Concrete: We use it for our buildings, bridges, dams, and roads. We walk on it, drive on it, and many of us live and work within its walls. But very few of us know what it is. We take for granted this ubiquitous substance, which both literally and figuratively comprises much of modern civilization's constructed environment; yet the story of its creation and development features a cast of fascinating characters and remarkable historical episodes. This book delves into this history, opening readers' eyes at every turn.
In a lively narrative peppered with intriguing details, author Robert Corland describes how some of the most famous personalities of history became involved in the development and use of concrete--including King Herod the Great of Judea, the Roman emperor Hadrian, Thomas Edison (who once owned the largest concrete cement plant in the world), and architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Courland points to recent archaeological evidence suggesting that the discovery of concrete directly led to the Neolithic Revolution and the rise of the earliest civilizations. Much later, the Romans reached extraordinarily high standards for concrete production, showcasing their achievement in iconic buildings like the Coliseum and the Pantheon. Amazingly, with the fall of the Roman Empire, the secrets of concrete manufacturing were lost for over a millennium.
The author explains that when concrete was rediscovered in the late eighteenth century it was initially viewed as an interesting novelty or, at best, a specialized building material suitable only for a narrow range of applications. It was only toward the end of the nineteenth century that the use of concrete exploded. During this rapid expansion, industry lobbyists tried to disguise the fact that modern concrete had certain defects and critical shortcomings. It is now recognized that modern concrete, unlike its Roman predecessor, gradually disintegrates with age. Compounding this problem is another distressing fact: the manufacture of concrete cement is a major contributor to global warming.
"Concrete Planet" is filled with incredible stories, fascinating characters, surprising facts, and an array of intriguing insights into the building material that forms the basis of the infrastructure on which we depend.

Research into and design of deployable structures requires the combination of many skills including knowledge of traditional mathematics, understanding of nonlinear structural behavior, use of modern numerical methods of simulation, and a great deal of engineering ingenuity. Accessible to practicing structural engineers and graduate students with no previous knowledge of the field, this title formulates and solves the complex engineering design problems with which deployable structures are associated. It also presents the issue of design of snap-through type deployable structures in an organized way which will be of interest to more experienced readers. Up-to-date practice and recent research results are highlighted throughout.

The importance of these books to the construction industry as a description of construction practice at specific points in history is now beginning to be appreciated by modern-day architects, technologists and building surveyors as they prepare to update or repair existing buildings from the late 1890's.

"Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning" is based on the 8th International Symposium of the same name (ISHVAC2013), which took place in Xi an on October 19-21, 2013. The conference series was initiated at Tsinghua University in 1991 and has since become the premier international HVAC conference initiated in China, playing a significant part in the development of HVAC and indoor environmental research and industry around the world. This international conference provided an exclusive opportunity for policy-makers, designers, researchers, engineers and managers to share their experience. Considering the recent attention on building energy consumption and indoor environments, ISHVAC2013 provided a global platform for discussing recent research on and developments in different aspects of HVAC systems and components, with a focus on building energy consumption, energy efficiency and indoor environments. These categories span a broad range of topics, and the proceedings provide readers with a good general overview of recent advances in different aspects of HVAC systems and related research. As such, they offer a unique resource for further research and a valuable source of information for those interested in the subject.
The proceedings are intended for researchers, engineers and graduate students in the fields of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), indoor environments, energy systems, and building information and management.
Angui Li works at Xi an University of Architecture and Technology, Yingxin Zhu works at Tsinghua University and Yuguo Li works at The University of Hong Kong."

Ensuring current and future architecture is both successfully and sustainably produced is critical for cities and communities to not only survive but thrive. Additionally, improving built environment practices is necessary to protect the world as well as its various populations. Further study on the current challenges and future directions of sustainable architecture is required in order to create a stronger, healthier society. Contemporary Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities in Sustainable Architecture discusses the role of architecture and the built environment on communities, ecology, and society; relevant issues related to the production of sustainable built environments; and the socio-cultural integration aspects of innovative architectural designs in urban settings. The book also addresses heritage practices, responses to climate action, and technology applications. Covering key topics such as energy efficiency, urban green spaces, and sustainable solutions, this reference work is ideal for policymakers, architects, industry professionals, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

New Edition: Introduction to Computational Earthquake Engineering (3rd Edition)Introduction to Computational Earthquake Engineering covers solid continuum mechanics, finite element method and stochastic modeling comprehensively, with the second and third chapters explaining the numerical simulation of strong ground motion and faulting, respectively. Stochastic modeling is used for uncertain underground structures, and advanced analytical methods for linear and non-linear stochastic models are presented. The verification of these methods by comparing the simulation results with observed data is then presented, and examples of numerical simulations which apply these methods to practical problems are generously provided. Furthermore three advanced topics of computational earthquake engineering are covered, detailing examples of applying computational science technology to earthquake engineering problems.

