Nonlinear phenomena should play a crucial role in the design and control of engineering systems and structures as they can drastically change the prevailing dynamical responses. This book covers theoretical and applications-based problems of nonlinear dynamics concerned with both discrete and continuous systems of interest in civil and mechanical engineering. They include pendulum-like systems, slender footbridges, shape memory alloys, sagged elastic cables and non-smooth problems. Pendulums can be used as a dynamic absorber mounted in high buildings, bridges or chimneys. Geometrical nonlinearities introduced by pendulum motion may change the system dynamics, and entail a rapid increase of the oscillations of both the structure and the pendulum, leading to full pendulum rotation or chaotic dynamics. To magnetorheological damping is proposed. Nonlinear mechanics has to be used to explain undesired response in slender footbridges, such as that occurred in the famous event of the London Millenium Bridge. The observed phenomena can be explained by an analytical nonlinear discrete-time model. Shape memory alloys (SMAs) exhibit very interesting nonlinear thermo-mechanical properties such as shape memory effect and superelasticity. SMA elements integrated within composite beams or plates can be used for active modification of structure properties e.g. by affecting their natural frequencies. Finite amplitude, resonant, forced dynamics of sagged, horizontal or inclined, elastic cables have recently undergone meaningful research advances concerned with modelling, analysis, response, and nonlinear/nonregular phenomena. A variety of features of nonlinear multimodal interaction in different resonance conditions are comparatively addressed. Non-smooth systems are very common in engineering practice. Three mechanical engineering problems are presented: (i) a vibro-impact system in the form of a moling device, (ii) the influence of the opening and closing of a fatigue crack on the host system dynamics, and (iii) nonlinear interactions between a rotor and snubber ring system. This book is aimed at a wide audience of engineers and researchers working in the field of nonlinear structural vibrations and dynamics, and undergraduate and postgraduate students reading mechanical, aerospace and civil engineering.

The initial motivator for the development of DRM, a Design Research Methodology, and the subsequent writing of this book was our frustration about the lack of a common terminology, benchmarked research methods, and above all, a common research methodology in design. A shared view of the goals and framework for doing design research was missing. Design is a multidisciplinary activity occurring in multiple application areas and involving multiple stakeholders. As a consequence, design research emerges in a variety of disciplines for a variety of applications with a variety of subjects. This makes it particularly difficult to review its literature, relate various pieces of work, find common ground, and validate and share results that are so essential for sustained progress in a research community. Above all, design research needs to be successful not only in an academic sense, but also in a practical sense. How could we help the community develop knowledge that is both academically and practically worthwhile? Each of us had our individual ideas of how this situation could be improved. Lucienne Blessing, while finishing her thesis that involved studying and improving the design process, developed valuable insights about the importance and relationship of empirical studies in developing and evaluating these improvements. Amaresh Chakrabarti, while finishing his thesis on developing and evaluating computational tools for improving products, had developed valuable insights about integrating and improving the processes of building and evaluating tools.

This book addresses one of the most important components for pedestrian safety in vehicles - laminated windshields. It includes detailed real-world material characterization results for laminated glass and testing methodologies, constitutive models, and step-by-step numerical simulation modeling and simulation methods. As such, the book provides readers a thorough understanding of the mechanical behaviors of laminated glass and windshields. It also presents fundamental test data, analysis methodologies and essential insights into laminated glass safety design and mechanical behavior prediction. The book addresses the needs of researchers, engineers and postgraduate students in the fields of automotive engineering, mechanical engineering and related areas.

This book is a collection of articles presented by researchers and practitioners, including engineers, biologists, health professionals and informatics/computer scientists, interested in both theoretical advances and applications of information systems, artificial intelligence, signal processing, electronics and other engineering tools in areas related to biology and medicine in the All India Seminar on Biomedical Engineering 2012 (AISOBE 2012), organized by The Institution of Engineers (India), Jabalpur Local Centre, Jabalpur, India during November 3-4, 2012. The content of the book is useful to doctors, engineers, researchers and academicians as well as industry professionals.

Nowadays, engineering systems are of ever-increasing complexity and must be c- sidered asmultidisciplinary systems composed of interacting subsystems or system components from different engineering disciplines. Thus, an integration of various engineering disciplines, e.g, mechanical, electrical and control engineering in ac- current design approach is required. With regard to the systematic development and analysis of system models, interdisciplinary computer aided methodologies are - coming more and more important. A graphical description formalism particularly suited for multidisciplinary s- tems arebondgraphs devised by Professor Henry Paynter in as early as 1959 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and in use since then all over the world. This monograph is devoted exclusively to the bond graph methodology. It gives a comprehensive, in-depth, state-of-the-art presentation including recent results sc- tered over research articles and dissertations and research contributions by the - thor to a number of topics. The book systematically covers the fundamentals of developing bond graphs and deriving mathematical models from them, the recent developments in meth- ology, symbolic and numerical processing of mathematical models derived from bond graphs. Additionally it discusses modern modelling languages, the paradigm of object-oriented modelling, modern software that can be used for building and for processing of bond graph models, and provides a chapter with small case studies illustrating various applications of the methodology

