The early books on stability of structures by S.P. Timoshenko, and F. Bleich treat a variety
of problems normally encountered in engineering. However, the discussion in these excellent
texts is limited to classical techniques and to metallic materials. In view of the rapid advance-
ment in computer technology and the development of new techniques for solving engineering
problems, the classical techniques have become purely of academic interest. Further, new
materials such as fibre reinforced composites are increasingly being used because of the
many advantages they have over the conventional metallic materials.