The aim of this book is to describe an efficient procedure to model dynamical contact problems with friction. This procedure is applied to different practical problems and verified by experiments.

Contact mechanics was and is an important branch in mechanics which covers a broad field of theoretical, numerical and experimental investigations. In this carefully edited book the reader will obtain a state-of-the-art overview on formulation, mathematical analysis and numerical solution procedures of contact problems. The contributions collected in this volume summarize the lectures presented during the 4th Contact Mechanics Interantional symposium (CMIS) held in Hannover, Germany, 2005, by leading scientists in the area of contact mechanics.

The major goal of this book is to present the implementation of some damage models with finite elements. The damage models are based on the principles of continuum damage mechanics and the effective stress concept. Several books have appeared recently on damage mechanics but are mostly theoretical in nature. Alternatively, this book provides a complete finite element program that includes the effects of damage. The book consists of two parts. Part I includes two chapters mainly review­ ing topics from finite element analysis and continuum damage mechanics.

This book examines the electro- and magneto-mechanics of soft composite materials and structures, and focuses on magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) and dielectric elastomer composites (DECs), which are composite materials that comprise ferromagnetic and high-dielectric/conducting filler nano- and micro-particles embedded in a soft polymeric matrix. This gives rise to a coupled magneto- and electro-mechanical response at the macroscopic (order of millimeters and larger) scale when they are subjected to magneto- electro-mechanical external stimuli. While such MRE and DEC materials and devices can become unstable at some critical electro-magneto-mechanical loading, their response may be well controlled in the post-instability regime. Moreover, recent advances on the complete electro-magneto-mechanical coupling are presented. All those aforementioned features motivate the operation of these devices in this unstable region to obtain controlled pattern formation, soft robotic motion and artificial muscles, controllable band-gap acoustic and electromagnetic properties, energy harvesting as well as actively controlled stiffness (for cell-growth). The book contains four individual chapters covering work on the fundamentals (O. Lopez-Pamies) and the modeling (M. Gei) of electroactive solids, the modeling of magnetoactive solids (K. Danas), and the analysis of elastic instabilities (Y. Fu).

Since 2004 the Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology has established itself as the definitive reference in the Nanoscience field. It integrates the knowledge from nanofabrication, nanomechanics, materials science, and reliability engineering in just one volume. Reflecting further developments, the new edition has grown from six to eight parts and from 38 to 58 chapters. Existing chapters have been thoroughly updated and new material has been added to cover developing fields such as bionanotechnology, nanorobotics, and NEMS/MEMS reliability. This classic reference book addresses mechanical and electrical engineers, materials scientists, physicists and chemists who work either in the nano area or in a field that is or will be influenced by this new key technology.

This book is a useful source of knowledge for engineers and scientists in the field of mechanics of deformation and destruction of composite materials.

Plate and shell theories experienced a renaissance in recent years. The potentials of smart materials, the challenges of adaptive structures, the demands of thin-film technologies and more on the one hand and the availability of newly developed mathematical tools, the tremendous increase in computer facilities and the improvement of commercial software packages on the other caused a reanimation of the scientific interest. In the present book the contributions of the participants of the EUROMECH Colloquium 444 "Critical Review of the Theories of Plates and Shells and New Applications" have been collected. The aim was to discuss the common roots of different plate and shell approaches, to review the current state of the art, and to develop future lines of research. Contributions were written by scientists with civil and mechanical engineering as well as mathematical and physical background.

In their 1909 publication Théorie des corps déformables, Eugène and François Cosserat made a historic contribution to materials science by establishing the fundamental principles of the mechanics of generalized continua. The chapters collected in this volume showcase the many areas of continuum mechanics that grew out of the foundational work of the Cosserat brothers.

