Major progress has been made in the field of driveshafts since the authors presented their first edition of this unique reference work. Correspondingly, major revisions have been done for second edition of the German Textbook (Springer 2003), which is present here in the English translation.

The presentation was adjusted, novel improvements of manufacturing and design are described, and modern aspects of production are incorporated. The design and application of Hooke 's joint driveshafts is discussed as well as constant velocity joints for the construction of agricultural engines, road and rail vehicles.

This work can be used as a textbook as well as a reference for practitioners, scientists, and students dealing with drive technology.

This book guides the reader through general and fundamental problems of pressure vessel design. The basic approach is rigorously scientific with a complete theoretical development of the topics treated. The concrete and precise calculation criteria provided can be immediately applied to actual designs. The book also comprises unique contributions on important topics like Deformed Cylinders, Flat Heads, or Flanges.

This book covers the background theory of fluid power and indicates the range of concepts needed for a modern approach to condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. The theory is leavened by 15-years-worth of practical measurements by the author, working with major fluid power companies, and real industrial case studies. Heavily supported with examples drawn from real industrial plants - the methods in this book have been shown to work.

Machining is one of the most important manufacturing processes. Parts manufactured by other processes often require further operations before the product is ready for application. "Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances" is divided into two parts. Part I explains the fundamentals of machining, with special emphasis on three important aspects: mechanics of machining, tools, and work-piece integrity. Part II is dedicated to recent advances in machining, including: machining of hard materials, machining of metal matrix composites, drilling polymeric matrix composites, ecological machining (minimal quantity of lubrication), high-speed machining (sculptured surfaces), grinding technology and new grinding wheels, micro- and nano-machining, non-traditional machining processes, and intelligent machining (computational methods and optimization). Advanced students, researchers and professionals interested or involved in modern manufacturing engineering will find the book a useful reference.

Over the past three decades turbomachines experienced a steep increase in efficiency and performance. Based on fundamental principles of turbomachinery thermo-fluid mechanics, numerous CFD based calculation methods are being developed to simulate the complex 3-dimensional, highly unsteady turbulent flow within turbine or compressor stages. The objective of this book is to present the fundamental principals of turbomachinery fluid-thermodynamic design process of turbine and compressor components, power generation and aircraft gas turbines in a unified and compact manner. The book provides senior undergraduate students, graduate students and engineers in the turbomachinery industry with a solid background of turbomachinery flow physics and performance fundamentals that are essential for understanding turbomachinery performance and flow complexes.

The International Section on Machine and System Safety was founded in 1975 to deal with questions on occupational risks in this ?eld at the inter- tional level. It is a member of the Special Commission on Prevention of the International Social Security Association (ISSA). The Special Commission is a body within ISSA that focuses on work-related risks. It has 11 inter- tional Sections as members. ISSA was founded in 1927 with its headquarters in Geneva. It is working worldwide in over 150 countries with nearly 370 member institutions from all ?elds of social security. TheSection on Machine and System Safety, when it was founded, had its focus on machine safety, particularly on the ma- facturing of safe machinery, on assisting developing countries to be able to buy safe used machinery, and on delivering clear operating instructions. Our members and partners are: * institutions for safety and health at work; * insurance companies dealing with work-related risks; * research institutions; and * various enterprises, e.g. manufacturers, importers and users of machines and systems/installations. We thus bring together the experiences of our members and partners. The role of the operators soon grew in importance, and their capability for ha- ling machinery became an important factor for the safety and success of enterprises. The growing importance and complexity of handling different man-machine-environment situations created new challenges and led to - larging the Section's tasks to machine and system safety.

"Advances in Human-Robot Interaction" provides a unique collection of recent research in human-robot interaction. It covers the basic important research areas ranging from multi-modal interfaces, interpretation, interaction, learning, or motion coordination to topics such as physical interaction, systems, and architectures. The book addresses key issues of human-robot interaction concerned with perception, modelling, control, planning and cognition, covering a wide spectrum of applications. This includes interaction and communication with robots in manufacturing environments and the collaboration and co-existence with assistive robots in domestic environments. Among the presented examples are a robotic bartender, a new programming paradigm for a cleaning robot, or an approach to interactive teaching of a robot assistant in manufacturing environment. This carefully edited book reports on contributions from leading German academic institutions and industrial companies brought together within MORPHA, a 4 year project on interaction and communication between humans and anthropomorphic robot assistants.

