This text is an advancement of the theory of vibration protection of mechanical systems with lumped and distributed parameters. The book offers various concepts and methods of solving vibration protection problems, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different methods, and the fields of their effective applications. Fundamental approaches of vibration protection, which are considered in this book, are the passive, parametric and optimal active vibration protection. The passive vibration protection is based on vibration isolation, vibration damping and dynamic absorbers. Parametric vibration protection theory is based on the Shchipanov-Luzin invariance principle. Optimal active vibration protection theory is based on the Pontryagin principle and the Krein moment method. The book also contains special topics such as suppression of vibrations at the source of their occurrence and the harmful influence of vibrations on humans.< Numerous examples, which illustrate the theoretical ideas of each chapter, are included. This book is intended for graduate students and engineers. It is assumed that a reader has working knowledge of theory of vibrations, differential equations, andcomplex analysis. About the Authors. Igor A Karnovsky, Ph.D., Dr. Sci., is a specialist in structural analysis, theory of vibration and optimal control of vibration. He has 40 years of experience in research, teaching and consulting in this field, and is the author of more than 70 published scientific papers, including two books in Structural Analysis (published with Springer in 2010-2012) and three handbooks in Structural Dynamics (published with McGraw Hill in 2001-2004). He also holds a number of vibration-control-related patents. Evgeniy Lebed, Ph.D., is a specialist in applied mathematics and engineering. He has 10 years of experience in research, teaching and consulting in this field. The main sphere of his research interests are qualitative theory of differential equations, integral transforms and frequency-domain analysis with application to image and signal processing. He is the author of 15 published scientific papers and a US patent (2015).

This book discusses offshore platform integration technology, focusing on the floatover methodology and its applications. It also addresses topics related to safety and cost-effectiveness, as well as ensuring the success of a project through careful planning and established detailed operation procedure/working manuals, which are rarely found in the published literature. Unlike other publications in this area, the book not only includes details of technology development, but also presents real project cases in the discussion to make it more comprehensible. Each topic is illustrated with carefully created sketches to show the complex operation procedures.

Concrete has traditionally been known as a material used widely in the construction of roads, bridges and buildings. Since cost effectiveness has always been one of the more important aspects of design, concrete, when reinforced and/or prestressed, is finding more use in other areas of application such as floating marine structures, storage tanks, nuclear vessel containments and a host of other structures. Because of the demand for concrete to operate under different loading and environmen tal conditions, increasing attention has been paid to study concrete specimens and structure behavior. A subject of major concern is how the localized segregation of the constituents in concrete would affect its global behavior. The degree of nonhomogeneity due to material property and damage. by yielding and/or cracking depends on the size scale and loading rate under consideration. Segregation or clustering of aggregates at the macroscopic level will affect specimen behavior to a larger degree than it would to a large structure such as a dam. Hence, a knowledge of concrete behavior over a wide range of scale is desired. The parameters governing micro-and macro-cracking and the techniques for evaluating and observing the damage in concrete need to be better understood. This volume is intended to be an attempt in this direction. The application of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics to concrete is discussed in several of the chapters."

Authors: Hugo Bachmann, Walter J. Ammann, Florian Deischl, Josef Eisenmann, Ingomar Floegl, Gerhard H. Hirsch, Gunter K. Klein, Goran J. Lande, Oskar Mahrenholtz, Hans G. Natke, Hans Nussbaumer, Anthony J. Pretlove, Johann H. Rainer, Ernst-Ulrich Saemann, Lorenz Steinbeisser. Large structures such as factories, gymnasia, concert halls, bridges, towers, masts and chimneys can be detrimentally affected by vibrations. These vibrations can cause either serviceability problems, severely hampering the user's comfort, or safety problems. The aim of this book is to provide structural and civil engineers working in construction and environmental engineering with practical guidelines for counteracting vibration problems. Dynamic actions are considered from the following sources of vibration: - human body motions, - rotating, oscillating and impacting machines, - wind flow, - road traffic, railway traffic and construction work. The main section of the book presents tools that aid in decision-making and in deriving simple solutions to cases of frequently occurring "normal" vibration problems. Complexer problems and more advanced solutions are also considered. In all cases these guidelines should enable the engineer to decide on appropriate solutions expeditiously. The appendices of the book contain fundamentals essential to the main chapters.

