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A course in ocean engineering
Structural safety ELSEVIER
Structural Safety 13 (1994) 285-286
B o o k review
A Course in Ocean Engineering, by S. Gran, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1992, 604 pp., ISBN 0-444-88143-3
With its 604 pages this book is an admirably thorough and comprehensive treatise of probabilistic methods with applications involving ocean waves, wave loading; and to some extent, motions and structural response of offshore structures and ships. Chapter 1 is concerned with a preliminary survey of the contents and a presentation of 24 problems with solutions. This part provides a useful illustration of the theoretical developments and the variety of practical problems they apply to. The second chapter is entitled " R a n d o m Motion", but is primarily a rigorous mathematical introduction to Gaussian waves, spectra, correlation functions, and probability distributions, especially the beta, gamma and joint gamma distributions. Chapter 3 deals with waves and wave forces, and focuses to a large extent on mechanics aspects. The last chapter is concerned with excursions of Gaussian processes, extreme value theory, storm statistics and long-term distributions. The applications primarily refer to the probabilistic modelling of wave conditions. The book contains a useful 27 page subject/authors index. The main content of the book separates approximately into 250 pages devoted to probabilistic methods, 180 pages about mechanics, especially hydrodynamics, and 35 pages about safety and reliability. With titles of the main chapters such as: R a n d o m Motion, Waves and Forces, Extremes and Safety, the content of the book is apparently organized according to mechanics. However, the probabilistic methods dominate the content. The title of the book may be misleading to some. While it seems adequate to people with a science background, the engineering community may have preferred a title that reflects the content better, with key words such as: probabilistic methods; waves and wave forces. Since much of the work seems to have been primarily done in the period 1982-86, some e x a m p l e s / d a t a do not have the topicality they could have had in view of the recent developments of the offshore industry. In Chapter 4.8 the author presents some interesting thoughts on safety and describes some interesting examples of classical structural reliability analysis. But actuarial and calculated (notional) failure probabilities are discussed without clearly distinguishing between the fact that former values will involve failures associated with fundamental randomness, lack of knowledge as well as human errors, while his classical reliability analysis does not reflect the gross errors. The broad scope set and the limited space alloted to the topic of Chapter 4.8 makes this part of Elsevier Science B.V. SSDI 0167-4730(94)00002-8
286
B~ok re~,iew
Struc'tura/ );~di'O' 13 11094) 2,S'.5 2,'~'¢~
the book unfinished, especially since the significant recent developments in this area are not considered. This work is the result of the author's lectures to university students in applied mathematics and mechanics, as well as of his extensive consultancy work. It contains valuable prcviously unpublished results pertaining for instance to the exponential gamma distribution with applic~tion to extreme value predictions as well as the joint gamma distribution. The most significant application of the theory is to the short/long-term random wave conditions and processes. The analytical approach used limits the complexity of the hydrodynamics and especially the structural problems that can be dealt with. On the other hand, the thoroughness o( the analytical treatment and the many results presented concisely in closed-form based on quite realistic mathematical models of the physical reality make the book very useful. By drawing upon information from various science and engineering disciplines, the author stimulates cross-fertilization over related disciplines. The book is self-contained, but very few references are used; sometimes only it short "bibliography" is given. The reviewer feels that this advanced engineering text would have had an improved value to the reader if relevant, more fundamental texts had been referred to, as this would facilitate accessing background material. Also, more references should have been used in sections which contain new material as well as in Chapters 2.3, 2.8, 3.7, 4.2, 4.3, to mention other approaches for the problems treated, or indicate other, related topics. The book can, in general, be efficiently studied by graduate students, engineers and scientists with basic knowledge of probabilistic methods, including Gaussian processes (random vibration theory) and with some training in using analytical methods, e.g. in dealing with potential problems in marine hydrodynamics. In conclusion, the wealth of information provided in a thorough mathematical tYamework and the variety of applications of the theory within ocean engineering make this book a useful reference, especially for university studies, and research. Also, consulting engineers will find the many compacted closed-form solutions presented in the text, useful in readily making probabilistic estimates regarding wave conditions, hydrodynamic loads and responses. Torgeir Moan Norwegian Institute of Technology
