A New Approach?

The Structural Engineer - what should be in it? The nature of the contents of the Institution’s journal has been discussed frequently in Verulam - e.g. reference to the journal for 18 August 1992 will reveal quite extensive correspondence on whether the technical papers are ‘too academic and on the production of ‘practical’ papers. Darryl Blackwood, of Manchester, expresses a desire for an even wider range of articles and features than at present appears: The image of the profession has been a source of concern of late. One of the vehicles which promotes the image of the structural engineer is The Structural Engineer. Verulam

Popper has argued that the growth of scientific knowledge takes place as a result of the falsification of theories. Some of his ideas can be applied to engineering knowledge as well, but the falsification of the calculation procedure model (CPM) cannot actively sought. When engineering failures do occur, therefore, they provide invaluable opportunities for the growth of engineering knowledge, provided that we can isolate the component of the CPM that has been falsified. The two cases of failure discussed in this paper indicate that the design philosophy component of the CPM has been falsified. The two resulting suggestions for changing the CPM are (i) to control the progression of collapse in a structure so that greater warning given and (ii) to take into account the sensitivity to deviations from specifications when selecting structural alternatives. W.P.S. Dias

The development of limit state design, based on partial safety factors, began in earnest with the formation of the European Committee for Concrete (CEB) in 1953. As far as many engineers are concerned, the limit state revolution is now all but over: permissible stress design is still in use, but most new Codes worldwide are based on the partial factor approach and it forms the basis of all the new draft structural Eurocodes. A.N. Beal