Structural irregularities are one of the most frequent causes of severe damages in buildings, as evidenced by the numerous earthquakes in recent years. This issue is of particular importance, since real structures are almost all irregular. Furthermore, structural irregularities depend on several factors often very difficult to predict. This book is an essential tool for understanding the problem of structural irregularities and provides the most up-to-date review on this topic, covering the aspects of ground rotations, analysis, design, control and monitoring of irregular structures. It includes 24 contributions from authors of 13 countries, giving a complete and international view of the problem.

This book introduces the core concepts of the shock wave physics of condensed matter, taking a continuum mechanics approach to examine liquids and isotropic solids. The text primarily focuses on one-dimensional uniaxial compression in order to show the key features of condensed matter's response to shock wave loading. The first four chapters are specifically designed to quickly familiarize physical scientists and engineers with how shock waves interact with other shock waves or material boundaries, as well as to allow readers to better understand shock wave literature, use basic data analysis techniques, and design simple 1-D shock wave experiments. This is achieved by first presenting the steady one-dimensional strain conservation laws using shock wave impedance matching, which insures conservation of mass, momentum and energy. Here, the initial emphasis is on the meaning of shock wave and mass velocities in a laboratory coordinate system. An overview of basic experimental techniques for measuring pressure, shock velocity, mass velocity, compression and internal energy of steady 1-D shock waves is then presented. In the second part of the book, more advanced topics are progressively introduced: thermodynamic surfaces are used to describe equilibrium flow behavior, first-order Maxwell solid models are used to describe time-dependent flow behavior, descriptions of detonation shock waves in ideal and non-ideal explosives are provided, and lastly, a select group of current issues in shock wave physics are discussed in the final chapter.

Mechanics of Advanced Functional Materials emphasizes the coupling effect between the electric and mechanical field in the piezoelectric, ferroelectric and other functional materials. It also discusses the size effect on the ferroelectric domain instability and phase transition behaviors using the continuum micro-structural evolution models. Functional materials usually have a very wide application in engineering due to their unique thermal, electric, magnetic, optoelectronic, etc., functions. Almost all the applications demand that the material should have reasonable stiffness, strength, fracture toughness and the other mechanical properties. Furthermore, usually the stress and strain fields on the functional materials and devices have some important coupling effect on the functionality of the materials. Much progress has been made concerning the coupling electric and mechanical behaviors such as the coupled electric and stress field distribution in piezoelectric solids, ferroelectric domain patterns in ferroelectrics, fracture and failure properties under coupled electric and stress field, etc. The book is intended for researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of mechanics, materials sciences and applied physics who are interested to work on the interdisciplinary mathematical modeling of the functional materials. Prof. Biao Wang is the Dean of School of Physics and Engineering of the Sun Yat-sen University, China.

The design and construction of rotating machinery operating at supercritical speeds was, in the 1920s, an event of revolutionary importance for the then new branch of dynamics known as rotor dynamics. In the 1960s, another revolution occurred: In less than a decade, imposed by operational and economic needs, an increase in the power of turbomachinery by one order of magnitude took place. Dynamic analysis of complex rotor forms became a necessity, while the importance of approximate methods for dynamic analysis was stressed. Finally, the emergence of fracture mechanics, as a new branch of applied mechanics, provided analytical tools to investigate crack influence on the dynamic behavior of rotors. The scope of this book is based on all these developments. No topics related to the well-known classical problems are included, rather the book deals exclusively with modern high-power turbomachinery.

The modern vision of the micromechanism of friction and wear is explored, from the examination of ideal and real crystal structure and adhesion properties to the dynamics of solid frictional interaction. The fundamental quantum-mechanical and relativity principles of particle interaction are considered as basis of friction micro-process examination. The changes in solid structure originated from the influence of different kinds of force fields are considered. The principal possibility of relativity effect manifestation by friction is explained. The critical state of friction - triboplasma - was studied. Structural peculiarities of triboplasma, the kinetics of its transformation during frictional interaction as well as the influence of plasma and postplasma processes on tribojunction friction characteristics and complex formation by friction were examined. The book addresses to tribology researchers.