Whether or not, you are on the job site or back in the office, this book will help you to avoid mistakes, code violations, and wasted time and money. The book s four part treatment begins with constituent materials followed by self contained parts on Concrete Properties, Processes, and Concrete Repair and Rehabilitation.

Designed to be an "all in one" reference, the author includes a wealth information for the most popular types of testing. This includes: Analysis of Fresh Concrete; Testing Machines; Accelerated Testing Methods; Analysis of Hardened Concrete and Mortar; Core Sampling and Testing; Assessment of Concrete Construction; Repair; Quality Concepts; Quality Control; Statistics; Standards, Specifications, and Codes of Practice. With this book in hand, construction engineers and even technicians find valuable information regarding Exposed Concrete Finishes, Repairing Concrete, Formwork, Precast Concrete, Concrete Roads, and Industrial Floors.

Project managers and owners will find this reference a valuable guide to concrete both in terms of its applications in construction projects and the science and chemistry of concrete for its own sake.
Fundamentals of Concrete Chemistry

Handy at your figure tip calculations

Tips for working with all types of concretes

Covers Roads, floors, and finishes

Principles of Precast, Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete "

A smart building is the state-of-art in building with features that facilitates informed decision making based on the available data through smart metering and IoT sensors. This set provides useful information for developing smart buildings including significant improvement of energy efficiency, implementation of operational improvements and targeting sustainable environment to create an effective customer experience. It includes case studies from industrial results which provide cost effective solutions and integrates the digital SCADE solution. Describes complete implication of smart buildings via industrial, commercial and community platforms Systematically defines energy-efficient buildings, employing power consumption optimization techniques with inclusion of renewable energy sources Covers data centre and cyber security with excellent data storage features for smart buildings Includes systematic and detailed strategies for building air conditioning and lighting Details smart building security propulsion. This set is aimed at graduate students, researchers and professionals in building systems, architectural, and electrical engineering.

Cementitious materials, rocks and fibre-reinforced composites commonly termed as "quasibrittle," need a different fracture mechanics approach to model the crack propagation study because of the presence of significant size of fracture process zone ahead of the crack-tip. Recent studies show that concrete structures manifest three important stages in fracture process: crack initiation, stable crack propagation and unstable fracture or failure. Fracture Mechanics concept can better explain the above various stages including the concepts of ductility, size-effect, strain softening and post-cracking behavior of concrete and concrete structures.

The book presents a basic introduction on the various nonlinear concrete fracture models considering the respective fracture parameters. To this end, a thorough state-of-the-art review on various aspects of the material behavior and development of different concrete fracture models is presented. The development of cohesive crack model for standard test geometries using commonly used softening functions is shown and extensive studies on the behavior of cohesive crack fracture parameters are also carried out. The subsequent chapter contains the extensive study on the double-"K" and double-"G" fracture parameters in which some recent developments on the related fracture parameters are illustrated including introduction of weight function method to Double-"K" Fracture Model and formulization of size-effect behavior of the double-"K" fracture parameters. The application of weight function approach for determining of the "KR"-curve associated with cohesive stress distribution in the fracture process zone is also presented. Available test data are used to validate the new approach. Further, effect of specimen geometry, loading condition, size-effect and softening function on various fracture parameters is investigated. Towards the end, a comparative study between different fracture parameters obtained from various models is presented."

This book provides a comprehensive overview of essential topics related to conventional and advanced drying and energy technologies, especially motivated by increased industry and academic interest. The main topics discussed are: theory and applications of drying, emerging topics in drying technology, innovations and trends in drying, thermo-hydro-chemical-mechanical behaviors of porous materials in drying, and drying equipment and energy. Since the topics covered are inter-and multi-disciplinary, the book offers an excellent source of information for engineers, energy specialists, scientists, researchers, graduate students, and leaders of industrial companies. This book is divided into several chapters focusing on the engineering, science and technology applied in essential industrial processes used for raw materials and products.

