7R57. Dynamic Analysis and Earthquake Resistant Design, Volume 2: Methods of Dynamic Analysis. - Japanese Soc of Civil Eng. Balkema Publ, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2000. 304 pp. ISBN 90-5410-292-6. $75.00.
Reviewed by CS Manohar (Dept of Civil Eng, Indian Inst of Sci, Bangalore, 560 012, India).
This book is the English translation of the second volume of a four-volume series published originally in Japanese in 1989. The stated intention of this series is to provide the basic knowledge necessary to understand earthquake engineering in general and to analyze the dynamic response of civil structures such as foundations, dams, industrial facilities, bridges, in-ground structures, and port and harbor structures. The contents of the series are purported to be based on well-tested engineering facts and hence the emphasis is on clear exposition of known procedures. A specific objective of the series is to help readers understand the philosophy of earthquake-resistant design adopted by Japanese civil engineers. The focus of the volume under review is on outlining the various methods for dynamic response calculations of buildings, ground, and the foundation. The book is authored by a group of 19 researchers from various Japanese universities and research laboratories. There are 357 references with about 150 of these being in Japanese language.
The volume has two parts of almost equal length: the first part addresses methods of dynamic analysis and the second part deals with dynamic analysis of the ground and the foundation.
The first part has four chapters. A discussion on transfer matrix method, FEM, BEM, finite difference method for earthquake response analysis of structures and the ground is given in Chapter 1. Normal mode expansions and direct integration methods are explained elegantly in Chapter 2. Issues on random response analysis and inelastic response spectra are also discussed, but rather too briefly. Chapter 3 mainly focuses on the equivalent linearization method to treat nonlinear problems. A brief foray into Eulerian and Lagrangian descriptions is also made. Questions on dynamic analysis of soil-structure interactions are discussed in Chapter 4. The use of FEM, BEM, and substructuring schemes is clearly brought out.
The second part of the book also has four chapters and it begins with a discussion on input ground motions. This covers special topics such as underground earthquake motion distribution and on spatial variability of ground motion. Linear and nonlinear analyses of response of multi-layered ground to base motions are discussed in the next Chapter. This chapter also discusses earthquake motion analysis of irregular grounds and man made structures such as dams. Problems of rupture of ground due to earthquakes, together with discussion on liquefaction and slope stability, are covered in the following chapter. The concluding chapter discusses interaction between ground and foundations and also issues related to design guidelines on dynamic interactions.
The book has excellent intentions and offers commendable coverage of wide-ranging issues in earthquake response analysis of structures and the ground. Of particular merit is the discussion on response of ground and analysis of ground failures. The readers who would benefit the most are those who seek first cut information on the basic issues in seismic response analysis and are willing to approach more specialized literature for further details. For instance, the book does not aim to illustrate the response analysis procedures although the procedures themselves are described in some detail. The book is by and large well produced and contains nuggets of information encapsulated in elegant tables and graphs. It would have been useful if the contents and details of other volumes in the series were provided in Volume II. This is particularly so since parts of Volume II need to be read in conjunction with material given in Volume I. Given that the Japanese version of this book appeared in 1989, the reviewer wishes that the English translation could have appeared a bit early. The translation work seems to have introduced a few non-standard terminologies: for instance, a non-Gaussian random process is termed “abnormal”. This reviewer would have personally preferred the use of SI units instead of units such as “gals” and “kine”. There are several minor spelling and grammatical mistakes; a few of the graphs do not bear units/legends. These could be easily corrected in a future edition of the book.
On the whole, this reviewer considers Dynamic Analysis and Earthquake Resistant Design, Volume 2: Methods of Dynamic Analysis to be an excellent contribution to the literature on earthquake engineering. The book qualifies to be a reference book that certainly would be a valuable addition to libraries of universities and research laboratories pursuing earthquake engineering research.
