This unique monograph introduces an important new area of control system research and presents some new methods for solving some typical problems in the field of sandwich nonlinear systems. Sandwiched nonsmooth nonlinearities such as dead-zone, hysteresis and backlash between dynamic blocks are presented, as well as continuous-time control designs. A framework for hybrid control is developed that is used to design control schemes for different cases of the control problem with required modifications. Friction compensation is addressed for systems with sandwiched friction along with sandwiched dynamics. An open problem of the control of sandwich nonlinear systems with actuator failures is introduced by a control design for an illustrative case.

This book collects recent theoretical developments in the area of material instability in elastic and plastic solids along with related analytical and numerical methods and applications. The existing different approaches to instability phenomena in metal single crystals, polycristals and in geomaterials are presented with the emphasis laid on mutual relations and on unifying concepts, including elliptictly loss and the energy criterion. Quasi-static bifurcation, initiation of single or multiple shear bands and post-critical strain localization are examined along with dynamic phenomena as wave propagation, moving shocks, internal snap-through and instability of flutter type. This gives an overview of a variety of material instability problems, methods and applications.

Material processing techniques that employ severe plastic deformation have evolved over the past decade, producing metals, alloys and composites having extraordinary properties. Variants of SPD methods are now capable of creating monolithic materials with submicron and nanocrystalline grain sizes. The resulting novel properties of these materials has led to a growing scientific and commercial interest in them. They offer the promise of bulk nanocrystalline materials for structural; applications, including nanocomposites of lightweight alloys with unprecedented strength. These materials may also enable the use of alternative metal shaping processes, such as high strain rate superplastic forming. Prospective applications for medical, automotive, aerospace and other industries are already under development.

A compact presentation of the foundations, current state of the art, recent developments and research directions of all essential techniques related to the mechanics of composite materials and structures. Special emphasis is placed on classic and recently developed theories of composite laminated beams, plates and shells, micromechanics, impact and damage analysis, mechanics of textile structural composites, high strain rate testing and non-destructive testing of composite materials and structures. Topics of growing importance are addressed, such as: numerical methods and optimisation, identification and damage monitoring. The latest results are presented on the art of modelling smart composites, optimal design with advanced materials, and industrial applications. Each section of the book is written by internationally recognised experts who have dedicated most of their research work to a particular field. Readership: Postgraduate students, researchers and engineers in the field of composites. Undergraduate students will benefit from the treatment of the foundations of the mechanics of composite materials and structures.

This book is an attempt to explain hardness measurements of metals in terms of some of their more basic physical properties. The intention is to provide, for physicists, engineers, and metallurgists, a better understanding of what hardness means and what hardness measurements imply. The author emphasises the physical concepts involved, so that non- mathematical readers can grasp and appreciate the general physical picture without needing to follow the more detailed mathematical treatment.

A text/reference on analysis of structures that deform in use. Presents a new, integrated approach to analytical dynamics, structural dynamics and control theory and goes beyond classical dynamics of rigid bodies to incorporate analysis of flexibility of structures. Includes real--world examples of applications such as robotics, precision machinery and aircraft structures.

A profusion of research and results on the mechanical behaviour of crystalline solids has followed the discovery of dislocations in the early thirties. This trend has been enhanced by the development of powerful experimental techniques. particularly X ray diffraction. transmission and scanning electron microscopy. microanalysis. The technological advancement has given rise to the study of various and complex materials. not to speak of those recently invented. whose mechanical properties need to be mastered. either for their lise as structural materials. or more simply for detenllining their fonnability processes. As is often the case this fast growth has been diverted both by the burial of early fundamental results which are rediscovered more or less accurately. and by the too fast publication of inaccurate results. which propagate widely. and are accepted without criticism. Examples of these statements abound. and will not be quoted here for the sake of dispassionateness. Understanding the mechanical properties of materials implies the use of various experimental techniques. combined with a good theoretical knowledge of elasticity. thermodynamics and solid state physics. The recent development of various computer techniques (simulation. ab initio calculations) has added to the difficulty of gathering the experimental information. and mastering the theoretical understanding. No laboratory is equipped with all the possible experimental settings. almost no scientist masters all this theoretical kno\vledge. Therefore. cooperation between scientists is needed more than even before.

This textbook gives a concise survey of constitutive and structural modeling for high temperature creep, damage, low a " cycle fatigue and other inelastic conditions. The book shows the creep and continuum damage mechanics as rapidly developing discipline which interlinks the material science foundations, the constitutive modeling and computer simulation application to analysis and design of simple engineering components. It is addressed to young researchers and scientists working in the field of mechanics of inelastic, time-dependent materials and structures, as well as to PhD students in computational mechanics, material sciences, mechanical and civil engineering.