Diamond has a unique combination of properties, such as the highest hardness and thermal conductivity among any known material, high electrical resistivity, a large optical band gap and a high transmission, good resistance to chemical erosion, low adhesion and friction, and extremely low thermal expansion coefficient. As such, diamond has been a desirable material in a wide range of applications in mechanical, chemical, optical, thermal and electrical engineering. In many of the cases, the surface of a diamond component or element must have a superior finish, often down to a surface roughness of nanometers. Nevertheless, due to its extreme hardness and chemical inertness, the polishing of diamond and its composites has been a sophisticated process. Polishing of Diamond Materials will provide a state-of-the-art analysis, both theoretically and experimentally, of the most commonly used polishing techniques for mono/poly-crystalline diamond and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond films, including mechanical, chemo-mechanical, thermo-chemical, high energy beam, dynamic friction and other polishing techniques. The in-depth discussions will be on the polishing mechanisms, possible modelling, material removal rate and the quality control of these techniques. A comparison of their advantages and drawbacks will be carried out to provide the reader with a useful guideline for the selection and implementation of these polishing techniques. Polishing of Diamond Materials will be of interest to researchers and engineers in hard materials and precision manufacturing, industry diamond suppliers, diamond jewellery suppliers and postgraduate students in the area of precision manufacturing.

This volume presents the major outcome of the IUTAM symposium on "Advanced Materials Modeling for Structures". It discusses advances in high temperature materials research, and also to provides a discussion the new horizon of this fundamental field of applied mechanics. The topics cover a large domain of research but place a particular emphasis on multiscale approaches at several length scales applied to non linear and heterogeneous materials. Discussions of new approaches are emphasised from various related disciplines, including metal physics, micromechanics, mathematical and computational mechanics.

This volume reports results from the German research initiative MUNA (Management and Minimization of Errors and Uncertainties in Numerical Aerodynamics), which combined development activities of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), German universities and German aircraft industry. The main objective of this five year project was the development of methods and procedures aiming at reducing various types of uncertainties that are typical of numerical flow simulations. The activities were focused on methods for grid manipulation, techniques for increasing the simulation accuracy, sensors for turbulence modelling, methods for handling uncertainties of the geometry and grid deformation as well as stochastic methods for quantifying aleatoric uncertainties.

Is the heat and mass transfer intensification defined as a new paradigm of process engineering, or is it just a common and old idea, renamed and given the current taste? Where might intensification occur? How to achieve intensification? How the shape optimization of thermal and fluidic devices leads to intensified heat and mass transfers? To answer these questions, Heat & Mass Transfer Intensification and Shape Optimization: A Multi-scale Approach clarifies the definition of the intensification by highlighting the potential role of the multi-scale structures, the specific interfacial area, the distribution of driving force, the modes of energy supply and the temporal aspects of processes. A reflection on the methods of process intensification or heat and mass transfer enhancement in multi-scale structures is provided, including porous media, heat exchangers, fluid distributors, mixers and reactors. A multi-scale approach to achieve intensification and shape optimization is developed and clearly explained. Providing readers with a tool box of reflections, techniques, methods, supported by literature reviews, Heat & Mass Transfer Intensification and Shape Optimization: A Multi-scale Approach will be a key guide for students, a teaching aid for lecturers and a source of inspiration for future research subjects.

Advanced Analysis and Design for Fire Safety of Steel Structures systematically presents the latest findings on behaviours of steel structural components in a fire, such as the catenary actions of restrained steel beams, the design methods for restrained steel columns, and the membrane actions of concrete floor slabs with steel decks. Using a systematic description of structural fire safety engineering principles, the authors illustrate the important difference between behaviours of an isolated structural element and the restrained component in a complete structure under fire conditions. The book will be an essential resource for structural engineers who wish to improve their understanding of steel buildings exposed to fires. It is also an ideal textbook for introductory courses in fire safety for master's degree programs in structural engineering, and is excellent reading material for final-year undergraduate students in civil engineering and fire safety engineering. Furthermore, it successfully bridges the information gap between fire safety engineers, structural engineers and building inspectors, and will be of significant interest to architects, code officials, building designers and fire fighters. Dr. Guoqiang Li is a Professor at the College of Civil Engineering of Tongji University, China; Dr. Peijun Wang is an Associate Professor at the School of Civil Engineering of Shandong University, China.

