Including the latest developments in design, optimisation, manufacturing and experimentation, this text presents a wide range of topics relating to advanced types of structures, particularly those based on new concepts and new types of materials.

The use of novel materials and new structural concepts nowadays is not restricted to highly technical areas like aerospace, aeronautical applications or the automotive industry, but affects all engineering fields including those such as civil engineering and architecture. Addressing issues involving advanced types of structures, particularly those based on new concepts or new materials and their system design, contributions highlight the latest developments in design, optimisation, manufacturing and experimentation. Also included are contributions on new software, numerical methods and different optimisation techniques. Optimisation problems of interest involve those related to size, shape and topology of structures and materials. Most high performance structures require the development of a generation of new materials, which can more easily resist a range of external stimuli or react in a non-conventional manner. Particular emphasis is placed on intelligent structures and materials as well as the application of computational methods for their modelling, control and management. Optimisation techniques have much to offer to those involved in the design of new industrial products. The formulation of optimum design has evolved from the time it was purely an academic topic, able now to satisfy the requirements of real life prototypes. The development of new algorithms and the appearance of powerful commercial computer codes, with easy to use graphical interfaces, have created a fertile field for the incorporation of optimisation in the design process in all engineering disciplines. This proceedings volume is the first from a new edition of the High Performance Design of Structures and Materials and the Optimum Design of Structures conferences, which follows the success of a number of meetings that originated in 1989. Topics covered include: Composite materials & structures; Material characterisation; Experiments and numerical analysis; Steel structures; High performance concretes; Natural fibre composites; Transformable structures; Lightweight structures; Timber structures; Environmentally friendly and sustainable structures; Emerging structural applications; Optimisation in civil engineering; Evolutionary methods in optimisation; Shape and topology optimisation; Aerospace structures; Structural optimisation; Biomechanics application; Material optimisation; Life cost optimisation; Intelligence structures and smart materials.

This open access book relates to the III Annual Conference hosted by The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in December 2016. This event has summarized, analyzed and discussed the interim results, academic outputs and scientific achievements of the Russian Federal Targeted Programme “Research and Development in Priority Areas of Development of the Russian Scientific and Technological Complex for 2014–2020.” It contains 75 selected papers from 6 areas considered priority by the Federal Targeted Programme: computer science, ecology & environment sciences; energy and energy efficiency; lifesciences; nanoscience & nanotechnology and transport & communications. The chapters report the results of the 3-years research projects supported by the Programme and finalized in 2016.

Covering the complete design cycle of nanopositioning systems, this is the first comprehensive text on the topic. The book first introduces concepts associated with nanopositioning stages and outlines their application in such tasks as scanning probe microscopy, nanofabrication, data storage, cell surgery and precision optics. Piezoelectric transducers, employed ubiquitously in nanopositioning applications are then discussed in detail including practical considerations and constraints on transducer response. The reader is then given an overview of the types of nanopositioner before the text turns to the in-depth coverage of mechanical design including flexures, materials, manufacturing techniques, and electronics. This process is illustrated by the example of a high-speed serial-kinematic nanopositioner. Position sensors are then catalogued and described and the text then focuses on control. Several forms of control are treated: shunt control, feedback control, force feedback control and feedforward control (including an appreciation of iterative learning control). Performance issues are given importance as are problems limiting that performance such as hysteresis and noise which arise in the treatment of control and are then given chapter-length attention in their own right. The reader also learns about cost functions and other issues involved in command shaping, charge drives and electrical considerations. All concepts are demonstrated experimentally including by direct application to atomic force microscope imaging. Design, Modeling and Control of Nanopositioning Systems will be of interest to researchers in mechatronics generally and in control applied to atomic force microscopy and other nanopositioning applications. Microscope developers and mechanical designers of nanopositioning devices will find the text essential reading.