July 2007 Mechanical Engineering Departments: Bookshelf

bookshelf

James A. Wingate. ASME Press, Three Park Ave., New York, NY 10016-5990. 2007. Softcover. 220 pages. ASME members, $59; retail, $75. ISBN 0-7918-0255-8.

Applying the ASME Codes: Plant Piping and Pressure Vessels

Following the success of James A. Wingate's first volume related to hydraulics, pipe flow, industrial HVAC, and utility systems, Volume 2 in the Mister Mech Mentor series is a new collection featuring ASME's piping and pressure vessel code applications. This book seeks to provide the essential benefits of instruction by a personal mentor who explains "why" and "how" while teaching potentially dangerous lessons in physics and engineering design. Spared the embarrassment of painful mistakes, both early-career and experienced engineers can gain practical knowledge from frank, colorful cases, and learn to solve a variety of mechanical problems. Among them are pipe stress and strain, structural supports, pressure vessels, jacketed pipes, bellows-type expansion joints, and process piping specialties.

Vince Wilczynski and Stephanie Slezycki. Rockport Publishers, member of Quayside Publishing Group, 33 Commercial St., Gloucester, MA 01930-5089. 2007. 272 pages. $39.99. ISBN 978-1-59253-366-4.

FIRST Robots: Aim High

Anyone interested in robotics will enjoy this work about the FIRST Robotics Competition. (The acronym means For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.) There are 30 robot designs (and 600 excellent color photos) in the book, selected from more than 1,000 teams that participated in the 2006 competition. The event partners high school students with engineers, technicians, and business leaders to construct sophisticated robots for an exciting sports-like competition. The annual event, founded by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, an ASME member, is designed to inspire students and introduce them to the rewards of science and engineering. As one might expect, the authors are deeply involved with FIRST: Vince Wilczynski is national director of the FIRST Robotics Competition and Stephanie Slezycki, a mechanical engineering major at the University of Connecticut, began her involvement with the competition in 1999 while she was a student at Old Lyme (Conn.) High School.

R.H.J. Grimshaw, Editor. Computational Mechanics Inc., 25 Bridge St., Bille-
rica, MA 01821. Published by WIT Press, Southampton, U.K. 2007. 208 pages. $130. ISBN 978-1-84564-157-3.

Solitary Waves in Fluids

A new entry in the WIT Press series on Advances in Fluid Mechanics, this book describes the role that soliton theory plays in fluids in several contexts. After John Scott Russell's initial observation of a solitary wave in a canal, his laboratory experiments, and the theoretical work of others, interest in solitary waves in fluids lapsed until the mid-1960s, with the seminal paper of Zabusky and Kruskal, which described the discovery of the soliton. Thereafter came the realization that solitary waves occur naturally in many physical systems, and play a fundamental role in many circumstances. After a historical introduction, the book is divided into five chapters covering the basic theory of the Korteweg-de Vries equation ands its subsequent applications in five areas.

Guangbin Yang. John Wiley & Sons Inc., 111 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030. 2007. 532 pages. $125. ISBN 978-0-471-71529-0.

Life Cycle Reliability Engineering

In today's global, competitive business environment, reliability professionals are being challenged to improve reliability, shorten design cycles, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction. This book, written by a reliability technical expert at Ford Motor Co., details practical, effective, and up-to-date techniques to assure reliability throughout the product life cycle, from planning and designing through testing and warranting performance. These techniques allow ongoing quality initiatives, including those based on Six Sigma and the Taguchi methods, to yield maximized output.

Robert S. Kraemer. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1801 Alexander Bell Dr., Suite 500, Reston, VA 20191-4344. 2006. 278 pages. AIAA members, $29.95; retail, $39.95. ISBN 1-56347-754-8.

Rocketdyne: Powering Humans Into Space

From the first American orbiting satellite, to Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin's historic walk on the moon, virtually every major achievement in American space history was made possible by a Rocketdyne engine. Today, the Space Shuttle program continues to rely on engines designed and built by Rocketdyne. This book is the story behind that accomplishment. According to author Robert S. Kraemer, "No one had written an overall history of Rocketdyne—the professional historians said there was not enough preserved documentation for them to write a proper history book—so I determined to visit key survivors of the 'glory days' of Rocketdyne to record their memories, add my own insight as a member of the team, and preserve the history of how large liquid propellant rocket engines evolved at Rocketdyne and why the team was so successful."

G. Pahl, W. Beitz, J. Feldhusen, and K.-H. Grote. Ken Wallace and Lucienne Blessing, Translators and Editors. Springer-Verlag, 233 Spring St., New York, NY 10013. 2007. 620 pages. $89.95. ISBN 978-1-84628-318-5.

Engineering Design: A Systematic Approach. Third Edition

The third edition (in English) of a work that has had six German editions describes a systematic approach to engineering design. The authors argue that such an approach, applied flexibly and adapted to a particular task, is essential for successful product development. The design process is first broken down into phases and then into distinct steps, each with its own working methods. This edition includes extended treatment of product planning; new sections on organization structures, simultaneous engineering, leadership, and team behavior, and updated chapters on quality methods and estimating costs. There are also additions on design to minimize wear, design for recycling, mechanical connections, mechatronics, and adaptronics.

Ady Wyner and Siegfried Wyner. Authorhouse, 1663 Liberty Dr., Bloomington, IN 47403. 2007. Softcover. 280 pages. $50. ISBN 978-1-4259-7246-2.

Structural Problems and Analyses

A father-and-son team with more than 60 years of experience, Ady and Siegfried Wyner provide instructions for solving the complex problems and understanding the various factors in structural engineering. Specifically designed for professionals, candidates for professional engineering licenses, teachers, students, and contractors in the field of engineering, the book covers four general topics: statics, mechanics of materials, dynamics, and civil engineering. Using mathematics, diagrams, and explanations, the authors show the reader how to analyze specific situations, including the design and analysis of concrete, wood, and laminated structural elements.

Paul W. Murrill. Instrument Society of America, 67 Alexander Dr., P.O. Box 12277, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. 2005. 334 pages. ISA members, $92; retail, $109. ISBN 1-55617-683-X.

Fundamentals of Process Control Theory. Third Edition

Well known for its presentation of the basic properties of process automation, this third edition is updated for the digital age. With 17 self-study units, author Paul Murrill walks the reader through process control theory from basic concepts to advanced control technology. The book covers classic principles that govern process control, particularly feedback control, as well as recent technologies such as computer-integrated manufacturing, statistical process control, and expert systems. New chapters focus on the conceptual framework for an application, offering a practical understanding of the theory, along with specific illustrations on how concepts are implemented.