More than 800,000 dams and thousands of kilometers of dikes have been constructed around the world. These structures are often designed based on a statistical analysis of the discharge distribution in rivers. However, the history of construction of dams and dikes coexists with the history of failures. Hundreds of dam failure events were reported worldwide in the previous century, while every year dikes breach due to high flows in the rivers or for other reasons leading sometimes to catastrophic consequences. In this book a description is presented of a framework and techniques for modelling structure failure events as well as a proposal to several novel approaches for risk analysis and assessment by numerical, statistical and constrained based methods in particular to the problems of breach modelling and flood water mitigation.

Most successful organizations recognize Maintenance Parts and Procurement as a critical success factor to Asset Management Excellence and their fundamental supply chain value proposition. This book works as a guide to all the stakeholders that influence the success of their Maintenance Parts Operation and their enterprise's bottom line. Maintenance Parts Management Excellence: A Holistic Anatomy defines the Maintenance Parts Managements role in Asset Management Excellence and expands on the importance of the Parts Inventory Planner role in an organization. It discusses how to create a unique Maintenance Parts Management Strategy for an organization and offers insights on the multiple strategies needed to create and maintain a Maintenance Parts inventory policy. The book also provides an organized overall approach to creating Maintenance Parts Management Excellence in an enterprise. Executives with an organization responsible for the construction, management, and disposal of all assets classes (plant, equipment, IT assets), consultants responsible for assignments associated with optimizing life cycle decisions for clients, maintenance, and reliability professionals within an organization, will benefit from this professional plus book. Upper-level undergraduate engineering students, as well as graduate students of management who focus on operations management and engineering graduate students addressing issues of maintenance and reliability engineering, may also be interested in this book.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This thesis reports on an innovative production-scheduling model for virtual computer-integrated manufacturing (VCIM) systems. It also describes a robust genetic algorithm for production scheduling in VCIM systems. The model, which is the most comprehensive of its kind to date, is not only capable of supporting collaborative shipment scheduling and handling multiple product orders simultaneously, but also helps cope with multiple objective functions under uncertainties. In turn, the genetic algorithm, characterised by an innovative algorithm structure, chromosome encoding, crossover and mutation, is capable of searching for optimal/suboptimal solutions to the complex optimisation problem in the VCIM production- scheduling model described. Lastly, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified in a comprehensive case study.

With the rapid expansion of the Internet over the last 20 years, event-based distributed systems are playing an increasingly important role in a broad range of application domains, including enterprise management, environmental monitoring, information dissemination, finance, pervasive systems, autonomic computing, collaborative working and learning, and geo-spatial systems. Many different architectures, languages and technologies are being used for implementing event-based distributed systems, and much of the development has been undertaken independently by different communities. However, a common factor is an ever-increasing complexity. Users and developers expect that such systems are able not only to handle large volumes of simple events but also to detect complex patterns of events that may be spatially distributed and may span significant periods of time. Intelligent and logic-based approaches provide sound foundations for addressing many of the research challenges faced and this book covers a broad range of recent advances, contributed by leading experts in the field. It presents a comprehensive view of reasoning in event-based distributed systems, bringing together reviews of the state-of-the art, new research contributions, and an extensive set of references. It will serve as a valuable resource for students, faculty and researchers as well as industry practitioners responsible for new systems development.

Originally published in 1967, this title reveals how the missionaries, so often misguided and short-sighted, were in fact pioneers of modernization, science and freedom. The structure of the book allows for comparative analysis and the volume illustrates how some of the social consequences of action through the schools could be foreseen. In addition light is thrown on the results of Imperial rule during the nineteenth century and on the nature of the impact of Western education in Asia and Africa.

This work develops a quantitative structured methodology for managing the development of new products for highly competitive markets. Particular attention has been given to integrating a number of experimental tools and concepts within a common framework including marketing research. Taguchi methods, value benchmarking, value engineering, total quality management, activity based costing, concurrent engineering, statistical quality control, systems engineering, and organization are often treated today as related but separate tools and concepts. The reader should gain an understanding of how these tools complement each other and when they can be used most effectively to aid product decision making.

During the last two decades, a tremendous growth in the popularity and applications of computers in manufacturing has occurred. Computer aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, flexible manufacturing systems, group technology and many others are considered by many manufacturing executives as the most promising technologies and philosophies that, if successfully implemented, can reduce costs and enable the US manufacturing companies to become more competitive in the global market. In the computer-integrated manufacturing environ ment, the decision processes are often more involved. The decision makers are frequently required to have access to a vast amount of data to support and analyze their complex decision problems at strategic and tactical levels. Decision support systems are often referred to as computer-based information technologies that allow the decision makers to interactively communicate and solve the decision problems. Manufacturing Decision Support Systems is intended to report the latest developments and address the central issues in this area. This volume consists of 14 refereed chapters, written by leading researchers from academia and industry."

