The purpose of this monograph is to characterize and describe the quality of machined wood surfaces, whereas particular attention is given to the utility and to aesthetical values in product design. The approach employed by the authors involves an introductory overview and is then organized in three parts: first, the book deals with factors influencing surface stability, the second part describes the color and gloss properties of wood surfaces with many practical applications, and the third part covers roughness properties of surfaces related to machining. This is a highly informative and carefully presented book, providing valuable insight for both research experts and practitioners with an interest in machined wood surfaces.

This book covers the latest advances in polymer-inorganic nanocomposites, with particular focus on high-added-value applications in fields including electronics, optics, magnetism and biotechnology. The unique focus of this book is on electronic, optical, magnetic and biomedical applications of hybrid nanocomposites. Coverage includes: Synthesis methods and issues and production scale-up; Characterization methods; Electronic applications; Optical applications and Photonics; Magnetic applications; and Biomedical applications. The book offers readers a solid grasp of the state of the art, and of current challenges in non-traditional applications of hybrid nanocomposites.

This handbook studies the combination of various methods of designing for reliability, availability, maintainability and safety, as well as the latest techniques in probability and possibility modeling, mathematical algorithmic modeling, evolutionary algorithmic modeling, symbolic logic modeling, artificial intelligence modeling and object-oriented computer modeling.

The book includes peer-reviewed contributions selected from presentations given at the Istanbul Bridge Conference 2014, held from August 11 - 13 in Istanbul, Turkey. It reports on the current challenges in bridge engineering faced by professionals around the globe, giving a special emphasis to recently developed techniques, innovations and opportunities. The book covers key topics in the field, including modeling and analysis methods; construction and erection techniques; design for extreme events and condition assessment and structural health monitoring. There is a balanced presentation of theory, research and practice. This book, which provides the readers with a comprehensive and timely reference guide on current practices in bridge engineering, is intended for professionals, academic researchers and students alike.

This inclusive cross-cultural study rethinks the nexus between engineering education and context. In so doing the book offers a reflection on contextual boundaries with an overall boundary crossing ambition and juxtaposes important cases of critical participation within engineering education with sophisticated scholarly reflection on both opportunities and discontents. Whether and in what way engineering education is or ought to be contextualized or de-contextualized is an object of heated debate among engineering educators. The uniqueness of this study is that this debate is given comprehensive coverage – presenting both instrumentally inclined as well as radical positions on transforming engineering education. In contextualizing engineering education, this book offers diverse commentary from a range of disciplinary, meta- and interdisciplinary perspectives on how cultural, professional, institutional and educational systems contexts shape histories, structural dynamics, ideologies and challenges as well as new pathways in engineering education. Topics addressed include examining engineering education in countries ranging from India to America, to racial and gender equity in engineering education and incorporating social awareness into the area. Using context as “bridge� this book confronts engineering education head on. Contending engineering ideologies and corresponding views on context are juxtaposed with contending discourses of reform. The uniqueness of the book is that it brings together scholars from the humanities, the social sciences and engineering from Europe – both East and West –  with the United States, China, Brazil, India and Australia.

This book is designed as an interdisciplinary platform for specialists working in electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles powertrain design and development, and for scientists who want to get access to information related to electric and hybrid vehicle energy management, efficiency and control. The book presents the methodology of simulation that allows the specialist to evaluate electric and hybrid vehicle powertrain energy flow, efficiency, range and consumption. The mathematics behind each electric and hybrid vehicle component is explained and for each specific vehicle the powertrain is analyzed and output results presented through the use of specific automotive industrial software (AVL Cruise , IPG CarMaker, AVL Concerto). This methodology of electric and hybrid powertrain design serves to broaden understanding of how the energy flow, efficiency, range and consumption of these vehicles can be adjusted, updated and predicted via development processes.

