This book meets head-on the difficulty of making practical use of new systems theory, presenting a selection of varied applications together with relevant theory. It shows how workable identification and control solutions can be derived by adapting and extrapolating from the theory. Each chapter has a common structure: a brief presentation of theory; the description of a particular application; experimental results; and a section highlighting, explaining and laying out solutions to the discrepancy between the theoretical and the practical.

In Mechanics of Poroelastic Media the classical theory of poroelasticity developed by Biot is developed and extended to the study of problems in geomechanics, biomechanics, environmental mechanics and materials science. The contributions are grouped into sections covering constitutive modelling, analytical aspects, numerical modelling, and applications to problems. The applications of the classical theory of poroelasticity to a wider class of problems will be of particular interest. The text is a standard reference for researchers interested in developing mathematical models of poroelasticity in geoenvironmental mechanics, and in the application of advanced theories of poroelastic biomaterials to the mechanics of biomaterials.

The last two decades have witnessed an enormous growth with regard to ap plications of information theoretic framework in areas of physical, biological, engineering and even social sciences. In particular, growth has been spectac ular in the field of information technology, soft computing, nonlinear systems and molecular biology. Claude Shannon in 1948 laid the foundation of the field of information theory in the context of communication theory. It is in deed remarkable that his framework is as relevant today as was when he 1 proposed it. Shannon died on Feb 24, 2001. Arun Netravali observes "As if assuming that inexpensive, high-speed processing would come to pass, Shan non figured out the upper limits on communication rates. First in telephone channels, then in optical communications, and now in wireless, Shannon has had the utmost value in defining the engineering limits we face." Shannon introduced the concept of entropy. The notable feature of the entropy frame work is that it enables quantification of uncertainty present in a system. In many realistic situations one is confronted only with partial or incomplete information in the form of moment, or bounds on these values etc.; and it is then required to construct a probabilistic model from this partial information. In such situations, the principle of maximum entropy provides a rational ba sis for constructing a probabilistic model. It is thus necessary and important to keep track of advances in the applications of maximum entropy principle to ever expanding areas of knowledge."

All typical and special modal and response analysis methods, applied within the frame of the design of spacecraft structures, are described in this book. It therefore addresses graduate students and engineers in the aerospace field.

T his book presents a t.hooretical framewerk and control methodology for a class of complcx dyna.mical systenis characterized by high state space dimension, multiple inpu t.s anrl out puts. significant nonlinearity, parametric uncertainty and unmodellod dyuarni cs. The book start.s wit.h an inl.rod uct.orv Chapter 1 where the peculiari- ties of control problcrns Ior complex systems are discussed and motivating examples from different fiolds of seience and technology are given. Chapter 2 prcscnts SO Il I(' rcsults of nonlinear control theory which assist in reading subsequent chaptors. The main notions and concepts of stability theory are int roduced. and problems of nonlinear transformation of sys- tem coordinates an' discussod. On this basis, we consider different design techniques and approaches t 0 linearization. stabilization and passification of nonlinear dynamical SySt('IIIS. Chapter 3 gives an cx posit.ion of the Speed-Gradient method and its ap- plications to nonlinear aud adaptive control. Convergence and robustness properties are exam iued. I~ roblcms of rcgulat ion, tracking, partial stabiliza- tion and control of 11amiItonia.n systerns are considered .

The ?eld of robotics continues to ?ourish and develop. In common with general scienti?c investigation, new ideas and implementations emerge quite spontaneously and these are discussed, used, discarded or subsumed at c- ferences, in the reference journals, as well as through the Internet. After a little more maturity has been acquired by the new concepts, then archival publication as a scienti?c or engineering monograph may occur. The goal of the Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics is to publish new developments and advances in the ?elds of robotics research - rapidly and informally but with a high quality. It is hoped that prospective authors will welcome the opportunity to publish a structured presentation of some of the emerging robotics methodologies and technologies. The edited volume by Antonio Bicchi, Henrik Christensen and Domenico Prattichizzo is the outcome of the second edition of a workshop jointly sponsored by the IEEE Control Systems Society and the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. Noticeably, the previous volume was published in the Springer Lecture Notes on Control and Information Sciences. The authors are recognised as leading scholars internationally. A n- ber of challenging control problems on the forefront of today's research in robotics and automation are covered, with special emphasis on vision, sensory-feedback control, human-centered robotics, manipulation, planning, ?exible and cooperative robots, assembly systems.