The book presents the development of the Construction Quality Assessment System (CONQUAS), Singapore's de facto quality performance measurement system, explains the application of the Quality Management System (QMS) to manage CONQUAS and identifies 33 critical success factors (CSFs) for achieving high CONQUAS scores. Through CONQUAS, the reader benefits from understanding how the Singapore government developed and implemented the first objective system for measuring what many building professionals have perceived to be elusive quality standards in the construction industry. The book presents both the theoretical concepts as well as the practical aspects to achieving strategic Project Quality Management that is anchored on the CSFs to building best practices. To realistically reflect the practical aspects and challenging issues faced by stakeholders in the construction industry, questionnaire surveys were conducted with building professionals to distinguish the importance level and extent of adoption of the 33 CSFs (identified from a comprehensive review of the extant literature) in influencing and affecting the achievement of high CONQUAS scores. These were further anchored by in-depth interviews with quality experts in the Singapore construction industry to provide a better understanding of issues relating to strategic Project Quality Management. Collectively, the empirical findings collated from the building professionals suggest that while the CSFs identified are known tenets of quality, these were still not being followed in their totality. A further case study was conducted through a formal set of in-depth interviews with the quality assurance team of a construction company who has direct involvement before, during and after their tremendous improvements in the CONQUAS scores attained. The strength of this book therefore represents a true account and reflections of real-life practices and experiences in the construction industry for contractors, quality managers and policy-makers to learn from. Although the context of this book relates to the Singapore experience, the lessons and recommendations are equally relevant and applicable to the global construction industry in both the developing and developed countries whose stakeholders (in both the public and private sectors) wish to understand how CONQUAS works, and how the CSFs identified can likewise be implemented for strategic Project Quality Management to building best practices. The book is therefore of interests to researchers, academia and practitioners in the construction industry as well as in other sectors of the economy (in Singapore and other countries) where learning points may be used for enhancing project quality management for buildings.

This book offers a comprehensive review of current systems for fish protection and downstream migration. It offers the first systematic description of the currently available technologies for fish protection at hydropower intakes, including accurate and timely data collected by the authors and other researchers. It describes how to design and test them in agreement with the guidelines established from the EU Water Framework Directive. The book includes important information about fish biology, with a special focus on swimming and migration mechanisms. It offers a robust bridge between concepts in applied ecology and civil hydraulic engineering, thus providing biologists and hydraulic engineers with an authoritative reference guide to both the theory and practice of fish protection. It is also of interest for planners, public authorities as well as environmental consultants

Concrete as a construction material goes through both physical and chemical changes under extreme elevated temperatures. As one of the most widely used building materials, it is important that both engineers and architects are able to understand and predict its behavior in under extreme heat conditions. Brief and readable, this book provides the tools and techniques to properly analysis the effects of high temperature of reinforced concrete which will lead to more stable, safer structures.

Based on years of the author s research, Reinforced Concrete at Elevated Temperatures four part treatment starts with an unambiguous and thorough exposition of the mechanical behaviors of materials at elevated temperature followed by a discussion of Temperature field of member sections, Mechanical behaviors of members and structures at elevated temperature, ending with Theoretical analysis and practical calculation methods. The book provides unique insight into:

Coupling thermal-mechanical constitutive relation of concrete

Exceptional analyses of beams and columns of rectangular section with three surfaces and two adjacent surfaces exposing to high temperature

Measurement and analysis of redistribution of internal forces of statically indeterminate structure during heating-loading process

Finite element analysis and calculation charts for two-dimensional temperature field of structural members

Finite element analysis and simplified calculation method for reinforced concrete structure at elevated temperature

With this book, engineers and architects can effectively analyze the effect of high temperature on concrete and materials which will lead to better designs of fire resistant and damage evaluation and treatment after fire.
Tools and techniques for analyzing the effects of high temperature on concrete andreinforcement materials.Measurement and analysis of redistribution of internal forces of statically indeterminate structure during the heating-loading process.Finite element analysis and calculation charts for two-dimensional temperature field of structural members.Finite element analysis and simplified calculation method for reinforced concrete structure at elevated temperature."

The Finite Element Method, shortly FEM, is a widely used computational tool in structural engineering. For basic design purposes it usually suf ces to apply a linear-elastic analysis. Only for special structures and for forensic investigations the analyst need to apply more advanced features like plasticity and cracking to account for material nonlinearities, or nonlinear relations between strains and displacements for geometrical nonlinearity to account for buckling. Advanced analysis techniques may also be necessary if we have to judge the remaining structural capacity of aging structures. In this book we will abstain from such special cases and focus on everyday jobs. Our goal is the worldwide everyday use of linear-elastic analysis, and dimensioning on basis of these elastic computations. We cover steel and concrete structures, though attention to structural concrete prevails. Structural engineers have access to powerful FEM packages and apply them intensively. Experience makes clear that often they do not understand the software that they are using. This book aims to be a bridge between the software world and structural engineering. Many problems are related to the correct input data and the proper interpretation and handling of output. The book is neither a text on the Finite Element Method, nor a user manual for the software packages. Rather it aims to be a guide to understanding and handling the results gained by such software. We purposely restrict ourselves to structure types which frequently occur in practise.

This book provides a snapshot of the current state-of-the-art in the fields of mobile and wireless technology, security and applications. The proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Mobile and Wireless Technology (ICMWT2015), it represents the outcome of a unique platform for researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to share cutting-edge developments in the field of mobile and wireless science technology, including those working on data management and mobile security. The contributions presented here describe the latest academic and industrial research from the international mobile and wireless community. The scope covers four major topical areas: mobile and wireless networks and applications; security in mobile and wireless technology; mobile data management and applications; and mobile software. The book will be a valuable reference for current researchers in academia and industry, and a useful resource for graduate-level students working on mobile and wireless technology.

