Aerospace structural design, especially for large aircraft, is an empirical pursuit dominated by rules of thumb and often-painful service experiences. Expertise on traditional materials is not transferable to "new" materials, processes and structural concepts. This is because it is not based on or derived from well-defined measures of safety. This book addresses the need for safe innovation based on practical, explicit structural safety constraints for use in innovative structures of the future where guiding service experience is non-existent.

The book covers new ground by the...