This book provides an overview of the experimental characterization of materials and their numerical modeling, as well as the development of new computational methods for virtual design. Its 17 contributions are divided into four main sections: experiments and virtual design, composites, fractures and fatigue, and uncertainty quantification. The first section explores new experimental methods that can be used to more accurately characterize material behavior. Furthermore, it presents a combined experimental and numerical approach to optimizing the properties of a structure, as well as new developments in the field of computational methods for virtual design. In turn, the second section is dedicated to experimental and numerical investigations of composites, with a special focus on the modeling of failure modes and the optimization of these materials. Since fatigue also includes wear due to frictional contact and aging of elastomers, new numerical schemes in the field of crack modeling and fatigue prediction are also discussed. The input parameters of a classical numerical simulation represent mean values of actual observations, though certain deviations arise: to illustrate the uncertainties of parameters used in calculations, the book's final section presents new and efficient approaches to uncertainty quantification.

This textbook provides an introduction to circuits, systems, and motors for students in electrical engineering as well as other majors that need an introduction to circuits. Unlike most other textbooks that highlight only circuit theory, this book goes into detail on many practical aspects of working with circuits, including electrical safety and the proper method to measure the relevant circuit parameters using modern measurement systems. Coverage also includes a detailed discussion of motors and generators, including brushless DC motors, as these are critical topics in the robotic and mechatronics industries. Lastly, the book discusses A/D and D/A converters given their importance in modern measurement and control systems. In addition to covering the basic circuit concepts, the author also provides the students with the necessary mathematics to analyze correctly the circuit concepts being presented. The chapter on phasor domain circuit analysis begins with a detailed review of complex numbers as many students are weak in this area. Likewise, before discussing filters and Bode Diagrams, the Fourier Transform and later the Laplace Transform are explained.

This book features selected papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on Nanoelectronics, Circuits and Communication Systems (NCCS 2018). Covering topics such as MEMS and nanoelectronics, wireless communications, optical communications, instrumentation, signal processing, the Internet of Things, image processing, bioengineering, green energy, hybrid vehicles, environmental science, weather forecasting, cloud computing, renewable energy, RFID, CMOS sensors, actuators, transducers, telemetry systems, embedded systems, and sensor network applications in mines, it offers a valuable resource for young scholars, researchers, and academics alike.

This book discusses microstructure-property correlations and explores key microstructure features and how they affect the properties of a material. The authors discuss the effect of manufacturing and processing routes on microstructure and properties. They identify appropriate microstructure and mechanical characterization techniques essential for developing accurate microstructure-property relationships. The techniques include high resolution imaging methods and properties measurements such as hardness, strength, elastic modulus, and fracture toughness. Current and future trends in hard and superhard material design are revealed by the authors, including nanostructured materials, biomimicry, and novel manufacturing technologies.

This informative book compiles the most up-to-date applications of nanobiosensors in fields ranging from agriculture to medicine. The introductory section describes different types of nanobiosensors and use of nanobiosensors towards a sustainable environment. The applications are divided into four broad sections for easy reading and understanding. The book discusses how manipulation, control and integration of atoms and molecules are used to form materials, structures, devices and systems in nano-scale. Chapters in the book shed light on the use of nanosensors in diagnostics and medical devices. Application in food processing as well as in cell signaling is also described. Nanobiosensors have immense use, and this book captures the most important ones.

With this volume, Ezequiel P. M. Leiva and co-authors fill a gap in the available literature, by providing a much-needed, comprehensive review of the relevant literature for electrochemists, materials scientists and energy researchers. For the first time, they present applications of underpotential deposition (UPD) on the nanoscale, such as nanoparticles and nanocavities, as well as for electrocatalysis. They also discuss real surface determinations and layer-by-layer growth of ultrathin films, as well as the very latest modeling approaches to UPD based on nanothermodynamics, statistical mechanics, molecular dynamics and Monte-Carlo simulations.

This book gathers the best papers presented at the Third Italian National Conference on Sensors, held in Rome, Italy, from 23 to 25 February 2016. The book represents an invaluable and up-to-the-minute tool, providing an essential overview of recent findings, strategies and new directions in the area of sensor research. Further, it addresses various aspects based on the development of new chemical, physical or biological sensors, assembling and characterization, signal treatment and data handling. Lastly, the book applies electrochemical, optical and other detection strategies to relevant issues in the food and clinical environmental areas, as well as industry-oriented applications.

