The book includes different contributions that cover interdisciplinary research in the areas of * Error controlled numerical methods, efficient algorithms and software development * Elastic and in elastic deformation processes * Models with multiscales and multi-physics "High Performance" adaptive numerical methods using finite elements (FEM) and boundary elements (BEM) are described as well as efficient solvers for linear systems and corresponding software components for non-linear, coupled field equations of various branches of mechanics, electromagnetics, and geosciences.

The book contains 11 chapters written by relevant scientists in the field of particle-based methods and their applications in engineering and applied sciences. The chapters cover most particle-based techniques used in practice including the discrete element method, the smooth particle hydrodynamic method and the particle finite element method. The book will be of interest to researchers and engineers interested in the fundamentals of particle-based methods and their applications.

This second volume of the series on photorefractive effects focuses on the most recent developments in the field and highlights the parameters which govern the photoinduced nonlinearity. Besides reviewing conventional electro-optic crystals, this book deals with organic photorefractive materials, giving an in-depth assessment of the present understanding of the effect in a variety of materials. The materials considered in this volume will play a significant role in the development of applications such as presented in the third volume.

Substantialfundamental workhas been undertaken inthe different aspects of impact biomechanics over the past three decades. Much of this has been motivated and undertaken bythe automotive industry intheirefforts to improve transport safety. More recently, however, it has become app- ent that themultidisciplinary synergies which are realisedby interactions between engineers, scientists and clinical practitioners will ultimately lead to a greater understanding of the complex interacting phenomena withinthe human bodyafter it has sustained an impact. In turn, this greater depth of knowledge will provide more fundamentalinsights into the analysis, d- gnosis, treatment and prevention ofimpact injuries across a broader sp- trum of accident environments. Thescienti?c focus of this IUTAM symposium istoaddress those t- ics that are centrally important to the biomechanics ofimpact. These can be groupedinto those that are concerned with the different causes of - cidents (e. g. , transport, occupational and sports injuries), themechanics - volvedinaccident analysis (e. g. , accident investigation, computational m- elling techniques), the different types of resulting traumatic injuries (incl- ing musculoskeletal, organ, spinal and head injuries), methods of asse- ing the extent of injury (e. g. , injury assessment, injury criteria, constitutive laws for human tissue), and providing protection during an impact (e. g. , injury prevention, energy absorption materials, and safety devices).

Integrating macroscopic properties with observations at lower levels, this book details advances in multiscale modelling and analysis pertaining to classes of composites which either have a wider range of relevant microstructural scales, such as metals, or do not have a very well-defined microstructure, e.g. cementitious or ceramic composites. The IUTAM symposia proceedings provide a platform for extensive further discussion and research.

In recent years, discretization methods have been proposed which are more flexible and which have the potential of capturing (moving) discontinuities in a robust and efficient manner. This monograph assembles contributions of leading experts with the most recent developments in this rapidly evolving field. It provides the most comprehensive coverage of state-of-the art numerical methods for treating discontinuities in mechanics.

Granular or particulate materials arise in almost every aspect of our lives, including many familiar materials such as tea, coffee, sugar, sand, cement and powders. At some stage almost every industrial process involves a particulate material, and it is usually the cause of the disruption to the smooth running of the process. In the natural environment, understanding the behaviour of particulate materials is vital in many geophysical processes such as earthquakes, landslides and avalanches. This book is a collection of current research from some of the major contributors in the topic of modelling the behaviour of granular materials. Papers from every area of current activity are included, such as theoretical, numerical, engineering and computational approaches. This book illustrates the numerous diverse approaches to one of the outstanding problems of modern continuum mechanics.

One of the major difficulties in predicting the capacity of pipe piles in sand has resulted from a lack of understanding of the physical processes that control the behavior of piles during installation and loading.

This monograph presents a detailed blue print for developing experimental facilities necessary to identify these processes. These facilities include a unique instrumented double-walled pipe-pile that is used to delineate the frictional stresses acting against the external and internal surfaces of the pile. The pile is fitted with miniature pore-pressure transducers to monitor the generation of pore water pressure during installation and loading. A fast automatic laboratory pile hammer capable of representing the phenomena that occur during pile driving was also developed and used.