Maximising reader insights into the theory, models, methods and fundamental reasoning of design, this book addresses design activities in industrial settings, as well as the actors involved. This approach offers readers a new understanding of design activities and related functions, properties and dispositions. Presenting a ‘design mindset’ that seeks to empower students, researchers, and practitioners alike, it features a strong focus on how designers create new concepts to be developed into products, and how they generate new business and satisfy human needs.   Employing a multi-faceted perspective, the book supplies the reader with a comprehensive worldview of design in the form of a proposed model that will empower their activities as student, researcher or practitioner. We draw the reader into the core role of design conceptualisation for society, for the development of industry, for users and buyers of products, and for citizens in relation to public systems. The book also features original contributions related to exploration, conceptualisation and product synthesis.   Exploring both the power and limitations of formal design process models, methods, and tools viewed in the light of human ingenuity and cognition, the book develops a unique design mindset that adds human understanding to the list of methods and tools essential to design. This insight is distilled into useful mindset heuristics included throughout the book.

This volume identifies, discusses and addresses the wide array of ethical issues that have emerged for engineers due to the rise of a global economy. To date, there has been no systematic treatment of the particular challenges globalization poses for engineering ethics standards and education. This volume concentrates on precisely this challenge. Scholars and practitioners from diverse national and professional backgrounds discuss the ethical issues emerging from the inherent symbiotic relationship between the engineering profession and globalization. Through their discussions a deeper and more complete understanding of the precise ways in which globalization impacts the formulation and justification of ethical standards in engineering as well as the curriculum and pedagogy of engineering ethics education emerges. The world today is witnessing an unprecedented demand for engineers and other science and technology professionals with advanced degrees due to both the off-shoring of western jobs and the rapid development of non-Western countries. The current flow of technology and professionals is from the West to the rest of the world. Professional practices followed by Western (or Western-trained) engineers are often based on presuppositions which can be in fundamental disagreement with the viewpoints of non-Westerners. A successful engineering solution cannot be simply technically sound, but also must account for cultural, social and religious constraints. For these reasons, existing Western standards cannot simply be exported to other countries. Divided into two parts, Part I of the volume provides an overview of particular dimensions of globalization and the criteria that an adequate engineering ethics framework must satisfy in a globalized world. Part II of the volume considers pedagogical challenges and aims in engineering ethics education that is global in character.

Showcasing exemplars of how various aspects of design research were successfully transitioned into and influenced, design practice, this book features chapters written by eminent international researchers and practitioners from industry on the Impact of Design Research on Industrial Practice. Chapters written by internationally acclaimed researchers of design analyse the findings (guidelines, methods and tools), technologies/products and educational approaches that have been transferred as tools, technologies and people to transform industrial practice of engineering design, whilst the chapters that are written by industrial practitioners describe their experience of how various tools, technologies and training impacted design practice. The main benefit of this book, for educators, researchers and practitioners in (engineering) design, will be access to a comprehensive coverage of case studies of successful transfer of outcomes of design research into practice; as well as guidelines and platforms for successful transfer of research into practice.

Presenting the gradual evolution of the concept of Concurrent Engineering (CE), and the technical, social methods and tools that have been developed, including the many theoretical and practical challenges that still exist, this book serves to summarize the achievements and current challenges of CE and will give readers a comprehensive picture of CE as researched and practiced in different regions of the world. Featuring in-depth analysis of complex real-life applications and experiences, this book demonstrates that Concurrent Engineering is used widely in many industries and that the same basic engineering principles can also be applied to new, emerging fields like sustainable mobility. Designed to serve as a valuable reference to industry experts, managers, students, researchers, and software developers, this book is intended to serve as both an introduction to development and as an analysis of the novel approaches and techniques of CE, as well as being a compact reference for more experienced readers.

This book offers a collection of original peer-reviewed contributions presented at the 6th International Congress on Design and Modeling of Mechanical Systems (CMSM'2015), held in Hammamet, Tunisia, from the 23rd to the 25th of March 2015. It reports on both recent research findings and innovative industrial applications in the fields of mechatronics and robotics, dynamics of mechanical systems, fluid structure interaction and vibroacoustics, modeling and analysis of materials and structures, and design and manufacturing of mechanical systems. Since its first edition in 2005, the CMSM Congress has been held every two years with the aim of bringing together specialists from universities and industry to present the state-of-the-art in research and applications, discuss the most recent findings and exchange and develop expertise in the field of design and modeling of mechanical systems. The CMSM Congress is jointly organized by three Tunisian research laboratories: the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory of the National Engineering School of Monastir; the Mechanical Laboratory of Sousse, part of the National Engineering School of Sousse; and the Mechanical, Modeling and Manufacturing Laboratory at the National Engineering School of Sfax.