In 1999, the International Centre for Mechanical Sciences celebrates t hirty years of activity. For this celebration CISM has organized a ser ies of courses and meetings on environmental problems, one of the lead ing subjects today of theoretical and applied research all over the wo rld. The results obtained directly influence our daily life, particula rly in applications for protection from pollution and natural hazards. The most significant of the events was the Conference on Environment al Applications of Mechanics and Computer Science, where prominent sci entists in the field present significant examples of the scientific ap proach to large scale phenomena involved in environmental problems.

The subject of computational plasticity encapsulates the numerical methods used for the finite element simulation of the behaviour of a wide range of engineering materials considered to be plastic - i.e. those that undergo a permanent change of shape in response to an applied force. "Computational Methods for Plasticity: Theory and Applications" describes the theory of the associated numerical methods for the simulation of a wide range of plastic engineering materials; from the simplest infinitesimal plasticity theory to more complex damage mechanics and finite strain crystal plasticity models. It is split into three parts - basic concepts, small strains and large strains. Beginning with elementary theory and progressing to advanced, complex theory and computer implementation, it is suitable for use at both introductory and advanced levels. The book:

Offers a self-contained text that allows the reader to learn computational plasticity theory and its implementation from one volume. Includes many numerical examples that illustrate the application of the methodologies described. Provides introductory material on related disciplines and procedures such as tensor analysis, continuum mechanics and finite elements for non-linear solid mechanics. Is accompanied by purpose-developed finite element software that illustrates many of the techniques discussed in the text, downloadable from the book's companion website.

This comprehensive text will appeal to postgraduate and graduate students of civil, mechanical, aerospace and materials engineering as well as applied mathematics and courses with computational mechanics components. It will also be of interest to research engineers, scientistsand software developers working in the field of computational solid mechanics.

Smart (intelligent) structures have been the focus of a great deal of recent research interest. In this book, leading researchers report the state of the art and discuss new ideas, results and trends in 43 contributions, covering fundamental research issues, the role of intelligent monitoring in structural identification and damage assessment, the potential of automatic control systems in achieving a desired structural behaviour, and a number of practical issues in the analysis and design of smart structures in mechanical and civil engineering applications. Audience: A multidisciplinary reference for materials scientists and engineers in such areas as mechanical, civil, aeronautical, electrical, control, and computer engineering.

Reissued in the Oxford Classic Texts in the Physical Sciences series, and first published in 1950, this important and classic book presents a mathematical theory of plastic materials, written by one of the leading researchers in the area.

"the author...has done his work so well that it is difficult to see how it could be bettered. The book should rank for many years as an authoritative source of reference." Engineering

"...in the reviewer's opinion this book should be in the possession of all those who wish to undertake study and research in the theory of plasticity." Mathematical Gazette

The aim of the book is to fill up the gaps between theoretical, numerical, and practical design approaches in the field of coupled instabilities of metal structures. The book is organized in a way leading progressively from the mathematical basic theories to the design aspects through numerical and semi-empirical approaches of the interactive buckling of metal structures. Optimum design account taken of coupled instabilities and code aspects are also briefly covered.

The book gives a comprehensive view of the present ability to take into account the microstructure and texture evolution in building up engineering models of the plastic behaviour of polycrystalline materials at large strains. It is designed for postgraduate students, research engineers and academics that are interested in using advanced models of the mechanical behaviour of polycrystalline materials.

Topology optimization is a relatively new and rapidly expanding field of structural mechanics. It deals with some of the most difficult problems of mechanical sciences but it is also of considerable practical interest, because it can achieve much greater savings than mere cross-section or shape optimization.

Manufacturing processes have existed, in some form, since the dawn of civilization. Modelling and numerical simulation of mechanics of such processes, however, are of fairly recent vintage; made possible, mainly by improved understanding of the fundamental mechanics and physics of these processes as well as by the availability of ever more powerful computers. Our capabilities of designing manufacturing processes, however, significantly lag behind our abilities in simulating such processes. In fact, research in the area of design of manufacturing processes is barely a decade old. Analysis of manufacturing processes, and its integration into the design cycle of these processes, are the dual themes of this book. The boundary element method (BEM) is the computational method of choice. This versatile and powerful method has enjoyed extensive development during the last two decades and has been applied to virtually all areas of engieering mechanics (both linear and nonlinear) as well as in other areas. The BEM infra-structure is presented in Chapters 2, 3, and 4. Chapters 2 and 3, respectively provide reviews of the fundamentals of nonlinear and thermal problems. Material and geometric nonlinearities are ubiquitous in manufacturing processes such as forming and machining while thermal issues play significant roles in casting and machining processes. Chapter 4 discusses design sensitivity analysis, and provides an avenue for utilizing insights gained from analysis toward design synthesis of manufacturing processes. Chapters 5 through 9 are devoted to detailed discussions of a broad range of manufacturing processes - forming, solidification, machining, and ceramic grinding. The unique features of this book are its emphasis on numerical simulation as well as on design of manufacturing processes, and the use of the boundary element method as the computational method of choice.

