Books in Civil and structural engineering

Automation and Robotics in Construction XI

1st Edition
December 2, 2012
Alan Chamberlain
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 9 7 5 8 8

Sourced from international experts, this book presents papers dealing with a wide range of soft and hard research issues at various stages of development in the field. Some cover entirely new ground, whilst others reflect progress on the sometimes frustrating path to truly robust technology. Of particular interest are contributions discussing issues of exploitation and commercialisation, the integration of end products within the design and construction processes incorporating information technology (IT) and the impact of the emerging technology on the culture and organisation of the construction industry. A mark of growing maturity is apparent in the coverage of health and safety and related social issues. This is complemented by a clear commitment to the consideration of human factors and the environment. It is hoped that by promoting a wider debate on the matters of future technology and its horizons, on the identification of what industry needs from the research and development community and on building effective partnerships between academia, industry and government, the publication not only addresses the practical commercial obligation to seek robust solutions for today's problems, but will stimulate research for the years to come.

Advances in Wind Engineering

1st Edition
December 2, 2012
C. Kramer + 1 more
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 9 9 7 6 6

Held under the auspices of the International Association for Wind Engineering, 226 delegates from twenty-three countries took part in the conference. This three volume work contains about 90 papers published in full length, together with summaries and discussions on other interesting and valuable papers presented at the conference.

Computer Integrated Construction

1st Edition
December 2, 2012
H. Wagter
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 9 8 8 5 1

The contributions in this volume portray, in terms of the current state of the art, research on computer-aided construction in the building industry. A complete overview is given within the areas of computer-aided design, product modelling in construction, and robot-oriented design and construction together with a summary of the commercial developments in computerized systems within those areas. The papers will be essential reading for all those interested in future automation in relation to the building construction industry with the accent on design and engineering.

Modern Approaches to Plasticity

1st Edition
December 2, 2012
D. Kolymbas
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 9 9 3 0 8

Constitutive modelling of granulate materials has achieved significant progress in recent times although some challenging problems still remain to be solved. Many of the 35 contributions in this volume are devoted to modelling but there are also papers investigating the phenomena to be modelled. For instance, there are reviews on several aspects of the behaviour of granulates which are mere material properties while other aspects are related to the ill-posedness of the corresponding boundary value problems. The work provides a comprehensive and up to date treatise on the theory of plasticity in granular materials, together with a great number of solution methods and applications. The volume is intended for researchers and practising engineers who wish to enhance their knowledge in this rapidly expanding field.

Reliability Fundamentals

1st Edition
December 2, 2012
V.M. Catuneanu + 1 more
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 9 8 1 4 1

The development of modern technologies has enlarged the scope of quality, to include aspects concerning the time varying performances of systems. The general property of a system, to conserve its performance in time, is known as reliability. The concept of reliability, developed on the basis of electronic technology, can be generalized to describe any system, be it technical, biological or even social. This work is concerned with technological systems, but many of its ideas can be applied successfully outside the purely technical field. A comprehensive treatment of the various models and methodologies employed in the reliability field is given. The mathematical, physical and engineering concepts related to reliability are presented from a unitary point of view. Moreover, the book provides the theoretical background for the methodologies of reliability assurance and assessment. A global model of system reliability is specified by classical estimation of its parameters from experimental data. The practical difficulties related to the amount of data needed for an accurate estimation is examined in detail.A major improvement on the accuracy of a model is provided by the application of Bayesian statistical theory, thereby making use of all the information available on the reliability of the system. The next section describes the relationship between reliability and stress. It introduces the models of reliability extrapolation and the theory of accelerated life tests. The global model is extended to systems that are subject to renewal and leads to specific reliability indices of system effectiveness. A comparison is given on structural models of system reliability together with the appropriate methods of analysis. The limitations and the areas of application of different models are clearly outlined.The book maintains a good balance between the theoretical and the practical point of view. It is sufficiently theoretical to cover most technical systems, but is not restricted to purely mathematical aspects. The interpretations and the applications of the models are presented in detail, enabling the practitioner to make direct use of many results.

Similitude and Modelling

1st Edition
Volume 2
December 2, 2012
E. Szücs
English
eBook
9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 8 3 7 8 3

Similitude and Modeling describes the theoretical aspects and application of similitude method using mathematical apparatus. This book is organized into two parts encompassing 13 chapters, and begins with an introduction to a simple technological problem in similitude modeling. The first part deals with the concept, physical fundamentals, dimensional analysis, and approximate and partial modeling of similitude. This part explores also the preparation and evaluation of similitude experiments, as well as the general types of similitude invariants. The second part highlights the application areas of similitude modeling, including heat conduction and diffusion, fluid dynamics, elastic deformation, and chemical reactions. This book will prove useful to plant and design engineers.