Machining dynamics play an essential role in the performance of machine tools and machining processes in manufacturing. Current advances in computational modelling, sensors, diagnostic equipment and analysis tools, 3D surface metrology and manufacturing science are giving researchers and practising engineers a new perspective on the machining process.

Machining Dynamics: Fundamentals and Applications reflects the new integrated approach to studying machining dynamics by presenting state-of-the-art applications, practices and research in the field. Written by experts in each field, the first part of the book presents the basic theory, analysis and control methodology in addition to detailed modelling and diagnostic techniques for machining dynamics, while part two focuses on applying the fundamentals of machining dynamics in a variety of machining processes including turning, grinding, gear machining and non-traditional machining.

Advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying manufacturing engineering and machining technology will find Machining Dynamics: Fundamentals and Applications a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the subject while the book s thoroughness allows it to serve as a useful reference for manufacturing engineers, production supervisors, planning and application engineers and designers."

This monograph presents the mechanics of vibration, buckling and bending of elastic structures with inclined members such as x-braced high rise frames and conical shells. More than giving detailed derivations of basic equations, Mechanics of Elastic Structures with Inclined Members is mainly oriented towards practical problem-solving. The book can be used as a textbook for graduate students concentrating on structural mechanics, or as a reference book for engineers and researchers in the fields of engineering mechanics, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and aerospace engineering.

There has been a growing interest in the foundation of the theory of th- walled composite beams and of their incorporation in aeronautical/aerospace, automotive, helicopter and turbomachinery rotor blades, mechanical, civil and naval constructions inthe last two decades or so. The proliferation of the specialized literature, mainly in the form of journal/ proceedings papers, and the activity in terms of workshops devoted to this topic attest this interest. A decisive factor that has fueled thisgrowing activity was generatedby highdiversity and severity ofdemandsand operating conditions imposed on structural elements involvedintheadvanced technology. In order to beable to survive andful?ll theirmission inthe extreme environmental conditions inwhich they operate, new materialsand new structural paradigms are required. The new exotic structures have to provide higher performances, unatta- able bytheclassical structures builtof traditional materials. Theadvent of advanced composite materials, of smart materialsandfunctionally graded - terials (FGMs), have constituted the strongest stimuli for suchdevelopments. Moreover, their incorporation is likely to expand the use and capabilities of thin-walledbeam structures. Thenew and stringent requirements imposed on aeronautical/aerospace, turbomachinery and shaft structural systems will be best met by such new types of material structures

This book is devoted to the theory of coupled electro-magneto-thermo-elastic fields excited in different bodies by various sources, both static and dynamic. It presents the classical piezoelectric and piezomagnetic effects, the Mindlin s electroelastic coupling due to a polarization gradient, and different combinations of these effects with thermoelasticity."

FolJowing the formulation of the laws of mechanics by Newton, Lagrange sought to clarify and emphasize their geometrical character. Poincare and Liapunov successfuIJy developed analytical mechanics further along these lines. In this approach, one represents the evolution of all possible states (positions and momenta) by the flow in phase space, or more efficiently, by mappings on manifolds with a symplectic geometry, and tries to understand qualitative features of this problem, rather than solving it explicitly. One important outcome of this line of inquiry is the discovery that vastly different physical systems can actually be abstracted to a few universal forms, like Mandelbrot's fractal and Smale's horse-shoe map, even though the underlying processes are not completely understood. This, of course, implies that much of the observed diversity is only apparent and arises from different ways of looking at the same system. Thus, modern nonlinear dynamics 1 is very much akin to classical thermodynamics in that the ideas and results appear to be applicable to vastly different physical systems. Chaos theory, which occupies a central place in modem nonlinear dynamics, refers to a deterministic development with chaotic outcome. Computers have contributed considerably to progress in chaos theory via impressive complex graphics. However, this approach lacks organization and therefore does not afford complete insight into the underlying complex dynamical behavior. This dynamical behavior mandates concepts and methods from such areas of mathematics and physics as nonlinear differential equations, bifurcation theory, Hamiltonian dynamics, number theory, topology, fractals, and others.