FSR, the International Conference on Field and Service Robotics, is a robotics Symposium which has established over the past ten years the latest research and practical results towards the use of field and service robotics in the community with particular focus on proven technology. The first meeting was held in Canberra, Australia, in 1997. Since then the meeting has been held every two years in the pattern Asia, America, Europe. This books presents the results of the sixth edition of "Field and Service Robotics" FSR03, held in Chamonix, France, on 9th - 12th July 2003. The conference provided a forum for researchers, professionals and robot manufacturers to exchange up-to-date technical knowledge and experience. Field robots are non-factory robots, typically mobile, that operate in complex, and dynamic environments: on the ground (of Earth or planets), under the ground, underwater, in the air or in space. Service robots are those that work closely with humans to help them with their lives. This book offers a collection of a broad range of topics including: Underwater Robots and Systems, Autonomous Navigation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, Climbing Robotics, Sensor Fusion."

Mechatronics is the synergistic combination of precision engineering, electronics, photonics and IT engineering. The main research task for mechatronics is development and control of advanced hybrid systems covering all these fields and supported by interdisciplinary studies.

This book presents recent state of advances in mechatronics presented on the 7th International Conference Mechatronics 2007, hosted at the Faculty of Mechatronics, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland. The chosen topics of the conference included: Nanotechnology, Automatic Control and Robotics, Biomedical Engineering, Design Manufacturing and Testing of MEMS, Metrology, Photonics, Mechatronic Products. The selected papers give an overview of the state-of-the-art and present new research results and prospects of the future development in this interdisciplinary field of mechatronic systems. This book will provide up-to-date and useful knowledge for researchers and engineers involved in mechatronics and related fields.

The last two decades have witnessed an intensifying effort in learning how to manage flow turbulence: it has in fact now become one of the most challenging and prized techno logical goals in fluid dynamics. The goal itself is of course not new. More than a hundred years ago, Reynolds already listed factors conducive to laminar and to turbulent flow (including among them curvature and acceleration). Further more, it is in retrospect clear that there were several early instances ot successful turbulence management. Examples are the reduction in drag achieved with a ring-trip placed on the front of a sphere or the insertion of a splitter-plate behind a circular cylinder; by the early 1950s there were numerous exercises at boundary layer control. Although many of these studies were interesting and suggestive, they led . to no spectacularly successful practical application, and the effort petered out in the late 1950s. The revival of interest in these problems in recent years can be attributed to the emergence of several new factors. First of all, fresh scientific insight into the structure of turbulence, in particular the accumulated evidence for the presence of significant order in turbulent flow, has been seen to point to new methods of managing turbulence. A second major reason has been the growing realisation that the rate at which the world is consuming its reserves of fossil fuels is no longer negligible; the economic value of greater energy effi ciency and lower drag has gone up significantly."

This symposium, held at Innsbruck/lgls on June 21-26, 1987, is the fifth in a series of IUTAM-Symposia on the application of stochastic methods in mechanics. The flrst two meetings in Warwick (1972) and Southhampton (1976) concentrated on the stability of stochastic dynamical systems and stochastic methods in dynamics, respectively. The third meeting in Frankfurt/Oder (1982) added aspects of reliability, while the fourth symposium in Stockholm (1984) dealt mainly with fatigue and fracture problems. The general theme of the present symposium is devoted to nonlinear stochastic dynamics of engineering systems which is believed of great importance for providing the tools for basic development and progress in various fields of mechanical-, structural- and aeronautical engineering, particularly in the areas of vehicle dynamics, multi-storey structural dynamics, systems identiflcation, offshore structural dynamics, nuclear structures under various stochastic loading conditions (i. e. wind-, earthquake-, parametric excitations, etc. ). The contributions collected in this volume cover a wide spectrum of topics ranging from more theoretical, analytical and numerical treatment to practical application in various flelds. The truly international character of the meeting is accomplished by 42 contributions and 86 participants from as many as 19 countries and hence, contributed to the original idea of IUTAM, which is to foster international cooperation. It should be recalled, that, for getting this cooperation started again after the First World War, Theodore von Kanmm and Tullio Levi-Civita called the world's flrst international (IUTAM) conference on hydro- and aerornechanics in 1922 in Innsbruck, Austria.

Materials for springs is basically intended for engineers related to spring materials and technologies who graduated from metallurgical or mechanical engineering courses in technical high school, or in other higher engineering schools, as well as those who are related to the purchase or sales of spring materials.

The first chapter introduces into the fundamental selection processes of spring materials including the information sources on materials database. It is followed by the basic mechanisms and theories of spring failures such as fatigue fracture, creep/stress relaxation and stress corrosion cracking of metallic materials.

The focuses of the second chapter is put on ferrous and non-ferrous metallic materials, including some materials developed in these two decades, such as high strength automobile suspension steels etc.

In the third and fourth chapters, polymer materials, FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastics), ceramics and C/C composite materials are the main subject respectively.

In the fifth chapter, lists of Japanese spring material manufacturers and their material grades being produced, comparisons of spring materials in the Japanese Industrial Standards with some other foreign standards, etc, are summarized.

