976 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTUR

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BOOK REVIEWS

FUNDAMENTALS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE CONCRETE

By E. G. Nawy

John Wiley & Sons, New York; 2001; 441 pages.

Fundamentals of High Performance Concrete by ProfessorNawy contains a wealth of information that will be of use tostudents, designers, specification writers, constructors, and ma-terials engineers engaged in design, construction, and main-tenance of concrete structures. The book covers a wide rangeof material including fundamental properties of cement andconcrete, mix design, ACI Code design expressions, theory offracture mechanics, and economics of high-performance con-crete. The well-publicized deterioration of the civil infrastruc-ture in many parts of the world is bringing attention to thefact that engineers need to consider not only the 28-day com-pressive strength of concrete in their designs but also service-ability considerations and durability performance that affectthe service life of structures. The book emphasizes the impor-tance of durability as well as strength and serviceability.

Chapter 1 covers performance characteristics of varioustypes of cement and aggregates. Chapter 2 emphasizes the im-portance of concrete permeability on the overall durability ofconcrete structures and includes a discussion of freeze-thawaction, cold-weather concreting, and hot-weather concreting.The role of mineral and chemical admixtures in the productionof high-strength concrete is covered in Chapter 3, includingan extensive discussion of pozzolans, such as fly ash, granu-lated blast furnace slag, silica fume, and metakaolin. Chemicaladmixtures such as polymers, high-range water reducingagents, and corrosion-inhibiting admixtures are also coveredin detail.

Chapter 4 covers mix design procedures for normal- andhigh-strength concrete. Detailed examples are included to il-lustrate the procedures. Special issues related to lightweightaggregate concrete are presented in Chapter 5, while Chapter6 covers ACI methods for predicting creep and shrinkage ef-

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J. Struct. Eng. 200

fects, modulus of elasticity, and modulus of rupture. Chapter6 also presents a detailed treatment of cracking and crackwidth including ACI and Euro Code expressions for crack con-trol.

Chapter 7 outlines the performance characteristics of high-performance concrete including mechanical properties, dura-bility, volumetric stability, ductility and energy absorption,constructability, bond to parent concrete, abrasion resistance,and fire resistance. Chapter 8 contains a mechanics-basedtreatment of concrete failure theories and an introduction tofracture mechanics theory applied to concrete. Chapter 9 dis-cusses fiber-reinforced concrete and the use of fiber-reinforcedplastic composites in concrete.

Chapter 10 contains a discussion of the economics of high-performance and high-strength concrete, while Chapter 11 pro-vides an overview of ACI Code requirements for proportioningstructural members, including some implications for high-strength concrete.

Chapter 12 contains a summary of issues related to long-term durability performance, and Chapter 13 looks forward topotential developments in the use of high-performance con-crete in the future.

Each chapter contains ample illustrations and tabulated dataand ends with a set of problems and a list of references thatwill be useful to readers who wish to study in more depth anyof the topics covered. This book bridges the gap between thestructural engineer and the concrete materials engineer andwill be useful to both. It is an appropriate textbook for seniorundergraduate and graduate courses and will also be a usefulreference for practicing engineers.

Andrew Scanlon, P.E.Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringPenn State UniversityUniversity Park, PA 16802

RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT USING STOCHASTIC FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

By A. Haldar and S. Mahadevan

John Wiley & Sons, New York; 2000; 328 pages.

Structural reliability assessment using probability conceptsis becoming an important part of today’s structural analysisand design. By using probability methods, one can incorporatethe uncertainties inherent in material behavior, load intensityand distribution, and failure patterns in the structural analysisand design process. Structural design based on probabilitymethods will allow the engineer to establish load and resis-tance parameters that are consistent with the importance of thestructure and its usage. The subject of structural reliability, ascommonly used today, refers to the treatment of uncertaintiesin analysis to arrive at a probability measure that describes thestructure’s chance of surviving the applied loads. This methodcan be used along with any structural analysis technique.When used along with a finite-element analysis, the method isreferred to as the stochastic finite-element method. The bookby Haldar and Mahadevan focuses on this method.

This book is a companion to another book written by theauthors on the subject of probability, reliability, and statisticalmethods in engineering design (Book Review, ASCE Journalof Structural Engineering, Jan. 2001). The book exclusivelycovers reliability analysis using the stochastic finite-elementmethod of analysis. The authors have skillfully treated a verycomplicated subject in a coherent and simple, yet comprehen-sive, manner. This is one of the few books that offers exclusivecoverage of the stochastic finite-element method applied tostructural reliability problems. The book contains nine chap-ters, four appendices (of which Appendix 4 presents conver-sion factors), and some 266 references. Each chapter presentsnumerous solved examples that help the reader understand theapplication of the theory. Furthermore, Chapters 2 through 4also contain exercise problems at the end of each chapter.

