Authored by leading experts from around the world, the three-volume Handbook of Nanostructured Thin Films and Coatings gives scientific researchers and product engineers a resource as dynamic and flexible as the field itself. The first two volumes cover the latest research and application of the mechanical and functional properties of thin films and coatings, while the third volume explores the cutting-edge organic nanostructured devices used to produce clean energy. This third volume, Organic Nanostructured Thin Film Devices and Coatings for Clean Energy, addresses various aspects of the processing and properties of organic thin films, devices, and coatings for clean energy applications. Topics covered include: Thin-film solar cells based on the use of polycrystalline thin-film materials Anodized titania nanotube array and its application in dye-sensitized solar cells Progress and challenges associated with photovoltaic applications of silicon nanocrystalline materials Semiconductive nanocomposite films for clean environment Thin-coating technologies and applications in high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells Nanoscale organic molecular thin films for information memory applications A complete resource, this handbook provides the detailed explanations that newcomers need, as well as the latest cutting-edge research and data for experts. Covering a wide range of mechanical and functional technologies, including those used in clean energy, these books also feature figures, tables, and images that will aid research and help professionals acquire and maintain a solid grasp of this burgeoning field. The Handbook of Nanostructured Thin Films and Coatings is composed of this volume and two others: Nanostructured Thin Films and Coatings, Functional Properties Nanostructured Thin Films and Coatings, Mechanical Properties

Solar energy is available all over the world in different intensities. Theoretically, the solar energy available on the surface of the earth is enough to support the energy requirements of the entire planet. However, in reality, progress and development of solar science and technology depends to a large extent on human desires and needs. This is due to the various barriers to overcome and to deal with the economics of practical utilization of solar energy. This book introduces the rapid development and progress in the field of solar energy applications for science and technology: the advancement in the field of biological processes & chemical processes; electricity production; and mechanical operations & building operations enhanced by solar energy. The volume covers bio-hydrogen production and other biological processes related to solar energy; chemical processes for the production of hydrogen from water and other endothermic processes using solar energy; the development of thermo-electric production through solar energy; the development of solar ponds for electric energy production; and the mechanical operation with solar energy; the building operation with solar energy optimization and urban planning. This book is an invaluable resource for scientists who need the scientific and technological knowledge of the wide coverage of solar energy sciences and engineering applications. This will further encourage researchers, scientists, engineers and students to stimulate the use of solar energy as an alternative energy source.

Safety and Reliability - Theory and Applications contains the contributions presented at the 27th European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL 2017, Portoroz, Slovenia, June 18-22, 2017). The book covers a wide range of topics, including: * Accident and Incident modelling * Economic Analysis in Risk Management * Foundational Issues in Risk Assessment and Management * Human Factors and Human Reliability * Maintenance Modeling and Applications * Mathematical Methods in Reliability and Safety * Prognostics and System Health Management * Resilience Engineering * Risk Assessment * Risk Management * Simulation for Safety and Reliability Analysis * Structural Reliability * System Reliability, and * Uncertainty Analysis. Selected special sessions include contributions on: the Marie Sklodowska-Curie innovative training network in structural safety; risk approaches in insurance and fi nance sectors; dynamic reliability and probabilistic safety assessment; Bayesian and statistical methods, reliability data and testing; oganizational factors and safety culture; software reliability and safety; probabilistic methods applied to power systems; socio-technical-economic systems; advanced safety assessment methodologies: extended Probabilistic Safety Assessment; reliability; availability; maintainability and safety in railways: theory & practice; big data risk analysis and management, and model-based reliability and safety engineering. Safety and Reliability - Theory and Applications will be of interest to professionals and academics working in a wide range of industrial and governmental sectors including: Aeronautics and Aerospace, Automotive Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Energy Production and Distribution, Environmental Engineering, Information Technology and Telecommunications, Critical Infrastructures, Insurance and Finance, Manufacturing, Marine Industry, Mechanical Engineering, Natural Hazards, Nuclear Engineering, Offshore Oil and Gas, Security and Protection, Transportation, and Policy Making.

The 2016 2nd International Conference on Energy Equipment Science and Engineering (ICEESE 2016) will be held on November 12-14, 2016 in Guangzhou, China. ICEESE 2016 is to bring together innovative academics and industrial experts in the field of energy equipment science and engineering to a common forum. The primary goal of the conference is to promote research and developmental activities in energy equipment science and engineering and another goal is to promote scientific information interchange between researchers, developers, engineers, students, and practitioners working all around the world. The conference will be held every year to make it an ideal platform for people to share views and experiences in energy equipment science and engineering and related areas.

