This book discusses various aspects of percolation mechanics. It starts with the driving forces and driving modes and then examines in detail the steady state percolation of single-phase incompressible fluids, percolation law of natural gas and percolation of non-Newtonian fluids. Progressing from simple to complex concepts, it also analyzes Darcy's law, providing a basis for the study of reservoir engineering, oil recovery engineering and reservoir numerical simulation. It serves as a textbook for undergraduate students majoring in petroleum engineering, petroleum geology and groundwater engineering, and offers a valuable reference guide for graduate students, researchers and technical engineers engaged in oil and gas exploration and development.

Integrating both theoretical and applied aspects of electrochemistry, this acclaimed monograph series presents a review of the latest advances in the field. The current volume covers ion and electron transfer across monolayers of organic surfactants, determination of current distributions governed by Laplace's equation, and three other subjects.

Proceedings of the International Conferences LEAP'11 (Low Energy Antiproton Physics) held from April 27th to May, 1st 2011 in Vancouver, Canada and hosted by TRIUMF, Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics. Now the research in exotic atoms has a remarkable history of more than 50 years. Enormous success in the understanding of fundamental interactions and symmetries resulted from the research on these tiny objects at the femtoscale. This volume contains research papers on recent achievements and future opportunities of this highly interdisciplinary field of atomic, nuclear, and particle physics. The Proceedings are structured according to the conference session topics. It is directed to researchers in the field and advanced students.

As the focus in materials science shifts towards designing materials at the sub-micron scale - the "nanotechnology" revolution - it becomes increasingly important to characterize the mechanical properties of thin films and small volumes of material. The development of of nanoscale probes and ultrasensitive transducers for force and depth has made such measurements possible. "Nanoindentation" testing is becoming increasingly used in a wide variety of research and manufacturing areas, ranging from the testing of silicon wafers in the electronics industry to the characterization of hard coatings and other surface treatments for cutting tools, dental restoratives and other biomedical implants, and optical components.This book presents a comprehensive and detailed overview of the field of nanoindentation. The underlying theory behind the extraction of elastic modulus, hardness and other properties from the load-displacement data is discussed along with the various systematic and materials-related corrections involved. Also covered are the various methods of testing, details of an international standard for depth-sensing indentation testing, the significance of surface forces and adhesion details of commercially available instruments, and sample applications of the technique. Self-contained, the treatment is aimed at those entering the field, but by bringing together material scattered widely throughout the research literature the book will also be a useful reference for the more experienced researcher.

This volume will define the direction of eddy-current technology in nondestructive evaluation (NDE) in the twenty-first century. It describes the natural marriage of the computer to eddy-current NDE, and its publication was encouraged by favorable responses from workers in the nuclear-power and aerospace industries. It will be used by advanced students and practitioners in the fields of computational electromagnetics, electromagnetic inverse-scattering theory, nondestructive evaluation, materials evaluation and biomedical imaging, among others, and will be based on our experience in applying the subject of computational electromagnetics to these areas, as manifested by our recent research and publications. Finally, it will be a reference to future monographs on advanced NDE that are being contemplated by our colleagues and others. Its importance lies in the fact that it will be the first book to show that advanced computational methods can be used to solve practical, but difficult, problems in eddy-current NDE. In fact, in many cases these methods are the only things available for solving the problems. The book will cover the topic of computational electromagnetics in eddy-current nondestructive evaluation (NDE) by emphasizing three distinct topics: (a) fundamental mathematical principles of volume-integral equations as a subset of computational electromagnetics, (b) mathematical algorithms applied to signal-processing and inverse scattering problems, and (c) applications of these two topics to problems in which real and model data are used. This will make the book more than an academic exercise; we expect it to be valuable to users of eddy-current NDE technology in industries as varied as nuclear power, aerospace, materials characterization and biomedical imaging. We know of no other book on the market that covers this material in the manner in which we will present it, nor are there any books, to our knowledge, that apply this material to actual test situations that are of importance to the industries cited. It will be the first book to actually define the modern technology of eddy-current NDE, by showing how mathematics and the computer will solve problems more effectively than current analog practice.

