Recent comments in Verulam have referred to the existing imbalance in engineers’ education as regards design. S.B. Tietz
This paper considers the reasons for requiring that reinforced concrete sections have ductility and recent research on the factors influencing ductility. This work has shown that the rotation capacity may be considerably lower than assumed from earlier research owing to rupture of the reinforcement prior to crushing of the concrete. An investigation carried out at the University of Leeds is described which examined the influence of the form of the post-yield stress-strain response of reinforcement on the rotation capacity of sections. It is shown that there are two modes of failure: a relatively brittle failure where only one crack forms in the hinge region and a more ductile failure where multiple cracks form. The consequences of the research for design are discussed. Professor A.W. Beeby
Within the past few days the Engineering Council has placed its new version of Standards & Routes to Registration (SARTOR) on general release. It appears against the background of Sir Ron Dearing’s report into higher education published a few weeks back. In discussion with Richard Eastwood, the Institution’s spokesman on SARTOR, some of the underlying issues in engineering education came to light, issues which still await proper examinution despite the weight of words devoted to them. This commentary was compiled for The Structural Engineer by John D. Allen.
Brian Clancy has returned from the Kerensky Conference in Hong Kong with an endorsement from the Chinese construction authorities of the high standards set by the Institution for the education and training of structural engineers. This has been just one of the highlights of a Presidential year that has seen the implementation by the Institution of its forward-looking CPD policy and the culmination of discussions with the Engineering Council on new standards and routes to registration. Brian Clancy spoke about this and other current issues in an interview with John D. Allen.
Dr Sam Thorburn, OBE, FEng, will succeed Brian Clancy, JP, as President of the Institution 1997-98 at an Ordinary Meeting at headquarters on Thursday 2 October. The installation takes place at 6pm, when the new President will deliver his address ‘The challenge of structural engineering: safety with economy and harmony’, the full text of which will be published in The Structural Engineer in October. Born in Glasgow in October 1930 within a community dependent on heavy industry, and, in particular, steelworks, Dr Thorburn developed a desire to be an engineer at the early age of 8 years when visiting relatives in Thames Ditton, Surrey, who owned a building firm. During holidays in Surrey he learnt the skills of sailing on the River Thames. Tennis also became a way of life during those early years, and both sailing and tennis remain as memories of a happy boyhood.
The facts about asbestos cement John Bridle has written from Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan, expressing concern that the facts about the safe use of asbestos cement are being distorted: Hysteria is being generated by vested interest groups over the use of asbestos cement products in buildings. There is a clear distinction between ‘asbestos cement’ and other asbestos-containing products, and everybody associated with the construction industry should make themselves aware of the situation.