BOOKS & MEDIA UPDATE

April 2005 57

Comprehensive joineryRobert W. Messler, Jr. has created a comprehensive review that tells you allyou ever wanted to know about the joining of materials and perhaps a little bitmore, says Alan W. Pense.

While there are many textbooks and handbooks on the

topic of joining, I know of no other that takes such a

comprehensive view of the multitudinous ways in

which materials can be nailed, bolted, glued, welded,

soldered, cemented, snapped, and sewn together.

From tying stones to forked sticks to the self-assembly

of MEMS devices, it is all here, with the joining of

living tissue rounding out the array. This is a truly

comprehensive survey of both the theoretical and

practical aspects of the connection of similar and

dissimilar materials to each other. In the process of

describing and analyzing connection processes, the

structure and properties of the diverse materials

included in the text are themselves presented in some

detail. Messler has wide

experience in both industry and

university research and has

created an extensive and useful

compendium based on this broad

background.

That said, the book itself is

somewhat schizophrenic; it

seems to be neither a textbook

nor an encyclopedia but tries to

be both. In its efforts, it is highly

repetitious, with some material

being covered two or three times

in successive chapters. This gives

the impression that it is be read

topically, not sequentially,

although some chapter sets are

clearly sequential.

Part I, Joining Processes and Technologies, starts with

an overview of joining, followed by chapters devoted

to mechanical fastening, adhesive bonding and

cementing, welding, brazing and soldering, and variant

and hybrid joining processes. The materials included in

these ten chapters span ceramics, metals, and

polymers. The chapters also include some very good

discussions of the physical structure, chemistry, and

metallurgy of these materials, but probably require a

greater background in physical chemistry and

metallurgy than many potential readers can be

expected to have.

One of the approaches the author uses in these

chapters is to present the alternate ways of

categorizing joining processes used by researchers and

professional societies before proceeding with his own

analysis. This both acquaints the reader with the

complexities of process categorization and creates a

better understanding of their relationship to one

another. Since professional engineering societies apply

differing standards to materials joining, understanding

these differences is useful.

Part II, Joining of Specific Materials and Structures,

consists of six chapters focusing on the joining of

specific groups of materials (metals, alloys and

intermetallics, ceramics and glasses, polymers,

composites, dissimilar materials, and living tissue).

There is considerable overlap, both with respect to

materials and processes, between

Parts I and II and between some of

these chapters. This gives the

impression that the chapters in this

part, at least, are intended to be used

as standalone sources, as in an

encyclopedia. However, much new

information about materials is also

introduced in this section, making the

overall structure of the book

somewhat obscure.

Even with this confusion of roles, this

is a very useful book and I expect to

refer to it often, not only for the text

but also for the tables, which bring

together a wealth of practical

information that could otherwise

only be found in a number of handbooks,

manufacturers’ data files, and materials specifications.

The focus on both theory and practice is a distinct

strength of the book. Readers unfamiliar with a

particular process or how to join specific materials will

find good discussions of the options available to them.

This is a substantial volume at over 800 pages. This

was brought to my attention when it failed to pass an

airline security check because it was impenetrable to

the X-ray machine. The reader, in contrast, will find

the writing style to be clear and direct.

Alan W. Pense is professor emeritus of materials

science and engineering at Lehigh University.

Robert W. Messler, Jr.Joining of Materials and Structures

Elsevier (2004), 816 pp., ISBN 0-7506-7757-0

$125 / £69.99

Mechanics ofMicrostructuredMaterials

Helmut J. Böhm (ed.)

Springer (2004), 306 pp.

ISBN: 3-211-24154-X

$99 / £56 / �72.50

Work on microstructured materials

has aimed to obtain microstructure-

property correlations and to study

damage and failure behavior. This

book deals with thermomechanical

behavior. It gives an overview of

analytical and numerical modeling

approaches in continuum

micromechanics, and is aimed at

researchers working on materials such

as composites, metals, and ceramics.

ComputationalMechanics of CompositeMaterials

M. M. Kaminski

Springer (2005), 418 pp.

ISBN: 1-85233-427-4

$139 / £80 / �119.95

Computational mechanics has

become necessary to provide precise

numerical models of the stochastic

behavior of composite materials. This

book stresses the advantages of

combining theoretical advances in

applied mathematics and mechanics

with the probabilistic approach to

experimental data. It will be of interest

to civil, mechanical, electronic, and

aerospace engineers, as well as

materials scientists.

Inorganic andOrganometallicPolymers

Vadapalli Chandrasekhar

Springer (2005), 338 pp.

ISBN: 3-540-22574-9

$59.95 / £33.50 / �49.95

This textbook aims to explain the

basic principles that constitute the

field of nonconventional polymers

containing inorganic and

organometallic units as the repeating

units. The principles involved in their

preparation, characterization, and

applications are discussed, as is the

basic inorganic chemistry required for

understanding each topic.

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