In the recent decades, computational procedures have been applied to an increasing extent in engineering and the physical sciences. Mostly, two separate fields have been considered, namely, the analysis of solids and structures and the analysis of fluid flows. These continuous advances in analyses are of much interest to physicists, mathematicians and in particular, engineers. Also, computational fluid and solid mechanics are no longer treated as entirely separate fields of applications, but instead, coupled fluid and solid analysis is being pursued. The objective of the Book Series is to publish monographs, textbooks, and proceedings of conferences of archival value, on any subject of computational fluid dynamics, computational solid and structural mechanics, and computational multi-physics dynamics. The publications are written by and for physicists, mathematicians and engineers and are to emphasize the modeling, analysis and solution of problems in engineering.

This volume constitutes the Proceedings of the IUTAM Symposium on "Analytical and Computational Fracture Mechanics of Non-homogeneous Materials," held in Cardiff from 18th to 22nd June 2001. The Symposium was convened to address and place on record topical issues in analytical and computational aspects of the fracture of non-homogeneous materials as they are approached by specialists in mechanics, materials science and related fields. The expertise represented in the Symposium was accordingly very wide, and many of the world's greatest authorities in their respective fields participated. Given the extensive range and scale of non-homogeneous materials, it had to be focussed to enhance the quality and impact of the Symposium. The range of non-homogeneous materials was limited to those that are inhomogeneous at the macroscopic level and/or exhibit strain softening. The issues of micro to macro scaling were not excluded even within this restricted range which covered materials such as rock, concrete, ceramics and composites on the one hand, and, on the other, those metallic materials whose ductile fracture is strongly influenced by the presence of inhomogeneities. The Symposium remained focussed on fundamental research issues of practical significance. These issues have many common features among seemingly disparate non-homogeneous materials.

From time to time the International Journal of Fracture has presented special matters thought to be of interest to its readers. In previous issues, for example, Dr. H.W. Liu as Guest Editor assembled a series of review papers dealing with fatigue processes and characteristics in metals and non-metals (December 1980 and April 1981). Five years ago Guest Editor W.G. Knauss collected works dealing with dynamic fracture (March and April 1985). Continuing this policy, Dr. W.G. Knauss and Dr. A.J. Rosakis of the California Institute of Technology as Guest Editors have now organized an extensive set of papers concerning the influence of non-linear effects upon the mechanics of the fracture process. This collection is based upon contributions to a relatively small international Symposium on Non Linear Fracture Mechanics held under the auspices of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM) and convened at the California Institute of Technology in March 1988. It should be noted that although the description of non-linear fracture inherently encompasses a strong material science component, this aspect is not heavily emphasized in the ensuing papers due to the intentional focus upon mechanics. Volume 42 of the International Journal of Fracture will therefore, in successive issues, deal respectively with topics in (1) Damage, (2) Interfaces and Creep, (3) Time Dependence, and (4) Continuum Plasticity. On behalf of the editors and publishers, I wish to express our appreciation to Dr. Knauss, Dr. Rosakis, and their colleagues for their collective efforts."

This book is interdisciplinary in character and combines the knowledge of me chanics and chemical engineering with the aim of presenting a more exhaustive analysis ofthe phenomena occurring in wet materials during drying. Traditionally, the subject of drying has been an almost exclusive domain of chemical engineers. The drying curricula have mostly included only the courses of heat and mass transfer or diffusion. The mechanical phenomena that accompany drying, as for example, warping or deformation of dried materials, or the drying induced stresses and fissures of the material, were ignored or considered in a rather obscure way. This book broadens the scope of drying theory, bringing into the curriculum the tools enabling the study of both heat and mass transport processes and the me chanical phenomena that occur in wet materials under drying. There is little available literature that brings together heat and mass transport processes and mechanical phenomena in a unified approach to drying processes."

It is with great pleasure that I accepted invitation of Adnan Ibrahimbegovic to write this preface, for this invitation gave me the privilege to be one of the ?rsttoreadhisbookandallowedmetoonceagainemphasizetheimportance for our discipline of solid mechanics, which is currently under considerable development, to produce the reference books suitable for students and all other researchers and engineers who wish to advance their knowledge on the subject. Thesolidmechanicshascloselyfollowedtheprogressincomputerscienceand is currently undergoing a true revolution where the numerical modelling and simulations are playing the central role. In the industrial environment, the 'virtual' (or the computing science) is present everywhere in the design and engineering procedures. I have a habit of saying that the solid mechanics has become the science of modelling and inthat respectexpanded beyondits t- ditional frontiers. Several facets of current developments have already been treated in di?erent works published within the series 'Studies in mechanics of materials and structures'; for example, modelling heterogeneous materials (Besson et al. ), fracture mechanics (Leblond), computational strategies and namely LATIN method (Ladev' eze), instability problems (NQ Son) and ve- ?cation of ?nite element method (Ladev' eze-Pelle). To these (French) books, one should also add the work of Lemaitre-Chaboche on nonlinear behavior of solid materials and of Batoz on ?nite element method.

