Computational Mechanics

Advanced vector analysis for scientists and engineers.

This text illustrates the application of vector calculus to physical problems, and provides a wealth of solved problems to demonstrate the application of the theory. Coverage progresses from the algebra of vectors and vector functions of one variable, through integral theorems and orthogonal curvilinear coordinate systems. Learning features include chapter summaries and exercises, plus appendices of solutions for selected exercises, a summary of important vector formulae, and an overview of the historical background of vector analysis. The text is suitable for a one-semester course for senior undergraduates and beginning graduate students in science and engineering. The author teaches applied mathematics and fluid mechanics at Dalhousie University, Canada. The US office of WIT Press is Computational Mechanics. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Environmental deterioration of materials.

Eleven international academics and researchers contribute nine chapters evaluating various natural and anthropogenic factors, to better understand the conditions that cause the decay of selected construction materials, and to show conservation approaches and application methods allowing for their improved preservation. The text focuses on materials that are used most often or to the greatest extent — metals, stone, brick, concrete, timber, cast iron, steel, copper alloys, and aluminum — offering a general introduction to the many facets of material preservation, and includes ISO standards relating to the classification of atmospheric corrositivity, of low corrositivity of indoor atmospheres, and corrositivity categories of atmospheres for several construction materials. For engineering professionals, students, designers, architects, managers from various sectors of industry, and auditors of environmental management systems. Illustrated in b&w. The US office of WIT Press is Computational Mechanics. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Plasticity of cold worked metals; a deductive approach.

Plasticity theory is a tool used in structural analysis to evaluate the ultimate strength and the post-elastic behavior of ductile structures, explains Paglietti (strength of metals and engineering, U. of Cagliari, Italy), but its application to real materials is undermined by the evolution law of the yield surface, also known as the work-hardening rule, which lacks realistic rules that can be entered into analysis algorithms. He addresses the work-hardening problem starting from a few elementary facts and working out their inescapable consequences until a practical solution is obtained. He focuses on von Mises materials, a class to which most metals belong, but the wily engineer should be able to apply his method to other ductile materials as well. The US office of WIT Press is Computational Mechanics. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Solitary waves in fluids.

Solitary waves, or solitons, were first described in the middle of the 19th century, but remained an obscure curiosity until the 1960s and the rise of nonlinear wave equations. Interest has leaked since then from mathematics to the physical sciences. Here mathematicians and physicists discuss how the theory of solitons has been exploited in several fluid flow contexts, primarily in a geophysical and environmental framework. Their topics include solitary waves in water and in rotating fluids; and internal, planetary, and envelope solitary waves. The US office of WIT Press is Computational Mechanics. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)