In this volume on the mechanics of fracture of Portland cement concrete, the general theme is the connection between microstructural phenomena and macroscopic models. The issues addressed include techniques for observation over a wide range of scales, the influence of .microcracking on common measures of strength and de formability , and ultimately, the relationship between microstructural changes in concrete under load and its resistance to cracking. It is now commonly accepted that, in past attempts to force-fit the behavior of concrete into the rules of linear elastic fracture mechanics, proper attention has not been paid to scale effects. Clearly, the relationships among specimen size, crack length and opening, and characteristic material fabric dimensions have been, in comparison to their counterparts in metals, ceramics, and rocks, abused in concrete. Without a fundamental understanding of these relationships, additional testing in search of the elusive, single measure of fracture toughness has spawned additional confusion and frustration. No one is in a better position to document this observation than Professor Mindess.

The concept of dynamics and control implies the combination of dynamic analysis and control synthesis. It is essential to gain insight into the dynamics of a nonlinear system with uncertainty if any new control strategy is designed to utilize nonlinearity. However, the new control strategy to be proposed must be robust enough so that any unexpected small disturbances will not alter the desired target of control. Such a concept is calling more attention to the modelling and simplification of dynamic systems subject to uncertain environment, the fine analysis and robust design of controlled dynamic systems resulting in new control strategies due to understanding of nonlinear phenomena and artificial intelligence, the combination of passive control, active control and semi-active control, as well as the interaction among sensors, controllers and actuators.

An International Conference on the Application of Fracture Mechanics to Ma terials and Structures was held at the Hotel Kolpinghaus in Freiburg, West Ger many, June 20-24, 1983. It was attended by more than 250 participants from different countries which include Austria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Democratic Republic of Germany, Denmark, Federal Republic of Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, People's Republic of China, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America, USSR and Yugoslavia. Conference Co-Chairmen were Professor G. C. Sih, Lehigh University, Bethle hem, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., Dr. E. Sommer, Fraunhofer-Institut fur Werkstoff mechanik, Freiburg, FRG and Professor W. Dahl, Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule, Aachen, FRG. Dr. Wenrich, as the representative of the Land Baden-WUrttemberg, delivered the opening address with the remarks that International Conferences can serve the means to further enhance the technology development of a country. He empha sized that the Federal Republic of Germany is presently in need of strengthening the engineering manpower in order to keep her in a competitive position. The Conference was officially cast off with the leading plenary lectures that under lined the theme of the technical lectures for the first day. This pattern was observed for the five-day meeting. The interplay between material and design re quirements was the theme and emphasized in many of the technical presentations that amounted to approximately ninety (90) papers."

The book focuses especially on the application of SHM technology to thin walled structural systems made from carbon fiber reinforced plastics. Here, guided elastic waves (Lamb-waves) show an excellent sensitivity to structural damages so that they are in the center of this book. It is divided into 4 sections dealing with analytical, numerical and experimental fundamentals, and subsequently with Lamb-wave propagation in fiber reinforced composites, SHM-systems and signal processing. The book is designed for engineering students as well as for researchers in the field of structural health monitoring and for users of this technology.

This book presents a class of novel optimal control methods and games schemes based on adaptive dynamic programming techniques. For systems with one control input, the ADP-based optimal control is designed for different objectives, while for systems with multi-players, the optimal control inputs are proposed based on games. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods, the book analyzes the properties of the adaptive dynamic programming methods, including convergence of the iterative value functions and the stability of the system under the iterative control laws. Further, to substantiate the mathematical analysis, it presents various application examples, which provide reference to real-world practices.

The book presents an updated state-of-the-art overview of the general aspects and practical applications of the theories of thin structures, through the interaction of several topics, ranging from non-linear thin-films, shells, junctions, beams of different materials and in different contexts (elasticity, plasticity, etc.). Advanced problems like the optimal design and the modeling of thin films made of brittle or phase-transforming materials will be presented as well.

Vibration of Hydraulic Machinery deals with the vibration problem which has significant influence on the safety and reliable operation of hydraulic machinery. It provides new achievements and the latest developments in these areas, even in the basic areas of this subject. The present book covers the fundamentals of mechanical vibration and rotordynamics as well as their main numerical models and analysis methods for the vibration prediction. The mechanical and hydraulic excitations to the vibration are analyzed, and the pressure fluctuations induced by the unsteady turbulent flow is predicted in order to obtain the unsteady loads. This book also discusses the loads, constraint conditions and the elastic and damping characters of the mechanical system, the structure dynamic analysis, the rotor dynamic analysis and the system instability of hydraulic machines, including the illustration of monitoring system for the instability and the vibration in hydraulic units. All the problems are necessary for vibration prediction of hydraulic machinery.