Engineering mechanics involves the development of mathematical models of the physical world. Statics addresses the forces acting on and in mechanical objects and systems. Statics with MATLAB (R) develops an understanding of the mechanical behavior of complex engineering structures and components using MATLAB (R) to execute numerical calculations and to facilitate analytical calculations. MATLAB (R) is presented and introduced as a highly convenient tool to solve problems for theory and applications in statics. Included are example problems to demonstrate the MATLAB (R) syntax and to also introduce specific functions dealing with statics. These explanations are reinforced through figures generated with MATLAB (R) and the extra material available online which includes the special functions described. This detailed introduction and application of MATLAB (R) to the field of statics makes Statics with MATLAB (R) a useful tool for instruction as well as self study, highlighting the use of symbolic MATLAB (R) for both theory and applications to find analytical and numerical solutions

In this book advanced balancing methods for planar and spatial linkages, hand operated and automatic robot manipulators are presented. It is organized into three main parts and eight chapters. The main parts are the introduction to balancing, the balancing of linkages and the balancing of robot manipulators. The review of state-of-the-art literature including more than 500 references discloses particularities of shaking force/moment balancing and gravity compensation methods. Then new methods for balancing of linkages are considered. Methods provided in the second part of the book deal with the partial and complete shaking force/moment balancing of various linkages. A new field for balancing methods applications is the design of mechanical systems for fast manipulation. Special attention is given to the shaking force/moment balancing of robot manipulators. Gravity balancing methods are also discussed. The suggested balancing methods are illustrated by numerous examples.

Topics in Modal Analysis, Volume 7: Proceedings of the 31st IMAC, A Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics, 2013, the seventh volume of seven from the Conference, brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Structural Dynamics, including papers on: Fluid Structure Interaction Adaptive Structures Experimental Techniques Analytical Methods Damage Detection Damping of Materials & Members Modal Parameter Identification Modal Testing Methods System Identification Active Control Modal Parameter Estimation Processing Modal Data

This book is an introduction to the theories of Special and General Relativity. The target audience are physicists, engineers and applied scientists who are looking for an understandable introduction to the topic - without too much new mathematics. The fundamental equations of Einstein's theory of Special and General Relativity are derived using matrix calculus, without the help of tensors. This feature makes the book special and a valuable tool for scientists and engineers with no experience in the field of tensor calculus. In part I the foundations of Special Relativity are developed, part II describes the structure and principle of General Relativity. Part III explains the Schwarzschild solution of spherical body gravity and examines the "Black Hole" phenomenon. Any necessary mathematical tools are user friendly provided, either directly in the text or in the appendices.

Topics in Experimental Dynamics Substructuring, Volume 2: Proceedings of the 31st IMAC, A Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics, 2013, the second volume of seven from the Conference, brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Structural Dynamics, including papers on: Nonlinear Substructures SEM Substructures Wind Turbine Testbed - Blade Modeling & Correlation Substructure Methods SEM Substructures Wind Turbine Testbed Frequency Based Substructures Fixed Base Substructure Methods Substructure Methods SEM Substructures Wind Turbine Testbed Frequency Based Substructures Fixed Base Substructure Methods

The articles in this volume present the state-of-the-art in noise prediction, modeling and measurement. The articles are partially based on class notes provided during the course `Noise sources in turbulent shear flows', given at CISM on April 2011. The first part contains general concepts of aero acoustics, including vortex sound theory and acoustic analogies, in the second part particular emphasis is put into arguments of interest for engineers and relevant for aircraft design: jet noise, airfoil broadband noise, boundary layer noise (including interior noise and its control) and the concept of noise sources, their theoretical modeling and identification in turbulent lows. All these arguments are treated extensively with the inclusion of many practical examples and references to engineering applications.

