Book reviews

New Fibres and their Composites Published by The Royal Society, 6 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG Price (including postage and packaging) £22.75 (UK) and £23.90 (Overseas), 189 pp.

This book contains the papers presented and the resulting discussion at the Royal Society Discussion Meeting held on 18 and 19 May 1978 and is an up-to-date review of the status of composite materials. This is the third meeting on the topic of Composite Materials organized by the Royal Society following those held in June 1963 (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Series A Vol. 282, pp. 1-154) and January 1970 (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Series A Vol. 319, pp. 1-143). The papers and discussion included in the book first appeared in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series A, Vol. 294, 1980 (No. 1411), pp. 407-597.

The development of new fibres and a detailed study of the behaviour of fibre reinforced composites under load and in various environments is of continuing wide interest because of their impact on new technologies and new industries. There has been extensive research and development during the last two decades in developing strong, stiff fibres of low density and in making them from materials which are cheap, abun- dant and possessing high modulus and high strength. The development of new composite materials using these fibres has also been the subject of world wide research, and it is gratifying to note that there is a steady although slow and increasing recognition of their potential and use in modern technology.

There are altogether twenty one papers included in this volume. The first nine papers deal with the manu- facture and properties of six new fibres, organic and inorganic, which are suitable as reinforcement of matrices. The papers discuss alumina fibres, silicon carbide and other ceramic fibres, glass fibres for cement matrices, carbon fibres, aromatic polyamide fibres and ultra-high modulus polyolefins.

The following seven contributions discuss the engineering properties of fibre reinforced composites. The choice of resin matrices for specific component applications, fibre-resin interface, the fatigue and structural properties of fibre reinforced plastics and their influence on design, the cracking strength of hybrid composites and composites with high work of fracture are considered in these papers. Apart from emphasising the advantages and limitations of these composites, these papers identify areas where further knowledge and work are required to fill the gaps in our understanding of these composites.

The final group of five papers focuses attention on recent advances in the utilization of these new com- posite materials and discusses specific applications of fibre composites in modern technology. The develop- ment of a carbon fibre composite aircraft wing, the use of carbon reinforced with carbon fibres for the landing

brakes for Concorde aircraft and the use of fibrillated polypropylene film networks in cement matrices for low cost sheeting are some of the specific applications reported in these papers.

Although the papers related to cement matrices are few, there is a wealth of up-to-date information contained in these papers on the engineering pro- perties of fibres and fibre composites and their in- fluence on design and performance of structural components that is of direct interest to the researcher, designer and engineer. The book is well produced and will form an invaluable companion to all those in- terested in the furtherance of fibre reinforced com- posite materials.

R. N. Swamy

Concrete-80 Published by Oyez International Business Communica- tions Ltd., Norwich House, 11-13 Norwich Street, London EC4A lAB.

Concrete-80 Conference and Exhibition held on January 15 and 16 at the Wembley Conference Centre was organised by Oyez International Business Com- munications Ltd., in association with Construction Industry International. This publication is the book- form of the papers presented at the Conference dealing with recent and significant developments in concrete design and technology, and the latest field experience involving these developments.

The Conference was held over two days and dis- cussed current developments in high strength concrete, fibre concrete, use of sprayed concrete and resins in construction, hot weather concrete, offshore protec- tion, and the use of concrete for LNG containers.

The use of high strength concrete of lOON/ram 2 compressive strength and the means of producing such concrete are discussed in the paper by Harris. The evolution of GRC technology, production tech- niques and applications were reported by Ferry whilst the paper by Downey discussed the use of glass fibres in concrete pipes and their performance and com- mercial prospects.

Three papers dealt with current developments in concrete construction. The use of sprayed concrete in new construction, repair, rehabilitation and streng- thening was highlighted by Long. The development of superplasticizers and how particular problems of the job site can be overcome by the use of flowing con- crete were discussed by Fiala. The engineering scope of resins and their use in concrete construction and repair were reported by two authors Davies and Tabor. The problem of producing good durable concrete in hot, humid conditions often under adverse environ- mental conditions is a challenge to the concrete technologist, and the paper by Gaynor focussed attention on years of experience in tackling these problems.

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Two papers dealt with concrete in offshore in- stallations and in LNG containment vessels. Research and testing programmes carried out for offshore pipe- line protection were reported by Keirnan. Bamforth and Browne presented engineering data for the design of concrete containment vessels for liquified natural gas operating at temperatures down to -165°C.

The advantages of package deal approach with respect to marketing and management of production plants and the manufacture of precast concrete com- ponents in developing countries were exploredin the paper by Turner. The role of cement and concrete in energy conservation both in existing buildings and in new buildings in the paper by Sawtell was in a way a fitting conclusion to the conference on recent develop- ments in the handling and use of concrete all over the world.

The papers are not intended to be exhaustive but nevertheless give useful information in a practical context.

R. N. Swamy

New Concrete Technologies and Building Design Edited by A. M. Neville and M. Chatterton Published by The Construction Press Ltd., Lunesdale House, Hornby, Lancaster LA2 8NB, Price £15.00, 134 pp.

Both concrete technology and concrete construction have seen many innovations and new developments in the last two decades but their practical application in the construction industry is always a slow and sometimes painful process. There is therefore the need not only to take stock of these advancements in rela- tion to economy, design and construction, but also to present them in a practical context to those actively involved in the various sectors of building construction some of whom at least may not be fully aware of the implications of these developments. It is in this respect that this book fulfills a need in filling a gap by pre- senting a resum~ of achievements in the construction field in a way that is readily appreciated and understood by architects, designers and contractors. The book is a collection of the papers presented at a conference of the same title held in November 1978 and organised by the Construction Industry Conference Centre Ltd. in conjunction with the Concrete Society, the Institute of Building and the Faculty of Building.

The book altogether contains eleven papers and a summary of the discussions. Two papers deal speci- fically with design - 'architectural design in concrete' by Humphrey Wood and 'thoughts on design in concrete' by Edmund Happold. A third related paper on 'facing materials and techniques' by George Perkin takes a fresh and objective view of the architectural use of concrete in our everyday environment.

One paper by Steger is devoted to developments of foundation techniques for high rise structures. This is a welcome subject often ignored in construction conferences and stresses the importance of the need to have an appreciation of structure-foundation inter- action. Four papers are devoted to new developments

in concrete construction - use of fluid concrete by Sweetland, sprayed concrete by Tim Ryan, pumping concrete by Crowther and on continuous casting by FitzGibbon. All these papers summarise in a practical way the general improvements, the advantages and limitations of a number of different construction techniques.

The developments in GRC and ferrocement are well illustrated in the paper by Leggatt. The parallel de- velopments in Europe and their influence on the design of structures are contained in the paper by Wesche. The last paper by Bagnall takes an insight into the future developments in concrete technology and construction.

With an introduction and an appendix, the book is well produced, and provides a readable and well illustrated practical introduction as to how the new concrete technologies that have been with us for some time can be exploited in the context of design and construction to soften the adverse criticisms of the so-called 'concrete jungle'.

R. N. Swamy

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