As any human activity needs goals, mathematical research needs problems. —David Hilbert Mechanics is the paradise of mathematical sciences. —Leonardo da Vinci Mechanics and mathematics have been complementary partners since N- ton’s time, and the history of science shows much evidence of the bene?cial in?uence of these disciplines on each other. Driven by increasingly ela- rate modern technological applications, the symbiotic relationship between mathematics and mechanics is continually growing. However, the increasingly large number of specialist journals has generated a duality gap between the partners, and this gap is growing wider. Advances in Mechanics and Mathematics (AMMA) is intended to bridge the gap by providing multidisciplinary publications that fall into the two f- lowing complementary categories: 1. An annual book dedicated to the latest developments in mechanics and mathematics; 2. Monographs, advanced textbooks, handbooks, edited volumes, and selected conference proceedings. The AMMA annual book publishes invited and contributed compreh- sive research and survey articles within the broad area of modern mechanics and applied mathematics.

The basic idea of this introduction to the finite element method is based on the concept of explaining the complex method using only one-dimensional elements. Thus, the mathematical description remains largely simple and straightforward. The emphasis in each chapter is on explaining the method and understanding it itself. The reader learns to understand the assumptions and derivations in various physical problems in structural mechanics and to critically assess the possibilities and limitations of the finite element method.

Fatigue occurs under cyclic loading and can significantly degrade the operational capability and safety of metallic aircraft components and structures. This book provides summaries of some metallic aircraft structural integrity issues, innovative but established examples of maintaining operational capability—airworthiness, and assessments of safe in-service fatigue lives. These topics are based on a through-life fatigue management philosophy that ensures safe and continued operation, including during life extensions that are almost inevitably required. This philosophy is underpinned by observations of the behaviour of fatigue cracks in actual structures subjected to realistic service loading conditions. The book includes topics like aircraft design requirements, individual aircraft fatigue loads monitoring, airframe fatigue testing, sources of fatigue-nucleating discontinuities, and prediction of fatigue crack growth from these discontinuities. All these aspects contribute to discussing methods of assuring the structural integrity and operational capability of realistically cracked structures. The book also discusses the exponential behaviour of lead or dominant cracks—those leading to first failure—and the practical significance of differences between fatigue fracture topographies produced under constant amplitude and variable amplitude loading. The book can be a valuable reference for researchers and professionals interested in aircraft fatigue management and allied fields.

Meshfree Particle Methods is a comprehensive and systematic exposition of particle methods, meshfree Galerkin and partitition of unity methods, molecular dynamics methods, and multiscale methods. Most theories, computational formulations, and simulation results presented are recent developments in meshfree methods. They were either just published recently or even have not been published yet, many of them resulting from the authors´ own research. The presentation of the technical content is heuristic and explanatory with a balance between mathematical rigor and engineering practice. It can be used as a graduate textbook or a comprehensive source for researchers, providing the state of the art on Meshfree Particle Methods.

This book offers a current image of modern mechanics. The book reflects current state of the art in the field of continuum mechanics and mechanics of structures including recent achievements in classic and non-classic approaches. The chapters are written by leading specialist in the field, so the book collects cutting edge investigations in the field. As a target we consider the society starting from beginners, i.e. master and PhD students, and also leaders in the field, that is professors of universities and civil, mechanical and aerospace engineers.

The concept of fractals is often considered to describe surface roughness. Fractals retain all the structural information and are characterized by a single descriptor, the fractal dimension, D. Fractal dimension is an intrinsic property of the surface and independent of the filter processing of measuring instrument as well as the sampling length scale. This book cover fractal analysis of surface roughness in different machining processes such as Computer Numeric Control (CNC) end milling, CNC turning, electrical discharge machining and cylindrical grinding. The content here presented adds a significant contribution to the existing literature, with interest to both industrial and academic public.

Plate structures are used in almost every area of engineering, including aerospace and naval architecture, civil engineering, and electronics. These structures have diverse geometries and have to withstand a wide range of loading conditions. This book provides the theoretical foundations of the theories of plates manufactured from various materials, outlines and illustrates the methods used for the analysis of these structures, and emphasizes designs and solution techniques available to an engineer. The book is written for engineers working in industry, graduate students at aerospace, mechanical, civil engineering and naval architecture departments, and investigators interested in the development of the theory of plates and related subjects.