This monograph contains the results of my research in the area of asymmet- ric theory of elasticity, conducted from 1969 to 1986 under the direction of PROFESSOR WITOLD NOWACKI. I am indebted to PROFESSOR NOWACKI, thanks to whose invaluable and very kind research assistance I obtained the results which were the foundation of this monograph. Therefore, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to him and honour his memory. He will remain in my thoughts with due respect. During my research assistantship at the Institute of Mechanics at the Uni- versity of Warsaw in 1970-1973 I had the opportunity to participate in sem- inars and conferences, study critical reviews and carryon numerous discus- sions and conversations. All this resulted in many valuable remarks included in this monograph. In this connection, I would like to thank Professor J6zef Ignaczak and Professor Marek Sokolowski from the Institute of Fundamental Problems of Technology at the Polish Academy of Sciences, as well as Pro- fessor Zbigniew Olesiak and Professor Adam Piskorek from the Institute of Mechanics at the University of Warsaw.

Composites offer great promise as light weight and strong materials for high performance structures. One of the major advantages of these materials as compared with metals is the basic way in which heterogeneity resist crack extension. In a fiber/matrix composite system, the fibers tend to cause cracks to form at closer spacing and delay the formation of a large crack. The enhancement of local failure such as fiber breaking, matrix cracking and interface debonding further reduces the energy level which might have otherwise reached the point of catastrophic failure. Even though substantial tests have been made on composite materials, little has been gained in the understanding and development of a predic tive procedure for composite failure. There are fundamental difficulties associated with incorporating the nonhomogeneous and anisotropic prop erties of the composite into the continuum mechanics analysis. Additional uncertainties arise from voids and defects that are introduced in the composite during manufacturing. Even a small quantity of mechanical imperfections can cause a marked influence on the composite strength. Moreover, the interface properties between the fibers and matrix or bonded laminae can also affect the load transmission characteristics significantly. It would be impossible to establish predictive procedures for composite failure unless realistic guidelines could be developed to control the manufacturing quality of composite systems."

In this book a systematic discussion of crack problems in elastic-plastic materials is presented. The state of the art in fracture mechanics research and assessment of cracks is documented, with the help of analytic, asymptotic methods as well as finite element computations. After a brief introduction to fracture mechanics, the two-parameter concept for stationary cracks is studied in addition to the issues in three-dimensional crack fields under coupling with strong out-of-plane effects. Cracks along interfaces and crack growth problems under mixed mode conditions are also treated. A systematic study of stress singularities for different notches is accompanied by detailed finite element computations.

"The Virtual Fields Method: Extracting Constitutive Mechanical Parameters from Full-field Deformation Measurements" is the first and only one on the Virtual Fields Method, a recent technique to identify materials mechanical properties from full-field measurements. It contains an extensive theoretical description of the method as well as numerous examples of application to a wide range of materials (composites, metals, welds, biomaterials etc.) and situations(static, vibration, high strain rate etc.). Finally, it contains a detailed training section with examples of progressive difficulty to lead the reader to program the VFM. This is accompanied with a set of commented Matlab programs as well as with a GUI Matlab based software for more general situations.

The standard textbooks on aerodynamics usually omit any discussion of un steady aerodynamics or, at most, consider it only in a single chapter, based on two justifications. The first is that unsteady aerodynamics should be regarded as a specialized subject required "only" in connection with understanding and an alyzing aeroelastic phenomena such as flutter and gust response, and therefore should be dealt with in related specialist books. The second reason appears to be reluctance to discuss aerodynamics with the inclusion of the time-dependent terms in the conservation equations and the boundary conditions for fear that added complications may discourage the reader. We take the opposite view in this book and argue that a full understanding of the physics of lift generation is possible only by considering the unsteady aerody namics of the starting vortex generation process. Furthermore, certain "steady" flows are inherently unsteady in the presence of flow separation, as for example the unsteady flow caused by the Karman vortex shedding downstream of a cylin der and "static" airfoil stall which is an inherently unsteady flow phenomenon. Therefore, it stands to reason that a unified treatment of aerodynamics that yields steady-state aerodynamics as a special case offers advantages. This rea soning is strengthened by the developments in computational fluid dynamics over the past forty years, which showed that accurate steady-state solutions can be obtained efficiently by solving the unsteady flow equations.