In this book, leading scientists share their vision on the Kolsky-Hopkinson bar technique, which is a well-established experimental technique widely used to characterize materials and structures under dynamic, impact and explosion loads. Indeed, the Kolsky-Hopkinson bar machine is not a simple experimental device. It is rather a philosophical approach to solve the problem of measuring impact events. The split Hopkinson pressure bar conventional device is mainly limited to test homogeneous ductile non-soft materials under uni-axial compression. Extending the use of this device to more versatile applications faces several challenges such as controlling the stress state within the specimen and mastering the measurement of forces and velocities at the specimen-bar interfaces and then the material properties. Thus, the topics discussed in this book mainly focused on the loading and processing parts.

David I.A. Millar's thesis explores the effects of extreme conditions on energetic materials. His study identifies and structurally characterises new polymorphs obtained at high pressures and/or temperatures. The performance of energetic materials (pyrotechnics, propellants and explosives) can depend on a number of factors including sensitivity to detonation, detonation velocity, and chemical and thermal stability. Polymorphism and solid-state phase transitions may therefore have significant consequences for the performance and safety of energetic materials. In order to model the behaviour of these important materials effectively under operational conditions it is essential to obtain detailed structural information at a range of temperatures and pressures.

Focusing on the state of the art of electrode process chemistry, the contributors discuss a wide range of applications and provide coverage of advances in quantum mechanical theory of electron transfer and the mechanism of electrical passage through nerves and batteries for motor vehicles. Annotatio

Topics on CO2 sequestration and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from process engineering and materials for clean energy are covered. Papers addressing sustainable technologies in extractive metallurgy, materials processing and manufacturing industries with reduced energy consumption and CO2 emission are also included, as well as industrial energy efficient technologies including innovative ore beneficiation, smelting technologies, recycling and waste heat recovery. The book also carries contributions from all areas of non-nuclear and non-traditional energy sources, including renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, etc. The book also emphasizes novel mineral beneficiation, processing, and extraction techniques leading to waste minimization of critical rare-earth materials used in energy systems (e.g., magnets, display and lighting devices).

High-Temperature Cuprate Superconductors provides an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the properties of these fascinating materials. The essential properties of high-temperature cuprate superconductors are reviewed on the background of their theoretical interpretation. The experimental results for structural, magnetic, thermal, electric, optical and lattice properties of various cuprate superconductors are presented with respect to relevant theoretical models. A critical comparison of various theoretical models involving strong electron correlations, antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations, phonons and excitons provides a background for understanding of the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity. Recent achievements in their applications are also reviewed. A large number of illustrations and tables gives valuable information for specialists. A text-book level presentation with formulation of a general theory of strong-coupling superconductivity will help students and researches to consolidate their knowledge of this remarkable class of materials.

This book details the application of advanced characterisation techniques and diagnostic tools to heritage science, including the evaluation of heritage assets' condition, their preservation and restoration. It examines the use of electrochemical techniques in conservation science, with a particular focus on how to solve problems in taking on-site measurements. Specifically, it introduces readers to a new gel polymer (GPE) electrochemical cell developed by the authors for the characterisation of metallic heritage objects. Other techniques used to characterise and monitor reinforced concrete objects in more modern buildings are also covered, including non-destructive electrochemical techniques that allow steel corrosion to be assessed in these structures, and in those that are used to protect and repair such buildings. The usefulness of the NMR-Mouse nuclear magnetic resonance sensor in the assessment and preservation of softer heritage materials, such as wood, parchment, bone, and painted walls, is covered, as well as Infrared reflectography for examining paintings and laser cleaning for restoring them. The book introduces ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (u-HPLC) with a diode-array (DAD) and mass-mass (MS-MS) quadruple time-of-flight spectroscopy (QTOF). This new technique can be applied to the analysis and identification of natural and synthetic organic pigments and its use is demonstrated in several case studies. This book provides a rigorous scientific grounding in the application of state-of-the-art techniques in heritage science and conservation, and offers a practical handbook for practitioners.

This book treats the experimental methods used to determine the physical properties of explosives and explosions - physical principles, operating procedures and evaluations of results. Aimed at practicing engineers as well as experimental physicists who investigate the effects of explosions, this book will be of interest to research laboratories, manufacturers of explosives, military training establishments, technical laboratories and so forth.