The chapters which appear in this volume are selected studies presented at the First International Conference on Engineering and Applied Sciences Optimization (OPT-i), Kos, Greece, 4-6 June 2014 and works written by friends, former colleagues and students of the late Professor M. G. Karlaftis; all in the area of optimization that he loved and published so much in himself. The subject areas represented here range from structural optimization, logistics, transportation, traffic and telecommunication networks to operational research, metaheuristics, multidisciplinary and multiphysics design optimization, etc. This volume is dedicated to the life and the memory of Professor Matthew G. Karlaftis, who passed away a few hours before he was to give the opening speech at OPT-i. All contributions reflect the warmth and genuine friendship which he enjoyed from his associates and show how much his scientific contribution has been appreciated. He will be greatly missed and it is hoped that this volume will be received as a suitable memorial to his life and achievements.

This second companion volume on engineering studies considers engineering practice including contextual analyses of engineering identity, epistemologies and values. Key overlapping questions examine such issues as an engineering identity, engineering self-understandings enacted in the professional world, distinctive characters of engineering knowledge and how engineering science and engineering design interact in practice. Authors bring with them perspectives from their institutional homes in Europe, North America, Australia\ and Asia. The volume includes 24 contributions by more than 30 authors from engineering, the social sciences and the humanities. Additional issues the chapters scrutinize include prominent norms of engineering, how they interact with the values of efficiency or environmental sustainability. A concluding set of articles considers the meaning of context more generally by asking if engineers create their own contexts or are they created by contexts. Taken as a whole, this collection of original scholarly work is unique in its broad, multidisciplinary consideration of the changing character of engineering practice.

Many complex aeronautical design problems can be formulated with efficient multi-objective evolutionary optimization methods and game strategies. This book describes the role of advanced innovative evolution tools in the solution, or the set of solutions of single or multi disciplinary optimization. These tools use the concept of multi-population, asynchronous parallelization and hierarchical topology which allows different models including precise, intermediate and approximate models with each node belonging to the different hierarchical layer handled by a different Evolutionary Algorithm. The efficiency of evolutionary algorithms for both single and multi-objective optimization problems are significantly improved by the coupling of EAs with games and in particular by a new dynamic methodology named “Hybridized Nash-Pareto games�. Multi objective Optimization techniques and robust design problems taking into account uncertainties are introduced and explained in detail.  Several applications dealing with civil aircraft and UAV, UCAV systems are implemented numerically and discussed.  Applications of increasing optimization complexity are presented as well as two hands-on test cases problems. These examples focus on aeronautical applications and will be useful to the practitioner in the laboratory or in industrial design environments. The evolutionary methods coupled with games presented in this volume can be applied to other areas including surface and marine transport, structures, biomedical engineering, renewable energy and environmental problems. This book will be of interest to students, young scientists and engineers involved in the field of multi physics optimization.

This book presents the results of discussions and presentation from the latest ISDT event (2014) which was dedicated to the 94th birthday anniversary of Prof. Lotfi A. Zade, father of Fuzzy logic. The book consists of three main chapters, namely: Chapter 1: Integrated Systems Design Chapter 2: Knowledge, Competence and Business Process Management Chapter 3: Integrated Systems Technologies Each article presents novel and scientific research results with respect to the target goal of improving our common understanding of KT integration.