At the dawn of the new millennium, robotics is undergoing a major transformation in scope and dimension. From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics is rapidly expanding into the challenges of unstructured environments. Interacting with, assi- ing, serving, and exploring with humans, the emerging robots will increasingly touch people and their lives. The goal of the Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) series is to bring, in a timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on the basis of their significance and quality. It is our hope that the wider dissemination of research - velopments will stimulate more exchanges and collaborations among the research community and contribute to further advancement of this rapidly growing field. The European Robotics Symposium (EUROS) was launched in 2006 as an inter- tional scientific single-track event promoted by EURON, the European Robotics Network linking most of the European research teams since its inception in 2000. Since then, EUROS has found its parental home under STAR, together with the other thematic symposia devoted to excellence in robotics research: FSR, ISER, ISRR, WAFR.

The objective of this book, being the first one on magnesium injection molding, is to treat both the scientific background and the technological aspects as they are understood at present. All aspects of material development, manufacturing and engineering are covered. The book provides a single source of information covering the interdisciplinary field of net shape forming of magnesium alloys. It reflects a unique blend of science and industrial practice.

This book presents the methods of quantitative determination of solar irradiation incident amount on a surface on the Earth. It brings together information not found elsewhere in a single source, and includes an innovative exposition of expert system methodologies used in the domain of solar irradiation and energy. The book provides a background to the underlying physical principles of solar irradiation and energy, with explanations as to how these can be modelled and applied.

Dear reader! In your hand you have the second book from the series "XXI Century Techno- gies. " The first book under the title "Manufacturing Technologies for Machines of the Future" was published by "Springer" in 2003. This book is aimed at solving one of the basic problems in the development of modern machine-building - working out of technologies and manufacturing equipment which would promote the continuous development and improvement of the final product design, rapidly "adaptable" to the requirements of the market as for the quantity, quality, and variety of products manufactured with the lowest cost and minimum time and labor of the product process. In this book the problems of theory and practice of development in the reconfigurable manufacturing systems and transformable factories for various machine-building branches with a focus on automotive industry are discussed. The problems concerning the development of a new class of production systems which in comparison to the flexible manufact- ing systems are composed of a far less quantity of machine-tools (reduced cost of production) are discussed. In comparison to the conventional automated lines (dedicated systems) they make it possible to rapidly transform the equipment for new products manufacturing. The book has some advantages concerning the art of scientific ideas and the presentation of developments.

This volume contains a collection of papers presented at the 3rd Interna tional Symposium on Autonomous Minirobots for Research and Edutainment (AMiRE 2005) that is held at Awara-Spa, Fukui, Japan, September 20-22, 2005. This is a biennial symposium, which started as AMiRE 2001 at the Heinz Nixdorf Institute of the University of Paderborn, Germany, in 2001, and was followed by AMiRE 2003 at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, in 2003. After these successful symposia, AMiRE 2005 is held under the sponsorship of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Fukui and under the co-sponsorship of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. It is funded by the Fukui Convention Bureau and the University of Fukui. Each full-length paper submitted to the symposium was independently reviewed by 3 referees from the world's front-line researchers, and 55 papers were accepted for oral presentation. We acknowledge generous support for those who gave excellent reviews in order to maintain the high standards of the symposium despite a very tight schedule."

"Nonlinear Oscillations in Mechanical Engineering" explores the effects of nonlinearities encountered in applications in that field. Since the nonlinearities are caused, first of all, by contacts between different mechanical parts, the main part of this book is devoted to oscillations in mechanical systems with discontinuities caused by dry friction and collisions. Another important source of nonlinearity which is covered is that caused by rotating unbalanced parts common in various machines as well as variable inertias occurring in all kinds of crank mechanisms. This book is written for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, but it may be also helpful and interesting for both theoreticians and practitioners working in the area of mechanical engineering at universities, in research labs or institutes and especially in the R and D departments within industrial firms.

Overview of recent achievements, describing the microactuator development of microvalves and liner actuators comprehensively from concept through prototype. Further key aspects included are three-dimensional models for handling complex SMA actuator geometries and coupled simulation routines that take multifunctional properties into account. Mechanical and thermal optimization criteria are introduced for actuator design, allowing an optimum use of the shape memory effect. It is shown that some of the prototypes presented, e.g. SMA microgrippers, already outperform conventional components.

Computational Welding Mechanics (CWM) provides readers with a complete introduction to the principles and applications of computational welding including coverage of the methods engineers and designers are using in computational welding mechanics to predict distortion and residual stress in welded structures, thereby creating safer, more reliable and lower cost structures.

Drawing upon years of practical experience and the study of computational welding mechanics the authors instruct the reader how to:

- understand and interpret computer simulation and virtual welding techniques including an in depth analysis of heat flow during welding, microstructure evolution and distortion analysis and fracture of welded structures,

- relate CWM to the processes of design, build, inspect, regulate, operate and maintain welded structures,

- apply computational welding mechanics to industries such as ship building, natural gas and automobile manufacturing.