The release of this second volume of CHIPS 2020 coincides with the 50th anniversary of Moore's Law, a critical year marked by the end of the nanometer roadmap and by a significantly reduced annual rise in chip performance. At the same time, we are witnessing a data explosion in the Internet, which is consuming 40% more electrical power every year, leading to fears of a major blackout of the Internet by 2020. The messages of the first CHIPS 2020, published in 2012, concerned the realization of quantum steps for improving the energy efficiency of all chip functions. With this second volume, we review these messages and amplify upon the most promising directions: ultra-low-voltage electronics, nanoscale monolithic 3D integration, relevant-data, brain- and human-vision-inspired processing, and energy harvesting for chip autonomy. The team of authors, enlarged by more world leaders in low-power, monolithic 3D, video, and Silicon brains, presents new vistas in nanoelectronics, promising Moore-like exponential growth sustainable through to the 2030s.

This book highlights the main advances in fiber electronics, like fiber-shaped solar cells, batteries, supercapacitors, sensors, light-emitting devices, memristors and communication devices from the standpoints of material synthesis, structure design and property enhancement. It focuses on revealing the separation and transport mechanisms of charges, establishing transport equations for electrons and ions, and emphasizing integration methods in fiber devices. In closing, it reviews emerging applications based on fiber devices that could accelerate their large-scale production in the near future. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for scientists, engineers, graduate students and undergraduate students in a wide variety of fields such as advanced materials, energy, electrochemistry, applied physics, nanoscience and nanotechnology, polymer science and engineering and biomedical science. It also benefits many non-specialist industrialists who are working to promote new technologies.

This book presents some of the latest achievements in nanotechnology and nanomaterials from leading researchers in Ukraine, Europe, and beyond. It features selected peer-reviewed contributions from participants in the 5th International Science and Practice Conference Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials (NANO2017) held in Chernivtsi, Ukraine on August 23-26, 2017. The International Conference was organized jointly by the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Ukraine), University of Tartu (Estonia), University of Turin (Italy), and Pierre and Marie Curie University (France). Internationally recognized experts from a wide range of universities and research institutions share their knowledge and key results on topics ranging from energy storage to biomedical applications. This book's companion volume also addresses nanooptics, nanoplasmonics, and interface studies.

For Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and Nanoelectromechanical Systems (NEMS) production, each product requires a unique process technology. This book provides a comprehensive insight into the tools necessary for fabricating MEMS/NEMS and the process technologies applied. Besides, it describes enabling technologies which are necessary for a successful production, i.e., wafer planarization and bonding, as well as contamination control.

This book provides a unified treatment of Flip-Flop design and selection in nanometer CMOS VLSI systems. The design aspects related to the energy-delay tradeoff in Flip-Flops are discussed, including their energy-optimal selection according to the targeted application, and the detailed circuit design in nanometer CMOS VLSI systems. Design strategies are derived in a coherent framework that includes explicitly nanometer effects, including leakage, layout parasitics and process/voltage/temperature variations, as main advances over the existing body of work in the field. The related design tradeoffs are explored in a wide range of applications and the related energy-performance targets. A wide range of existing and recently proposed Flip-Flop topologies are discussed. Theoretical foundations are provided to set the stage for the derivation of design guidelines, and emphasis is given on practical aspects and consequences of the presented results. Analytical models and derivations are introduced when needed to gain an insight into the inter-dependence of design parameters under practical constraints. This book serves as a valuable reference for practicing engineers working in the VLSI design area, and as text book for senior undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students (already familiar with digital circuits and timing).

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This book discusses the tribological, rheological and optical properties of liquid-crystal nanomaterials as well as lubricant media. It also describes the formation of liquid-crystal materials and the application of cholesteric liquid-crystal compounds in technical friction units and in human and animal joints. Further, it shows the connection between the tribological and other physical properties of liquid-crystal cholesterol compounds and develops a lubricity conceptual model of cholesteric-nematic, liquid-crystalline nanostructures on the basis of physical and energetic interpretations. This general model is valid for all surfaces and friction pairs, including biopolymers, and could lead to applications of cholesteric liquid-crystalline nanomaterials in different friction units and tribosystems as well as in the treatment of joint diseases.

