Many areas of knowledge converge in the building industry and therefore research in this field necessarily involves an interdisciplinary approach. Effective research requires strongrelation between a broad variety of scientific and technological domains and more conventional construction or craft processes, while also considering advanced management processes, where all the main actors permanently interact. This publication takes an interdisciplinary approach grouping various studies on the building industry chosen from among the works presented for the 2nd International Conference on Construction and Building Research. The papers examine aspects of materials and building systems; construction technology; energy and sustainability; construction management; heritage, refurbishment and conservation. The information contained within these pages may be of interestto researchers and practitioners in construction and building activities from the academic sphere, as well as public and private sectors."

This book presents recent applications and approaches as well as challenges in digital forensic science. One of the evolving challenges that is covered in the book is the cloud forensic analysis which applies the digital forensic science over the cloud computing paradigm for conducting either live or static investigations within the cloud environment. The book also covers the theme of multimedia forensics and watermarking in the area of information security. That includes highlights on intelligence techniques designed for detecting significant changes in image and video sequences. Moreover, the theme proposes recent robust and computationally efficient digital watermarking techniques. The last part of the book provides several digital forensics related applications, including areas such as evidence acquisition enhancement, evidence evaluation, cryptography, and finally, live investigation through the importance of reconstructing the botnet attack scenario to show the malicious activities and files as evidences to be presented in a court.

This book identifies novel advanced materials that can be utilized as protective agents for the preservation of stone. The innovative solutions to stone conservation presented here result in increased sustainability, reduced environmental impact, and increased social and economic benefits. It provides an overview of recent trends and progress in advanced materials applied to stone protection. It also explores the scientific principles behind these advanced materials and discusses their applications to diff erent types of stone preservation efforts. Essential information as well as knowledge on the availability and applicability of advanced nanostructured materials is also provided, with focus placed on the practical aspects of stone protection. Th e book highlights an interdisciplinary eff ort regarding novel applications of nanostructured materials in the advancement of stone protection. It provides insight towards forthcoming developments in the fi eld. Advanced nanostructured materials are designed and developed with the aim of being chemically, physically, and mechanically compatible with stone. Advanced materials for stone conservation that are characterized by several functional properties are considered in this book. These include the physico-chemical, protective, and morphological properties, eco-toxicity, and mechanisms of degradation. The authors present a thorough overview of cutting-edge discoveries, detailed information on recent technological developments, breakthroughs in novel nanomaterials, utilization strategies for applications in cultural heritage, and the current status and future outlook of the topic to address a wide range of scientific communities.

This book provides a consistent scientific background to engineering calculation methods applicable to analyses of materials reaction-to-fire, as well as fire resistance of structures. Several new and unique formulas and diagrams which facilitate calculations are presented. It focuses on problems involving high temperature conditions and, in particular, defines boundary conditions in a suitable way for calculations. A large portion of the book is devoted to boundary conditions and measurements of thermal exposure by radiation and convection. The concepts and theories of adiabatic surface temperature and measurements of temperature with plate thermometers are thoroughly explained.Also presented is a renewed method for modeling compartment fires, with the resulting simple and accurate prediction tools for both pre- and post-flashover fires. The final chapters deal with temperature calculations in steel, concrete and timber structures exposed to standard time-temperature fire curves. Useful temperature calculation tools are included, and several examples demonstrate how the finite element code TASEF can be used to calculate temperature in various configurations. Temperature Calculation in Fire Safety Engineering is intended for researchers, students, teachers, and consultants in fire safety engineering. It is also suitable for others interested in analyzing and understanding fire, fire dynamics, and temperature development. Review questions and exercises are provided for instructor use.

This book presents recent research works related to salt attack and corrosion in concrete structures, durability and service life in concrete, non-destructive techniques applied to reinforced concrete structures and acoustic performance of buildings. It identifies anomalies that affect the acoustic performance and the concrete structures, namely anomalies associated to salt attack and corrosion that affects the durability and service life of the buildings, in order to be eliminated in future projects. Offering a systematic review of the current state of knowledge, the book serves as a valuable resource for scientists, students, practitioners, and lecturers in various scientific and engineering disciplines, including civil and materials engineering, as well as and other interested parties.