Ideally suited for practicing engineers and engineering students, Computational Welding Mechanics is a must-have book for understanding welded structures and recent technological advances in welding, and it provides a unified summary of recent research results contributed by other researchers.

Recent Developments of Electrical Drives is composed of the papers which were presented at the XVI International Conference on Electrical Machines - ICEM 2004, which was held in Cracow, Poland on September 5-8, 2004.

The contributions selected for the book cover a wide spectrum of theory and practice, thus they are deeply rooted in engineering problems, being simultaneously of high theoretical level. This way the contents of the book is believed to touch the heart of the matter in electrical drives (theory, control systems and applications).

The book, stating the recent developments of electrical drives, can be useful for engineers and researchers investigating and designing electrical and electronic devices as well as for students and young researchers dealing with electrical and electronic engineering, computer sciences (advanced computer modelling, sophisticated control systems with artificial intelligence tools applied, optimal design bye use of classical and genetic algorithms employed), applied mathematics and all the topics where electromagnetic, thermal, mechanical phenomena occur.

Recent Developments of Electrical Drives covers a wide range of interest of industry engineers, and scientists involved in modelling, control, measurements, new motor structures design, and could be also useful for engineers working in the field of electrical drives implementation. "

Computer Numerical Control (CNC) controllers are high value-added products counting for over 30% of the price of machine tools. The development of CNC technology depends on the integration of technologies from many different industries, and requires strategic long-term support. Theory and Design of CNC Systems covers the elements of control, the design of control systems, and modern open-architecture control systems. Topics covered include Numerical Control Kernel (NCK) design of CNC, Programmable Logic Control (PLC), and the Man-Machine Interface (MMI), as well as the major modules for the development of conversational programming methods. The concepts and primary elements of STEP-NC are also introduced. A collaboration of several authors with considerable experience in CNC development, education, and research, this highly focused textbook on the principles and development technologies of CNC controllers can also be used as a guide for those working on CNC development in industry.

A systematic control of mixture formation with modern high-pressure injection systems enables us to achieve considerable improvements of the combustion pr- ess in terms of reduced fuel consumption and engine-out raw emissions. However, because of the growing number of free parameters due to more flexible injection systems, variable valve trains, the application of different combustion concepts within different regions of the engine map, etc., the prediction of spray and m- ture formation becomes increasingly complex. For this reason, the optimization of the in-cylinder processes using 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) becomes increasingly important. In these CFD codes, the detailed modeling of spray and mixture formation is a prerequisite for the correct calculation of the subsequent processes like ignition, combustion and formation of emissions. Although such simulation tools can be viewed as standard tools today, the predictive quality of the sub-models is c- stantly enhanced by a more accurate and detailed modeling of the relevant pr- esses, and by the inclusion of new important mechanisms and effects that come along with the development of new injection systems and have not been cons- ered so far. In this book the most widely used mathematical models for the simulation of spray and mixture formation in 3D CFD calculations are described and discussed. In order to give the reader an introduction into the complex processes, the book starts with a description of the fundamental mechanisms and categories of fuel - jection, spray break-up, and mixture formation in internal combustion engines.

Machine tools are the main production factor for many industrial applications in many important sectors. Recent developments in new motion devices and numerical control have lead to considerable technological improvements in machine tools. The use of five-axis machining centers has also spread, resulting in reductions in set-up and lead times. As a consequence, feed rates, cutting speed and chip section increased, whilst accuracy and precision have improved as well. Additionally, new cutting tools have been developed, combining tough substrates, optimal geometries and wear resistant coatings. "Machine Tools for High Performance Machining" describes in depth several aspects of machine structures, machine elements and control, and application. The basics, models and functions of each aspect are explained by experts from both academia and industry. Postgraduates, researchers and end users will all find this book an essential reference.

The 5th International Conference on Field and Service Robotics (FSR05) was held in Port Douglas, Australia, on 29th - 31st July 2005, and brought together the worlds' leading experts in field and service automation. The goal of the conference was to report and encourage the latest research and practical results towards the use of field and service robotics in the community with particular focus on proven technology. The conference provided a forum for researchers, professionals and robot manufacturers to exchange up-to-date technical knowledge and experience. Field robots are robots which operate in outdoor, complex, and dynamic environments. Service robots are those that work closely with humans, with particular applications involving indoor and structured environments. There are a wide range of topics presented in this issue on field and service robots including: Agricultural and Forestry Robotics, Mining and Exploration Robots, Robots for Construction, Security & Defence Robots, Cleaning Robots, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and Autonomous Flying Robots. This meeting was the fifth in the series and brings FSR back to Australia where it was first held. FSR has been held every 2 years, starting with Canberra 1997, followed by Pittsburgh 1999, Helsinki 2001 and Lake Yamanaka 2003.