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Woodhead Publishing

  • Smart Textiles for Protection

    • 1st Edition
    • R Chapman
    • English
    Smart textiles are materials and structures that sense and react to environmental conditions or stimuli, and their integration into protective clothing has led to the development of products with greatly enhanced protective capabilities in hazardous situations. Smart textiles for protection provides a comprehensive analysis of smart materials used in producing protective textiles, and explores a wide range of end-use protective applications.Part one reviews smart materials and technologies. Beginning with an overview of smart textiles for protection, this section goes on to discuss types of materials, surface treatments and the use of nanofibres and smart barrier membranes. The application of sensors, actuators and computer systems in smart protective textiles is explored, followed by a review of biomimetic approaches to design. Part two investigates specific applications of smart textiles for protection. Smart technology for personal protective equipment and clothing, smart protective textiles for older people and smart high-performance textiles for protection in construction and geotechnical applications are all discussed in depth, as is the use of smart textiles in the protection of armoured vehicles and in protective clothing for fire fighters and first responders. The final chapter describes recent advances in chemical and biological protective clothing.With its distinguished editor and international team of expert contributors, Smart textiles for protection is an essential guide for all those involved in the design, development and application of protective smart textiles.
  • Robotics and Automation in the Food Industry

    Current and Future Technologies
    • 1st Edition
    • Darwin G Caldwell
    • English
    The implementation of robotics and automation in the food sector offers great potential for improved safety, quality and profitability by optimising process monitoring and control. Robotics and automation in the food industry provides a comprehensive overview of current and emerging technologies and their applications in different industry sectors.Part one introduces key technologies and significant areas of development, including automatic process control and robotics in the food industry, sensors for automated quality and safety control, and the development of machine vision systems. Optical sensors and online spectroscopy, gripper technologies, wireless sensor networks (WSN) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are discussed, with consideration of intelligent quality control systems based on fuzzy logic. Part two goes on to investigate robotics and automation in particular unit operations and industry sectors. The automation of bulk sorting and control of food chilling and freezing is considered, followed by chapters on the use of robotics and automation in the processing and packaging of meat, seafood, fresh produce and confectionery. Automatic control of batch thermal processing of canned foods is explored, before a final discussion on automation for a sustainable food industry.With its distinguished editor and international team of expert contributors, Robotics and automation in the food industry is an indispensable guide for engineering professionals in the food industry, and a key introduction for professionals and academics interested in food production, robotics and automation.
  • Process Control in Textile Manufacturing

    • 1st Edition
    • Abhijit Majumdar + 3 more
    • English
    Complex raw materials and manufacturing processes mean the textile industry is particularly dependent on good process control to produce high and consistent product quality. Monitoring and controlling process variables during the textile manufacturing process also minimises waste, costs and environmental impact. Process control in textile manufacturing provides an important overview of the fundamentals and applications of process control methods.Part one introduces key issues associated with process control and principles of control systems in textile manufacturing. Testing and statistical quality control are also discussed before part two goes on to consider control in fibre production and yarn manufacture. Chapters review process and quality control in natural and synthetic textile fibre cultivation, blowroom, carding, drawing and combing. Process control in ring and rotor spinning and maintenance of yarn spinning machines are also discussed. Finally part three explores process control in the manufacture of knitted, woven, nonwoven textiles and colouration and finishing, with a final discussion of process control in apparel manufacturing.With its distinguished editors and international team of expert contributors, Process control in textile manufacturing is an essential guide for textile engineers and manufacturers involved in the processing of textiles, as well as academic researchers in this field.
  • Applications of ATILA FEM Software to Smart Materials

    Case Studies in Designing Devices
    • 1st Edition
    • Kenji Uchino + 1 more
    • English
    ATILA Finite Element Method (FEM) software facilitates the modelling and analysis of applications using piezoelectric, magnetostrictor and shape memory materials. It allows entire designs to be constructed, refined and optimized before production begins. Through a range of instructive case studies, Applications of ATILA FEM software to smart materials provides an indispensable guide to the use of this software in the design of effective products.Part one provides an introduction to ATILA FEM software, beginning with an overview of the software code. New capabilities and loss integration are discussed, before part two goes on to present case studies of finite element modelling using ATILA. The use of ATILA in finite element analysis, piezoelectric polarization, time domain analysis of piezoelectric devices and the design of ultrasonic motors is considered, before piezo-composite and photonic crystal applications are reviewed. The behaviour of piezoelectric single crystals for sonar and thermal analysis in piezoelectric and magnetostrictive materials is also discussed, before a final reflection on the use of ATILA in modelling the damping of piezoelectric structures and the behaviour of single crystal devices.With its distinguished editors and international team of expert contributors, Applications of ATILA FEM software to smart materials is a key reference work for all those involved in the research, design, development and application of smart materials, including electrical and mechanical engineers, academics and scientists working in piezoelectrics, magenetostrictors and shape memory materials.
  • Biobanks

