Foreword

This book follows a long-standing tradition of mechanical engineering tuition, which is already a century old and comes from the Toulouse mechanical engineering scientific community, now merged into the Institut Clément Ader (www.institutclement-ader.org). Just as all of its illustrious predecessors, this book is very timely and illustrates the specificity and originality of the approaches that we have developed, which have both a high scientific standing and a quasi-permanent connection with the aeronautical industry. This publication provides the reader with the necessary knowledge and techniques to calculate structures and decompartmentalize disciplines and fields. The aeronautical engineer will find all of the helpful information he or she needs within these pages: the basis of continuum mechanics, the finite element method, and knowledge of materials, metals and composites, both within linear and non-linear fields. The information is presented in an extremely clear and educational manner. The reader may draw on an impressive series of exercises with detailed corrections, something which is not so commonly found.

Bruno CASTANIÉ
INSA Toulouse
Institut Clément Adler