Fundamentals Of Structural Integrity

Discusses applications of failures and evaluation techniques to a variety of industries. * Presents a unified approach using two key elements of structural design.

"The Fundamentals of Structural Integrity and Failure provides a comprehensive review of spent nuclear fuel integrity and the research work which has been carried out in the important area of spent nuclear fuel integrity management. Additionally, the authors review the key aspects of fatigue crack nucleation and the fracture mechanics of short- and long-crack growth, with emphasis on achieving total fatigue life prediction. The fundamental aspects of mathematical modeling, computation, measurement, and signal processing involved in the process of integrity assessment of engineering structures in the presence of uncertainty are presented. Following this, several proposed techniques for the detection of the defects in ferromagnetic steel components are analyzed. One of these possible approaches is based on the additional magnetization of the inspected zone to minimize magnetic heterogeneity, and another trend is concerned with new selective Eddy current probe development. The capabilities of nondestructive testing techniques based on coercive force measurements concerned with several new applications are discussed. This concluding work demonstrates the use of a judicious and effective method for detecting pressure vessel failures, applying Wiener filter concepts to noisy signals"--

Structural integrity and failure assessment have been considered by many fields of engineers as it is a multi-disciplinary concept. The assessment procedure vitally ensures that structural elements will remain functional throughout their service lives. Structural failure refers to the loss of structural integrity by means of loss at the component- or system-level elements. The main concern of integrity assessment is that a structural failure may be avoided at the service level by designing the structure to withstand its designated loads. Hence, for satisfactory structural performance, structural safety, failure, and interaction between them should be considered throughout the design and analysis stages. This book is a collection of chapters that provide the researcher with a comprehensive perspective on structural integrity and its sub-disciplines.

This book provides a state-of-the-art review of the fail-safe and damage tolerance approaches, allowing weight savings and increasing aircraft reliability and structural integrity. The application of the damage tolerance approach requires extensive know-how of the fatigue and fracture properties, corrosion strength, potential failure modes and non-destructive inspection techniques, particularly minimum detectable defect and inspection intervals. In parallel, engineering practice involving damage tolerance requires numerical techniques for stress analysis of cracked structures. These evolved from basic mode I evaluations using rough finite element approaches, to current 3D modeling based on energetic approaches as the VCCT, or simulation of joining processes. This book provides a concise introduction to this subject.

This book presents concepts, methods and techniques to examine symptoms of faults and failures of structures, systems and components and to monitor functional performance and structural integrity. The book is organized in five parts. Part A introduces the scope and application of technical diagnostics and gives a comprehensive overview of the physics of failure. Part B presents all relevant methods and techniques for diagnostics and monitoring: from stress, strain, vibration analysis, nondestructive evaluation, thermography and industrial radiology to computed tomography and subsurface microstructural analysis. Part C cores the principles and concepts of technical failure analysis, illustrates case studies, and outlines machinery diagnostics with an emphasis on tribological systems. Part D describes the application of structural health monitoring and performance control to plants and the technical infrastructure, including buildings, bridges, pipelines, electric power stations, offshore wind structures, and railway systems. And finally, Part E is an excursion on diagnostics in arts and culture. The book integrates knowledge of basic sciences and engineering disciplines with contributions from research institutions, academe, and industry, written by internationally known experts from various parts of the world, including Europe, Canada, India, Japan, and USA.