Behavior and Design of Aluminum Structures

This sourcebook provides engineers and designers with technical information on the properties of aluminium materials and on design strategies for creating new aluminium structural elements. The book is comprehensive in scope, providing essential information for the designer who is creating new aluminium products - from the extraction, refining, and smelting of aluminium to design guidelines for structural components. Drawing on 30 years of field experience, the author describes the properties of various alloys and provides guidelines for selecting alloys and for cost effective use of mill product forms. The product design process is explained step-by-step and individual chapters are devoted to meeting the special design challenges of axially loaded members, bending members, flat plate elements, stiffened flat plates, cylinders and cylindrically curved panels, joint behaviour, and structural fatigue. Codes, standards, and specifications for aluminium structures are provided. An in order to help designers achieve optimum cost efficiency, the relative costs and performance data on aluminium and steel are discussed - along with recommendations for aluminium designs that minimize weight, simplify manufacturing, and extend the product life cycle.