ABSTRACT

In the past 30 years structural analysis has changed dramatically with the advent, and then the enormous expansion, of the power of computers. The development of programs for specific applications led to the development of large packages, which took even larger computers to store. Whereas these large packages do undoubtedly have their place, in general the majority of industrial uses require a smaller and more efficient package, or even individual programs. The development of computers has now made available microcomputers, which have the capacity to run individual structural analysis programs and in the near future will be able to store and run larger packages. The language of the micros is usually BASIC and so the five programs presented here are written in simple BASIC and are suitable for running on IBM PC or PS/2 computers. It should be noted that with minor alterations the programs could be run on many different micro systems, such as the APPLE, Commodore etc. Appendix B details the modifications.