Recent content by bda23

A good question, and I think you've spotted an inconcistency there. Yes, you are absolutely right, the stress often increases in the plastic range (e.g. for steel) until you reach an ultimate stress value. In reality, there are different types of material, steel, soil, etc, and they all have...

Thanks everyone, those books don't look too bad. I've heard of the book, but was unsure whether it was too theoretical/geared towards pure mathematicians. Would you say it also helps to develop some intuitive feeling/geometric view of tensors or is it rather leaning towards abstract algebra?

Thanks a lot, that was very helpful!

I have been dealing with tensors for quite a few years, working my way through a good number of different books on tensors. However, I keep getting frustrated at times at the low quality of many books. I have a good background in linear algebra and some real analysis, but I am not interested in...

Thanks a lot for the explanation! This reminds me of some linear algebra I did a while back: The rank of a linear transformation = dimension of transformation - dim(kernel), is that essentially what you're saying about ranks? As far as hourglassing goes, I can follow your explanations, makes...

Hello, I am having somewhat difficulty understanding the concepts of rank deficiency and hourglassing in finite element methods. Essentially, I have been reading a book outlining this very briefly on half a page and I need a bit more information. As an example: If we have a 2D elasticity...

While it may seem like we've got these magic boxes that spit out all the answers to our problems, this is not quite true. Numerical software has the tendency to create problems nearly all the time. Instabilities, wrong answers, etc etc etc. You have to know the theory, and you have to know it...

Yes, that's absolutely true. I should have mentioned that, really. For job applications, the higher the university, the better. Employers look at the tables and recruit accordingly. So, let me revise my advice: going to a university high up in the league tables is often preferable for getting a job.

To be honest, league tables are, in my experience, largely irrelevant (at least in the UK). Have a look at what criteria they use; in the past, it was things like entry requirements (AAA, AAB, etc), staff:student ratio, etc, which in reality have no bearing on teaching quality. I went to two...

Hi Daniel, a great decision! The two fields I would recommend to anyone, on which most of advanced mathematics (and also physics) is based, allows you to develop problem solving skills and conceptual understanding are Analysis and Linear Algebra. For analysis, try "A First Course in Real...

Thanks for the suggestions. I use amazon and abe both and agree, they are very good. I was just wondering if there were any other bookstores out there that I mysteriously had never heard of. But those bookstores you've mentioned are very good, too.

I was wondering whether anyone knows of any online bookstores where one can get hold of cheap textbooks (used or new). I'm currently mainly thinking of engineering mechanics, but general solid mechanics and numerical analysis would also be of interest to me. Thanks.

I haven't read it in full, I must admit, only started it a while back. But I'd say it is more geared towards functional analysis and Lebesgue. The reason why some readers say it is good for real analysis is probably because it has a chapter on metric spaces. The book overall is not bad, I'd say...

sorry, that was meant to say "hyperELASTICTY," not "hyperPLASTICITY"

What kinds of material behaviour are you looking for? A very good starting point covering balance principles, stress and strain tensors, hyperplasticity and some thermodynamics (but no plasticity) is Holzapfel's Nonlinear Solid Mechanics: A Continuum Approach for Engineering. Really one of the...