Flood risk management requires a multi-disciplinary approach with experts from the fields of health, town planning, civil engineering, computer science and mathematical statistics. This volume presents chapters highlighting the methodologies and tools developed to improve flood management and flood risk reduction. Chapters in this important volume consider research on Emerging economies and developing countries and the case studies are focused in Malaysia, China and South-East Asia. The book presents key research from areas of the globe where flood management has not traditionally been studied but where the effects of climate change and natural disasters present huge challenges for societies in the region. This volume, edited by leaders in the field of disaster management, would of be particular interest to students, researchers and policy specialists involved with examining flood related risk reduction methods and systems for key decision makers.

This book describes principles, industry practices and evolutionary methodologies for advanced safety studies, which are helpful in effectively managing volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments within the framework of quantitative risk assessment and management and associated with the safety and resilience of structures and infrastructures with tolerance against various types of extreme conditions and accidents such as fires, explosions, collisions and grounding. It presents advanced computational models for characterizing structural actions and their effects in extreme and accidental conditions, which are highly nonlinear and non-Gaussian in association with multiple physical processes, multiple scales, and multiple criteria. Probabilistic scenario selection practices and applications are presented. Engineering practices for structural crashworthiness analysis in extreme conditions and accidents are described. Multidisciplinary approaches involving advanced computational models and large-scale physical model testing are emphasized. The book will be useful to students at a post-graduate level as well as researchers and practicing engineers.

This text addresses the modeling of vibrating systems with the perspective of finding the model of minimum complexity which accounts for the physics of the phenomena at play. The first half of the book (Ch.1-6) deals with the dynamics of discrete and continuous mechanical systems; the classical approach emphasizes the use of Lagrange's equations. The second half of the book (Ch.7-12) deals with more advanced topics, rarely encountered in the existing literature: seismic excitation, random vibration (including fatigue), rotor dynamics, vibration isolation and dynamic vibration absorbers; the final chapter is an introduction to active control of vibrations. The first part of this text may be used as a one semester course for 3rd year students in Mechanical, Aerospace or Civil Engineering. The second part of the text is intended for graduate classes. A set of problems is provided at the end of every chapter. The author has a 35 years experience in various aspects of Structural dynamics, both in industry (nuclear and aerospace) and in academia; he was one of the pioneers in the field of active structures. He is the author of several books on random vibration, active structures and structural control.

This book presents a collection of recent research on building diagnosis techniques related to construction pathology, hygrothermal behavior and durability, and diagnostic techniques. It highlights recent advances and new developments in the field of building physics, building anomalies in materials and components, new techniques for improved energy efficiency analysis, and diagnosis techniques such as infrared thermography. This book will be of interest to a wide readership of professionals, scientists, students, practitioners, and lecturers.

This book presents extensive information on structural health monitoring for suspension bridges. During the past two decades, there have been significant advances in the sensing technologies employed in long-span bridge health monitoring. However, interpretation of the massive monitoring data is still lagging behind. This book establishes a series of measurement interpretation frameworks that focus on bridge site environmental conditions, and global and local responses of suspension bridges. Using the proposed frameworks, it subsequently offers new insights into the structural behaviors of long-span suspension bridges. As a valuable resource for researchers, scientists and engineers in the field of bridge structural health monitoring, it provides essential information, methods, and practical algorithms that can facilitate in-service bridge performance assessments.

Improved geospatial instrumentation and technology such as in laser scanning has now resulted in millions of data being collected, e.g., point clouds. It is in realization that such huge amount of data requires efficient and robust mathematical solutions that this third edition of the book extends the second edition by introducing three new chapters: Robust parameter estimation, Multiobjective optimization and Symbolic regression. Furthermore, the linear homotopy chapter is expanded to include nonlinear homotopy. These disciplines are discussed first in the theoretical part of the book before illustrating their geospatial applications in the applications chapters where numerous numerical examples are presented. The renewed electronic supplement contains these new theoretical and practical topics, with the corresponding Mathematica statements and functions supporting their computations introduced and applied. This third edition is renamed in light of these technological advancements.

In Europe, the building sector accounts for 40% of energy consumption which has a strong influence on greenhouse gas emissions. The book deals with efficient methodologies aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector. This includes analyses of the building envelopes, the heating systems, the use of solar energy and the assessment of the environmental and energy sustainability of the proposed solutions. After a brief introduction to the physical fundamentals involved in the study, results are presented to support cost-effective technical strategies to promote actions for energy saving, in the most critical fields and with the most economic advantage.