Topics in Model Validation and Uncertainty Quantification, Volume : Proceedings of the 31st IMAC, A Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics, 2013, the fifth volume of seven from the Conference, brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Structural Dynamics, including papers on: Uncertainty Quantification & Propagation in Structural Dynamics Robustness to Lack of Knowledge in Design Model Validation

Designing new structural materials, extending lifetimes and guarding against fracture in service are among the preoccupations of engineers, and to deal with these they need to have command of the mechanics of material behaviour. This ought to reflect in the training of students. In this respect, the first volume of this work deals with elastic, elastoplastic, elastoviscoplastic and viscoelastic behaviours; this second volume continues with fracture mechanics and damage, and with contact mechanics, friction and wear. As in Volume I, the treatment links the active mechanisms on the microscopic scale and the laws of macroscopic behaviour. Chapter I is an introduction to the various damage phenomena. Chapter II gives the essential of fracture mechanics. Chapter III is devoted to brittle fracture, chapter IV to ductile fracture and chapter V to the brittle-ductile transition. Chapter VI is a survey of fatigue damage. Chapter VII is devoted to hydrogen embrittlement and to environment assisted cracking, chapter VIII to creep damage. Chapter IX gives results of contact mechanics and a description of friction and wear mechanisms. Finally, chapter X treats damage in non metallic materials: ceramics, glass, concrete, polymers, wood and composites. The volume includes many explanatory diagrams and illustrations. A third volume will include exercises allowing deeper understanding of the subjects treated in the first two volumes.

This book provides a unified mechanics and materials perspective on polymers: both the mathematics of viscoelasticity theory as well as the physical mechanisms behind polymer deformation processes. Introductory material on fundamental mechanics is included to provide a continuous baseline for readers from all disciplines. Introductory material on the chemical and molecular basis of polymers is also included, which is essential to the understanding of the thermomechanical response. This self-contained text covers the viscoelastic characterization of polymers including constitutive modeling, experimental methods, thermal response, and stress and failure analysis. Example problems are provided within the text as well as at the end of each chapter. New to this edition: * One new chapter on the use of nano-material inclusions for structural polymer applications and applications such as fiber-reinforced polymers and adhesively bonded structures * Brings up-to-date polymer production and sales data and equipment and procedures for evaluating polymer characterization and classification * The work serves as a comprehensive reference for advanced seniors seeking graduate level courses, first and second year graduate students, and practicing engineers

Masonry constructions are the great majority of the buildings in Europe's historical centres and the most important monuments in its architectural heritage and the demand for their safety assessments and restoration projects is pressing and constant. Nevertheless, there is a lack of a widely accepted approach to studying the statics of masonry structures. This book aims to help fill these gaps by presenting a new comprehensive, unified theory of statics of masonry constructions. The book, result of thirty years of research and professional experience, through an interdisciplinary approach combining engineering, architecture, advances from the simple to the complex and analyses statics of a large variety of masonry constructions, as arches, domes, cross and cloister vaults, piers, towers, cathedrals and buildings under seismic actions.

It is well established that the sliding mode control strategy provides an effective and robust method of controlling the deterministic system due to its well-known invariance property to a class of bounded disturbance and parameter variations. Advances in microcomputer technologies have made digital control increasingly popular among the researchers worldwide. And that led to the study of discrete-time sliding mode control design and its implementation. This brief presents, a method for multi-rate frequency shaped sliding mode controller design based on switching and non-switching type of reaching law. In this approach, the frequency dependent compensator dynamics are introduced through a frequency-shaped sliding surface by assigning frequency dependent weighing matrices in a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) design procedure. In this way, the undesired high frequency dynamics or certain frequency disturbance can be eliminated. The states are implicitly obtained by measuring the output at a faster rate than the control. It is also known that the vibration control of smart structure is a challenging problem as it has several vibratory modes. So, the frequency shaping approach is used to suppress the frequency dynamics excited during sliding mode in smart structure. The frequency content of the optimal sliding mode is shaped by using a frequency dependent compensator, such that a higher gain can be obtained at the resonance frequencies. The brief discusses the design methods of the controllers based on the proposed approach for the vibration suppression of the intelligent structure. The brief also presents a design of discrete-time reduced order observer using the duality to discrete-time sliding surface design. First, the duality between the coefficients of the discrete-time reduced order observer and the sliding surface design is established and then, the design method for the observer using Riccati equation is explained. Using the proposed method, the observer for the Power System Stabilizer (PSS) for Single Machine Infinite Bus (SMIB) system is designed and the simulation is carried out using the observed states. The discrete-time sliding mode controller based on the proposed reduced order observer design method is also obtained for a laboratory experimental servo system and verified with the experimental results.