Advanced Analysis and Design for Fire Safety of Steel Structures systematically presents the latest findings on behaviours of steel structural components in a fire, such as the catenary actions of restrained steel beams, the design methods for restrained steel columns, and the membrane actions of concrete floor slabs with steel decks. Using a systematic description of structural fire safety engineering principles, the authors illustrate the important difference between behaviours of an isolated structural element and the restrained component in a complete structure under fire conditions. The book will be an essential resource for structural engineers who wish to improve their understanding of steel buildings exposed to fires. It is also an ideal textbook for introductory courses in fire safety for master's degree programs in structural engineering, and is excellent reading material for final-year undergraduate students in civil engineering and fire safety engineering. Furthermore, it successfully bridges the information gap between fire safety engineers, structural engineers and building inspectors, and will be of significant interest to architects, code officials, building designers and fire fighters. Dr. Guoqiang Li is a Professor at the College of Civil Engineering of Tongji University, China; Dr. Peijun Wang is an Associate Professor at the School of Civil Engineering of Shandong University, China.

The idea of this monograph is to present the latest results related to design and analysis of materials and engineering structures. The contributions cover the field of mechanical and civil engineering, ranging from automotive to dam design, transmission towers and up to machine design and exmaples taken from oil industry. Well known experts present their research on damage and fracture of material and structures, materials modelling and evaluation up to image processing and visualization for advanced analyses and evaluation

This thesis studied the effect of aging of intumescent coatings (ICs) on the reliability of protected steel columns in fire condition and developed a probabilistic approach to assess the service life of ICs applied on steel columns. In the study, Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to obtain the reliability index or failure probability of steel columns protected by ICs subjected to compartment fires. The effect of aging of intumescent coatings on the failure probability of protected steel columns was investigated by using variable insulation property of intumescent coatings in the simulation. The test data on aging effect on insulation property of intumescent coatings from literature was used. Based on the reliability analysis, a probabilistic approach is given to determine the service life of intumescent coatings for steel columns. In that approach, the failure probability of the protected steel columns is compared with the target probability of the structural fire design. The approach can also be used for probabilistic analysis of steel columns protected by conventional inert fire protection materials.

This collection from the 12th International Conference on Magnesium Alloys and Their Applications (Mg 2021)-the longest running conference dedicated to the development of magnesium alloys-covers the breadth of magnesium research and development, from primary production to applications to end-of-life management. Authors from academia, government, and industry discuss new developments in magnesium alloys and share valuable insights. Topics in this volume include but are not limited to the following: Primary production Alloy development Solidification and casting processes Forming and thermo-mechanical processing Other manufacturing process development (including joining and additive manufacturing) Corrosion and protection Modeling and simulation Structural, functional, biomedical, and energy applications Advanced characterization and fundamental theories Recycling and environmental issues

This volume gathers the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of seismic engineering, as presented by leading researchers and engineers at the 1st International Workshop on Energy-Based Seismic Engineering (IWEBSE), held in Madrid, Spain, on May 24-26, 2021. The contributions cover a diverse range of topics, including energy-based EDPs, damage potential of ground motion, structural modeling in energy-based damage assessment of structures, energy dissipation demand on structural components, innovative structures with energy dissipation systems or seismic isolation, as well as seismic design and analysis. Selected by means of a rigorous peer-review process, they will spur novel research directions and foster future multidisciplinary collaborations.