This book presents theoretical fundamentals and applications of a new numerical model that has the ability to simulate wave propagation. Coverage examines linear waves in ideal fluids and elastic domains. In addition, the book includes a numerical simulation of wave propagation based on scalar and vector wave equations, as well as fluid-structure interaction and soil-structure interaction.

Books like their authors have their destinies. This book for the most part couldhavebeenwrittenearlier, butithappenedtobereleasedaslateasthe 21stcentury.Itisbasedonthenumerousfundamentalstudiesofmyteacher Kamil Sh. Khodzhaev. His disease prevented him from implementing his ideas in the form that he had been contemplating for years. It was me who tried to convey his concepts and ideas with the least possible distortions. This book contains a number of solutions worked out by Kamil Sh. Khodzhaev himself as well as problems solved by the authors jointly or separately. Kamil Sh. Khodzhaev founded St. Petersburg school of electromech- ics, with the focus on mechanics as a part, however distinctive, of general analytical mechanics, having been inspired by the desire of our common Teacher Anatoly I. Lurie "to set order" in this signi?cant branch of s- ence. Khodzhaev'sschoolhasmanyfollowers andtheirworkisanintegral part of the book. Some original ideas and studies of our colleagues are provided with footnotes in the corresponding sections while Chapter 6 dealing with the motion of the charged particle in electromagnetic ?eld was written in cooperation with another co-author Alexander G. Chirkov.

"Analytical System Dynamics: Modeling and Simulation" combines results from analytical mechanics and system dynamics to develop an approach to modeling constrained multidiscipline dynamic systems. This combination yields a modeling technique based on the energy method of Lagrange, which in turn, results in a set of differential-algebraic equations that are suitable for numerical integration. Using the modeling approach presented in this book enables one to model and simulate systems as diverse as a six-link, closed-loop mechanism or a transistor power amplifier.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the 1997 IUTAM Symposium, where invited researchers in acoustics, aeronautics, elastodynamics, electromagnetics, hydrodynamics, and mathematics discussed non-reflecting computational boundaries. The participants formulated benchmark problems for evaluating computational boundaries, as described in the first article.

Multibody Dynamics is an area of Computational Mechanics which blends together various disciplines such as structural dynamics, multi-physics - chanics, computational mathematics, control theory and computer science, in order to deliver methods and tools for the virtual prototyping of complex mechanical systems. Multibody dynamics plays today a central role in the modeling, analysis, simulation and optimization of mechanical systems in a variety of ?elds and for a wide range of industrial applications. The ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics was ini- ated in Lisbon in 2003, and then continued in Madrid in 2005 with the goal of providing researchers in Multibody Dynamics with appropriate venues for exchanging ideas and results. The third edition of the Conference was held at the Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy, from June 25 to June 28, 2007. The Conference saw the participation of over 250 researchers from 32 di?- ent countries, presenting 209 technical papers, and proved to be an excellent forum for discussion and technical exchange on the most recent advances in this rapidly growing ?eld.

Computational Mechanics of the Classical Guitar describes a new dynamic paradigm in instrument acoustics based on time-dependent transient analysis and simulation of complete musical instruments. It describes the current state of theoretical and experimental research into the guitar for engineers, instrument makers and musicians. This includes a summary of the basic equations for the mechanics of vibrating bodies and a presentation of the FDM (finite difference method) model with which the true vibrational behaviour of the instrument as an entire system can be understood for the first time. This monograph presents various new theoretical and experimental results and insights into guitar playing such as the coupling between the strings and the top plate or a description of the finger noise made when the fingers slide over the strings before plucking.

