Most failure or accident investigations begin at the end of the story: after the explosion, after the fire has been extinguished, or after the collapse. In many instances, information about the last event and the starting event is known reasonably well. Information about what occurred between these endpoints, however, is often unclear, confusing, and perhaps contradictory. Scientific Method: Applications in Failure Investigation and Forensic Science explains how scientific investigative methods can best be used to determine why and how a particular event occurred.

While employing examples from forensic engineering, the book uses principles and ideas applicable to most of the forensic sciences. The author examines the role of the failure investigator, describes the fundamental method for investigation, discusses the optimal way to organize evidence, and explores the four most common reasons why some investigations fail. The book provides three case studies that exemplify proper report writing, contains a special chapter profiling a criminal case by noted forensic specialist Jon J. Nordby, and offers a reading list of resources for further study.

Concise and illustrative, this volume demonstrates how the scientific method can be applied to failure investigation in ways that avoid flawed reasoning while delivering convincing reconstruction scenarios. Investigators can pinpoint where things went wrong, providing valuable information that can prevent another catastrophe.

Structures in contact with fluid flow, whether natural or man-made, are inevitably subject to flow-induced forces and flow-induced vibration: from plant leaves to traffic signs and to more substantial structures, such as bridge decks and heat exchanger tubes. Under certain conditions the vibration may be self-excited, and it is usually referred to as an instability. These instabilities and, more specifically, the conditions under which they arise are of great importance to designers and operators of the systems concerned because of the significant potential to cause damage in the short term. Such flow-induced instabilities are the subject of this book. In particular, the flow-induced instabilities treated in this book are associated with cross-flow, that is, flow normal to the long axis of the structure. The book treats a specific set of problems that are fundamentally and technologically important: galloping, vortex-shedding oscillations under lock-in conditions and rain-and-wind-induced vibrations, among others.

'A fascinating celebration of the impact that structural engineering has on all our lives.[an] eye-opening book' The Sunday Times

In BUILT, structural engineer Roma Agrawal takes a unique look at how construction has evolved from the mud huts of our ancestors to skyscrapers of steel that reach hundreds of metres into the sky. She unearths how engineers have tunnelled through kilometres of solid mountains; how they've bridged across the widest and deepest of rivers, and tamed Nature's precious - and elusive - water resources. She tells vivid tales of the visionaries who created the groundbreaking materials in the Pantheon's record-holding concrete dome and the frame of the record-breaking Eiffel Tower. Through the lens of an engineer, Roma examines tragedies like the collapse of the Quebec Bridge, highlighting the precarious task of ensuring people's safety they hold at every step.

With colourful stories of her life-long fascination with buildings - and her own hand-drawn illustrations - Roma reveals the extraordinary secret lives of structures.

The mechanisms by which buildings and infrastructures degrade are complex, as are the procedures and methods for inspection and for rehabilitation. This book examines the various problems caused by non-uniform deformation changes, poor durability, and natural and human disasters such as earthquakes and fire. Attention is given to the causes and mechanisms of the deterioration. General procedures and commonly used techniques for inspection and evaluation of existing infrastructures are introduced. The desk study, destructive test, and non-destructive test are discussed - in particular the newly developed non-destructive methods for deterioration monitoring. The book then moves on to conventional renovation techniques such as patch and steel plate strengthening, which meet the requirements of normal practice. Special attention is paid to compatibility between repair materials and degraded materials. Fibrous composite materials are then introduced as a basis for innovative repair techniques, and different fibre and matrix properties are outlined, as are newly developed inorganic binders as a matrix for fibrous composites. Finally, advanced rehabilitation techniques using fibrous composite are described. Fundamental issues such as bonding and failure mechanisms are then discussed in detail. Fibrous composite strengthening techniques for beam, wall, column and slabs are covered, including shear strengthening, flexural strengthening, and fillet winding, as are codes of practice for retrofitting with fibrous composites. This caters to students and academics world-wide and serves as a "tool book" for concrete and structural engineering professionals.

• 
  
• Standard Penetration Tests.
• 
  

  
  

• Cone Penetration Tests.
• 
  

  
  

  
  

• Vane Test.