Chapter 1 provides an overview of the concept of reliability,reliability theory, uncertainty, and the role of the finite-elementmethod in reliability analysis. The descriptions provided for

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failure probability and reliability are simple and practical. Fac-tors affecting the reliability of a system are discussed. This isfollowed by an overall description of sources of uncertaintiesthat affect reliability. In a block diagram form, steps involvedin reliability assessment and risk-based design and decisionmaking are also presented.

Chapter 2 is intended to provide the reader with basic back-ground on probability distribution models. The chapter is com-prehensive and covers nearly all probability functions that areused in engineering problems. Although this chapter, to a greatextent, is self-contained, the reader may wish to refer to thecompanion book by the authors for more information on ran-dom variables, basic probability theory, and statistics. Exampleproblems presented in this chapter represent realistic engi-neering situations and are helpful in directing the reader tocomprehend the application of various probability densitiesand mass functions. The reader will find this chapter especiallyhelpful when deciding on the type of distribution model suit-able for a specific resistance or load quantity.

Chapter 3 begins with a simple formulation for reliabilityanalysis. The subject is then extensively explained to cover allcurrent methods of reliability assessment. Simple first-orderreliability methods and more advanced second-order reliabilitymethods are presented. Through several example problems,these subjects are further clarified and illustrated. The processby which the limit state is described in a reliability formulationis presented and further clarified graphically through numerousillustrations. The chapter further discusses the treatment of cor-related variables in reliability assessment. This is followed byan introduction to the reliability evaluation for a system as anassemblage of many structural components. In Chapter 4, thereader is provided with a comprehensive treatment of relia-bility assessment using simulations. The process of randomnumber generation, which is an essential part of a simulationanalysis, is presented. Furthermore, the processes by whichprobability can be estimated and the accuracy of the simulationmodels can be measured are described.

Chapters 5 through 8 are devoted exclusively to the treat-ment of the underlying concept: formulation and illustrationof the stochastic finite-element method. Chapter 9 further ex-tends the subject to cover dynamic load application. ThroughChapters 5 to 8, the stochastic finite-element approach is in-troduced for simple cases and then extended to cover linearand nonlinear structures. Chapter 5 presents the underlyingconcept of the stochastic finite-element method. This includesthe description of various approaches such as the simulation,response surface, sensitivity based, finite difference, classicalperturbation, and iterative approaches. The formulation of the

J. Struct. Eng. 200

finite-element method is briefly explained in the context ofreliability analysis.

Chapter 6 focuses on linear systems. The authors start outby introducing the stochastic finite-element method through asimple example. This is followed by a general formulation forthe finite-element method and stochastic finite-elementmethod. In most sections, the chapter is self-contained, and assuch, the reader need not refer to a classical textbook on thefinite-element method. Several example problems are pre-sented and are intended as a means to help the reader betterunderstand the application of the method. Chapter 7 is uniqueand covers the subject of the stochastic finite-element methodin spatial variability problems. Examples of this class of prob-lems include structures for which design variables need to bedefined by random fields in nondiscrete forms and in the formof random processes. The presentation of random fieldsthrough power spectral density and auto-correlation functionsis described and illustrated. The selection and treatment ofrandom fields in practical engineering problems are briefly dis-cussed in this chapter. Chapter 8 covers the subject of thestochastic finite-element method in nonlinear two- and three-dimensional problems. The reader is provided with a conciseexplanation of various sources of nonlinearly and nonlinearformulation in structural engineering. Several complete ex-ample problems are provided to demonstrate the analysisscheme in 2D and 3D systems made up of trusses and frames.Chapter 9 further extends the topic to the dynamic load anal-ysis. Both linear and nonlinear analyses using the stiffnessmethod are described. A step-by-step procedure for reliabilityformulation is presented and demonstrated.

The book focuses on an important and difficult subject inreliability analysis. The authors have been successful in bring-ing this subject to a textbook level with an ample number ofillustrative examples. This book offers an excellent textbookfor senior level undergraduate and graduate students in an ad-vanced structural reliability course. This book is also a valu-able reference to graduate students who are starting their re-search in the structural reliability field. To the practicingstructural engineer, who wishes to apply modern reliabilityanalysis concepts in multicomponent systems, the book offersan excellent reference with a variety of example problems todemonstrate how such concepts can be used in practical ap-plications.

Jamshid Mohammadi, P.E.Department of Civil and Architectural EngineeringIllinois Institute of TechnologyChicago, IL 60616-3793

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