Many historically and artistically important masonry buildings of the world's architecturalheritageareindireneedofmaintenanceandrestoration.Inorder tooptimizesuchoperationsintermsofcost-e?ectiveness,architecturalimpact andstatice?ectiveness,accuratemodelsofthestructuralbehaviorofmasonry constructions are invaluable. The ultimate aim of such modeling is to obtain important information, such as the stress ?eld, and to estimate the extent of cracking and its evolution when the structure is subjected to variations in both boundary and loading conditions. Although masonry has been used in building for centuries, it is only - centlythatconstitutivemodelsandcalculationtechniqueshavebeenavailable that enable realistic description of the static behavior of structures made of this heterogeneous material whose response to tension is fundamentally d- ferent from that to compression. Important insights on the mechanical behavior of masonry arches and vaults come from as far back as Leonardo [10], Hooke [58], Poleni [92] and many other authors (see [47], [9] and [10] for detailed references). Castigliano, in his famous paper on the Mosca bridge [23], and Signorini, in his studies on masonry beams [97], [98], showed both the possibility and necessity of taking into account the weak tensile strength of masonry material.

The ?eld of applied nonlinear dynamics has attracted scientists and engineers across many different disciplines to develop innovative ideas and methods to study c- plex behavior exhibited by relatively simple systems. Examples include: population dynamics, ?uidization processes, applied optics, stochastic resonance, ?ocking and ?ightformations, lasers, andmechanicalandelectricaloscillators. Acommontheme among these and many other examples is the underlying universal laws of nonl- ear science that govern the behavior, in space and time, of a given system. These laws are universal in the sense that they transcend the model-speci?c features of a system and so they can be readily applied to explain and predict the behavior of a wide ranging phenomena, natural and arti?cial ones. Thus the emphasis in the past decades has been in explaining nonlinear phenomena with signi?cantly less att- tion paid to exploiting the rich behavior of nonlinear systems to design and fabricate new devices that can operate more ef?ciently. Recently, there has been a series of meetings on topics such as Experimental Chaos, Neural Coding, and Stochastic Resonance, which have brought together many researchers in the ?eld of nonlinear dynamics to discuss, mainly, theoretical ideas that may have the potential for further implementation. In contrast, the goal of the 2007 ICAND (International Conference on Applied Nonlinear Dynamics) was focused more sharply on the implementation of theoretical ideas into actual - vices and system

Complexity science has been a source of new insight in physical and social systems and has demonstrated that unpredictability and surprise are fundamental aspects of the world around us. This book is the outcome of a discussion meeting of leading scholars and critical thinkers with expertise in complex systems sciences and leaders from a variety of organizations, sponsored by the Prigogine Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the Plexus Institute, to explore strategies for understanding uncertainty and surprise. Besides contributions to the conference, it includes a key digest by the editors as well as a commentary by the late nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine, "Surprises in half of a century." The book is intended for researchers and scientists in complexity science, as well as for a broad interdisciplinary audience of both practitioners and scholars. It will well serve those interested in the research issues and in the application of complexity science to physical and social systems.

Mechanics and Control of Soft-fingered Manipulation introduces a new approach to the modeling of fingertips that have a soft pad and a hard back plate, similar to human fingers. Starting from the observation of soft-fingered grasping and manipulation, the book provides a parallel distributed model that takes into account tangential deformation of the fingertips. The model is supported with many experimental verifications and simulation results. Statics and dynamics in soft-fingered grasping and manipulation are also formulated based on this new model. The book uniquely investigates how soft fingertips with hard back plates enhance dexterity in grasping and manipulation, theoretically and experimentally, revealing the differences between soft-fingered and rigid-fingered manipulation. Researchers involved in object manipulation by robotic hands, as well as in human dexterity in object manipulation, will find this text enlightening.

Computational kinematics is an enthralling area of science with a rich spectrum of problems at the junction of mechanics, robotics, computer science, mathematics, and computer graphics. The present book collects up-to-date methods as presented during the Fifth International Workshop on Computational Kinematics (CK2009) held at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. The covered topics include design and optimization of cable-driven robots, analysis of parallel manipulators, motion planning, numerical methods for mechanism calibration and optimization, geometric approaches to mechanism analysis and design, synthesis of mechanisms, kinematical issues in biomechanics, balancing and construction of novel mechanical devices, detection and treatment of singularities, as well as computational methods for gear design. The results should be of interest for practicing and research engineers as well as Ph.D. students from the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science, and computer graphics.