Metaheuristics in Water, Geotechnical and Transport Engineering

1st Edition
September 1, 2012
Xin-She Yang + 2 more
English
Paperback
9 7 8 0 3 2 3 2 8 2 6 0 4
eBook
9 7 8 0 1 2 3 9 8 3 1 7 6

Due to an ever-decreasing supply in raw materials and stringent constraints on conventional energy sources, demand for lightweight, efficient and low cost structures has become crucially important in modern engineering design. This requires engineers to search for optimal and robust design options to address design problems that are often large in scale and highly nonlinear, making finding solutions challenging. In the past two decades, metaheuristic algorithms have shown promising power, efficiency and versatility in solving these difficult optimization problems. This book examines the latest developments of metaheuristics and their applications in water, geotechnical and transport engineering offering practical case studies as examples to demonstrate real world applications. Topics cover a range of areas within engineering, including reviews of optimization algorithms, artificial intelligence, cuckoo search, genetic programming, neural networks, multivariate adaptive regression, swarm intelligence, genetic algorithms, ant colony optimization, evolutionary multiobjective optimization with diverse applications in engineering such as behavior of materials, geotechnical design, flood control, water distribution and signal networks. This book can serve as a supplementary text for design courses and computation in engineering as well as a reference for researchers and engineers in metaheursitics, optimization in civil engineering and computational intelligence.

Toxicity of Building Materials

1st Edition
August 13, 2012
Fernando Pacheco-Torgal + 2 more
English
Paperback
9 7 8 0 0 8 1 0 1 6 3 6 7
eBook
9 7 8 0 8 5 7 0 9 6 3 5 7

From long-standing worries regarding the use of lead and asbestos to recent research into carcinogenic issues related to the use of plastics in construction, there is growing concern regarding the potential toxic effects of building materials on health. Toxicity of building materials provides an essential guide to this important problem and its solutions.Beginning with an overview of the material types and potential health hazards presented by building materials, the book goes on to consider key plastic materials. Materials responsible for formaldehyde and volatile organic compound emissions, as well as semi-volatile organic compounds, are then explored in depth, before a review of wood preservatives and mineral fibre-based building materials. Issues related to the use of radioactive materials and materials that release toxic fumes during burning are the focus of subsequent chapters, followed by discussion of the range of heavy metals, materials prone to mould growth, and antimicrobials. Finally, Toxicity of building materials concludes by considering the potential hazards posed by waste based/recycled building materials, and the toxicity of nanoparticles.With its distinguished editors and international team of expert contributors, Toxicity of building materials is an invaluable tool for all civil engineers, materials researchers, scientists and educators working in the field of building materials.

Offshore Structures

1st Edition
July 17, 2012
Mohamed A. El-Reedy
English
Hardback
9 7 8 0 1 2 3 8 5 4 7 5 9
eBook
9 7 8 0 1 2 3 8 5 4 7 6 6

With most of the easy gas and oil reserves discovered and prices rebounding, companies are now drilling far offshore in extreme weather condition environments. As deepwater wells are drilled to greater depths, engineers and designers are confronted with new problems such as water depth, weather conditions, ocean currents, equipment reliability, and well accessibility. Offshore Structure Design, Construction and Maintenance covers all types of offshore structures and platforms employed worldwide. The ultimate reference for selecting, operating and maintaining offshore structures, this book provides a road map for designing structures which will stand up even in the harshest environments. The selection of the proper type of offshore structure is discussed from a technical and economic point of view. The design procedure for the fixed offshore structure will be presented and how to review the design to reach the optimum solution. Nonlinear analysis (Push over) analysis will be presented as a new technique to design and assess the existing structure. Pile design and tubular joint with the effect of fatigue loading will be presented also from a theoretical and a practical point of view. With this book in hand, engineers receive the most up-to-date methods for performing a structural life cycle analysis; implement maintenance plans for topsides and jackets, using non destructive testing. Under water inspection is discussed for hundreds of platforms in detail. Advanced repair methodology for scour, marine growth and damaged or deteriorating members are discussed. Risk based under water inspection techniques are covered from a practical pint of view. In addition, the book will be supported by an online modeling and simulation program with will allow designers to save time and money by verifying assumptions online.

Modern Earth Buildings

1st Edition
July 11, 2012
Matthew R Hall + 2 more
English
Hardback
9 7 8 0 8 5 7 0 9 0 2 6 3
eBook
9 7 8 0 8 5 7 0 9 6 1 6 6

The construction of earth buildings has been taking place worldwide for centuries. With the improved energy efficiency, high level of structural integrity and aesthetically pleasing finishes achieved in modern earth construction, it is now one of the leading choices for sustainable, low-energy building. Modern earth buildings provides an essential exploration of the materials and techniques key to the design, development and construction of such buildings.Beginning with an overview of modern earth building, part one provides an introduction to design and construction issues including insulation, occupant comfort and building codes. Part two goes on to investigate materials for earth buildings, before building technologies are explored in part three including construction techniques for earth buildings. Modern earth structural engineering is the focus of part four, including the creation of earth masonry structures, use of structural steel elements and design of natural disaster-resistant earth buildings. Finally, part five of Modern earth buildings explores the application of modern earth construction through international case studies.With its distinguished editors and international team of expert contributors, Modern earth buildings is a key reference work for all low-impact building engineers, architects and designers, along with academics in this field.

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