ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a guide to the more complex methods of structural analysis that the programmable computer has made feasible. Even though many building structures are made from one-dimensional elements, in many cases two-dimensional elements, in the forms of slabs, deep beams and walls are used. In general, designers of building structures were able, by making various approximations and simplifications, to avoid the difficulties of continuum mechanics, aircraft designers needed to be able to design structures of complex shapes. Starting in the 1920s, aircraft structural analysts tried a whole range of techniques to try and obtain useful results from continuum mechanics. These frequently used various forms of numerical approximations, with lengthy calculations being carried out using various types of mechanical calculators. In the stiffness method, as the forces are recovered via the displacements, any numerical errors will be exaggerated when the calculated displacements are used to calculate the forces.
