The Heat Equation is one of the three classical linear partial differential equations of second order that form the basis of any elementary introduction to the area of PDEs, and only recently has it come to be fairly well understood. In this monograph, aimed at research students and academics in mathematics and engineering, as well as engineering specialists, Professor Vazquez provides a systematic and comprehensive presentation of the mathematical theory of the nonlinear heat equation usually called the Porous Medium Equation (PME). This equation appears in a number of physical applications, such as to describe processes involving fluid flow, heat transfer or diffusion. Other applications have been proposed in mathematical biology, lubrication, boundary layer theory, and other fields. Each chapter contains a detailed introduction and is supplied with a section of notes, providing comments, historical notes or recommended reading, and exercises for the reader.

The reduction of the fire hazard of fuel is critical to improving survivability in impact-survivable aircraft accidents. Despite current fire prevention and mitigation approaches, fuel flammability can overwhelm post-crash fire scenarios. The Workshop on Aviation Fuels with Improved Fire Safety was held November 19-20, 1996 to review the current state of development, technological needs, and promising technology for the future development of aviation fuels that are most resistant to ignition during a crash. This book contains a summary of workshop discussions and 11 presented papers in the areas of fuel and additive technologies, aircraft fuel system requirements, and the characterization of fuel fires.

This book describes the Conference on Fire and Smoke-Resistant Materials held at the National Academy of Sciences on November 8-10, 1994. The purpose of this conference was to identify trends in aircraft fire safety and promising research directions for the Federal Aviation Administration's program in smoke and fire resistant materials. This proceedings contains 15 papers presented by distinguished speakers and summaries of the workshop sessions concerning toxicity issues, fire performance parameters, drivers for materials development, and new materials technology.