This volume is the first to give the mathematical background and a comprehensive survey of the old and new summation formulae resulting in an approximate value of the critical load factor of a complex problem by means of the critical load factors of subproblems by addition. The theorems and formulae are richly illustrated by examples in structural engineering.

The content of the volume is constituted by four articles. The first concerns the theory of propagation of plane waves in elastic media. The second treats theoretically the linear, weakly non-linear, and non-linear stability of flows of a viscous incompressible fluid in a diverging channel. The third lecture investigates the mathematical properties of the equations governing the motion of a viscous incompressible second-grade fluid, such as existence, uniqueness of classical solutions and stability of steady-state flows. The last lecture provides some basic results on wave propagation in continuum models. The objective of this book is to emphasize and to compare the various aspects of interest which include the necessary mathematical background, constitutive theories for material of differential type, polarized and shock waves, and second sound in solids at low temperatures.

The main emphasis of these Lecture Notes is on constructing solutions to specific viscoelastic boundary value problems; however properties of the equations of viscoelasticity that provide the theoretical underpinnings for constructing such solutions are also covered. Particular attention is paid to the solution of crack and contact problems. This work is of interest in the context of polymer fracture, modelling of material behaviour, rebound testing of polymers and the phenomenon of hysteretic friction.

A fundamental problem in control theory is concerned with the stability of a given linear system. The design of a control system is generally based on a simplified model. The true values of the physical parameters may differ from the assumed values.
Robust Stability and Convexity addresses stability problems for linear systems with parametric uncertainty. The application of convexity techniques leads to new computationally tractable stability criteria for families of characteristic functions with nonlinear dependence on the parameters. Stability results as well as stability criteria for time-delay systems with uncertainties in coefficients and delays are reported.

One of the most important subjects for any student of engineering to master is the behaviour of materials and structures under load. The way in which they react to applied forces, the deflections resulting and the stresses and strains set up in the bodies concerned are all vital considerations when designing a mechanical component such that it will not fail under predicted load during its service lifetime.
All the essential elements of a treatment of these topics are contained within this course of study, starting with an introduction to the concepts of stress and strain, shear force and bending moments and moving on to the examination of bending, shear and torsion in elements such as beams, cylinders, shells and springs. A simple treatment of complex stress and complex strain leads to a study of the theories of elastic failure and an introduction to the experimental methods of stress and strain analysis.
More advanced topics are dealt with in a companion volume - Mechanics of Materials 2. Each chapter contains a summary of the essential formulae which are developed in the chapter, and a large number of worked examples which progress in level of difficulty as the principles are enlarged upon. In addition, each chapter concludes with an extensive selection of problems for solution by the student, mostly examination questions from professional and academic bodies, which are graded according to difficulty and furnished with answers at the end.
* Emphasis on practical learning and applications, rather than theory
* Provides the essential formulae for each individual chapter
* Contains numerous worked examples and problems

The book aims at giving an overview of current methods in engineering mechanics of FRP components and structures as well as hybrid components and structures. Main emphasis is on basic micro and macro mechanics of laminates. Long as well as short fibre composites are studied, and criteria for different kinds of rupture are treated. Micromechanical considerations for material characterization and mechanisms of static ductile and brittle rupture are studied, as well as FRP structures under thermal and dynamic loading programs. Optimum design and manufacture situations are described as well. The book makes designers familiar with the opportunities and limitations of modern high quality fibre composites. Practical engineering applications of the described analytical and numerical methods are also presented.

Aim of this book is to present to researchers and engineers a description of the present knowledge on the viscoplasticity of geomaterials, considering the experimental and theoretical aspects and the applications to relevant problems. First, the laboratory tests performed in order to quantitatively assess the theological properties of rocks are illustrated, describing the equipments used in modern rock mechanics laboratories and the proper testing procedures. Part of the presentation is devoted to the description of constitutive creep laws having different degrees of accuracy and complexity. The book covers also problems related to the application of numerical solution procedures to rock/soil mechanics situations in which the slow deformation of geomaterials is to be taken into account.

Travelling wave processes and wave motion are of great importance in many areas of mechanics, and nonlinearity also plays a decisive role there. The basic mathematical models in this area involve nonlinear partial differential equations, and predictability of behaviour of wave phenomena is of great importance. Beside fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, which have long been the traditional nonlinear scienes, solid mechanics is now taking an ever increasing account of nonlinear effects. Apart from plasticity and fracture mechanics, nonlinear elastic waves have been shown to be of great importance in many areas, such as the study of impact, nondestructive testing and seismology. These lectures offer a thorough account of the fundamental theory of nonlinear deformation waves, and in the process offer an up to date account of the current state of research in the theory and practice of nonlinear waves in solids.