Micro and nano-fluidics concerns fluid dynamics occurring in devices or flow configurations with minimum design length measured in micrometers or smaller. The behavior of fluids at these scales is quite different from that at the macroscopic level due to the presence of surface tension effects, wetting phenomena, Brownian diffusion and hydrodynamic interactions with immersed particles and microstructures. These effects cannot be generally represented in a classical homogeneous continuum framework. However, this triggers the development of new tools to investigate and simulate problems at the meso-scopic level.

This book contains a collection of works presented at the IUTAM Symposium on Advances on Micro and Nano-fluidics held in Dresden in 2007. It covers several subjects of wide interest for micro and nano-fluidics applications focusing on both, analytical and numerical approaches. Topics covered in particular include multi-scale particle methods for numerical simulations, liquid-wall interactions and modeling approaches, modeling of immersed nano-scale structures, organized flow behavior at micro and nano-scales, and methods for control of micro- and nano-scale flows.

Since manufacturing has acquired industrial relevance, the problem of adequately sizing manufacturing plants has always been discussed and has represented a di?cult problem for the enterprises, which prepare strategic plans to competitively operate in the market. Manufact- ing capacity is quite expensive and its exploitation and planning must be carefully designed in order to avoid large wastes, or to preserve the survival of enterprises in the market. Indeed a good choice of ma- facturing capacity can result in improved performance in terms of cost, innovativeness, ?exibility, quality and service delivery. Unfortunately the capacity planning problem is not easy to solve because of the lack of clarity in the decisional process, the large number of variables involved, the high correlation among variables and the high level of uncertainty that inevitably a?ects decisions. The aim of this book is to provide a framework and speci?c methods and tools for the selection and con?guration of capacity of Advanced Manufacturing Systems (AMS). In particular this book de?nes an - chitecture where the multidisciplinary aspects of the designofAMSare properly organized and addressed. The tool will support the decisi- maker in the de?nition of the con?guration of the system which is best suited for the particular competitive context where the ?rm operates or wants tooperate. Thisbookisofinterest for academic researchers in the ?eldofind- trial engineering and particularly indicated in the areas of operations and manufacturing strategy.

Soft soils present particular challenges to engineers and an understanding of the specific characteristics of these soils is indispensable. Laboratory techniques such as numerical modelling, theoretical analysis and constitutive modelling give new insights into soft soil material behaviour, while large-scale testing in the field provides important information in areas such as slope stability and soft soil improvements.

This collection of papers from the Fourth International Conference on Soft Soil Engineering, Vancouver, 2006, presents an international appraisal of current research and new advances in engineering practices, illustrating the theory with relevant case studies. Geotechnical professionals, engineers, academics and researchers working in the areas of soft ground engineering and soft soil engineering will find this a valuable book.

For today's students, learning to model the dynamics of complex systems is increasingly important across nearly all engineering disciplines. First published in 2001, Forbes T. Brown's Engineering System Dynamics: A Unified Graph-Centered Approach introduced students to a unique and highly successful approach to modeling system dynamics using bond graphs. Updated with nearly one-third new material, this second edition expands this approach to an even broader range of topics. What's New in the Second Edition? In addition to new material, this edition was restructured to build students' competence in traditional linear mathematical methods before they have gone too far into the modeling that still plays a pivotal role. New topics include magnetic circuits and motors including simulation with magnetic hysteresis; extensive new material on the modeling, analysis, and simulation of distributed-parameter systems; kinetic energy in thermodynamic systems; and Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods. MATLAB(R) figures prominently in this edition as well, with code available for download from the Internet. This code includes simulations for problems that appear in the later chapters as well as code for selected thermodynamic substances. Using a step-by-step pedagogy accompanied by abundant examples, graphs, illustrations, case studies, guided exercises, and homework problems, Engineering System Dynamics: A Unified Graph-Centered Approach, Second Edition is a text that students will embrace and continue to use well into their careers. While the first half of the book is ideal for junior-level undergraduates, the entire contents are suited for more advanced students.