Multibody Dynamics is an area of Computational Mechanics which blends together various disciplines such as structural dynamics, multi-physics - chanics, computational mathematics, control theory and computer science, in order to deliver methods and tools for the virtual prototyping of complex mechanical systems. Multibody dynamics plays today a central role in the modeling, analysis, simulation and optimization of mechanical systems in a variety of ?elds and for a wide range of industrial applications. The ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics was ini- ated in Lisbon in 2003, and then continued in Madrid in 2005 with the goal of providing researchers in Multibody Dynamics with appropriate venues for exchanging ideas and results. The third edition of the Conference was held at the Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy, from June 25 to June 28, 2007. The Conference saw the participation of over 250 researchers from 32 di?- ent countries, presenting 209 technical papers, and proved to be an excellent forum for discussion and technical exchange on the most recent advances in this rapidly growing ?eld.

This is not just another book on fracture mechanics. In recent years, there have been many books published on this subject in an attempt to assess the state of the art and its applications. The majority of the work dealt with energy release rate or critical stress intensity factor and is applicable only to fracture toughness testing. The main reason for this restriction is that the energy release concept cannot easily be extended to mixed mode fracture that occurs in practice as the rule rather than the exception. Cracks will normally curve or turn because the direction of loading can change as a function of time. Their directions of growth cannot be assumed as an a priori and must be determined from a pre-assumed criterion. Analysts are still perplexed with selecting an appropriate fracture criterion because it requires much discernment and judgement. Criteria which often appeared valid for idealized situations are quickly dis credited when encountering more complex physical phenomena. Moreover, the claim of generality cannot be justified on the basis of agreement between theory and experiment for a few simple examples."

Within the last two decades fracture theory has been one of the most rapidly advancing fields of continuous media mechanics. Noteworthy suc cess has been achieved in linear fracture mechanics where the propagation of the macrocrack in elastic materials is under study. However, fracture of materials is by no means a simple process since it involves fracture of structural elements ranging from atomic sizes to macrocracks. To obtain all information about how and why materials fail, all stages of the process must be studied. For a long time both mechanical engineers and physicists have been concerned with the problem of the fracture of solids. Unfortunately, most of their work has been independent of the others. To solve the problem not only requires the minds and work of mechanical engineers and physicists but chemists and other specialists must be consulted as well. In this book we will consider some conclusions of the "physical" and "mechanical" schools acquired by the A. F. Joffe Physics-Technical Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Leningrad and the Institute of Polymer Mechanics of Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences in Riga. The methods for studying the phenomena of fracture applied at both Institutes are different yet complimentary to one another; the materials tested are also sometimes different."

"Structural and Failure Mechanics of Sandwich Composites" by Leif A. Carlsson and George A. Kardomateas focuses on some important deformation and failure modes of sandwich panels such as global buckling, wrinkling and local instabilities, and face/core debonding. The book also provides the mechanics background necessary for understanding deformation and failure mechanisms in sandwich panels and the response of sandwich structural parts to a variety of loadings. Specifically, first-order and high-order sandwich panel theories, and three-dimensional elasticity solutions for the structural behavior outlined in some detail. Elasticity analysis can serve as a benchmark for judging the accuracy of simplified sandwich plate, shell and beam theories. Furthermore, the book reviews test methods developed for the characterization of the constituent face and core materials, and sandwich beams and plates. The characterization of face/core debonding is a major topic of this text, and analysis methods based on fracture mechanics are described and applied to several contemporary test specimens. Test methods and results documented in the literature are included and discussed. The book will benefit structural and materials engineers and researchers with the desire to learn more about structural behavior, failure mechanisms, fracture mechanics and damage tolerance of sandwich structures.

This book highlights relevant studies and applications in the area of robotics, which reflect the latest research, from interdisciplinary theoretical studies and computational algorithm development, to representative applications. It presents chapters on advanced control, such as fuzzy, neural, backstepping, sliding mode, adaptive, predictive, diagnosis and fault tolerant control etc. and addresses topics including cloud robotics, cable-driven robots, two-wheeled robots, mobile robots, swarm robots, hybrid vehicle, and drones. Each chapter employs a uniform structure: background, motivation, quantitative development (equations), case studies/illustration/tutorial (simulations, experiences, curves, tables, etc.), allowing readers to easily tailor the techniques to their own applications.