This book describes new trends in the nanoscience of isotopic materials science. Assuming a background in graduate condensed matter physics and covering the fundamental aspects of isotopic materials science from the very beginning, it equips readers to engage in high-level professional research in this area. The books main objective is to provide insight into the question of why solids are the way they are, either because of how their atoms are bonded with one another, because of defects in their structure, or because of how they are produced or processed. Accordingly, it explores the science of how atoms interact, connects the results to real materials properties, and demonstrates the engineering concepts that can be used to produce or improve semiconductors by design. In addition, it shows how the concepts discussed are applied in the laboratory. The book addresses the needs of researchers, graduate students and senior undergraduate students alike. Although primarily written for materials science audience, it will be equally useful to those teaching in electrical engineering, materials science or even chemical engineering or physics curricula. In order to maintain the focus on materials concepts, however, the book does not burden the reader with details of many of the derivations and equations nor does it delve into the details of electrical engineering topics.

The papers in this volume present and discuss the frontiers in the mechanics of controlled machines and structures. They are based on papers presented at the International Workshop on Advanced Dynamics and Model Based Control of Structures and Machines held in Vienna in September 2015. The workshop continues a series of international workshops held in Linz (2008) and St. Petersburg (2010).

This book is designed to help athletes and individuals interested in high sports performance in their journey towards the perfection of human sports abilities and achievements. It has two main goals: accelerating the acquisition of motor skills and preparing and vigilantly reducing the recovery time after training and competition. The Diamond Sports Protocol (DSP) presents state-of-the-art techniques for current sport and health technologies, particularly neuromuscular electrical stimulation (Sports Wave), oxygen infusion (Oxy Sports), infrared (Sports Infrared Dome) and lactic acid cleaning (Turbo Sports). The book suggest DSP as an essential part of every future athlete's training, competition and health maintenance. The book is for everyone interested in superior sports performance, fast and effective rehabilitation from training and competition and sports injury prevention.

This volume is dedicated to Professor Okyay Kaynak to commemorate his life time impactful research and scholarly achievements and outstanding services to profession. The 21 invited chapters have been written by leading researchers who, in the past, have had association with Professor Kaynak as either his students and associates or colleagues and collaborators. The focal theme of the volume is the Sliding Modes covering a broad scope of topics from theoretical investigations to their significant applications from Control to Intelligent Mechatronics.

This book presents the basic and fundamental aspects of nanomaterials, its types, and classifications with respect to different factors. It contains methods of preparation and characterization of unique nanostructured materials. Consisting of six chapters, this book appeals to a wide readership from academia and industry professionals and is also useful to undergraduate and graduate students focusing on nanotechnology and nanomaterials, sustainable chemistry, energy conversion and storage, environmental protection, opto-electronics, sensors, and surface and interface science. It also appeals to readers who wish to know about the design of new types of materials with controlled nanostructures.

This book discusses key techniques of protection and fault ride-through in VSC-HVDC grids, including high-speed selective protection, DC fault current limitation, converter restarting, and DCCB reclosing strategies. It investigates how high-speed transient-variable-based protection can be used to improve grids' acting sensitivity, acting reliability, and ability to withstand high transition resistance compared with traditional protection. In addition, it discusses the applicability of the pilot protections, including the current differential protection and travelign-wave based protection, in the dc grid, as well as the improved methods. Furthermore, it proposes several DC FCL topologies, which are suitable for DC grids. Lastly, in the context of overhead line application conditions, it explores converter restarting and DCCB reclosing strategies, which not only identify the fault property, but also limit the secondary damage to the system, improving the system's operation security and reliability. As such, the book offers a comprehensive overview of original and advanced methods and techniques for the protection of VSC-HVDC grids.

This volume of the Lecture Notes in Mobility series contains papers written by speakers at the 22nd International Forum on Advanced Microsystems for Automotive Applications (AMAA 2018) "Smart Systems for Clean, Safe and Shared Road Vehicles" that was held in Berlin, Germany in September 2018. The authors report about recent breakthroughs in electric and electronic components and systems, driver assistance, vehicle automation and electrification as well as data, clouds and machine learning. Furthermore, innovation aspects and impacts of connected and automated driving are covered. The target audience primarily comprises research experts and practitioners in industry and academia, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students alike.

