REVIEWSEXHAUSTIVE FATIGUETESTINGFull Scale Fatigue testing of Com-ponents and StructureEditor GKJ MarshPublisher ButterworthsThis book is intended to provide a comprehensivereference source for research, design and develop-ment engineers. Whilst it would also form anexcellent reference for graduate and post-graduatestudies; its greater usefulness will be to practisingengineers.

With a list of twenty similarly distinguishedcontributions each dealing with his or her own aspectof this fascinating subject, in order to avoid taking uptoo much valuable space I will list the titles ofchapters without comment.

1 Introduction, KJ Marsh2 Full Scale fatigue testing of aircraft structures,

P R Edwards3 Automotive components and systems and the

role of full scale fatigue testing, S J Hill4 Railway components fatigue testing, R Me Lester5 Fatigue evaluation of helicopter rotor heads,

R L C Greaves6 The fatigue strength of artillery gun structures, K

J Marsh and J L Duncan7 The fatigue strength of offshore structure and

components, K J Marsh and R Holmes8 Fatigue testing of bridge components, G P Tilly9 The fatigue of military bridges, D Webber and

J V L Barker

10 Structures testing in nuclear engineering, GSummer and A M Clayton

11 Fatigue testing of gas turbine components, GAsquith and A L Pickard

12 Fatigue testing of mobile crane components andstructures, K J Marsh

13 Fatigue strength of ropes, D M Waters andH Crawford

14 Fatigue strength of general mechanical com-ponents, D M Waters and H Crawford

15 The service operating environment - a vitalinput, S J Hill and D REveritt

16 The design and operation of the StrangfloorStructural Testing Laboratory at NEL, K Denton

17 The use of a structural fatigue testing laboratoryfor other tests, J Fairbairn

18 Concluding remarks, K J MarshThe foregoing list confirms the comprehensive of

this book, each chapter being equally well presentedboth from the graphical as well as the literaryaspects. The importance of full-scale fatigue testingcannot be over emphasised, particularly for theproduction engineer for whom the problems ofcarrying out tests on a product in the design anddevelopment stage are many and varied. This bookgives excellent guidance on the solution of theseproblems, especially in the approach stages.

In conclusion, a personal view: how I wish thisexcellent text book had been available ten years ago!In its own field, it is a reference book par excellence.

NICE READNice WorkDavid LodgePenguin; ISBN 0-14-011920-5; £3.99Just supposing you were looking for some lighthearted reading, put a copy of this latest David Lodgenovel next to your bed.

Read for yourself the excellent reviews on theback cover of the just-issued Pengiun re-print. 'NiceWork' was also runner up for the Booker Prize andwon the Sunday Express 1988 Book of the YearAward. It is an ail-too rare novel about engineeringmanufacture, taking a surgeon's scalpel to somemurkier aspects of industrial restricturing andattempts to improve industry/higher eductioncollaboration.

Those who have read other Lodge novels or whosaw the recent TV dramatisation of 'Small World' willmeet several old friends. The principal characters are,however, new: Vic Wilcox, Managing Director ofPringle, a Dark Country metal bashing subsidiary of a

larger Engineering Holding Group, and Dr RobynPenrose, temporary lecturer in English at Rum-midgen University.

Many readers will be familiar with the IndustryYear Executive Shadow Scheme, a most successfuland commendable initiative. The Shadow Scheme in'Nice Work' is not quite what was intended whenIndustry Year was launched j n 1986. Or is it? Foralthough the Scheme conceived by Confederation ofRummidge Manufacturers (QRUM) has one or twodifferences, its application leaves plenty to ponderon. Just as the novels of Dickens, H G Wells, AldousHuxley and George Orwell have been closelyscrutinised by today's social historians, so, too, whenin t ie next century similar people come to examinethe re-structuring of Britain in the 1980s, will 'NiceWork'.

Just for now, though, it is a book to be mostthoroughly enjoyed.

D r I D Nussey

INTELLIGENCEGATHERINGCognitive Engineering in complexdynamic worldsEdited by Eric Hollnagel, Guiseppe Mancini& David WoodsAcademic Press, ISBN 0-12-352655-8This book contains a collection of papers from 17authors and is prompted by a series of accidents, forexample Three Mile Island, Bhopal, Chernobyl,Norad, etc. The question is how to assist humanperformance in complex problem solving worlds. Theengineering task is to introduce new technology,whilst acknowledging the danger that these caninduce. Cognitive tools are the felicitous extension ofnormal brainpower and should achieve a reduction ofdangerous operator errors and assist with dealingwith current problems of complexity and opacity; andsupply 'mental crutches' when artificially enhancedtendencies for error are present.

Are Cognitive Tools instruments or prostheses?Modelling of process control systems does not copewith unexpected emergencies, if based on recur-rencies of the past, because accidents, whilst theymay begin in a conventional way, rarely proceedalong predictable lines. They may be caused byactive errors, which are operator induced, or passiveerrors, which are design, installation or maintenanceinduced. The analyses of systematic strengths andweaknesses of men and machines and placing theresults in the cognitive theoretical framework issuggested, but the answer is not limitless.Computer-based visual aid display systems needcareful analytical criticism in the design stage, butthe operator must have surveillance power and thecapacity for checking without being overloaded withcomplexities. The human interaction with an'Intelligent' machine is reported, using the example ofthe expert system machine made to find faults in anewly developed and manufactured device. Thepower of the cognitive tool (the expert systemmachine) is related to its ability to increase thehuman's adaptability to the kind of problems thatcould arise. Trust is essential. A support system maybe rejected; on the other hand, over confidence mayinduce credence in a decision which is more thanwarranted.

