Have you ever wondered how it's possible to build a skyscraper, a big bridge, a jumbo jet, or a cruise liner? Everything has structure. Structure is the difference between a random pile of components and a fully functional object. Through structure the parts connect to make the whole. Natural structures vary from the very smallest part of an atom to the entire cosmology of the universe. Man-made structures include buildings, bridges, dams, ships, aeroplanes, rockets, trains, cars and fair-ground rides and all forms of artefacts, even large artistic sculptures. The wide range of different industries in which structural engineers work includes construction, transport, manufacturing, and aerospace. In this Very Short Introduction, David Blockley explores, in non-technical language, what structural engineering is all about, including examples ranging from the Shard in London and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to jumbo jets like the A380 and the Queen Elizabeth cruise liner. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Mit der vorliegenden Einfuhrung in die Hoehere Technische Mechanik, die sich an Studierende der technischen Wissenschaften wendet, soll eine Lucke zwischen den Grundlagen der Mechanik deformierbarer Koerper und einem der wichtigsten numerischen Verfahren, der Methode der Finiten Elemente (FEM), geschlossen werden. Als Voraussetzung fur eine kompakte Beschreibung des Inhalts werden die Grundbeziehungen der Tensorrechnung behandelt. Unter Verwendung dieses Kalkuls schliesst sich die Darstellung der Grundgleichungen sowie des Randwertproblems (RWPs) der linearen Elastizitatstheorie an. Die analytische Loesung des RWPs erfolgt mit dem Ziel, einige Voraussetzungen fur die richtige Anwendung von Berechnungssoftware zu schaffen. Mit der Behandlung von Prinzipien der Mechanik wird die naherungsweise Loesung des RWPs vorbereitet. Den Abschluss bilden der klassische Ritz-Ansatz und die durch Modifizierungen daraus abgeleitete FEM. Zum Verstandnis des Stoffes tragen zahlreiche Beispiele mit Loesungen bei.

Natural disasters are occasional intense events that disturb Earth's surface, but their impact can be felt long after. Hazard events such as earthquakes, volcanos, drought, and storms can trigger a catastrophic reshaping of the landscape through the erosion, transport, and deposition of different kinds of materials. Geomorphology and Natural Hazards: Understanding Landscape Change for Disaster Mitigation is a graduate level textbook that explores the natural hazards resulting from landscape change and shows how an Earth science perspective can inform hazard mitigation and disaster impact reduction. Volume highlights include: Definitions of hazards, risks, and disasters Impact of different natural hazards on Earth surface processes Geomorphologic insights for hazard assessment and risk mitigation Models for predicting natural hazards How human activities have altered 'natural' hazards Complementarity of geomorphology and engineering to manage threats

Conceptual Structural Design engineers addresses a topic that lies on the intersection of architecture and structural engineering. Within a building project, conceptual structural design and how successfully it has been dealt with, impacts both building performance as well as building appearance. Whilst engineers and architects are both educated in different fields, the most rewarding projects are where their shared expertise can be utilised in full. This book illustrates how these two professions can be bridged. In the first half, it details the theory and investigates sources of inspiration for developing structural form including what we can learn from natural forms, using intuition, finding inspiration from precedents, applying understanding of structural principles, utilising physical models for design, and using new design tools, construction methods, emerging technology and materials to develop new structural forms. The second part presents real life case studies showing projects in context and examples of best practice. Reflective of the changing times in which we live, this book shows. This fully updated third edition of Conceptual Structural Design is essential reading for architects and engineers, and for anyone interested in conceptual structural design.

The theory of linear poroelasticity describes the interaction between mechanical effects and adding or removing fluid from rock. It is critical to the study of such geological phenomena as earthquakes and landslides and is important for numerous engineering projects, including dams, groundwater withdrawal, and petroleum extraction. Now an advanced text synthesizes in one place, with one notation, numerous classical solutions and applications of this highly useful theory.

The introductory chapter recounts parallel developments in geomechanics, hydrogeology, and reservoir engineering that are unified by the tenets of poroelasticity. Next, the theory's constitutive and governing equations and their associated material parameters are described. These equations are then specialized for different simplifying geometries: unbounded problem domains, uniaxial strain, plane strain, radial symmetry, and axisymmetry. Example problems from geomechanics, hydrogeology, and petroleum engineering are incorporated throughout to illustrate poroelastic behavior and solution methods for a wide variety of real-world scenarios. The final chapter provides outlines for finite-element and boundary-element formulations of the field's governing equations. Whether read as a course of study or consulted as a reference by researchers and professionals, this volume's user-friendly presentation makes accessible one of geophysics' most important subjects and will do much to reduce poroelasticity's reputation as difficult to master.