The first volume of the Adaptive Environments series focuses on Robotic Building, which refers to both physically built robotic environments and robotically supported building processes. Physically built robotic environments consist of reconfigurable, adaptive systems incorporating sensor-actuator mechanisms that enable buildings to interact with their users and surroundings in real-time. These require Design-to-Production and Operation chains that are numerically controlled and (partially or completely) robotically driven. From architectured materials, on- and off-site robotic production to robotic building operation augmenting everyday life, the volume examines achievements of the last decades and outlines potential future developments in Robotic Building. This book offers an overview of the developments within robotics in architecture so far, and explains the future possibilities of this field. The study of interactions between human and non-human agents at building, design, production and operation level will interest readers seeking information on architecture, design-to-robotic-production and design-to-robotic-operation.  The chapter "Robotic Building as Integration of Design-to-Robotic-Production and -Operation" of this book is available open access under a CC by 4.0  license at link.springer.com 

The idea of this monograph is to present the latest results related to design and computation of engineering materials and structures. The contributions cover the classical fields of mechanical, civil and materials engineering up to biomechanics and advanced materials processing and optimization. The materials and structures covered can be categorized into modern steels and titanium alloys, composite materials, biological and natural materials, material hybrids and modern joining technologies. Analytical modelling, numerical simulation, the application of state-of-the-art design tools and sophisticated experimental techniques are applied to characterize the performance of materials and to design and optimize structures in different fields of engineering applications.

This book reports on the physical and mechanical characterization of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC), produced through a partial-to-total replacement of ordinary aggregates with what have been dubbed Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCAs). It proposes a theoretical framework for understanding the relationships between RCAs and RCA, and for predicting the resulting behavior of RAC. The book demonstrates that in the case of RAC two additional parameters have to be taken into account than with ordinary aggregates, due to the composite nature and higher porosity of RCAs. By extending Abrams' Law for Recycled Aggregate Concrete, it represents a first step in the formulation of a general model for predicting the properties of RAC. The theoretical approach presented here addresses an important gap in the literature and is expected to stimulate new research on the use of this more sustainable form of concrete in structural applications.

This work deals with numerical simulations of fresh concrete flows. After the first introductory chapter dealing with the various physical phenomena involved in flows of fresh cementitious materials, the aim of the second chapter is to give an overview of the work carried out on simulation of flow of cement-based materials using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This includes governing equations, constitutive equations, analytical and numerical solutions, and examples showing simulations of testing, mixing and castings. The third chapter focuses on the application of Discrete Element Method (DEM) in simulating the flow of fresh concrete. The fourth chapter is an introductory text about numerical errors both in CFD and DEM whereas the fifth and last chapter give some recent examples of numerical simulations developed by various authors in order to simulate the presence of grains or fibers in a non-Newtonian cement matrix.

Building Contract Dictionary provides a succinct, but authoritative reference to words, phrases and terms encountered in, and in connection with, building contracts.

For the new edition all entries have been reconsidered and updated in light of case law and legislation and the book has been substantially enlarged since the last edition ten years ago. There are now over 800 separate entries A wide range of contracts has been referenced, including JCT 98, IFC 98, MW 98, WCD 98, PCC 98, MC 98, ACA 3, GC/Works/1 (1998), NEC, NSC/C, DOM/1, DOM/2 as well as topics such as adjudication, arbitration and the Civil Procedure Rules.

It will provide an invaluable reference for architects, quantity surveyors, project managers and contractors. It will also find a ready readership among all construction lawyers.

"This is an indispensable book which provides a succinct but authoritative reference to "words, phrases and terms" encountered in the construction industry. ...many of the entries give a substantial commentary on a variety of matters you always wanted to know about but never got round to finding out."

Arbitration

There is a strong need for a comprehensive textbook on construction technology for tall buildings, particularly in reference to land scarce countries and cities. This volume is particularly applicable to the construction industry in the Asean region, where rapid economic development in the last few decades has resulted in an unprecedented explosion in tail building development.

Containing over 200 illustrations, this book describes in detail the latest construction practices and processes for tall buildings from foundation to roof. The construction sequence of the various proprietary systems and their merits and disadvantages are discussed. Comprehensive references for each topic are also provided.