The analysis of energy systems is of paramount importance in modern societies, since it is fundamental to guarantee a sustainable economic development. It combines technical and economic research with a specific focus on quantitative modelling, in order to optimize the modalities of energy demand and supply globally. The book covers major advanced topics related to the analysis of energy by considering different aspects, namely management, planning and policies. The most recent trends, such as smart grids, transition from fossil fuels to renewables based energy systems and distributed generation, are also discussed in this book. Intended to be a collection of various contributions from experts all around the world, it includes latest research results, innovations and methodologies about the analysis of energy systems. The book also focuses to contribute to the current debate related to the evolution of energy systems, by discussing in an open way the pro's and con's without any pre-constitute point of view. Title is aimed to be a reference for the academic community, students and professionals with a wider interdisciplinary background. Key Features: Presents integration of renewable sources with conventional energy systems. Topic is addressed from a multidisciplinary point of view, i.e. economy, technical, modelling, planning. Investigates management and planning aspects of future energy supplies. Multidimensional nature of energy systems is highlighted and discussed. Contributes towards implementing policy measures to reduce primary energy consumptions and carbon footprint.

This book discusses the specifics of safety regulations regarding nuclear risk and how experts contribute to the safety of nuclear installations. Drawing on research conducted in collaboration with the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the ideas that are put forward rely on a review of the practices of specialists in human and organizational factors concerning nuclear safety. The author shows that the French approach depends on maintaining a technical dialogue between the regulatory authority (ASN), IRSN and nuclear operators. This method of risk management is known as "French cooking" in the Anglo-Saxon world, where a more formal regulatory approach is taken. This technical dialogue does however hold certain benefits, particularly in the field of human and organizational factors, where it allows an advancement of the state of knowledge, which remains incomplete. After the Fukushima accident, in the face of an ongoing European and global re-evaluation of the safety of nuclear power and alignment towards the Anglo-Saxon standard, the French cooking approach may yet be able to make a significant contribution. This work will be of interest to all involved in nuclear power engineering and in the field of risk management and nuclear safety. Includes a preface by Jacques Repussard, Director General, IRSN, France, and a postface by Erik Hollnagel, Professor, Institute of Regional Health Research, University of Southern Denmark / Chief Consultant, Centre for Quality, Region of Southern Denmark.

In light of increasing human-induced global climate change, there is a greater need for clean energy resources and zero carbon projects. This new volume offers up-to-date coverage of the fundamentals as well as recent advancements in energy efficient thermal energy storage materials, their characterization, and technological applications. Thermal energy storage (TES) systems offer very high-energy savings for many of our day-to-day applications and could be a strong component for enhancing the usage of renewable/clean energy-based devices. Because of its beneficial environmental impact, this technology has received wide attention in the recent past, and dedicated research efforts have led to the development of novel materials, as well to innovative applications in very many fields, ranging from buildings to textile, healthcare to agriculture, space to automobiles. This book offers a valuable and informed systematic treatment of latent heat-based thermal energy storage systems, covering current energy research and important developmental work.

A bestselling textbook in its first three editions, Continuum Mechanics for Engineers, Fourth Edition provides engineering students with a complete, concise, and accessible introduction to advanced engineering mechanics. It provides information that is useful in emerging engineering areas, such as micro-mechanics and biomechanics. Through a mastery of this volume's contents and additional rigorous finite element training, readers will develop the mechanics foundation necessary to skillfully use modern, advanced design tools. Features: Provides a basic, understandable approach to the concepts, mathematics, and engineering applications of continuum mechanics Updated throughout, and adds a new chapter on plasticity Features an expanded coverage of fluids Includes numerous all new end-of-chapter problems With an abundance of worked examples and chapter problems, it carefully explains necessary mathematics and presents numerous illustrations, giving students and practicing professionals an excellent self-study guide to enhance their skills.

1946 is the year Bryce DeWitt entered Harvard graduate school. Quantum Gravity was his goal and remained his goal throughout his lifetime until the very end. The pursuit of Quantum Gravity requires a profound understanding of Quantum Physics and Gravitation Physics. As G. A. Vilkovisky commented, "Quantum Gravity is a combination of two words, and one should know both. Bryce understood this as nobody else, and this wisdom is completely unknown to many authors of the flux of papers that we see nowadays."