This book features influential scholarly research and technical contributions, professional trajectories, disciplinary shifts, personal insights, and a combination of these from a group of remarkable women scholars within precision agriculture. The authors provide a holistic and critical overview of the field of precision agriculture (both crop and livestock), highlighting breakthroughs and impactful research led by women investigators including relevant technologies, decision making strategies, practices, applications, economics, opportunities and challenges. They discuss the urgent need for reduced cost, increased productivity, more optimal use of resources, and reduced impact on our environment. The leading female researchers contributing to this book are creating new technological advances that are revolutionizing agriculture. Focuses on advances in precision agriculture led by leading women researchers, scholars, and professionals; Provides insight into women's technical contributions in precision agriculture; Takes a holistic approach to precision agriculture, addressing both land and livestock applications.

This volume contains the Proceedings of the First International Conference of IFToMM Italy (IFIT2016), held at the University of Padova, Vicenza, Italy, on December 1-2, 2016. The book contains contributions on the latest advances on Mechanism and Machine Science. The fifty-nine papers deal with such topics as biomechanical engineering, history of mechanism and machine science, linkages and mechanical controls, multi-body dynamics, reliability, robotics and mechatronics, transportation machinery, tribology, and vibrations.

This book highlights the present scenario of energy demand and power generation technologies in tropical countries. The tropics are well known to receive direct sunlight. Furthermore, different than four-season countries, tropical countries have a continuous summer-like season, and therefore, they are rich in clean energy sources, like solar and biomass. Home to 40% of the world's population, the demand for energy in these countries keeps increasing. With the present serious global concern on the environment, the choice of power generation is no doubt the cleanest possible resources. This book delves into the opportunity that various tropical countries have in pursuing environmentally friendly power generation systems.

This book complements available one-make books on domestic synchronous clocks. It is also a history of science book that sets British domestic synchronous clocks, their manufacturers and technology in their social context. Part I covers the historical background, British domestic synchronous clock manufacturers and brands, how synchronous clocks work, domestic synchronous clock cases, practical advice on the servicing of domestic synchronous clocks and analysis of the marketing and reliability of British domestic synchronous clocks. This analysis provides an explanation of the rise and eventual fall of their technology. Part II contains galleries of a selection of British domestic synchronous clocks and of the movements with which they are fitted. There is a front and back view of each clock, together with a brief description. Views of each movement include views with the movement partly dismantled, together with a brief technical description of the movement. This profusely illustrated book is primarily for fellow enthusiasts and is based on an extensive archive of information on domestic synchronous clocks, their movements and their manufacturers. Current electrical regulations mean that professional clockmakers are reluctant to repair synchronous clocks. In fact, provided that they have not been mistreated, synchronous clocks are usually reliable, and quite easy to maintain.

Polycrystalline SiGe has emerged as a promising MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems) structural material since it provides the desired mechanical properties at lower temperatures compared to poly-Si, allowing the direct post-processing on top of CMOS. This CMOS-MEMS monolithic integration can lead to more compact MEMS with improved performance. The potential of poly-SiGe for MEMS above-aluminum-backend CMOS integration has already been demonstrated. However, aggressive interconnect scaling has led to the replacement of the traditional aluminum metallization by copper (Cu) metallization, due to its lower resistivity and improved reliability. Poly-SiGe for MEMS-above-CMOS sensors demonstrates the compatibility of poly-SiGe with post-processing above the advanced CMOS technology nodes through the successful fabrication of an integrated poly-SiGe piezoresistive pressure sensor, directly fabricated above 0.13 m Cu-backend CMOS. Furthermore, this book presents the first detailed investigation on the influence of deposition conditions, germanium content and doping concentration on the electrical and piezoresistive properties of boron-doped poly-SiGe. The development of a CMOS-compatible process flow, with special attention to the sealing method, is also described. Piezoresistive pressure sensors with different areas and piezoresistor designs were fabricated and tested. Together with the piezoresistive pressure sensors, also functional capacitive pressure sensors were successfully fabricated on the same wafer, proving the versatility of poly-SiGe for MEMS sensor applications. Finally, a detailed analysis of the MEMS processing impact on the underlying CMOS circuit is also presented.