Joining of Materials and Structures: from Pragmatic Process to Enabling Technology

Robert W. Messler20040-7506-7757-0pp. 816 £69.99

There is a 10 per cent discount available for Assembly Automationreaders at www.books.elsevier.com.

Keywords:Joining processes, Joining materials

Joining of Materials and Structures approaches the subject of joining from the materials perspective, but without ignoring the essential issues of joint design, structural performance, practical production, economics and service reliability.

Part 1 addresses the generic processes and process options, as well as various embodiments of joining, while Part 2 addresses the challenges posed by specific materials types, combinations and forms.

In Part 1, Chapter 1 introduces the fundamental approaches to joining, and the impact of loading and stress state on joint design. Chapters 2 and 3 describe mechanical joining, including the use of supplemental fasteners and integral design features. Chapters 4 and 5 describe the nature of adhesive bonding, including design criteria and processing for adhesives, cements and mortars. Chapter 6 describes welding as a joining process and discusses the various classifications for welding processes. Chapters 7 and 8 focus on brazing and soldering. Chapter 9 provides an overview of the metallurgy for welding,brazing and soldering. Chapter 10 describes variant and hybrid joining processes, such as thermal spraying.

In Part 2, Chapter 11 considers the joining of metallic materials, Chapter 12 the joining of ceramic materials (including cement and concrete) and glasses,and Chapter 13 the joining of polymers. Chapter 14 considers the joining of composites (polymer, metal and ceramic matrices) as well as the joining of wood. Chapter 15 considers the joining of dissimilar materials, ceramics to metals for example. Part 2 ends with Chapter 16 which addresses the joining of actual structures and finally the joining of living tissue.

Joining of Materials and Structures is intended for all engineers from all backgrounds. It is intended to be a comprehensive primer (as opposed to a comprehensive handbook) for engineering students and a practitioner's desk-top source book.

The book is largely successful in its aims; and while some sections are unnecessarily long it does contain gems of insightful information.

John Fernie