Structural Safety 13 (1994) 285-286
B o o k review
A Course in Ocean Engineering, by S. Gran, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1992, 604 pp., ISBN 0-444-88143-3
With its 604 pages this book is an admirably thorough and comprehensive treatise of probabilistic methods with applications involving ocean waves, wave loading; and to some extent, motions and structural response of offshore structures and ships. Chapter 1 is concerned with a preliminary survey of the contents and a presentation of 24 problems with solutions. This part provides a useful illustration of the theoretical developments and the variety of practical problems they apply to. The second chapter is entitled " R a n d o m Motion", but is primarily a rigorous mathematical introduction to Gaussian waves, spectra, correlation functions, and probability distributions, especially the beta, gamma and joint gamma distributions. Chapter 3 deals with waves and wave forces, and focuses to a large extent on mechanics aspects. The last chapter is concerned with excursions of Gaussian processes, extreme value theory, storm statistics and long-term distributions. The applications primarily refer to the probabilistic modelling of wave conditions. The book contains a useful 27 page subject/authors index. The main content of the book separates approximately into 250 pages devoted to probabilistic methods, 180 pages about mechanics, especially hydrodynamics, and 35 pages about safety and reliability. With titles of the main chapters such as: R a n d o m Motion, Waves and Forces, Extremes and Safety, the content of the book is apparently organized according to mechanics. However, the probabilistic methods dominate the content. The title of the book may be misleading to some. While it seems adequate to people with a science background, the engineering community may have preferred a title that reflects the content better, with key words such as: probabilistic methods; waves and wave forces. Since much of the work seems to have been primarily done in the period 1982-86, some e x a m p l e s / d a t a do not have the topicality they could have had in view of the recent developments of the offshore industry. In Chapter 4.8 the author presents some interesting thoughts on safety and describes some interesting examples of classical structural reliability analysis. But actuarial and calculated (notional) failure probabilities are discussed without clearly distinguishing between the fact that former values will involve failures associated with fundamental randomness, lack of knowledge as well as human errors, while his classical reliability analysis does not reflect the gross errors. The broad scope set and the limited space alloted to the topic of Chapter 4.8 makes this part of Elsevier Science B.V. SSDI 0167-4730(94)00002-8
286
B~ok re~,iew
Struc'tura/ );~di'O' 13 11094) 2,S'.5 2,'~'¢~
the book unfinished, especially since the significant recent developments in this area are not considered. This work is the result of the author's lectures to university students in applied mathematics and mechanics, as well as of his extensive consultancy work. It contains valuable prcviously unpublished results pertaining for instance to the exponential gamma distribution with applic~tion to extreme value predictions as well as the joint gamma distribution. The most significant application of the theory is to the short/long-term random wave conditions and processes. The analytical approach used limits the complexity of the hydrodynamics and especially the structural problems that can be dealt with. On the other hand, the thoroughness o( the analytical treatment and the many results presented concisely in closed-form based on quite realistic mathematical models of the physical reality make the book very useful. By drawing upon information from various science and engineering disciplines, the author stimulates cross-fertilization over related disciplines. The book is self-contained, but very few references are used; sometimes only it short "bibliography" is given. The reviewer feels that this advanced engineering text would have had an improved value to the reader if relevant, more fundamental texts had been referred to, as this would facilitate accessing background material. Also, more references should have been used in sections which contain new material as well as in Chapters 2.3, 2.8, 3.7, 4.2, 4.3, to mention other approaches for the problems treated, or indicate other, related topics. The book can, in general, be efficiently studied by graduate students, engineers and scientists with basic knowledge of probabilistic methods, including Gaussian processes (random vibration theory) and with some training in using analytical methods, e.g. in dealing with potential problems in marine hydrodynamics. In conclusion, the wealth of information provided in a thorough mathematical tYamework and the variety of applications of the theory within ocean engineering make this book a useful reference, especially for university studies, and research. Also, consulting engineers will find the many compacted closed-form solutions presented in the text, useful in readily making probabilistic estimates regarding wave conditions, hydrodynamic loads and responses. Torgeir Moan Norwegian Institute of Technology