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Book review by Kelly Londry (2007)
Over the years, it has been my own experience that most books about finite element analysis do not excel in their ability to teach without undo effort on the part of the reader. Perhaps the same can be said for engineering texts in general. In contrast to this regrettable norm, Dr. Yang's book is a pedagogically sound work that is perfectly suited for undergraduate engineering students, or for those interested in self study. Explanations are resoundingly clear and thorough, as are its many example problems.
From a purely techical point of view, the book really excels in its coverage of higher-order and special-purpose beam elements. These include nonuniform and curved elements, as well as special elements designed to address buckling and large deflection problems. The author skillfully uses several examples to quantify and compare these different elements with regard to accuracy and efficiency. This information is both interesting and useful. Finally, detailed mass-matrix formulations are provided that enable accurate solutions to free-vibration and other transient problems.
Other element types and formulations are also presented in some detail. These include membrane, plate, tetrahedral, hexahedral and axisymmetric solid, and finally several isoparametric variants. The book is then rounded out nicely with four computer programs:
1) Static analysis of plane truss and plane frame structures.
2) Free-vibration analysis of plane truss and plane frame structures.
3) Static analysis using six-degree-of-freedom triangular plane stress and plane strain finite elements.
4) Static analysis using sixteen-degree-of-freedom rectangular plate finite elements in bending.
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