Many engineering structures and components contain cracks or crack-like flaws and it is widely recognized that crack growth must be considered both in the design and analysis of failures. The complete solution of a crack growth problem therefore includes determination of the crack path. At present the factors controlling the path taken by a propagating crack are not completely understood. In general crack paths are difficult to predict, while in practice their development in structures is often determined by large-scale structural tests. In introductory texts on fracture mechanics it is usually assumed that the crack path is known, either from theoretical considerations, or from the results of laboratory tests.

This book provides practicing engineers, researchers, and students with a working knowledge of the fatigue design process and models under multiaxial states of stress and strain. Readers are introduced to the important considerations of multiaxial fatigue that differentiate it from uniaxial fatigue.

Microtechnology has changed our world since the last century, when silicon microelectronics revolutionized sensor, control and communication areas, with applications extending from domotics to automotive, and from security to biomedicine. The present century, however, is also seeing an accelerating pace of innovation in glassy materials; as an example, glass-ceramics, which successfully combine the properties of an amorphous matrix with those of micro- or nano-crystals, offer a very high flexibility of design to chemists, physicists and engineers, who can conceive and implement advanced microdevices. In a very similar way, the synthesis of glassy polymers in a very wide range of chemical structures offers unprecedented potential of applications. The contemporary availability of microfabrication technologies, such as direct laser writing or 3D printing, which add to the most common processes (deposition, lithography and etching), facilitates the development of novel or advanced microdevices based on glassy materials. Biochemical and biomedical sensors, especially with the lab-on-a-chip target, are one of the most evident proofs of the success of this material platform. Other applications have also emerged in environment, food, and chemical industries. The present Special Issue of Micromachines aims at reviewing the current state-of-the-art and presenting perspectives of further development. Contributions related to the technologies, glassy materials, design and fabrication processes, characterization, and, eventually, applications are welcome.

A pioneering work in oral history, this book tells the story of the rise and fall of the industrial revolution and the apogee and crisis of the labor movement through an oral history of Terni, a steel town in Central Italy and the seat of the first large industrial enterprise in Italy. This story is told through a combination of stories, songs, myths and memories from over 200 voices of five generations, woven with a wealth of archival material.

This book covers the most recent advances in the deformation and fracture behaviour of polymer material. It provides deeper insight into related morphology–property correlations of thermoplastics, elastomers and polymer resins. Each chapter of this book gives a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art methods of materials testing and diagnostics, tailored for plastic pipes, films and adhesive systems as well as elastomeric components and others. The investigation of deformation and fracture behaviour using the experimental methods of fracture mechanics has been the subject of intense research during the last decade. In a systematic manner, modern aspects of fracture mechanics in the industrial application of polymers for bridging basic research and industrial development are illustrated by multifarious examples of innovative materials usage. This book will be of value to scientists, engineers and in polymer materials science.

This book presents the first compilation of scientific research on the island of Nisyros, involving various geoscientific disciplines. Presenting a wealth of illustrations and maps, including a geological map of the volcano, it also provides valuable insights into the geothermal potential of Greece. The island of Nisyros is a Quaternary volcano located at the easternmost end of the South Aegean Volcanic Arc. The island is nearly circular, with an average diameter of 8 km, and covers an area of approximately 42 km2. It lies above a base of Mesozoic limestone and a thin crust, with the mantle-crust transition located at a depth of approximately 27 km. The volcanic edifice of Nisyros comprises a succession of calc-alkaline lavas and pyroclastic rocks, as well as a summit caldera with an average diameter of 4 km. Nisyros marks the most recent volcano in the large prehistoric volcanic field between Kos-Yali-Strongyli-Pyrgousa-Pachia-Nisyros, where the largest eruption (“Kos Plateau Tuff”) in the history of the eastern Mediterranean devastated the Dodecanese islands 161,000 years ago. Although the last volcanic activity on Nisyros dates back at least 20,000 to 25,000 years, it encompasses an active hydrothermal system underneath the volcano with temperatures of roughly 100°C at the Lakki plain, the present-day caldera floor and 350°C at a depth of 1,550 m. A high level of seismic unrest, thermal waters and fumarolic gases bear testament to its continuous activity, which is due to a large volume of hot rocks and magma batches at greater depths, between 3,000 and 8,000 m. Violent hydrothermal eruptions accompanied by major earthquakes occurred in 1873 and 1888 and left behind large, “world-wide unique” explosion craters in the old caldera. Through diffuse soil degassing, the discharge of all hydrothermal craters in the Lakki plain releases 68 tons of hydrothermal-volcanic derived CO2 and 42 MW of thermal energy per day. This unique volcanic and hydrothermal environment is visited daily by hundreds of tourists.

DAMAS 1999 Proceedings of the International Conference on Damage Assessment of Structures (DAMAS 99), held in Dublin, Ireland, June 28-30, 1999

Miniaturization and high precision are rapidly becoming a requirement for many industrial processes and products. As a result, there is greater interest in the use of laser microfabrication technology to achieve these goals. This book composed of 16 chapters covers all the topics of laser precision processing from fundamental aspects to industrial applications to both inorganic and biological materials. It reviews the sate of the art of research and technological development in the area of laser processing.