The principle aim of the book is to present a self-contained, modern account of similarity and symmetry methods, which are important mathematical tools for both physicists, engineers and applied mathematicians. The idea is to provide a balanced presentation of the mathematical techniques and applications of symmetry methods in mathematics, physics and engineering. That is why it includes recent developments and many examples in finding systematically conservation laws, local and nonlocal symmetries for ordinary and partial differential equations. The role of continuous symmetries in classical and quantum field theories is exposed at a technical level accessible even for non specialists. The importance of symmetries in continuum mechanics and mechanics of materials is highlighted through recent developments, such as the construction of constitutive models for various materials combining Lie symmetries with experimental data. As a whole this book is a unique collection of contributions from experts in the field, including specialists in the mathematical treatment of symmetries, researchers using symmetries from a fundamental, applied or numerical viewpoint. The book is a fascinating overview of symmetry methods aimed for graduate students in physics, mathematics and engineering, as well as researchers either willing to enter in the field or to capture recent developments and applications of symmetry methods in different scientific fields.

The book explores the state of the art in the mechanics of fibrous media, providing an overview of the theoretical, modelling and practical aspects of designing and working with these materials. It also describes the advanced methods needed to handle their specific features, including the mechanics of generalized continua, dedicated homogenization methods and computational techniques, and presents applications of fibrous media to diverse fields and over a broad spectrum of scales, ranging from aeronautics to biomechanics.

Multiscale Biomechanics provides new insights on multiscale static and dynamic behavior of both soft and hard biological tissues, including bone, the intervertebral disk, biological membranes and tendons. The physiological aspects of bones and biological membranes are introduced, along with micromechanical models used to compute mechanical response. A modern account of continuum mechanics of growth and remodeling, generalized continuum models to capture internal lengths scales, and dedicated homogenization methods are provided to help the reader with the necessary theoretical foundations. Topics discussed include multiscale methods for fibrous media based on discrete homogenization, generalized continua constitutive models for bone, and a presentation of recent theoretical and numerical advances. In addition, a refresher on continuum mechanics and more advanced background related to differential geometry, configurational mechanics, mechanics of growth, thermodynamics of open systems and homogenization methods is given in separate chapters. Numerical aspects are treated in detail, and simulations are presented to illustrate models. This book is intended for graduate students and researchers in biomechanics interested in the latest research developments, as well as those who wish to gain insight into the field of biomechanics.

The book explores the state of the art in the mechanics of fibrous media, providing an overview of the theoretical, modelling and practical aspects of designing and working with these materials. It also describes the advanced methods needed to handle their specific features, including the mechanics of generalized continua, dedicated homogenization methods and computational techniques, and presents applications of fibrous media to diverse fields and over a broad spectrum of scales, ranging from aeronautics to biomechanics.