To determine the carrying capacity of a structure or a structural element susceptible to operate beyond the elastic limit is an important task in many situations of both mechanical and civil engineering. The so-called direct methods play an increasing role due to the fact that they allow rapid access to the request information in mathematically constructive manners. They embrace Limit Analysis, the most developed approach now widely used, and Shakedown Analysis, a powerful extension to the variable repeated loads potentially more economical than step-by-step inelastic analysis.
This book...