• 
  
• Pressuremeter Tests.
• 
  

  
  

  
  

• Dilatometer Tests.
• 
  

If you use or need to know how to use any or all of these tests, then this is the book for you.

Fernando Schnaid takes each test in turn, showing how and when to use them. The tests are illustrated with nearly 200 figures and photographs, as well as real examples from companies including A.P. van den Berg and Fugro ltd.

Ideal for practising engineers in the fields of Geomechanics and Environmental Engineering, this book solves numerous common problems in site characterization. Also a helpful guide for students coming to the end of their engineering courses and looking to work in this sector.

Conservation of monuments and historic sites is one of the most challenging problems facing modern civilization. It involves various cultural, humanistic, social, technical, economical and administrative factors, intertwining in inextricable patterns. The complexity of the topic is such that guidelines or recommendations for intervention techniques and design approaches are difficult to set. The Technical Committee on the Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites (named TC19) was established by the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) in 1981, is supported by the Italian Geotechnical Society (AGI), and renamed TC301 in 2010. Geotechnics and Heritage, collects relevant case histories on the role of geotechnical engineering in the preservation of monuments and historic sites, and is an addition to the Proceedings of the two International Symposia organized by the Committee in Napoli in 1994 and 2013. The contributions in the book prove the significant role geotechnical engineering plays in conservation of historic building and monuments.

High strength fibre composites (FRPs) have been used with civil structures since the 1980s, mostly in the repair, strengthening and retrofitting of concrete structures. This has attracted considerable research, and the industry has expanded exponentially in the last decade. Design guidelines have been developed by professional organizations in a number of countries including USA, Japan, Europe and China, but until now designers have had no publication which provides practical guidance or accessible coverage of the fundamentals.

This book fills this void. It deals with the fundamentals of composites, and basic design principles, and provides step-by-step guidelines for design. Its main theme is the repair and retrofit of un-reinforced, reinforced and prestressed concrete structures using carbon, glass and other high strength fibre composites. In the case of beams, the focus is on their strengthening for flexure and shear or their stiffening. The main interest with columns is the improvement of their ductility; and both strengthening and ductility improvement of un-reinforced structures are covered. Methods for evaluating the strengthened structures are presented. Step by step procedures are set out, including flow charts, for the various structural components, and design examples and practice problems are used to illustrate.

As infrastructure ages worldwide, and its demolition and replacement becomes less of an option, the need for repair and retrofit of existing facilities will increase. Besides its audience of design professionals, this book suits graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

This volume contains the edited versions of papers presented at the IUTAM-Symposium Topological design optimization of structures, machines and materials - status and perspectives, held at Rungstedgaard, near Copenhagen, Denmark, in October 2005. The Symposium was attended by scientists in mechanics, optics, and applied mathematics from 19 countries. It is now more than 15 years ago that the so-called homogenization method was proposed as a basis for computational means to optimize the topology and shape of continuum structures. From initially being capable mainly of treating minimum compliance design we now see the basic material distribution idea of the methodology applied to a wide range of structural and mechanical problems as well as to problems that couple structural response to other physical responses.

Relevant advances have been accomplished by the scientific community and engineering profession in the design, assessment, monitoring, maintenance, and management of sustainable and resilient bridge structures and infrastructures. These advances have been presented and discussed at The Sixth International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety And Management (IABMAS 2012), held in Stresa, Italy, from 8 to 11 July 2012 (http://www.iabmas2012.org). IABMAS 2012 has been organised on behalf of the International Association for Bridge Maintenance And Safety (IABMAS) under the auspices of Politecnico di Milano. This book collects the extended versions of selected papers presented at IABMAS 2012 and invited papers originally published in a Special Issue of Structure and Infrastructure Engineering. These papers provide significant contributions to the process of making more rational decisions in bridge design, assessment, monitoring and maintenance. The editors would like to thank the authors for their contributions and hope that this collection of papers will represent a valuable reference for scientific research and engineering applications in the fields of design, assessment, monitoring, and maintenance of bridges and infrastructure networks.