During the last decades completely new technologies for high speed railway vehicles have been developed. The primary goals have been to increase traction, axle load, and travelling speed, and to guarantee the safety of the passengers. However, new developments have revealed new limitations: settlement and destruction of the ballast and the subgrade lead to deterioration of the track; irregular wear of the wheels causes an increase in overall load and deterioration in passenger comfort; and damage of the running surfaces of the rail and the wheel is becoming more frequent. These problems have been investigated in the Priority Programme SPP 1015 supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), with the goal of better understanding of the dynamic interaction of vehicle and track, and the long-term behavior of the components of the system. The book contains the scientific results of the programme as presented at the concluding colloquium held at University of Stuttgart, Germany, 2002.

Structural Synthesis in Precision Elasticity reflects the summary of theoretical and experimental studies whose conclusions are effective for optimized structural synthesis in precision elasticity, as well as demonstrate a large experience and options in the synthesis, production, application of precision elastic guides, mechanisms, correctors, transducers, instruments and machines. The main focus of this book is in the possible simplification of the corresponding analytical apparatus by using kinematical equivalents, matrix methods, appropriate contours, and function expansion with enough accurate minimal polynomials. This approach allows for substitution of some known unwieldy formulae and methods that are not convenient for digestible and tractable synthesis.

The book consists of two main parts:

- The elastic systems functional analysis and structural synthesis methods, including effective approximations and references to the history of their development

- The application and development of precision functional elastic systems at reference and operating conditions, including the observation of archives with effective synthesized structures and elements of nanotechnology.

Each part provides theoretical basics and a large variety of examples and recommendations. This book gives theoretical and practical tools to researchers, precision machines, instruments and miniature systems designers, engineers, metrologists, and engineering students.

Despite that this book is dedicated to the general problems of the structural synthesis in precision elasticity, most of the practical examples and applications are concerned with the measuring systems as the precision is their main goal.

The author intends to show close connection between the elastic precision structures developed during the 20th century and even before and the new elastic systems for atomic force microscopy and other recently created advanced structures in precision elasticity.

A comprehensive treatment of "linear systems analysis" applied to dynamic systems as an approach to interdisciplinary system design beyond the related area of electrical engineering. The text gives an interpretation of mechanical vibrations based on the theory of dynamic systems, aiming to bridge the gap between existing theoretical methods in different engineering disciplines and to enable advanced students or professionals to model dynamic and vibrating systems with reference to communication and control processes. Emphasizing the theory it presents a balanced coverage of analytical principles and applications to vibrations with regard to mechatronic problems.

This book is designed for students in engineering, physics and mathematics. The material can be taught from the beginning of the third academic year. It could also be used for self study, given its pedagogical structure and the numerous solved problems which prepare for modem physics and technology. One of the original aspects of this work is the development together of the basic theory of tensors and the foundations of continuum mechanics. Why two books in one? Firstly, Tensor Analysis provides a thorough introduction of intrinsic mathematical entities, called tensors, which is essential for continuum mechanics. This way of proceeding greatly unifies the various subjects. Only some basic knowledge of linear algebra is necessary to start out on the topic of tensors. The essence of the mathematical foundations is introduced in a practical way. Tensor developments are often too abstract, since they are either aimed at algebraists only, or too quickly applied to physicists and engineers. Here a good balance has been found which allows these extremes to be brought closer together. Though the exposition of tensor theory forms a subject in itself, it is viewed not only as an autonomous mathematical discipline, but as a preparation for theories of physics and engineering. More specifically, because this part of the work deals with tensors in general coordinates and not solely in Cartesian coordinates, it will greatly help with many different disciplines such as differential geometry, analytical mechanics, continuum mechanics, special relativity, general relativity, cosmology, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, etc .."