This book contains the contributions from the RILEM International Symposium on Materials and Joints in Timber Structures that was held in Stuttgart, Germany from October 8 to 10, 2013. It covers recent developments in the materials and the joints used in modern timber structures. Regarding basic wooden materials, the contributions highlight the widened spectrum of products comprising cross-laminated timber, glulam and LVL from hardwoods and block glued elements. Timber concrete compounds, cement bonded wood composites and innovative light-weight constructions represent increasingly employed alternatives for floors, bridges and facades. With regard to jointing technologies, considerable advances in both mechanical connections and glued joints are presented. Self-tapping screws have created unprecedented options for reliable, strong as well as ductile joints and reinforcement technologies. Regarding adhesives, which constitute the basis of the jointing/laminating technology of modern timber products, extended options for tailor-made bonding solutions have to be stated. Apart from melamine-urea and phenolic-resorcinol adhesives, one-component-polyurethanes, emulsion isocyanate polymers and epoxies offer a wide range of possibilities. The contributions dealing with experimental and numerical investigations on static, cyclic and seismic behavior of structures clearly reveal the enhanced potential of modern timber construction for reliable and sustainable buildings and bridges of the new millennium. The book is structured in nine thematic areas, being I) Structures II) Mechanical Connections III) Glued Joints and Adhesives IV) Timber and Concrete/Cement/Polymer Composites V) Cyclic, Seismic Behavior VI) Hardwood, Modified Wood and Bamboo VII) Cross-Laminated Timber VIII) Properties and Testing of Wood IX) Glulam

This book introduces the basic concepts of contact mechanics, friction, lubrication, and wear mechanisms, providing simplified analytical relationships that are useful for quantitative assessments. Subsequently, an overview on the main wear processes is provided, and guidelines on the most suitable design solutions for each specific application are outlined. The final part of the text is devoted to a description of the main materials and surface treatments specifically developed for tribological applications and to the presentation of tribological systems of particular engineering relevance. The text is up to date with the latest developments in the field of tribology and provides a theoretical framework to explain friction and wear problems, together with practical tools for their resolution. The text is intended for students on Engineering courses (both bachelor and master degrees) who must develop a sound understanding of friction, wear, lubrication, and surface engineering, and for technicians or professionals who need to solve tribological problems in their work.

In creating the value-added product in not distant future, it is necessary and inevitable to establish a holistic and though-evoking approach to the engineering problem, which should be at least associated with the inter-disciplinary knowledge and thought processes across the whole engineering spheres. It is furthermore desirable to integrate it with trans-disciplinary aspects ranging from manufacturing culture, through liberal-arts engineering and industrial sociology. The thought-evoking approach can be exemplified and typified by representative engineering problems: unveiling essential features in ‘Tangential Force Ratio and Interface Pressure’, prototype development for ‘Bio-mimetic Needle’ and application of ‘Water-jet Machining to Artificial Hip Joint’, product innovation in ‘Heat Sink for Computer’, application of ‘Graph Theory’ to similarity evaluation of production systems, leverage among reciprocity attributes in ‘Industrial and Engineering Designs for Machine Enclosure’ and academic interpretation of skills of mature technician in ‘Scraping’. The book is intended to cultivate the multi-talented engineer of the next generation by providing them with the future perspective and ideas for challenging research and development subjects.

Fracture, Fatigue, Failure and Damage Evolution, Volume 5: Proceedings of the 2014 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, the fifth volume of eight from the Conference, brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on a wide range of areas, including: Mixed Mode Fracture I: Emphasis on Modeling Mixed Mode Fracture II: Emphasis on Experimental Measurements Full-Field Measurements of Fracture Microscale & Microstructural Effects on Mechanical Behavior I: Nanoscale Effects Microscale & Microstructural Effects on Mechanical Behavior II: MEMS Microscale & Microstructural Effects on Mechanical Behavior III: Microstructure Microscale & Microstructural Effects on Mechanical Behavior IV: Shape Memory Alloys Fracture & Fatigue of Composites Fracture & Fatigue for Engineering Applications Wave-Based Techniques in Fracture & Fatigue I Wave-Based Techniques in Fracture & Fatigue II: Acoustic Emissions

This book covers the different aspects of tropical natural fibre composites in areas such as properties, design and analysis, manufacturing techniques, material selection of kenaf, oil palm, sugar palm, pineapple leaf, coconut, sugarcane and banana based fibre composites. Important properties such as mechanical and thermal of natural fibres as well their composites are presented. A study on the composite fibre-matrix interface is highlighted together with the design process and analysis of products from natural fibre composites. An overview on the manufacturing techniques (conventionally used to produce fibre glass fibre composites) such as pultrusion and filament winding is described to produce natural fibre composites. The importance of material selection system to obtain the most optimum materials for application in engineering components from natural fibre composites is covered with a strong focus on the concurrent engineering for natural fibre composites.

