TY - JOUR
AB - IT is usual to criticise methods of engineering design by calling the engineer's ‘factor of safety’ a factor of ignorance. In one sense the accusation is true, since the factor is a cover for uncertainties; but, in effect, it is a concise expression of experience and, properly used, is as legitimate as the apparently more rigorous processes in calculation. It is an inheritance. The efforts of progressive engineers are bent towards its improvement. They attempt the reduction of its margins by enlargement of data, perfection of analysis, and advancement of materials. Sometimes a greater precision in things understood leads to a reduction of the factor, only to disclose the increased importance of things less well understood; and thereby to compel a return. The subject of fatigue in materials and the history of the development of high speed machinery provide numerous examples.
TI - Steel in Building Construction
JF - Nature
DO - 10.1038/129532a0
DA - 1932-04-09
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/springer-journals/steel-in-building-construction-wfr5tKyyR2
SP - 532
EP - 534
VL - 129
IS - 3258
DP - DeepDyve
ER -