approaches so that upper and lower bounds on the torsional stiffness are obtained, so minimising the need for successively refined analyses. Unfortunately, the warping function approach is much less amenable to finite difference modelling, although either function may be readily used with the finite element method, which would appear to be more versatile in this respect.
The typical German Technische Universitat, formerly called ‘Technische Hochschule’, offers structural engineering as part of its civil engineering course which would also include traffic, hydraulic and environmental engineering. Western Germany has such universities at Aachen, Berlin, Bochum, Braunschweig, Darmstadt, Dortmund, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Munich, and Stuttgart. It is not yet finally decided which schools will become technical universities in the eastern part of Germany, except for Dresden. The formal curriculum, including classes and tutorials, usually covers 9 semesters or 4½ years. However, the average student takes between 5 and 6 years to complete his studies. His university studies will start at an age of 21 since, after finishing at high school, he has to complete 18 months’ military service (or alternative service for conscientious objectors) and some compulsory practical training. J. Schlaich, Professor Dr Ing.