Distingished physicist Cecile DeWitt-Morette skillfully blends her personal and scientific account with a wealth of her late husband's often unpublished writings on the subject matter.

This volume, through the perspective of the leading researcher on quantum gravity of his generation, will provide an invaluable source of reference for anyone working in the field.

This book focuses on field theory and it covers subjects such as statistical mechanics, quantum field theory and their interrelation, continuous global symmetry, non-Abelian gauge fields, instantons and the quantum theory of loops, and quantum strings and random surfaces.

The 2016 2nd International Conference on Energy Equipment Science and Engineering (ICEESE 2016) was held on November 12-14, 2016 in Guangzhou, China. ICEESE 2016 brought together innovative academics and industrial experts in the field of energy equipment science and engineering to a common forum. The primary goal of the conference is to promote research and developmental activities in energy equipment science and engineering and another goal is to promote scientific information interchange between researchers, developers, engineers, students, and practitioners working all around the world. The conference will be held every year to make it an ideal platform for people to share views and experiences in energy equipment science and engineering and related areas.

The strength of metallic materials determines the usability and reliability of all the machines, tools and equipment around us. Yet, the question about which mechanisms control the strength and damage resistance of materials and how they can be optimised remains largely unanswered. How do real, heterogeneous ma- rials deform and fail? Why can a small modification of the microstructure increase the strength and damage resistance of materials manifold? How can the strength of heterogeneous materials be predicted? The purpose of this book is to present different experimental and computational analysis methods of micromechanics of damage and strength of materials and to demonstrate their applications to various micromechanical problems. This book summarizes at a glance some of the publications of the Computational Mechanics Group at the IMWF/MPA Stuttgart, dealing with atomistic, micro- and meso- chanical modelling and experimental analysis of strength and damage of metallic materials. In chapter 1, the micromechanisms of damage and fracture in different groups of materials are investigated experimentally, using direct observations and inverse analysis. The interaction of microstructural elements with the evolving damage is studied in these experiments. Chapter 2 presents different approaches to the - cromechanical simulation of composite materials: embedded unit cells, multiphase finite elements and multiparticle unit cells. Examples of the application of these models to the analysis of deformation and damage in different materials are given. Chapter 3 deals with the methods of numerical modelling of damage evolution and crack growth in heterogeneous materials.

Microorganisms are ubiquitously present in petroleum reservoirs and the facilities that produce them. Pipelines, vessels, and other equipment used in upstream oil and gas operations provide a vast and predominantly anoxic environment for microorganisms to thrive. The biggest technical challenge resulting from microbial activity in these engineered environments is the impact on materials integrity. Oilfield microorganisms can affect materials integrity profoundly through a multitude of elusive (bio)chemical mechanisms, collectively referred to as microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). MIC is estimated to account for 20 to 30% of all corrosion-related costs in the oil and gas industry. This book is intended as a comprehensive reference for integrity engineers, production chemists, oilfield microbiologists, and scientists working in the field of petroleum microbiology or corrosion. Exhaustively researched by leaders from both industry and academia, this book discusses the latest technological and scientific advances as well as relevant case studies to convey to readers an understanding of MIC and its effective management.

The 2016 International Conference on Advances in Energy and Environment Research (ICAEER 2016) took place on August 12-14, 2016 in Guangzhou, China. ICAEER 2016 has been a meeting place for innovative academics and industrial experts in the field of energy and environment research. The primary goal of the conference is to promote research and developmental activities in energy and environment research and further to promote scientific information exchange between researchers, developers, engineers, students, and practitioners working all around the world. The conference will be organized every year making it an ideal platform for people to share views and experiences in energy and environment research and related areas. ICAEER 2016 is dedicated to presenting and publishing novel and fundamental advances in energy and environment research fields. Scholars and specialists on ICAEER 2016, originating from over 10 countries or regions, have shared their knowledge and interesting research results. During the conference, an international stage was prepared for the participants to present their theoretical studies and practical applications.

This book deals with the simulation of the mechanical behavior of engineering structures, mechanisms and components. It presents a set of strategies and tools for formulating the mathematical equations and the methods of solving them using MATLAB. For the same mechanical systems, it also shows how to obtain solutions using a different approaches. It then compares the results obtained with the two methods. By combining fundamentals of kinematics and dynamics of mechanisms with applications and different solutions in MATLAB of problems related to gears, cams, and multilink mechanisms, and by presenting the concepts in an accessible manner, this book is intended to assist advanced undergraduate and mechanical engineering graduate students in solving various kinds of dynamical problems by using methods in MATLAB. It also offers a comprehensive, practice-oriented guide to mechanical engineers dealing with kinematics and dynamics of several mechanical systems.

