This book focuses on the mechanisms and underlying mechanics of failure in various classes of materials such as metallic, ceramic, polymeric, composite and bio-material. Topics include tensile and compressive fracture, crack initiation and growth, fatigue and creep rupture in metallic materials, matrix cracking and delamination and environmental degradation in polymeric composites, failure of bio-materials such as prosthetic heart valves and prosthetic hip joints, failure of ceramics and c...

Interactions of electromagnetic fields with materials at high frequencies have given rise to a vast array of practical applications in industry, science, medicine, and consumer markets. Applicators or probes, which are the front end of these systems, provide the field that interacts with the material. This book takes an integrated approach to the area of high frequency applicators and probes for material interactions, providing a toolkit for those who design these devices. Particular atten...

Fracture mechanics is a vast and growing field. This book develops the basic elements needed for both fracture research and engineering practice. The emphasis is on continuum mechanics models for energy flows and crack-tip stress- and deformation fields in elastic and elastic-plastic materials. In addition to a brief discussion of computational fracture methods, the text includes practical sections on fracture criteria, fracture toughness testing, and methods for measuring stress intensity...

Dielectric Elastomers as Electromechanical Transducers provides a comprehensive and updated insight into dielectric elastomers; one of the most promising classes of polymer-based smart materials and technologies. This technology can be used in a very broad range of applications, from robotics and automation to the biomedical field. The need for improved transducer performance has resulted in considerable efforts towards the development of devices relying on materials with intrinsic transdu...

This new book provides a focused set of topics suitable for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses on lightning. It presents the current state of the art in lightning science including areas such as lightning modeling, calculation of lightning electromagnetic fields, electromagnetic methods of lightning location, and lightning damaging effects and protective techniques. Pedagogical features designed to facilitate class learning include end-of-chapter summaries, further reading suggesti...

Optimization of combustion processes in automotive engines is a key factor in reducing fuel consumption in conventional and advanced gasoline and diesel engines. This volume investigates and describes flow and combustion processes in diesel and gasoline engines. It consists of eight chapters written by world experts from industry, government laboratories and academia. Each of the chapters is self-contained and, therefore, independent from the other in that it covers its central theme in de...

Photonic Crystal Fibres describes the fundamental properties of the optical waveguides known under the terms of photonic crystal fibres, microstructured fibres, or holey fibres. It outlines how the fibres are designed and fabricated, and how they are treated from a theoretical and numerical point of view. The book presents a detailed description of the different classes of photonic crystal and photonic bandgap fibres, and it broadens out a spectrum of novel applications an...

Energy Storage explains the underlying scientific and engineering fundamentals of all major energy storage methods. These include the storage of energy as heat, in phase transitions and reversible chemical reactions, and in organic fuels and hydrogen, as well as in mechanical, electrostatic and magnetic systems. Updated coverage of electrochemical storage systems considers exciting developments in materials and methods for applications such as rapid short-term storage in hybrid and intermi...

Experimental and Applied Mechanics*, Volume 6: Proceedings of the 2014 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics*, the sixth volume of eight from the Conference, brings together contributions to important areas of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on a wide range of topics, including:Advances in Residual Stress Measurement MethodsResidual Stress Effects on Material PerformanceInverse Problems and...

The clamor for non-carbon dioxide emitting energy production has directly impacted on the development of nuclear energy. As new nuclear plants are built, plans and designs are continually being developed to manage the range of challenging requirement and problems that nuclear plants face especially when managing the greatly increased operating temperatures, irradiation doses and extended design life spans. Materials for Nuclear Plants: From Safe Design to Residual Life Assessments...

Viscoelastic Solids covers the mathematical theory of viscoelasticity and physical insights, causal mechanisms, and practical applications. The book:presents a development of the theory, addressing both transient and dynamic aspects as well as emphasizing linear viscoelasticitysynthesizes the structure of the theory with the aim of developing physical insightillustrates the methods for the solution of stress analysis problems in viscoelastic objectsexplores ...

This is the fourth volume in the well-established series of compendiums devoted to the subject of weld hot cracking. It contains the papers presented at the 4th International Cracking Workshop held in Berlin in April 2014. In the context of this workshop, the term “cracking” refers to hot cracking in the classical and previous sense, but also to cold cracking, stress-corrosion cracking and elevated temp. solid-state cracking. A variety of different cracking subjects are discussed, includin...