'Micro-scaled Products Development via Microforming' presents state-of-the-art research on microforming processes, and focuses on the development of micro-scaled metallic parts via microforming processes. Microforming refers to the fabrication of microparts via micro-scaled plastic deformation and presents a promising micromanufacturing process. When compared to other micromanufacturing processes, microforming offers advantages such as high productivity and good mechanical properties of the deformed microparts. This book provides extensive and informative illustrations, tables and photos in order to convey this information clearly and directly to readers. Although the knowledge of macroforming processes is abundant and widely used in industry, microparts cannot be developed by leveraging existing knowledge of macroforming because the size effect presents a barrier to this knowledge transfer. Therefore systematic knowledge of microforming needs to be developed. In tandem with product miniaturization, the demand on microparts has been increased for their wide applications in many industries, including automotive, bio-medical, aerospace and consumer electronics industries. Micromanufacturing technologies have thus become more and more important. This book is intended for postgraduates, manufacturing engineers and professionals working in the areas of manufacturing and materials processing.

This book provides a State of the Art Report (STAR) produced by RILEM Technical Committee 254-CMS 'Thermal Cracking of Mas-sive Concrete Structures'. Several recent developments related to the old problem of understanding/predicting stresses originated from the evolution of the hydration of concrete are at the origin of the creation this technical committee. Having identified a lack in the organization of up-to-date scientific and technological knowledge about cracking induced by hydration heat effects, this STAR aims to provide both practitioners and scientists with a deep integrated overview of consolidated knowledge, together with recent developments on this subject.

This is the second volume of a two-volume work which summarizes in an edited format and in a fairly comprehensive manner many of the recent technical research accomplishments in the area of Elastomers. Advances in Elastomers discusses the various attempts reported on solving these problems from the point of view of the chemistry and the structure of elastomers, highlighting the drawbacks and advantages of each method. It summarize the importance of elastomers and their multiphase systems in human life and industry, and covers all the topics related to recent advances in elastomers, their blends, IPNs, composites and nanocomposites.

This second volume is deals with composites and nanocomposites of elastomers.

In this book, the author describes the development of the experimental diffraction setup and structural analysis of non-crystalline particles from material science and biology. Recent advances in X-ray free electron laser (XFEL)-coherent X-ray diffraction imaging (CXDI) experiments allow for the structural analysis of non-crystalline particles to a resolution of 7 nm, and to a resolution of 20 nm for biological materials. Now XFEL-CXDI marks the dawn of a new era in structural analys of non-crystalline particles with dimensions larger than 100 nm, which was quite impossible in the 20th century. To conduct CXDI experiments in both synchrotron and XFEL facilities, the author has developed apparatuses, named KOTOBUKI-1 and TAKASAGO-6 for cryogenic diffraction experiments on frozen-hydrated non-crystalline particles at around 66 K. At the synchrotron facility, cryogenic diffraction experiments dramatically reduce radiation damage of specimen particles and allow tomography CXDI experiments. In addition, in XFEL experiments, non-crystalline particles scattered on thin support membranes and flash-cooled can be used to efficiently increase the rate of XFEL pulses. The rate, which depends on the number density of scattered particles and the size of X-ray beams, is currently 20-90%, probably the world record in XFEL-CXDI experiments. The experiment setups and results are introduced in this book. The author has also developed software suitable for efficiently processing of diffraction patterns and retrieving electron density maps of specimen particles based on the diffraction theory used in CXDI.

This book exposes a number of mathematical models for fracture of growing difficulty. All models are treated in a unified way, based on incremental energy minimization. They differ from each other by the assumptions made on the inelastic part of the total energy, here called the "cohesive energy". Each model describes a specific aspect of material response, and particular care is devoted to underline the correspondence of each model to the experiments. The content of the book is a re-elaboration of the lectures delivered at the First Sperlonga Summer School on Mechanics and Engineering Sciences in September 2011. In the year and a half elapsed after the course, the material has been revised and enriched with new and partially unpublished results. Significant additions have been introduced in the occasion of the course "The variational approach to fracture and other inelastic phenomena", delivered at SISSA, Trieste, in March 2013. The Notes reflect a research line carried on by the writer over the years, addressed to a comprehensive description of the many aspects of the phenomenon of fracture, and to its relations with other phenomena, such as the formation of microstructure and the changes in the material's strength induced by plasticity and damage. Reprinted from the Journal of Elasticity, volume 112, issue 1, 2013.

In addition to structure formation in crystallizing polymers and semicrystalline polymers, this second edition completes the topic of transport phenomena. It also reviews solidification by crystallization during cooling and under flow or pressure, which all play an enormous role in polymer melt processing. Generally, there is an intensive interaction between three transport phenomena: heat transfer, momentum transfer (flow, rheology) and (flow induced) crystallization. The strong interaction between the three transport phenomena is a major challenge when it comes to experimentation, and advances in this area are detailed in the book, guiding further development of sound modeling. This book enables readers to follow an advanced course in polymer processing. It is a valuable resource for polymer chemists, applied physicists, rheologists, plastics engineers, mold makers and material scientists.