Established as a standard textbook for students of geotechnical engineering, this second edition of Geotechnical Engineering provides a solid grounding in the mechanics of soils and soil-structure interaction. Renato Lancellotta gives a clear presentation of the fundamental principles of soil mechanics and demonstrates how these principles are applied in practice to engineering problems and geotechnical design. This is supported by numerous examples with worked solutions, clear summaries and extensive further reading lists throughout the book. Thorough coverage is given to all classic soil mechanics topics such as boundary value problems and serviceability of structures and to topics which are often missed out of other books or covered more briefly including the principles of continuum mechanics, Critical State Theory and innovative techniques such as seismic methods. It is suitable for soil mechanics modules on undergraduate civil engineering courses and for use as a core text for specialist graduate geotechnical engineering students. It explores not only the basics but also several advanced aspects of soil behaviour, and outlines principles which underpin more advanced professional work therefore providing a useful reference work for practising engineers. Readers gain a good grasp of applied mechanics, testing and experimentation, and methods for observing real structures.

Established as a standard textbook for students of geotechnical engineering, this second edition of Geotechnical Engineering provides a solid grounding in the mechanics of soils and soil-structure interaction. Renato Lancellotta gives a clear presentation of the fundamental principles of soil mechanics and demonstrates how these principles are applied in practice to engineering problems and geotechnical design. This is supported by numerous examples with worked solutions, clear summaries and extensive further reading lists throughout the book. Thorough coverage is given to all classic soil mechanics topics such as boundary value problems and serviceability of structures and to topics which are often missed out of other books or covered more briefly including the principles of continuum mechanics, Critical State Theory and innovative techniques such as seismic methods. It is suitable for soil mechanics modules on undergraduate civil engineering courses and for use as a core text for specialist graduate geotechnical engineering students. It explores not only the basics but also several advanced aspects of soil behaviour, and outlines principles which underpin more advanced professional work therefore providing a useful reference work for practising engineers. Readers gain a good grasp of applied mechanics, testing and experimentation, and methods for observing real structures.

Whenever a building, bridge, tunnel or dam collapses, it is front page news. Now two of the world's premier structural engineers take readers on a journey through the history of structural disasters, from the Parthenon and Rome's Coliseum to the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. 200 illustrations.

These three volumes present the proceedings of the CIB Working Commission 65 - Organization and Management of Construction Symposium. Papers were being invited from international researchers, leading industrialists and national political figures associated with the built environment, and cover organization and management issues in engineering, architecture, planning and building.

Analysis and design of geotechnical structures combines, in a single endeavor, a textbook to assist students in understanding the behavior of the main geotechnical works and a guide for practising geotechnical engineers, designers, and consultants. The subjects are treated in line with limit state design, which underpins the Eurocodes and most North America design codes. Instructors and students will value innovative approaches to numerous issues refined by the experience of the author in teaching generations of enthusiastic students. Professionals will gain from its comprehensive treatment of the topics covered in each chapter, supplemented by a plethora of informative material used by consultants and designers. For the benefit of both academics and professionals, conceptual exercises and practical geotechnical design problems are proposed at the end of most chapters. A final annex includes detailed resolutions of the exercises and problems.