When an innovation is inspired by design, it transcends technology and utility. The design delights the user, seamlessly integrating the physical object, a service, and its use into something whole. A design-inspired innovation is so simple that it becomes an extension of the user. It creates meaning and a new language. Design-Inspired Innovation takes a unique look at the intersection between design and innovation, and explores the novel ways in which designers are contributing to the development of products and services. The book's scope is international, with emphasis on design activities in Boston, England, Sweden, and Milan. Through a rich variety of cases and cultural prisms, the book extends the traditional design viewpoint and stretches the context of industrial design to question -- and answer -- what design is really all about. It gives readers tools for inspiration, and shows how design can change language and even create human possibilities.

Through a series of step-by-step tutorials and numerous hands-on exercises, this book aims to equip the reader with both a good understanding of the importance of space in the abstract world of engineers and the ability to create a model of a product in virtual space - a skill essential for any designer or engineer who needs to present ideas concerning a particular product within a professional environment. The exercises progress logically from the simple to the more complex; while Solid Works or NX is the software used, the underlying philosophy is applicable to all modeling software. In each case, the explanation covers the entire procedure from the basic idea and production capabilities through to the real model; the conversion from 3D model to 2D manufacturing drawing is also clearly explained. Topics covered include modeling of prism, axisymmetric, symmetric and sophisticated shapes; digitization of physical models using modeling software; creation of a CAD model starting from a physical model; free form surface modeling; modeling of product assemblies following bottom-up and top-down principles; and the presentation of a product in accordance with the rules of technical documentation. This book, which includes more than 500 figures, will be ideal for students wishing to gain a sound grasp of space modeling techniques. Academics and professionals will find it to be an excellent teaching and research aid, and an easy-to-use guide.

This book describes CoSMoS (Complex Systems Modelling and Simulation), a pattern-based approach to engineering trustworthy simulations that are both scientifically useful to the researcher and scientifically credible to third parties. This approach emphasises three key aspects to this development of a simulation as a scientific instrument: the use of explicit models to capture the scientific domain, the engineered simulation platform, and the experimental results of running simulations; the use of arguments to provide evidence that the scientific instrument is fit for purpose; and the close co-working of domain scientists and simulation software engineers. In Part I the authors provide a managerial overview: the rationale for and benefits of using the CoSMoS approach, and a small worked example to demonstrate it in action. Part II is a catalogue of the core patterns. Part III lists more specific "helper" patterns, showing possible routes to a simulation. Finally Part IV documents CellBranch, a substantial case study developed using the CoSMoS approach.

This book helps designers and manufacturers to select and develop the most suitable and competitive steel structures, which are safe, fit for production and economic. An optimum design system is used to find the best characteristics of structural models, which guarantee the fulfilment of design and fabrication requirements and minimize the cost function. Realistic numerical models are used as main components of industrial steel structures. Chapter 1 containts some experiences with the optimum design of steel structures Chapter 2 treats some newer mathematical optimization methods. Chapter 3 gives formulae for fabrication times and costs. Chapters 4 deals with beams and columns. Summarizes the Eurocode rules for design. Chapter 5 deals with the design of tubular trusses. Chapter 6 gives the design of frame structures and fire-resistant design rules for a frame. In Chapters 7 some minimum cost design problems of stiffened and cellular plates and shells are worked out for cases of different stiffenings and loads. Chapter 8 gives a cost comparison of cylindrical and conical shells. The book contains a large collection of literatures and a subject list and a name index.

When an innovation is inspired by design, it transcends technology and utility. The design delights the user, seamlessly integrating the physical object, a service, and its use into something whole. A design-inspired innovation is so simple that it becomes an extension of the user. It creates meaning and a new language. Design-Inspired Innovation takes a unique look at the intersection between design and innovation, and explores the novel ways in which designers are contributing to the development of products and services. The book's scope is international, with emphasis on design activities in Boston, England, Sweden, and Milan. Through a rich variety of cases and cultural prisms, the book extends the traditional design viewpoint and stretches the context of industrial design to question -- and answer -- what design is really all about. It gives readers tools for inspiration, and shows how design can change language and even create human possibilities.