Topics covered in this collection include the following: *Enabling & Understanding Sustainability - Ferrous & Non-ferrous Metals Processing *Understanding & Enabling Sustainability - (Rechargeable) Batteries *Enabling & Understanding Sustainability - Rare Earth Element Applications *Enabling & Understanding Sustainability - Building Materials & Slag Valorisation *Designing Materials and Systems for Sustainability *Understanding & Enabling Sustainability - Light Metals Recycling & Waste Valorisation *Understanding & Enabling Sustainability - Education Research Innovation I *Understanding & Enabling Sustainability - Education Research Innovation II + Electronic Equipment

This book presents the basics and advanced topics of research of gamma ray physics. It describes measuring of Fermi surfaces with gamma resonance spectroscopy and the theory of angular distributions of resonantly scattered gamma rays. The dependence of excited-nuclei average lifetime on the shape of the exciting-radiation spectrum and electron binding energies in the spectra of scattered gamma rays is described. Resonant excitation by gamma rays of nuclear isomeric states with long lifetime leads to the emission and absorption lines. In the book, a new gamma spectroscopic method, gravitational gamma spectrometry, is developed. It has a resolution hundred million times higher than the usual Moessbauer spectrometer. Another important topic of this book is resonant scattering of annihilation quanta by nuclei with excited states in connection with positron annihilation. The application of the methods described is to explain the phenomenon of Coulomb fragmentation of gamma-source molecules and resonant scattering of annihilation quanta to study the shape of Fermi surfaces of metals.

This open access book brings out the state of the art on how informatics-based tools are used and expected to be used in nanomaterials research. There has been great progress in the area in which "big-data" generated by experiments or computations are fully utilized to accelerate discovery of new materials, key factors, and design rules. Data-intensive approaches play indispensable roles in advanced materials characterization. "Materials informatics" is the central paradigm in the new trend. "Nanoinformatics" is its essential subset, which focuses on nanostructures of materials such as surfaces, interfaces, dopants, and point defects, playing a critical role in determining materials properties. There have been significant advances in experimental and computational techniques to characterize individual atoms in nanostructures and to gain quantitative information. The collaboration of researchers in materials science and information science is growing actively and is creating a new trend in materials science and engineering.

The latest volume of reviews by researchers in academic and industrial laboratories contains five chapters. They cover a surface-science approach to the semiconductor/electrolyte interface, photovoltaic and photo-electrochemical cells based on Schottky barrier heterojunctions, the mechanisms of form

This book summarizes the preparation, characterization and applications of rubber based nano blends. Rubbers from natural and synthetic polymers and their blends are discussed in the individual chapters, including nitrile, polyurethane, chlorosulphonated, polybutadiene, styrene butadiene, polychloroprene rubbers. In each chapter, contributors from academia and industry describe the preparation and characterization of the rubber blends. Therefore, a variety of characterization methods like tensile testing, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamical mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, electron microscopy, scattering and diffraction techniques, and rheology measurements are utilized. The authors evaluate the properties of the different materials and discuss numerous fields of application, ranging from biomedicine, packaging, coatings and automobile to aerospace.

This introduction to materials science for engineers examines not only the physical and engineering properies of materials, but also their history, uses, development, and some of the implications of resource depletion, materials substitutions, and so forth. Topics covered include: the stone, copper, bronze, and iron ages; physical properties of metals, ceramics, and plastics; electrical and magnetic properties of metals, semiconductors, and insulators; band structure of metals; metallurgy of iron. This new edition includes new developments in the last five years, updated graphs and other dated information and references.

This is the first volume of a two-volume work which summarizes in an edited format and in a fairly comprehensive manner many of the recent technical research accomplishments in the area of Elastomers. Advances in Elastomers discusses the various attempts reported on solving these problems from the point of view of the chemistry and the structure of elastomers, highlighting the drawbacks and advantages of each method. It summarize the importance of elastomers and their multiphase systems in human life and industry, and covers all the topics related to recent advances in elastomers, their blends, IPNs, composites and nanocomposites.

This first volume focuses on advances on the blends and interpenetrating networks (IPNs) of elastomers.