This Key Concept pivot explores the trajectory of the semantic generation and evolution of two core concepts of ancient Chinese Confucianism, 'Zhong' (middle) and 'Zhongyong' (golden mean). In the pre-Qin period, Confucius advocated 'middle line' and 'golden mean' as the highest standards for gentlemanly behaviour and culture. In The Doctrine of the Mean the Confucian classic of the late Warring States Period, 'middle' obtained the ontological meaning of 'great fundamental virtues of the world', due to the influence of Taoism and Yinyang School. It became not only the norm of human behaviours, but also the law governing the operation of heaven and earth. Since then, idealist Confucian scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties have developed the meaning of 'middle' from the perspective of the relationships between heaven and man, a fundamental norm of Confucian ethics.

- Serves a variety of users, such as students/engineers who want to learn more about corrosion; academics who want to teach and research in this area and importantly, practitioners who need to assess corrosion damages to metal structures to ensure their safety and serviceability. - The knowledge and techniques presented in the book can be easily applied by users, such as materials and structural engineers who are responsible for safe and serviceable operation of infrastructure, asset managers and owners who need to make decisions regarding the maintenance and even demolition of corroded infrastructure. - This book can be the first of its kind that discusses corrosion and its effect on degradation of various mechanical properties, such as strength fatigue, fracture toughness, of various ferrous metals, such as steel, cost iron and ductile iron. The knowledge of mechanical strength degradation is essential to accurate prediction of infrastructure failures. - The book is written in plain English as much as practicable. Technical terminology is explained in as much detail as possible with necessary figures and tables for easy understanding.

- Serves a variety of users, such as students/engineers who want to learn more about corrosion; academics who want to teach and research in this area and importantly, practitioners who need to assess corrosion damages to metal structures to ensure their safety and serviceability. - The knowledge and techniques presented in the book can be easily applied by users, such as materials and structural engineers who are responsible for safe and serviceable operation of infrastructure, asset managers and owners who need to make decisions regarding the maintenance and even demolition of corroded infrastructure. - This book can be the first of its kind that discusses corrosion and its effect on degradation of various mechanical properties, such as strength fatigue, fracture toughness, of various ferrous metals, such as steel, cost iron and ductile iron. The knowledge of mechanical strength degradation is essential to accurate prediction of infrastructure failures. - The book is written in plain English as much as practicable. Technical terminology is explained in as much detail as possible with necessary figures and tables for easy understanding.

This Key Concept pivot explores the trajectory of the semantic generation and evolution of two core concepts of ancient Chinese Confucianism, 'Zhong' (middle) and 'Zhongyong' (golden mean). In the pre-Qin period, Confucius advocated 'middle line' and 'golden mean' as the highest standards for gentlemanly behaviour and culture. In The Doctrine of the Mean the Confucian classic of the late Warring States Period, 'middle' obtained the ontological meaning of 'great fundamental virtues of the world', due to the influence of Taoism and Yinyang School. It became not only the norm of human behaviours, but also the law governing the operation of heaven and earth. Since then, idealist Confucian scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties have developed the meaning of 'middle' from the perspective of the relationships between heaven and man, a fundamental norm of Confucian ethics.

Time-Dependent Reliability Theory and Its Applications introduces the theory of time-dependent reliability and presents methods to determine the reliability of structures over the lifespan of their services. The book contains state-of-the-art solutions to first passage probability derived from the theory of stochastic processes with different types of probability distribution functions, including Gaussian and non-Gaussian distributions and stationary and non-stationary processes. In addition, it provides various methods to determine the probability of failure over time, considering different failure modes and a methodology to predict the service life of structures. Sections also cover the applications of time-dependent reliability to prediction of service life and development of risk cost-optimized maintenance strategy for existing structures. This new book is for those who wants to know how to predict the service life of a structure (buildings, bridges, aircraft structures, etc.) and how to develop a risk-cost, optimized maintenance strategy for these structures.