Reducing and controlling the level of vibration in a mechanical system leads to an improved work environment and product quality, reduced noise, more economical operation, and longer equipment life. Adequate design is essential for reducing vibrations, while damping and control methods help further reduce and manipulate vibrations when design strategies reach their limits. There are also useful types of vibration, which may require enhancement or control. Vibration Damping, Control, and Design balances theoretical and application-oriented coverage to enable optimal vibration and noise suppression and control in nearly any system. Drawn from the immensely popular Vibration and Shock Handbook, each expertly crafted chapter of this book includes convenient summary windows, tables, graphs, and lists to provide ready access to the important concepts and results. Working systematically from general principles to specific applications, coverage spans from theory and experimental techniques in vibration damping to isolation, passive control, active control, and structural dynamic modification. The book also discusses specific issues in designing for and controlling vibrations and noise such as regenerative chatter in machine tools, fluid-induced vibration, hearing and psychological effects, instrumentation for monitoring, and statistical energy analysis. This carefully edited work strikes a balance between practical considerations, design issues, and experimental techniques. Complemented by design examples and case studies, Vibration Damping, Control, and Design builds a deep understanding of the concepts and demonstrates how to apply these principles to real systems.

In this book, regular structures are de ned as periodic structures consisting of repeated elements (translational symmetry) as well as structures with a geom- ric symmetry. Regular structures have for a long time been attracting the attention of scientists by the extraordinary beauty of their forms. They have been studied in many areas of science: chemistry, physics, biology, etc. Systems with geometric symmetry are used widely in many areas of engineering. The various kinds of bases under machines, cyclically repeated forms of stators, reduction gears, rotors with blades mounted on them, etc. represent regular structures. The study of real-life engineering structures faces considerable dif culties because they comprise a great number of working mechanisms that, in turn, consist of many different elastic subsystems and elements. The computational models of such systems represent a hierarchical structure and contain hundreds and thousands of parameters. The main problems in the analysis of such systems are the dim- sion reduction of model and revealing the dominant parameters that determine its dynamics and form its energy nucleus. The two most widely used approaches to the simulation of such systems are as follows: 1. Methods using lumped parameters models, i.e., a discretization of the original system and its representation as a system with lumped parameters [including nite-element method (FEM)]. 2. The use of idealized elements with distributed parameters and known analytical solutions for both the local elements and the subsystems.

The book presents interesting examples of recent developments in this area. Among the studied materials are bulk metallic glasses, metamaterials, special composites, piezoelectric smart structures, nonwovens, etc. The last decades have seen a large extension of types of materials employed in various applications. In many cases these materials demonstrate mechanical properties and performance that vary significantly from those of their traditional counterparts. Such uniqueness is sought - or even specially manufactured - to meet increased requirements on modern components and structures related to their specific use. As a result, mechanical behaviors of these materials under different loading and environmental conditions are outside the boundaries of traditional mechanics of materials, presupposing development of new characterization techniques, theoretical descriptions and numerical tools. The book presents interesting examples of recent developments in this area. Among the studied materials are bulk metallic glasses, metamaterials, special composites, piezoelectric smart structures, nonwovens, etc.

Actuating materials hold a promise for fast-spreading applications in smart structures and active control systems, and have attracted extensive attention from scientists of both mechanics and materials sciences communities. High performance and stability of actuating materials and structures play a decisive role in their successive applications as sensors and actuators in structural control and robotics. The advances of actuating materials, however, recently encountered a severe reliability issue. For a better understanding toward this issue, scientific efforts are of paramount significance to gain a deep insight into the intricate deformation and failure behaviors of actuating materials. To examine the state of the art in this subject, the general assembly of IUTAM approved in August, 2002 at Cambridge University, UK, a proposal to hold an IUTAM symposium to summarize the relevant research findings. The main themes of the symposium are: (i) the constitutive relations of actuating materials that couple mechanical, electrical, thermal and magnetic properties, as well as incorporate phase transformation and domain switch; (ii) the physical mechanisms of deformation, damage, and fatigue crack growth of actuating materials; (iii) the development of failure-resilient approaches that base on the macro-, meso-, and micro-mechanics analyses; (iv) the investigation of microstructural evolution, stability of phase transformation, and size effects of ferroelectric ceramics, shape memory alloys, actuating polymers, and bio-actuating materials. The above problems represent an exciting challenge and form a research thrust of both materials science and solid mechanics. The IUTAM Symposium (GA.