This textbook highlights the theory of fractional calculus and its wide applications in mechanics and engineering. It describes in details the research findings in using fractional calculus methods for modeling and numerical simulation of complex mechanical behavior. It covers the mathematical basis of fractional calculus, the relationship between fractal and fractional calculus, unconventional statistics and anomalous diffusion, typical applications of fractional calculus, and the numerical solution of the fractional differential equation. It also includes latest findings, such as variable order derivative, distributed order derivative and its applications. Different from other textbooks in this subject, the book avoids lengthy mathematical demonstrations, and presents the theories in close connection to the applications in an easily readable manner. This textbook is intended for students, researchers and professionals in applied physics, engineering mechanics, and applied mathematics. It is also of high reference value for those in environmental mechanics, geotechnical mechanics, biomechanics, and rheology.

The motivation for the workshop on which this book is based was the discovery in recent years of a large number of binary and millisecond radio pulsars, in the galactic disk as well as in globular star clusters, the oldest stellar systems in our galaxy. These discoveries have revolutionized our thinking on many aspects concerning the interior structure and evolution of neutron stars, and have revived the interest in the study of neutron star physics in general. In this book some three dozen of the world's experts in the field of radio pulsars, X-ray binaries, stellar evolution, neutron star interiors and stellar dynamics review the latest observational discoveries as well as the current theoretical thinking on the formation and physics of binary X-ray sources and of the binary and milli-second pulsars. These include discoveries such as that of the elevent millisecond pulsars in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, the relativistic effects in the new double neturon star system PSR 1534+12 and spectacular results from Germany's ROSAT X-Ray Observatory.

Risk, Reliability and Safety contains papers describing innovations in theory and practice contributed to the scientific programme of the European Safety and Reliability conference (ESREL 2016), held at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland (25-29 September 2016). Authors include scientists, academics, practitioners, regulators and other key individuals with expertise and experience relevant to specific areas. Papers include domain specific applications as well as general modelling methods. Papers cover evaluation of contemporary solutions, exploration of future challenges, and exposition of concepts, methods and processes. Topics include human factors, occupational health and safety, dynamic and systems reliability modelling, maintenance optimisation, uncertainty analysis, resilience assessment, risk and crisis management.

This volume contains the papers presented at the Third Alexander von Humboldt Colloquium on Celestial Mechanics. The papers cover a large range of questions, from the behaviour of dust particles to the stability of the solar system as a whole. The motions of asteroids and their classification into families are also discussed. Specific topics addressed are KAM theory, chaotic motions, resonances, Lyapunov characteristic exponents, perturbation theory and numerical integration.

Energy Geotechnics includes 97 technical papers presented at the 1st International Conference on Energy Geotechnics (ICEGT 2016, Kiel, Germany, 29-31 August 2016). The contributions provides significant advances and critical challenges facing the areas of fundamentals, constitutive and numerical modelling, testing techniques and energy geotechnics applications. Energy Geotechnics contains seven regular sessions and six minisymposia, with contributions on discrete and continuum based modelling as well as investigations based on experimental studies at various scales. The papers on discrete and continuum based modelling examine the behaviour of gas hydrate sediments, cyclic and Themo-Hydro-Mechanical (T-H-M) modelling of energy piles, non-linear behaviour of energy geo-storage and geo-structures, deformation of geomaterials, modelling of borehole heat exchangers and energy walls, analysis of hydraulic fracturing and discontinuities in reservoirs, engineering problems involving gas hydrates sediments, and modelling of environmental impact of energy geotechnical processes.

This book systematically introduces readers to computational granular mechanics and its relative engineering applications. Part I describes the fundamentals, such as the generation of irregular particle shapes, contact models, macro-micro theory, DEM-FEM coupling, and solid-fluid coupling of granular materials. It also discusses the theory behind various numerical methods developed in recent years. Further, it provides the GPU-based parallel algorithm to guide the programming of DEM and examines commercial and open-source codes and software for the analysis of granular materials. Part II focuses on engineering applications, including the latest advances in sea-ice engineering, railway ballast dynamics, and lunar landers. It also presents a rational method of parameter calibration and thorough analyses of DEM simulations, which illustrate the capabilities of DEM. The computational mechanics method for granular materials can be applied widely in various engineering fields, such as rock and soil mechanics, ocean engineering and chemical process engineering.