Focusing on the fundamentals of structural dynamics required for earthquake blast resistant design, Structural Dynamics in Earthquake and Blast Resistant Design initiates a new approach of blending a little theory with a little practical design in order to bridge this unfriendly gap, thus making the book more structural engineer-friendly. This is attempted by introducing the equations of motion followed by free and forced vibrations of SDF and MDF systems, D'Alembert's principle, Duhammel's integral, relevant impulse, pulse and sinusoidal inputs, and, most importantly, support motion and triangular pulse input required in earthquake and blast resistant designs, respectively. Responses of multistorey buildings subjected to earthquake ground motion by a well-known mode superposition technique are explained. Examples of real-size structures as they are being designed and constructed using the popular ETABS and STAAD are shown. Problems encountered in such designs while following the relevant codes of practice like IS 1893 2016 due to architectural constraints are highlighted. A very difficult constraint is in avoiding torsional modes in fundamental and first three modes, the inability to get enough mass participation, and several others. In blast resistant design the constraint is to model the blast effects on basement storeys (below ground level). The problem is in obtaining the attenuation due to the soil. Examples of inelastic hysteretic systems where top soft storey plays an important role in expending the input energy, provided it is not below a stiffer storey (as also required by IS 1893 2016), and inelastic torsional response of structures asymmetric in plan are illustrated in great detail. In both cases the concept of ductility is explained in detail. Results of response spectrum analyses of tall buildings asymmetric in plan constructed in Bengaluru using ETABS are mentioned. Application of capacity spectrum is explained and illustrated using ETABS for a tall building. Research output of retrofitting techniques is mentioned. Response spectrum analysis using PYTHON is illustrated with the hope that it could be a less expensive approach as it is an open source code. A new approach of creating a fictitious (imaginary) boundary to obtain blast loads on below-ground structures devised by the author is presented with an example. Aimed at senior undergraduates and graduates in civil engineering, earthquake engineering and structural engineering, this book: Explains in a simple manner the fundamentals of structural dynamics pertaining to earthquake and blast resistant design Illustrates seismic resistant designs such as ductile design philosophy and limit state design with the use of capacity spectrum Discusses frequency domain analysis and Laplace transform approach in detail Explains solutions of building frames using software like ETABS and STAAD Covers numerical simulation using a well-known open source tool PYTHON

The fully revised fourth edition of this successful textbook fills a void which will arise when British designers start using the European steel code EC3 instead of the current steel code BS5950. The principal feature of the forth edition is the discussion of the behaviour of steel structures and the criteria used in design according to the British version of EC3. Thus it serves to bridge the gap which too often occurs when attention is concentrated on methods of analysis and the sizing of structural components. Because emphasis is placed on the development of an understanding of behaviour, many analytical details are either omitted in favour of more descriptive explanations, or are relegated to appendices. The many worked examples both illustrate the behaviour of steel structures and exemplify details of the design process. The Behaviour and Design of Steel Structures to EC3 is a key text for senior undergraduate and graduate students, and an essential reference tool for practising structural engineers in the UK and other countries.

The fully revised fourth edition of this successful textbook fills a void which will arise when British designers start using the European steel code EC3 instead of the current steel code BS5950. The principal feature of the forth edition is the discussion of the behaviour of steel structures and the criteria used in design according to the British version of EC3. Thus it serves to bridge the gap which too often occurs when attention is concentrated on methods of analysis and the sizing of structural components. Because emphasis is placed on the development of an understanding of behaviour, many analytical details are either omitted in favour of more descriptive explanations, or are relegated to appendices. The many worked examples both illustrate the behaviour of steel structures and exemplify details of the design process. The Behaviour and Design of Steel Structures to EC3 is a key text for senior undergraduate and graduate students, and an essential reference tool for practising structural engineers in the UK and other countries.

First Published in 1999: The Bridge Engineering Handbook is a unique, comprehensive, and state-of-the-art reference work and resource book covering the major areas of bridge engineering with the theme "bridge to the 21st century." This second volume includes sections covering substructure design and seismic design.

The Railway Research Institute (Instytut Kolejnictwa) in Warsaw was established in 1951 and was, until 2000, part of the Polish State Railways (PKP). At present, it serves as an independent entity, it is subordinated to the minister responsible for transport. Since its inception, the Institute has been the centre of competence for technology, technique and organization of operation and services in rail transport, particularly in respect to innovation. One of its fundamental tasks also includes activities connected with safety which are carried out in close cooperation with the National Safety Authority, i.e. the Office of Rail Transport. At the same time the Institute participated in the process of upgrading and modernization of the rail network in Poland. Experience in high speed rail, gained as a result of international cooperation and basing on the effort to increase speed on railway lines in Poland (so far 200 km/h), is included in the monograph "Koleje Duzych Predkosci w Polsce" (High Speed Rail in Poland) published in 2015 for the benefit of the Polish reader. This monograph aims at reaching an international audience of experts so as to present Polish determinants of HSR implementation. In order to elaborate this monograph, apart from specialists from the Railway Research Institute, experts from other research and academic centres were invited. Not only presenting a wide range of problems connected with future construction of High Speed Lines in Polish conditions, but also a number of operational ones. The authors have created a reference work of universal character, solving problems in order to build and operate high speed rail systems in countries on a similar level of development as Poland. Features: providing requirements for design and upgrade of engineering works on High Speed Rail development information on restructuring and building railway lines for countries starting to develop a High Speed Rail system dealing with organizational, engineering, socioeconomic and economic demands for transport services and the formation of human resources for constructing and operting a High Speed Rails system. Presenting these problems on the international arena will facilitate future cooperation and application of world experience to create HSR in Poland and integrate the Polish HSR network into the international one.