Understanding the fatigue behaviour of structural components under variable load amplitude is an essential prerequisite for safe and reliable light-weight design. For designing and dimensioning, the expected stress (load) is compared with the capacity to withstand loads (fatigue strength). In this process, the safety necessary for each particular application must be ensured. A prerequisite for ensuring the required fatigue strength is a reliable load assumption. The authors describe the transformation of the stress- and load-time functions which have been measured under operational conditions to spectra or matrices with the application of counting methods. The aspects which must be considered for ensuring a reliable load assumption for designing and dimensioning are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the theoretical background for estimating the fatigue life of structural components is explained, and the procedures are discussed for numerous applications in practice. One of the prime intentions of the authors is to provide recommendations which can be implemented in practical applications.

Systems engineering is a mandatory approach in some industries, and is gaining wider acceptance for complex projects in general. However, under the imperative of delivering these projects on time and within budget, the focus has been mainly on the management aspects, with less attention to improving the core engineering activity - design. This book addresses the application of the system concept to design in several ways: by developing a deeper understanding of the system concept, by defining design and its characteristics within the process of engineering, and by applying the system concept to the early stage of design, where it has the greatest impact. A central theme of the book is that the purpose of engineering is to be useful in meeting the needs of society, and that therefore the ultimate measure of the benefit of applying the system concept should be the extent to which it advances the achievement of that purpose. Consequently, any consistent, top-down development of the functionality required of a solution to the problem of meeting a defined need must proceed from such a measure, and it is agued that a generalised form of Return on Investment is an appropriate measure. A theoretical framework for the development of functionality based on this measure and utilising the system concept is presented, together with some examples and practical guidelines.

Fundamentals of Switching Theory and Logic Design discusses the basics of switching theory and logic design from a slightly alternative point of view and also presents links between switching theory and related areas of signal processing and system theory. Switching theory is a branch of applied mathematic providing mathematical foundations for logic design, which can be considered as a part of digital system design concerning realizations of systems whose inputs and outputs are described by logic functions.

The most significant articles from each of the fields represented at the conference on Work with Display Units 1992 are presented in this volume. Such topics are:

- The newest occupational health research results, partially backed by extensive epidemiological studies, concerning radiation, eye fatigue, stressors and diseases of the musculoskeletal apparatus and the medical surveillance of workers with display units.

- Ergonomic studies pertaining to design improvements.

- Support of the human operator by intelligent user surfaces and interfaces, demonstrated by experimental results.

- The latest developments in input devices including virtual reality as well as multi-media, multi-screen and multi-language human computer interaction.

- Concepts of group work and organizational stress in combination with its psychophysical and psychophysiological evaluation, especially the problem of stress-strain regulation, adaptation and long-term effects on recovery and recreation.

- Discussion of hypertext and hypermedia as well as applications of computer aided techniques for knowledge acquisition, knowledge structuring and knowledge use for decisions and working processes in different contexts.

- New organizational concepts such as Chaos Theory and new methods of work design in industry such as Kansei Engineering.

- Discussion of the International Standardization and EC regulations.

Featuring original research from well-known experts in the field of sliding mode control, this book presents new design schemes for a useful and practical optimal control with very few impractical assumptions. The results presented allow optimal control theory to grow in its applicability to real-world systems. On the cutting-edge of optimal control research, this book is an excellent resource for both graduate students and researchers in engineering, mathematics, and optimal control.

Ultra-thin chips are the "smart skin" of a conventional silicon chip. This book shows how very thin and flexible chips can be fabricated and used in many new applications in microelectronics, Microsystems, biomedical and other fields. It provides a comprehensive reference to the fabrication technology, post processing, characterization and the applications of ultra-thin chips.

This book presents novel research techniques, algorithms, methodologies and experimental results for high level power estimation and power aware high-level synthesis. Readers will learn to apply such techniques to enable design flows resulting in shorter time to market and successful low power ASIC/FPGA design.

When planes crash, bridges collapse, and automobile gas tanks explode, we are quick to blame poor design. But Henry Petroski says we must look beyond design for causes and corrections. Known for his masterly explanations of engineering successes and failures, Petroski here takes his analysis a step further, to consider the larger context in which accidents occur. In To Forgive Design he surveys some of the most infamous failures of our time, from the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse and the toppling of a massive Shanghai apartment building in 2009 to Boston's prolonged Big Dig and the 2010 Gulf oil spill. These avoidable disasters reveal the interdependency of people and machines within systems whose complex behavior was undreamt of by their designers, until it was too late. Petroski shows that even the simplest technology is embedded in cultural and socioeconomic constraints, complications, and contradictions. Failure to imagine the possibility of failure is the most profound mistake engineers can make. Software developers realized this early on and looked outside their young field, to structural engineering, as they sought a historical perspective to help them identify their own potential mistakes. By explaining the interconnectedness of technology and culture and the dangers that can emerge from complexity, Petroski demonstrates that we would all do well to follow their lead.