At the crossroads of various disciplines, this collective work examines the possibility of a new end-user “engagement� in ongoing digital/technological products and services development. It provides an overview of recent research specifically focused on the user’s democratic participation and empowerment. It also enables readers to better identify the main opportunities of participatory design, a concept which encourages the blurring of the role between user and designer. This allows people to escape their status as “end-user� and to elevate themselves to the level of creator. This book explores new avenues for rethinking the processes and practices of corporate innovation in order to cope with current socio-economic and technological changes. In so doing, it aims to help companies renew industrial models that allow them to design and produce new ranges of technological products and services by giving the user an active role in the development process, far beyond the basic role of consumer. Intended for designers, design researchers and scientists interested in innovation and technology management, this book also provides a valuable resource for professionals involved in technology-based innovation processes.

This book sheds light on the shear behavior of Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC) elements, presenting a thorough analysis of the most important studies in the field and highlighting their shortcomings and issues that have been neglected to date. Instead of proposing a new formula, which would add to an already long list, it instead focuses on existing design codes. Based on a comparison of experimental tests, it provides a thorough analysis of these codes, describing both their reliability and weaknesses. Among other issues, the book addresses the influence of flange size on shear, and the possible inclusion of the flange factor in design formulas. Moreover, it reports in detail on tests performed on beams made of concrete of different compressive strengths, and on fiber reinforcements to study the influence on shear, including size effects. Lastly, the book presents a thorough analysis of FRC hollow core slabs. In fact, although this is an area of great interest in the current research landscape, it remains largely unexplored due to the difficulties encountered in attempting to fit transverse reinforcement in these elements.

This book focuses on core design and methods for design and analysis. It is based on advances made in nuclear power utilization and computational methods over the past 40 years, covering core design of boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors, as well as fast reactors and high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. The objectives of this book are to help graduate and advanced undergraduate students to understand core design and analysis, and to serve as a background reference for engineers actively working in light water reactors. Methodologies for core design and analysis, together with physical descriptions, are emphasized. The book also covers coupled thermal hydraulic core calculations, plant dynamics, and safety analysis, allowing readers to understand core design in relation to plant control and safety.

Electrical Machines and Drives play a vital role in industry with an ever increasing importance. This fact necessitates the understanding of machine and drive principles by engineers of many different disciplines. Therefore, this book is intended to give a comprehensive deduction of these principles. Special attention is given to the precise mathematical deduction of the necessary formulae to calculate machines and drives, and to the discussion of simplifications (if applied) with the associated limits. So the book shows how the different machine topologies can be deduced from general fundamentals, and how they are linked. This book addresses graduate students, researchers and developers of Electrical Machines and Drives, who are interested in getting knowledge about the principles of machine and drive operation and in detecting the mathematical and engineering specialties of the different machine and drive topologies together with their mutual links. The detailed, but compact mathematical deduction, together with a distinct emphasis onto assumptions, simplifications and the associated limits, leads to a clear understanding of Electrical Machine and Drive topologies and characteristics.

This volume presents the outcome of the second forum to cable-driven parallel robots, bringing the cable robot community together. It shows the new ideas of the active researchers developing cable-driven robots. The book presents the state of the art, including both summarizing contributions as well as latest research and future options. The book cover all topics which are essential for cable-driven robots: Classification Kinematics, Workspace and Singularity Analysis Statics and Dynamics Cable Modeling Control and Calibration Design Methodology Hardware Development Experimental Evaluation Prototypes, Application Reports and new Application concepts.