The main advantages of sandwiches as structural components are now well known and well-established. Due to the progress in polymer science and engineering and advances in manufacturing processes, sandwich structures can blend various functional and structural properties and therefore lead to highly innovating systems. The current difficulty to overcome is to provide designers with proper methodologies and tools that could enable them to design improved sandwich structures. Such dedicated design tools should be efficient, reliable, flexible and user-friendly. They should be based on advanced knowledge of sandwich behaviour at global and local scales. Such approach relies on our capability to test, identify, control and model structure performances. The impressive variety of core and face materials and the rapid developments in forming processes give new opportunities to design components which have more complex shapes and higher integrated functional and structural properties. Interest in sandwiches is permanently growing in industry and refined testing and modelling approaches should be encouraged to set up relevant guidelines to design reliable advanced structures. The European Society for Mechanics sponsored the EUROMECH 360 Colloquium on the 'Mechanics of Sandwich Structures' in Saint-Etienne, France, on 13 - 15 May 1997. The main purpose of EUROMECH 360 was to go into the most recent progresses in sandwich analysis and design, including mechanical modelling and testing. It was expected that the Colloquium should contribute to define new research directions to support development of advanced applications in strategic industrial sectors such as ground transportations or building and civil engineering."

It has been hard for me to escape the imprint of my early, strong, but scattered trains of thought. There was, at the beginning, little to go by; and I saw no clear way to go. This book is accordingly filled with internal tensions that are not, as yet, fully annealed. Subsequent writers may re-present the work, explaining it in a simpler way. Others may simply invert it. I mean by this that, by writing it backwards, from its found ends {practical machinable teeth) to its tentative beginnings (dimly perceived geometrical notions), one might conceivably write a manual, not on how to understand these kinds of gears, but on how to make them. Indeed a manual will need to be written. If this gearing is to be further investigated, evaluated and checked for applicability, prototypes will need to be made. I wish to say again however that my somewhat convoluted way of presenting these early ideas has been inevitable. It has simply not been possible to present a tidy set of explanations and rules without exploring first (and in a somewhat backwards-going direction) the complexities of the kinematic geometry. There remains, now in this book, a putting together of primitive geometric intuition, computer aided exploration of certain areas, geometric explanations of the discovered phenomena, and a loose sprinkling of a relevant algebra cementing the parts together.

This fascinating new book examines the issues of earthquake geotechnical engineering in a comprehensive way. It summarizes the present knowledge on earthquake hazards and their causative mechanisms as well as a number of other relevant topics. Information obtained from earthquake damage investigation (such as ground motion, landslides, earth pressure, fault action, or liquefaction) as well as data from laboratory tests and field investigation is supplied, together with exercises/questions.

The subject discussed in this book is the stability of thin-walled elastic systems under static loads. The presentation of these problems is based on modern approaches to elastic-stability theory. Special attention is paid to the formulation of elastic-stability criteria, to the statement of column, plate and shell stability problems, to the derivation of basic relationships, and to a discussion of the boundaries of the application of analytic relationships. The author has tried to avoid arcane, nonstandard problems and elaborate and unexpected solutions, which bring real pleasure to connoisseurs, but confuse students and cause bewilderment to some practical engineers. The author has an apprehension that problems which, though interesting, are limited in application can divert the reader's attention from the more prosaic but no less sophisticated general problems of stability theory.

Gives a comprehensive and coherent account of the basic methods to characterize a solid through its interaction with an electromagnetic field.

The area of material damage models has undergone a rapid development in the past few years. This is an extensive and comprehensive survey of one- and three-dimensional damage models for elastic and inelastic solids. The state-of-the-art is reported by about 200 references. The book not only provides a rich current source of knowledge, but also describes examples of practical applications, numerical procedures, and computer codes. The style of presentation is systematic, clear, and concise and is supported by illustrative diagrams.

Plasticity and Geotechnics is the first attempt to summarize and present in a single volume the major achievements in the field of plasticity theory for geotechnical materials and its applications to geotechnical analysis and design. The book emerges from the author's belief that there is an urgent need for the geotechnical and solid mechanics community to have a unified presentation of plasticity theory and its application to geotechnical engineering.

This volume constitutes an advanced introduction to the field of analysis, modeling and numerical simulation of rigid body mechanical systems with unilateral constraints. The topics include Moreau's sweeping process, the numerical analysis of nonsmooth multibody systems with friction, the study of energetical restitution coefficients for elasto-plastic models, the study of stability and bifurcation in systems with impacts, and the development of a multiple impact rule for Newton's cradle and the simple rocking model. Combining pedagogical aspects with innovative approaches, this book will not only be of interest to researchers working actively in the field, but also to graduate students wishing to get acquainted with this field of research through lectures written at a level also accessible to nonspecialists.