This important volume-the product of a meeting of a select group of scientists-provides the most recent research results from the world's leaders in the study of toxic pollutants in sediments. It gives practical information on measuring and mapping distributions of concentrations of pollutants and their toxic effects in sediments. Also covered are the use and relative advantages and disadvantages of benthic chambers, sedimentation traps, box corers, "peepers" and other sampling techniques in sediment research and assessment. Important topics covered include: bioassay, elemental speciation, diffuse source problems, nutrient flux, biomethylation, bioavailability, and toxicity assessment. Will help in assessment and monitoring of chemistry, dynamics, bioavailability, and toxicity of pollutants, as well helping to chart courses for remedial action. This book will be of interest to anyone interested in the processes controlling the chemistry and movement of pollutants in sediments, especially: limnologists aquatic toxicologists engineers lake managers ecologists biologists environmental chemists

This volume consists of papers presented at the International Workshop on Concrete Shear in Earthquake, held at the University of Houston, Texas, USA, 13-16 January 1991.

First Published in 1999: The Bridge Engineering Handbook is a unique, comprehensive, and state-of-the-art reference work and resource book covering the major areas of bridge engineering with the theme "bridge to the 21st century." This third volume includes sections covering construction and maintenance, special topics, and worldwide practice.

The concept of effective stress and the effective stress equation is fundamental for establishing the theory of strength and the relationship of stress and strain in soil mechanics and poromechanics. However, up till now, the physical meaning of effective stress has not been explained clearly, and the theoretical basis of the effective stress equation has not been proposed. Researchers have not yet reached a common understanding of the feasibility of the concept of effective stress and effective stress equation for unsaturated soils. Effective Stress and Equilibrium Equation for Soil Mechanics discusses the definition of the soil skeleton at first and clarifies that the soil skeleton should include a fraction of pore water. When a free body of soil skeleton is taken to conduct internal force analysis, the stress on the surface of the free body has two parts: one is induced by pore fluid pressure that only includes normal stress; the other is produced by all the other external forces excluding pore fluid pressure. If the effective stress is defined as the soil skeleton stress due to all the external forces excluding pore fluid pressure, the effective stress equation can be easily obtained by the internal force equilibrium analysis. This equation reflects the relationship between the effective stress, total stress and pore fluid pressure, which does not change with the soil property. The effective stress equation of saturated soils and unsaturated soils is unified, i.e., o~=o~t -Seuw-(1-Se)ua. For multiphase porous medium, o~=o~t -u*,u*=Seiui(i=1,2,...,M). In this book, a theoretical formula of the coefficient of permeability for unsaturated soils is derived. The formula of the seepage force is modified based on the equilibrium differential equation of the pore water. The relationship between the effective stress and the shear strength and deformation of unsaturated soils is preliminarily verified. Finally, some possibly controversial problems are discussed to provide a better understanding of the role of the equilibrium equation and the concept of effective stress.

The interaction between engineering and the law is undergoing dramatic changes. Product liability, laws have been introduced in Japan, patent claims over living organisms have been made in bioengineering and the differing national laws of copyright protection and liability are in the process of harmonisation, especially in the European Union. The pace and complexity of these changes make it essential for technologists, lawyers, engineers and insurance experts to establish a common basis for understanding, co-operation and exchange of expertise. The recently founded International Society for Technology, Law and Insurance aims to foster such co-operation. This volume features 46 selected contributions which address various topical issues and the law. The most important issues relate to engineering risks, quality assurance and assessment and legal implications assiciated with them. Recent failure cases are explained and the technical, legal and insurance-related issues discussed in detail.