The investigation phase is the most important segment of any geotechnical study. Using the correct methods and properly interpreting the results are critical to a successful investigation. Comprising chapters from the second edition of the revered Geotechnical Engineering Investigation Handbook, Geotechnical Investigation Methods offers clear, concise, and hands-on guidance for choosing and executing a variety of field investigations. This practical guide provides an affordable alternative to larger handbooks and condenses the essential elements of a geotechnical investigation into an easily digestible and readily accessible format. Renowned expert Roy E. Hunt discusses preliminary study to predict geologic conditions, applying information from geologic and topographic maps as well as remotely sensed imagery, proper test boring procedures, the various geophysical methods and when each is appropriate, and a variety of methods for determining materials' engineering properties in the lab and in situ. Hunt also covers field instrumentation for surface movements, subsurface deformations, and in situ pressures and stresses, as well as instrument arrays for typical problems such as structure settlement and fault movements. Eliminate the need to search through narrow volumes or large handbooks with Geotechnical Investigation Methods: A Field Guide for Geotechnical Engineers, a convenient and complete guide to the techniques you need.

Ensuring that their work has a positive influence on society is a responsibility and a privilege for engineers, but also a considerable challenge. This book addresses the ways in which engineers meet this challenge, working from the assumption that for a project to be truly ethical both the undertaking itself and its implementation must be ethically sound. The contributors discuss varied topics from an international and interdisciplinary perspective, including l robot ethics; l outer space; l international development; l internet privacy and security; l green branding; l arms conversion; l green employment; and l deliberate misinformation about climate change Important questions are answered, such as l what is meant by engineering ethics and its practical implications; l how decisions made by engineers in their working lives make an impact at the global as well as the local level; and l what ethics-related questions should be asked before making such decisions. Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability will be a valuable resource for practising and student engineers as well as all who are interested in professional ethics, especially as it relates to engineering. Researchers and policy makers concerned with the effects of engineering decisions on environmental sustainability and international stability will find this book to be of special interest.

The proceedings contain papers accepted for the 17th ISPE International Conference on Concurrent Engineering, which was held in Cracow, Poland, September 6-10, 2010. Concurrent Engineering (CE) has a history of over twenty years. At first, primary focus was on bringing downstream information as much upstream as possible, by introducing parallel processing of processes, in order to prevent errors at the later stage which would sometimes cause irrevocable damage and to reduce time to market. During the period of more than twenty years, numerous new concepts, methodologies and tools have been developed. During this period the background for engineering/manufacturing has changed extensively. Now, industry has to work with global markets. The globalization brought forth a new network of experts and companies across many different domains and fields in distributed environments. These collaborations integrated with very high level of profesionalism and specialisation, provided the basis for innovations in design and manufacturing and succeeded in creating new products on a global market.

This book is intended to address both the quantitative and qualitative issues of programmable controllers for factory automation. It is helpful for both the newcomer to the field and the experienced control engineer requiring a fresh perspective.

The book introduces the finite element method (FEM) that is one of the most powerful numerical tools these days. FEM is the analysis tool in most of CAD/CAM systems and it is critical to understand FEM for engineering design. It begins with underlying variational calculus and moves to variational/FEM formulations. It covers all basic procedures of assembly and solution procedures in several programming practices. Finally, it introduecs Ansys and Ansys WB software to apply FEM to advanced topics in various areas of engineering.

Understanding the stress state in the earth's crust is crucial for engineers working in rock, particularly with regard to underground construction. Experience shows that an adequately high horizontal in-situ stress has a positive effect in stabilizing large span rock caverns close to the ground surface. On the other hand, high stresses resulting from large overburden, for example, may cause spalling and rock burst, threatening the integrity of the construction. The location, orientation and support design of underground structures takes into account the magnitude and orientation of in-situ rock stresses, considering such factors as gravity, topography, tectonics, residual stress, pore pressure change and geological structures. An accurate knowledge of in-situ rock stress can only be obtained by physical measurement, and over the last few years there has been substantial development in techniques and in interpretation of the results. The papers in this volume will be of particular interest to those working in tunnelling and mining and in petroleum exploration and production.

It is crucial that engineers - from students to those already practising - have a deep understanding of the environmental threats facing the world, if they are to become part of the solution and not the problem. Is there a way to reconcile modern lifestyles with the compelling need for change? Could new improved technologies play a key role? If great leaps in the environmental efficiency of technologies are needed, can they be produced? Engineers are in a privileged and hugely influential position to innovate, design and build a sustainable future. But are they engaged or uninterested? Are they knowledgeable or ignorant? This book has been developed by a number of committed educators in European engineering departments under the leadership of Delft University of Technology and the Technical University of Catalunya to meet the perceived gap between what engineers know and what they should know in relation to sustainable development. The University of Delft decided as long ago as 1998 that all of its engineering graduates, working towards careers as designers, managers or researchers, should be prepared for the challenge of sustainable development and, as such, should leave university able to make sustainable development operational in their designs and daily practices. The huge amount of knowledge gathered on best-practice teaching for engineers is reflected in this book. The aim is to give engineering students a grounding in the challenge that sustainable development poses to the engineering profession, the contribution the engineer can make to attaining some of the societal and environmental goals of sustainability, and the barriers and pitfalls engineers will likely need to confront in their professional lives. Concise but comprehensive, the book examines the key tools, skills and techniques that can be used in engineering design and management to ensure that whole-life costs and impacts of engineering schemes are addressed at every stage of planning, implementation and disposal. The book also aims to demonstrate through real-life examples the tangible benefits that have already been achieved in many engineering projects, and to highlight how real improvements can be, and are being, made. Each chapter ends with a series of questions and exercises for the student to undertake. Sustainable Development for Engineers will be essential reading for all engineers and scientists concerned with sustainable development. In particular, it provides key reading and learning materials for undergraduate and postgraduate students reading environmental, chemical, civil or mechanical engineering, manufacturing and design, environmental science, green chemistry and environmental management.