This book reports on the state of the art in the field of multiphysics systems. It consists of accurately reviewed contributions to the MMSSD'2014 conference, which was held from December 17 to 19, 2004 in Hammamet, Tunisia. The different chapters, covering new theories, methods and a number of case studies, provide readers with an up-to-date picture of multiphysics modeling and simulation. They highlight the role played by high-performance computing and newly available software in promoting the study of multiphysics coupling effects, and show how these technologies can be practically implemented to bring about significant improvements in the field of design, control and monitoring of machines. In addition to providing a detailed description of the methods and their applications, the book also identifies new research issues, challenges and opportunities, thus providing researchers and practitioners with both technical information to support their daily work and a new source of inspiration for their future research.

This successful book gives an introduction to the basics of aerothermodynamics, as applied in particular to winged re-entry vehicles and airbreathing hypersonic cruise and acceleration vehicles. The book gives a review of the issues of transport of momentum, energy and mass, real-gas effects as well as inviscid and viscous flow phenomena. In this second, revised edition the chapters with the classical topics of aerothermodynamics more or less were left untouched. The access to some single topics of practical interest was improved. Auxiliary chapters were put into an appendix. The recent successful flights of the X-43A and the X-51A indicate that the dawn of sustained airbreathing hypersonic flight now has arrived. This proves that the original approach of the book to put emphasis on viscous effects and the aerothermodynamics of radiation-cooled vehicle surfaces was timely. This second, revised edition even more accentuates these topics. A new, additional chapter treats examples of viscous thermal surface effects. Partly only very recently obtained experimental and numerical results show the complexity of such phenomena (dependence of boundary-layer stability, skin friction, boundary-layer thicknesses, and separation on the thermal state of the surface) and their importance for airbreathing hypersonic flight vehicles, but also for any other kind of hypersonic vehicle.

This volume presents a comprehensive system for categorizing carbon nanotubes and their modifications in terms of nano sheets, nanotubes, microscopic and atomic modifications. In addition, the material and geometric properties of these nano-configurations are addressed. Lastly, it introduces a number of common software packages for geometry generation and several commercial finite element programs.

In this second edition a new chapter has been added covering the buffeting theory in a finite element format. The motivation for this has been that a finite element format is becoming more and more dominant in all areas of structural mechanics. It is streamlined for computer programming, and it facilitates the use of general purpose routines that are applicable in several types of structural engineering problems. In this book the finite element formulation of the problem of dynamic response calculations follows the general principle of virtual work, a general principle which may be found in many other text books. While the buffeting wind load itself has with no trouble been included in a finite element format, the main challenge has been to obtain a consistent formulation that includes all the relevant motion induced forces. This has been important, because, while many structures (e.g. long-span suspension bridges) may suffer greatly and become unstable at high wind velocities, the same structures may also benefit from these effects at the design wind velocity. It is well known that motion induced forces will change the stiffness and damping properties of the combined structure and flow system. If calculations are performed for a suitably close set of increasing mean wind velocities and the changing mechanical properties (stiffness and damping) are updated from one velocity to the next, then the response of the system may be followed up to wind velocities close to the stability limit, i.e. up to response values that are perceived as unduly large. Finite element calculations may be performed in time domain, in frequency domain or converted into a modal format. All these options have been included. Pursuing a time domain solution strategy requires the use of the so-called indicial functions. The theory behind such a formulation is also covered, and the determination of these functions from aerodynamic derivatives has been included in a separate appendix.