    Patents Or Open Science?
    • 1st Edition
    • Antonella De Robbio
    • English
    Biobanks represent an invaluable research tool and, as a result of their intrinsic and extrinsic nature, may be looked upon as archives or repositories largely made up of libraries, or collections of content where the content is the biological material derived from different individuals or species, representing valuable tangible assets. Biobanks analyses aspects of the commons and common intellectual property relating to the concepts of private property, not only concerning data but biological materials as well, and the advantages and disadvantages of patents in scientific research. Several recent initiatives in biomedical research have attempted to make their data freely available to others, so as to foster innovation. Many of these initiatives have adopted the open source model, which has gained widespread recognition in the computer industry. This title is structured into eight chapters and begins with an introduction, which is followed by chapters that discuss how the term ‘biobank’ came about in scientific literature; legal matters relating to biobanks; and intellectual and physical property. Later chapters comprehensively analyse the intellectual property of biobanks within the sphere of copyright; biotechnological inventions and research patentability; open data sharing in biobanks; and biobanks as commons or vault.
  • Computer Design of Diffractive Optics

    • 1st Edition
    • V A Soifer
    • English
    Diffractive optics involves the manipulation of light using diffractive optical elements (DOEs). DOEs are being widely applied in such areas as telecommunications, electronics, laser technologies and biomedical engineering. Computer design of diffractive optics provides an authoritative guide to the principles and applications of computer-designed diffractive optics.The theoretical aspects underpinning diffractive optics are initially explored, including the main equations in diffraction theory and diffractive optical transformations. Application of electromagnetic field theory for calculating diffractive gratings and related methods in micro-optics are discussed, as is analysis of transverse modes of laser radiation and the formation of self-replicating multimode laser beams. Key applications of DOEs reviewed include geometrical optics approximation, scalar approximation and optical manipulation of micro objects, with additional consideration of multi-order DOEs and synthesis of DOEs on polycrystalline diamond films.With its distinguished editor and respected team of expert contributors, Computer design of diffractive optics is a comprehensive reference tool for professionals and academics working in the field of optical engineering and photonics.
  • Brittle Matrix Composites 10

    • 1st Edition
    • A M Brandt + 3 more
    • English
    The subjects of the symposia are on composite materials behaving as brittle, normal and special conditions of exploitation. Brittle matrix composites are applied in various domains and the series of symposia are closely related to their applications in civil engineering. In the last decades their importance is increasing along with their variety and the use of most advanced methods of testing. Papers include concretes, fibre concretes and ceramics, particularly their composition, microstructure and fracture processes. Various new and advanced engineering problems are presented in the papers.
  • Sustainable Vehicle Technologies

    Driving the Green Agenda
    • 1st Edition
    • Institution of Mechanical Engineers
    • English
    This book contains the papers from the IMechE’s Sustainable Vehicle Technologies 2012 conference. An innovative technical conference organised by the Automobile Division of the IMechE, it follows on from the 2009 Low Carbon Vehicle conference, which established a high standard with presentations primarily focussed on powertrain technology. The conference examines the latest advances in technology with a view towards understanding the consequences of carbon dioxide reduction over the entire vehicle lifecycle. Papers cover all aspects of the finite resources available for vehicle production, operation and recycling.
  • Nanoparticulate Drug Delivery

    Perspectives on the Transition from Laboratory to Market
    • 1st Edition
    • Vandana Patravale + 2 more
    • English
    Nanotechnology-based therapeutics, operating at scales of billionths of a metre, have great potential for future expansion in altering the scale and methods of drug delivery. The availability of these novel formulations to once-inaccessible areas of the body has greatly expanded the therapeutic window of existing drug molecules. Nanoparticulate drug delivery highlights and examines the transition of nanoparticulate drug delivery systems from the laboratory into a commercially viable sector. The first chapters of the book provide an overview of the use and characterization of nanoparticulate systems as drug carriers, including the assessment of their morphology, sterility and potential toxicity. In the latter part of the book, chapters cover nanotoxicology, regulatory aspect and clinical trials, ending with an overview of several case studies and a look towards future developments.
  • Open Source Software in Life Science Research

    Practical Solutions to Common Challenges in the Pharmaceutical Industry and Beyond
    • 1st Edition
    • Lee Harland + 1 more
    • English
    The free/open source approach has grown from a minor activity to become a significant producer of robust, task-orientated software for a wide variety of situations and applications. To life science informatics groups, these systems present an appealing proposition - high quality software at a very attractive price. Open source software in life science research considers how industry and applied research groups have embraced these resources, discussing practical implementations that address real-world business problems.The book is divided into four parts. Part one looks at laboratory data management and chemical informatics, covering software such as Bioclipse, OpenTox, ImageJ and KNIME. In part two, the focus turns to genomics and bioinformatics tools, with chapters examining GenomicsTools and EBI Atlas software, as well as the practicalities of setting up an ‘omics’ platform and managing large volumes of data. Chapters in part three examine information and knowledge management, covering a range of topics including software for web-based collaboration, open source search and visualisation technologies for scientific business applications, and specific software such as DesignTracker and Utopia Documents. Part four looks at semantic technologies such as Semantic MediaWiki, TripleMap and Chem2Bio2RDF, before part five examines clinical analytics, and validation and regulatory compliance of free/open source software. Finally, the book concludes by looking at future perspectives and the economics and free/open source software in industry.