In the operation of complex, highly automatedprocess, where possible unforeseen interactions,brittleness of procedures or incomplete knowledge ofthe system can be present, a leap of faith is needed.This may be affected by the trust existing between the

MANUFACTURING ENGINEER OCTOBER 1989

0 O O K REVIEWSoperator, fellow users, designers and managers, andtheir trust in him. Human error detection andclassification is an area as yet incomplete. The powerof the computer has become ubiquitous andapplications increase in process control, air trafficcontrol, hospitals and automatic factories (to quote afew instances). The need for cognitive engineering isgrowing. The key is the need to balance our currentknowledge of decision support, based on toolbuilding technologies and problem solving demands.

The papers on Decision Makers in AccidentConditions, conclude that accidents cannot beprevented by telling people to act safely, buthardware can be improved to increase operatorawareness. This is a suggestion based on the studyof operator's knowledge of functional relationships'and the need for assistance with intelligent aids.

This is illustrated by the solution of the problem ofmonitoring and controlling the purity of boiler feed ina thermal power station. Elsewhere, an algorithm, forreasoning about novel events, is presented todemonstrate its application to the generation ofexplanations for novel events using a problem inprocess control.

A justified conclusion is that the currentapplications of cognitive engineering and systemsare successful when they are handcrafted becausethey apply a set of proven techniques and methods.

This book is not .only of interest to the computer

specialist, working in the field of artificial intelligence,but also to the engineer covering the fields of safetyand for those who establish the schedules andinstructions for complex automated plants andmachines. Production engineers will find the bookparticularly interesting because the problemsanalysed and uses of computerised process controldescribed are now needed in small and medium sizedplants. For our colleagues in the electronic/AMTfields, it should be compulsory reading; and the bookcontains a very valuable set of references for theresearcher.

GSEIfer

CAD INTROA Useful Introduction to computeraided design principles of CADA J Medlands & G MullineuxKogan Page; 215 pages: £14.95This book is a pleasant introduction to the field ofcomputer aided design and is based on material usedat undergraduate level and for seminars given toindustrialists. The authors have displayed theirpresentation skills by introducing and developing thedesign process from concept to fruition. The subject

is approached by explaining how the computersystem could be used as a tool to achieve thepurpose of design and draughting, but could befurther utilised to provide the database needed tomanufacture. Implicit in this is the need for 'culturechange' for the effective use of the 'electronic drawingboard1 that CAD systems offer to the users.

The book consists of eight sections or 'modules',covering the areas of design process, hardware,geometry, modelling, transformations, softwareinterface, system effectiveness and organisation andapplications programs.

For self teaching, section selections are recom-mended by the authors which is very useful for abook that is intended as an" •introduction to thesubject.

Although GKS (graphics kernel system) ismentioned, additional information on the evolution ofgraphics standards and the need for CAD dataexchange standards (IGES and the like) would have•made this book even better.

The best parts are the first and the last chapterswhich deal with the insight into the design processand industrial applications respectively. On the wholeit is an excellent introduction to the principles of CAPfor undergraduate courses and for those who wish tofind out about CAD generally. Reading lists areincluded to enable further depth in the subject matter.

AGHague

AUTOMATEDASSEMBLINGThe memoranda sponsored by the Department of Industry, collects and collates many variedexamples for performing separate operations involved in automated assembling. They arepresented in six sections, each section illustrating and describing currently used devices andrepresenting the best principles employed for particular assembling operations and everyexample shown has a background of proven application. Typical dimensions of equipmentand components together with authenticated rates of production are given. _ ._

Code NoComplete set of 20 books, including index to Sections 1,2, and 3 £300 130Individual books £15Section 1---Hopper FeedersThis illustrates and describes 22 different types of feeders currently used in 130.1British Industry.Section 2—Orientating Mechanisms and EscapementsPart 1 Deals with orientating devices used within a vibratory bowl feeder 130.2.1

for 44 different componentsPart 2 Deals with 29 orientating devices used outside the bowl feeder 130.2.2Part3 Showsatotalof60differentescapement 130.2.3Part 4 mechanisms used to separate single or groups of components 130.2.4Section 3—Components Placement MechanismsParti These books illustrate and describe a 130.3.1Part2 total of83 placement mechanisms used 130.3.2Part 3 for placing components in the works 130.3.3Part 4 area. 130.3.4Section 4—-Workhead MechanismsParti 130.4.1Part 2 130.4.2Part3 These books show 120 examples of 130.4.3Part4 currently used workheads, covering 130.4.4Part5 a wide variety of assembly operations 130.4.5Part 6 130.5.4Section 5—Transfer MechanismsParti Atotalof83mechanismsareshown 130.5.1Part2 all currently used for transferring 130.5.2Part3 components to the work area 130.5.3Part 4Section 6—Control SystemsThis book illustrates and describes various control systems used for assembly 130.6machines. The circuit diagrams show the arrangement, function andapplication of components built into the circuitIndex to Sections 1,2 and 3 £1.00 130(y)Members' Price: Complete set £250.00; Individual books £12.50 (UK and Overseas)Non-Members UK: Complete set £300. Individual books £15.00Non-Members Overseas: Complete set £350, Individual books £ 17.50UK.orders are post free. Overseas are plus postage by air £3.50 extra per book.Surface £ 1.00 extra per book.

ProductionData Memoranda

CENTRE WEB

OUTER WEB

ROLLERCAM FOLLOWER

OUTER WEB

OUTPUT SHAFT

CAMS(Conjugate forms) INPUT SHAFT

The Institution ofProduction Engineers,Rochester House, 66 Little Ealing Lane,London W54XX