Currently, students and practitioners in the Asean region dealing with construction technology have to rely on textbooks written mainly in the US and UK, many of which are not relevant or not practical for use in the region because of different climate conditions.

This book is written for use as a textbook and reference book by undergraduates as well as practitioners in the fields of architecture, civil engineering, building, quantity surveying, and other related fields.

This book gathers the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of building design and construction, by focusing on new design solutions for buildings and new technologies creation for construction, as presented by researchers and engineers at the 2nd International Conference Building Innovations (ICBI), held in Poltava - Baku, Ukraine - Azerbaijan, on May 23-24, 2019. It covers highly diverse topics, including structures operation, repairing and thermal modernization in existing buildings and urban planning features, machines and mechanisms for construction, as well as efficient economy and energy conservation issues in construction. The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, highlight numerous exciting ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaborations.

In recent years, the paradigm of video coding has shifted from that of a frame-based approach to a content-based approach, particularly with the finalization of the ISO multimedia coding standard, MPEG-4. MPEG-4 is the emerging standard for the coding of multimedia content. It defines a syntax for a set of content-based functionalities, namely, content-based interactivity, compression and universal access. However, it does not specify how the video content is to be generated. To generate the video content, video has to be segmented into video objects and tracked as they transverse across the video frames. This book addresses the difficult problem of video segmentation, and the extraction and tracking of video object planes as defined in MPEG-4. It then focuses on the specific issue of face segmentation and coding as applied to videoconferencing in order to improve the quality of videoconferencing images especially in the facial region.
Modal-based coding is a content-based coding technique used to code synthetic objects that have become an important part of video content. It results in extremely low bit rates because only the parameters needed to represent the modal are transmitted. Model-based coding is included to provide background information for the synthetic object coding in MPEG-4. Lastly, MPEG-4, the first coding standard for multimedia content is described in detail. The topics covered include the coding of audio objects, the coding of natural and synthetic video objects, and error resilience.
"Advanced Video Coding" is one of the first books on content-based coding and MPEG-4 coding standard. It serves as an excellent information source and reference for both researchers and practicing engineers.

Essentials of Fire Fighting and Fire Department Operations continues the tradition of excellence in fire fighter education. It offers you a well-rounded foundation for success in professional fire fighting, while helping you prepare for qualifying exams. The text meets all the requirements of Fire Fighter I and II levels of NFPA 1001 (R), NFPA 472 (R) and OSHA 1910.120. The 7th Edition offers a complete support package, including skill sheets, knot and rope requirements, and coverage of essential job tasks related to medical requirements of NFPA 1582 (R). The text reflects the latest research in fire behavior and fire attack. Its new one-column format allows for more photos, more illustrations and more tables to enhance learning.

This innovative volume provides a systematic treatment of the basic concepts and computational procedures for structural motion design and engineering for civil installations. The authors illustrate the application of motion control to a wide spectrum of buildings through many examples. Topics covered include optimal stiffness distributions for building-type structures, the role of damping in controlling motion, tuned mass dampers, base isolation systems, linear control, and nonlinear control. The book's primary objective the satisfaction of motion-related design requirements such as restrictions on displacement and acceleration and seeks the optimal deployment of material stiffness and motion control devices to achieve these design targets as well as satisfy constraints on strength. The book is ideal for practicing engineers and graduate students.

The book explores advanced building-facade daylighting design practices based on diverse energy and human-factor performance metrics. It also defines effective daylighting by rethinking the simplified approach to glazing and facade systems to incorporate the local climate and the needs of building occupants as critical drivers of building performance, design solutions and technological innovation. It discusses state-of-the-art approaches in the context of simulation-based design workflows, innovative technologies and real project case studies, all targeting low and net-zero energy solutions that enhance occupant comfort. Readers benefit from a comprehensive approach that improves the feedback loop between design intent and performance in use. The book is intended for architects, lighting designers, facade engineers, manufacturers and building owners/operators, as well as advanced students.