Symbolic computation in structural engineering

Nowadays computers can perform symbolic calculations-in addition to mere numerical computations for which they were originally designed-and this opens up exciting possibilities in structural engineering and mechanics. Until relatively recently, this computer-algebra option was hardly exploited except for a handful of pioneering enthusiasts. As symbolic computations are finally beginning to experience a reasonably widespread awareness-and usage-it seems timely to review their past applications to structural-mechanics problems and to point to areas where significant advances are yet to come. What emerges is a picture where areas of classical analysis-increasingly neglected since the advent of computers-now re-emerge as attractive computational options, as well as a more balanced view that no longer sees analytical techniques and numerical methods as incompatible opposites but combines their usage in a rational way. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.