The development of polymeric materials in the form of geosynthetics has brought major changes to the area of Civil Engineering. Increasing interest in these materials and their use has resulted in significant advances in their practical applications in the last few decades. Following this progress, geosynthetics have become a common and favoured construction component in present-day geotechnical engineering. A wide range of compositions is now used, with properties tailored to conditions required for application.Fundamentals of Geosynthetic Engineering provides an overview of the basic concepts of this fascinating and innovative subject area in a logical and illustrative way. This book guides the reader from basic description, manufacturing and material properties of the geosynthetics to their selection process and the major applications. It treats practical analysis and design concepts and provides guidelines for application. In addition, the quality control, field performance and monitoring of applied geosynthetics are discussed, and some aspects of costs analysis are described. The text is supported by examples, multiple choice and numerical questions with answers provided. One separate chapter with case studies is included in the book. In addition, the latest common test standards and codes of practice are introduced in a few sections with extensive references. This textbook will serve courses in geosynthetics or earth reinforcement for graduate students in Geotechnical, Transportation, Hydraulic or Environmental Engineering. It may also be used as part of the undergraduate Geotechnical Engineering course for final year undergraduate students in Civil Engineering. The structure of this text also facilitates self-study by civil engineers, manufacturers and installers who wish to become familiar with the subject matter.

Provides a thorough, updated guide to ungasketed bolted joints and their design Based around the latest ASME standards for bolted joints Covers use of the Finte Element Method for design analysis of bolted joints, with ANSYS examples Expands coverage of threads, internal/external thread interaction, and adjustment for design functions Examines the materials aspects of bolted joint design and behavior

Deep learning includes a subset of machine learning for processing the unsupervised data with artificial neural network functions. The major advantage of deep learning is to process big data analytics for better analysis and self-adaptive algorithms to handle more data. When applied to engineering, deep learning can have a great impact on the decision-making process. Deep Learning Applications and Intelligent Decision Making in Engineering is a pivotal reference source that provides practical applications of deep learning to improve decision-making methods and construct smart environments. Highlighting topics such as smart transportation, e-commerce, and cyber physical systems, this book is ideally designed for engineers, computer scientists, programmers, software engineers, research scholars, IT professionals, academicians, and postgraduate students seeking current research on the implementation of automation and deep learning in various engineering disciplines.

Rapid Modelling and Quick Response presents new research developments in the fields of rapid modelling and quick response linked with performance improvements (based on lead time reduction, etc., as well as financial performance measures).

The papers and teaching cases in this book were presented at the second Rapid Modelling Conference: "Quick Response - Intersection of Theory and Practice." The main focus of this collection is the transfer of knowledge from theory to practice, providing the theoretical foundations for successful performance improvement.

This conference volume challenges the traditional notions of rapid modelling, and offers valuable contributions to the scientific communities of operations management, production management, supply chain management, industrial engineering and operations research.

Rapid Modelling and Quick Response will give the interested reader (researcher, as well as practitioner) a good overview of new developments in this field.

Decision-making Support Systems (DMSS) are computer-based systems that support individual or organisational decision-making processes. Recent advances in information technology and artificial intelligence are enhancing these systems and giving rise to intelligent-DMSS.

Intelligent Decision-making Support Systems: Foundations, Applications and Challenges is the first book to provide integrated coverage of the technical aspects of intelligent Decision-Making Support Systems together with discussion of their application and evaluation in organisational structures.

The book brings together up-to-date information on the theory and application of i-DMSS. Readers will learn about the foundations, architectures, methods and strategies for successfully designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating intelligent Decision-making Support Systems.

Intelligent Decision-making Support Systems: Foundations, Applications and Challenges will be of value to researchers in AI and management studies interested in the latest thinking in decision-making, as well practising managers and consultants who are involved with putting advanced information technologies into practice in organisations.