Digital factory is a comprehensive approach providing methodologies, models and tools that support manufacturing enterprises in the rearrangement of their organizational structures to deal with expected changes in manufacturing processes and markets. Digital Factory for Human-oriented Production Systems investigates the impact of the digital factory through a consideration of the entire product/process lifecycle, and the broad network of product engineering, material and component suppliers, manufacturing equipment suppliers, and customers involved in current and next generation manufacturing. It covers the utilization and integration of: human body ergonomics models; production system discrete event simulation; 3D/virtual and augmented reality visualization; collaborative design tools; automatic data capture; and knowledge management systems based on semantic web ontologies integrated by a continuous data management. The coverage of various types of factory and manufacturing phases, representations and simulations allows researchers in academia and industry to perform a dynamic analysis and up-to-date modeling of the processes involved. Digital Factory for Human-oriented Production Systems describes the tools that allow a move towards the integrated digital factory and underlines the business impact that companies can obtain by adopting these tools. As well as benefiting international organizations, the proposed methodologies and technologies have also been developed in order to facilitate their adoption by small or medium-sized businesses, making them relevant to all product engineers and managers who want improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their enterprises.

Volume 2 of the updated and extended 3rd edition of this work focuses on the chemistry and technology of rigid polyurethanes. Recent developments in obtaining polyols from renewable resources and the field of rigid polyurethanes have been included. This book is of interest to chemists and engineers in industry and academia as well as anyone working with polyols for the manufacture of PUs.

This book details the state-of-the-art of research and development in design computing and design cognition. It features more than 35 papers that were presented at the Sixth International Conference on Design Computing and Cognition, DCC'14, held at University College, London, UK. Inside, readers will find the work of expert researchers and practitioners that explores both advances in theory and application as well as demonstrates the depth and breadth of design computing and design cognition. This interdisciplinary coverage, which includes material from international research groups, examines design synthesis, design cognition, design creativity, design processes, design theory, design grammars, design support and design ideation. Overall, the papers provide a bridge between design computing and design cognition. The confluence of these two fields continues to build the foundation for further advances and leads to an increased understanding of design as an activity whose influence continues to spread. As a result, the book will be of particular interest to researchers, developers and users of advanced computation in design and those who need to gain a better understanding of designing that can be obtained through empirical studies.

Product Realization: A Comprehensive Approach is based on selected papers presented at the International Conference on Comprehensive Product Realization 2007 (ICCPR2007). The extended papers will provide the opportunity for scholars from all around the world to discuss their academic programs, identify research opportunities, and initiate joint research programs in the area of comprehensive product realization. Engineering design has evolved from an isolated semi-empirical activity to a highly interconnected, multidisciplinary product realization collaborative process.

The scope of the book will focus on a number of themes within the framework of the conference that are deemed essential to educating the next generation of students and practicing engineers in the area of product realization.

This illuminating text/reference presents a review of the key aspects of the modeling and simulation (M&S) life cycle, and examines the challenges of M&S in different application areas. The authoritative work offers valuable perspectives on the future of research in M&S, and its role in engineering complex systems. Topics and features: reviews the challenges of M&S for urban infrastructure, healthcare delivery, automated vehicle manufacturing, deep space missions, and acquisitions enterprise; outlines research issues relating to conceptual modeling, covering the development of explicit and unambiguous models, communication and decision-making, and architecture and services; considers key computational challenges in the execution of simulation models, in order to best exploit emerging computing platforms and technologies; examines efforts to understand and manage uncertainty inherent in M&S processes, and how these can be unified under a consistent theoretical and philosophical foundation; discusses the reuse of models and simulations to accelerate the simulation model development process. This thought-provoking volume offers important insights for all researchers involved in modeling and simulation across the full spectrum of disciplines and applications, defining a common research agenda to support the entire M&S research community.

"Research into gastrointestinal motility has received renewed interest in part due to recent advances in the techniques for measuring the structure and function of gastrointestinal cells, tissue and organs. The integration of this wealth of data into biophysically based computation models can aid in interpretation of experimental and clinical measurements and the refinement of measurement techniques."

"The contents of this book span multiple scales - from cell, tissue, organ, to whole body and is divided into four broad sections covering: i) gastrointestinal cellular activity and tissue structure; (ii) techniques for measuring, analyzing and visualizing high-resolution extra-cellular recordings; (iii) methods for sensing gastroelectrical activity using non-invasive bio-electro-magnetic fields and for modulating the underlying gastric electrical activity and finally (iv) methods for assessing manometric and videographic motility patterns and the application of these data for predicting the flow and mixing behavior of luminal contents by using computational fluid dynamic techniques. "

"This book aims to provide both an overview of historical and existing research techniques as well as to highlight future directions and challenges for the community as a whole. It will be suitable for clinicians to understand the cellular and biophysical underpinnings of gastric emptying, gastroenterologists, surgeons, bioengineers and all scientists with interests in gastrointestinal motility research."