Materials With Internal Structure

The book presents a series of concise papers by researchers specialized in various fields of continuum and computational mechanics and of material science. The focus is on principles and strategies for multiscale modeling and simulation of complex heterogeneous materials, with periodic or random microstructure, subjected to various types of mechanical, thermal, chemical loadings and environmental effects. A wide overview of complex behavior of materials (plasticity, damage, fracture, growth, etc.) is provided. Among various approaches, attention is given to advanced non-classical continua modeling which, provided by constitutive characterization for the internal and external actions (in particular boundary conditions), is a very powerful frame for the gross mechanical description of complex material behaviors, able to circumvent the restrictions of classical coarse–graining multiscale approaches.

Presenting an overview of the use of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) within buildings, this book discusses the performance of PCM-enhanced building envelopes. It reviews the most common PCMs suitable for building applications, and discusses PCM encapsulation and packaging methods. In addition to this, it examines a range of PCM-enhanced building products in the process of development as well as examples of whole-building-scale field demonstrations. Further chapters discuss experimental and theoretical analyses (including available software) to determine dynamic thermal and energy performance characteristics of building enclosure components containing PCMs, and present different laboratory and field testing methods. Finally, a wide range of PCM building products are presented which are commercially available worldwide. This book is intended for students and researchers of mechanical, architectural and civil engineering and postgraduate students of energy analysis, dynamic design of building structures, and dynamic testing procedures. It also provides a useful resource for professionals involved in architectural and mechanical-civil engineering design, thermal testing and PCM manufacturing.

This book considers the properties and behaviour of cement-based materials from the point of view of composite science and technology. It deals particularly with newer forms of cement-based materials and also with a composite approach to conventional materials and their special properties. Emphasis is put on non-conventional reinforcement and desig

Periglacial environments are facing dramatic changes. Warming air temperatures and strong snow cover variations fundamentally affect landforming processes in this hotspot region of Climate Change. But before we can assess the response of landform development to a changing climate, we need to enhance our understanding of the internal structure of those landforms. Within this study, a broad scope of landform types from alpine and subarctic regions is investigated: rock glaciers, solifluction lobes, palsas and patterned ground. By using the geophysical methods 2-D and 3-D ERI, as well as GPR surveying, structural differences and similarities between landform units of different or the same landform types are highlighted. This enables a reconstruction of their past and a projection of their future development.

Faults are primary focuses of both fluid migration and deformation in the upper crust. The recognition that faults are typically heterogeneous zones of deformed material, not simple discrete fractures, has fundamental implications for the way geoscientists predict fluid migration in fault zones, as well as leading to new concepts in understanding seismic/aseismic strain accommodation. This book captures current research into understanding the complexities of fault-zone internal structure, and their control on mechanical and fluid-flow properties of the upper crust. A wide variety of approaches are presented, from geological field studies and laboratory analyses of fault-zone and fault-rock properties to numerical fluid-flow modelling, and from seismological data analyses to coupled hydraulic and rheological modelling. The publication aims to illustrate the importance of understanding fault-zone complexity by integrating such diverse approaches, and its impact on the rheological and fluid-flow behaviour of fault zones in different contexts.