ANNOUNCEMENT

Professor E. Ramm (right) receiving his award from Professor A. Jennings at the University of Stuttgart

German professors win 1991 Munro Prize

Butterworth-Heinemann wish to congratulate Professors Ramm and Mehlhorn who
recently won the Munro prize awarded for
the best paper in Volume 13 of
Engineering Structures as judged by the
Editorial Board of the journal. The late
Professor Munro would have approved of
the choice of winner on account of its
shape optimization aspects at least.
The winning paper was entitled 'On
shape finding methods of ultimate load
analysis of reinforced concrete shells'. The
two authors, Professor Ekkehard Ramm
and Professor Gerhard Mehlhorn collaborated in order to contribute a paper in a
special edition of Engineering Structures in
honour of Professor Alexander C Scordelis
of Berkeley, California. The paper reflects
their long-term personal experience in
form-finding methods of free form shell
and nonlinear finite element analysis of
reinforced concrete shells. All the related
research projects were sponsored by the
German National Science Foundation
(DFG). Although not intended to be a
state-of-the-art report, the paper gives a
fairly general description of the related
problems.
Shell structures are used when high
efficiency is required such as minimum
material, long spans or high resistance.
These unique structural qualities known to
the classical master builders directly relate
to advantages obtained from optimal
shape. Since its definition by Robert
Hooke in 1675 the principle of an inverted
catenary has been applied in many dome
structures. Modern engineers tended to
adopt 'geometrical' rather than ' structural'

shapes when reinforced concrete came into

extensive use. Consequently shells had to
be reinforced by heavy edge beams or
extra prestressing. The advocates of
'structural' shapes, i.e. free form shells
with a more natural, membrane oriented,
design like the well-known Swiss engineer
Heinz Isler, remained the exception.
Numerical simulation, giving a realistic
nonlinear response of reinforced concrete
shells up to failure, has become possible
only within the last ten years and is still not
routine. However, the formulation of
efficient numerical techniques is only one
respect. It is equally as important to gain a
sound understanding of the highly
sophisticated
interaction
between
geometric and material nonlinearities. In
general, thin-walled shells under compression tend to be governed by buckling. For
reinforced concrete shells, however, the
possibility of material failure is at least as
important.
Professor Ramm, head of the Institute
for Structural Analysis at the University of
Stuttgart, has a long scientific record in
shell analysis. He is also a partner in the
consulting office DELTA-X and as such is
strongly involved in engineering practice.
Although nonlinear finite element analysis
of RC structures is still generally
considered to be an academic exercise, the
paper shows that it can also be of practical
relevance. The investigation of the two
conical cooling towers, in which Professor
Ramm was the consultant for the construction company, demonstrates that the
numerical simulation of
structural
response up to failure may be very

powerful. The described form-finding

methods, based on shape optimization,
emerged from an interdisciplinary research
project 'Natural structures' at the
University of Stuttgart initiated by the
architect Frei Otto, in which architects,
structural engineers, geodesists, biologists,
physicists and philosophers
worked together. Professor Ramm's
project focused on structural optimization,
a field which is of growing importance in
design.
Professor Gerhard Mehlhorn has been
head of the Institute of Design and
Analysis of Concrete Structures at the
University of Kassel since 1983, having
previously been at the Technical
University of Darmstadt. Since his own
professional record is very practiceoriented he has always tried to bridge the
gap between analysis and experiment on
the one hand and practical verification on
the other. In Germany he was one of the
first to simulate the nonlinear response of
reinforced and prestressed
concrete
structures by the finite element method.
The original research for the material
model for shells described in the paper
goes back to the early 1970s although there
have been later refinements. The unique
experiment of the RC model shell in which
form-finding was combined with manufacturing in one process based on the hanging
principle, was stimulated by the inspiring
work of the shell designer Heinz Isler. It is
also a good example of the verification of
numerical results
by
experimental
measurements.

Eng. S t r u c t . 1 9 9 3 , Vol. 15, No 2

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