Springer published the ?rst book of the series of Advances in Robot Kinematics in an edited format in 1991. Since 1994, Kluwer and Springer published a book everytwo yearswithoutinterruptions.Thesebooksdealwith the theoryandpractice of robot kinematics and treat the kinematic aspects of robot motion and design of robots.EachbookofAdvancesinRobotKinematicsreportsthemostrecentresearch projects and presents important new discoveries. The series of Advances in Robot Kinematics is considered a most important source of information in its area. The present book emphasizes kinematic analysis and design. The issues - dressed are fundamentally kinematic in nature, including synthesis, calibration, - dundancy, forcecontrol, dexterity, inverseand forwardkinematics, kinematicsin- larities, as well as over-constrained systems. Methods used include line geometry, quaternion algebra, screw algebra, and linear algebra. These methods are applied to both parallel and serial multi-degree-of-freedom systems. The results should - terest researchers, teachers and students, in ?elds of engineering and mathematics related to robot theory, design, control and application. The contributions had been rigorously reviewed by independent reviewers. The authorsdiscussed their results at the eleventhinternationalsymposiumon Advances in Robot Kinematics which was held in June 2008 in Batz-sur-Mer, France. The symposium was organized by the Institut de Recherche en Communications et - bernetique de Nantes, France in collaborationwith the J. Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia, under the patronage of the International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Scie

Periodic Systems gives a comprehensive treatment of the theory of periodic systems, including the problems of filtering and control. Topics covered include: basic issues, including Floquet theory, controllability and observability, canonical decomposition, system norms and Lyapunov and robust stability; the problem of state estimation in its various forms, filtering, prediction and smoothing; control design methods, particularly optimal and robust control. The text focuses on discrete-time signals and systems; however, an overview of the entire field, including the continuous-time case, is provided in the first chapter. The authors presentation of the theory and results is mathematically rigorous while maintaining a readable style, avoiding excessive formalism. This makes the book accessible to graduate students and researchers from the fields of engineering, physics, economics and mathematics.

This volume contains the invited papers presented at the 9th International C- ference "Dynamical Systems - Theory and Applications" held in ?od ' z, ' Poland, December 17-20, 2007 dealing with nonlinear dynamical systems. The conf- encegatheredanumerousgroupofscientistsandengineers,whodealwithwidely understoodproblemsofdynamicsmetalsoinengineeringanddailylife. Organizationof the conferencewould nothavebeen possiblewithouta great effortofthestaffoftheDepartmentofAutomaticsandBiomechanicsoftheTech- calUniversityof?od ' z. ' Thepatronageovertheconferencehasbeentakenbythef- lowingscienti?cinstitutions:MechanicsandMachineDynamicsCommitteesofthe PolishAcademyofSciences,PolishSocietyofTheoreticalandAppliedMech- ics,PolishAssociationforComputationalMechanics,andTechnicalCommitteeof NonlinearOscillationsofIFToMM. The ?nancial support has been given by the Department of Education at the ?'odz' City Hall, Ministry of National Education and the Polish Association for ComputationalMechanics. We welcomednearly100personsfrom13countriesallovertheworld.They decidedto share the results of their researchandmanyyears of experiencein a disciplineofdynamicalsystemsbysubmittingmanyinterestingpapers. TheScienti?cCommitteeincludesthefollowingmembers:IgorV.Andrianov- Aachen;JanAwrejcewicz -?od ' z; ' Jose M. Balthazar- Rio Claro;Denis Bla- more- Newark; Iliya Blekhman - Sankt Petersburg;Roman Bogacz - Warsaw; TadeuszBurczyns ' ki-Gliwice;DickvanCampen-Eindhoven;Czes?awCempel- Poznan';LotharGaul- Stuttgart;Jozef ' Giergiel-Cracow;Katica Hedrih-Nis; ? Janusz Kowal - Cracow; Vadim A. Krysko - Saratov; W?odzimierz Kurnik - Warsaw; Claude-Henri Lamarque - Lyon; Nuno M. Maia - Lisbon; Leonid I.