George Krauss, University Emeritus Professor, Colorado School of Mines and author of the best-selling ASM book Steels: Processing, Structure, and Performance, discusses some of the important additions and updates to the new second edition.

This book covers a variety of topics related to machine manufacturing and concerning machine design, product assembly, technological aspects of production, mechatronics and production maintenance. Based on papers presented at the 6th International Scientific-Technical Conference MANUFACTURING 2019, held in Poznan, Poland on May 19-22, 2019, the different chapters reports on cutting-edge issues in constructing machine parts, mechatronic solutions and modern drives. They include new ideas and technologies for machine cutting and precise processing. Chipless technologies, such as founding, plastic forming, non-metal construction materials and composites, and additive techniques alike, are also analyzed and thoroughly discussed. All in all, the book reports on significant scientific contributions in modern manufacturing, offering a timely guide for researchers and professionals developing and/or using mechanical engineering technologies that have become indispensable for modern manufacturing.

The book provides fundamental chemistry and properties of near-critical water (NCW) and supercritical water (SCW), criteria and challenges/solutions in reactor design for NCW and SCW processes, and up-to-date reviews and practice of a wide range of their applications in bio refineries including: production of hydrochars from biomass, SCW oxidation (SCWO) for waste treatment, SCW gasification (SCWG) of biomass and waste for hydrogen and methane production, hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass, production of chemicals and SCWO of biofuels for energy. It also presents techno-economic analysis of hydrogen production via SCWG of biomass. The book will be highly essential for both academic researchers and industrial practitioners for developing novel bio refinery technologies and processes employing NCW or SCW for treatment of various organic waste streams and production of bio-energy and bio-based chemicals from bio-renewable resources. Prof. Dr. Zhen Fang is leader and founder of biomass group, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Dr. Chunbao (Charles) Xu is currently an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and NSERC/FP Innovations Industrial Research Chair in Forest Bio refinery at Western University, Canada.

This book lays out the fundamentals of friction stir welding and processing and builds toward practical perspectives. The authors describe the links between the thermo-mechanical aspects and the microstructural evolution and use of these for the development of the friction stir process as a broader metallurgical tool for microstructural modification and manufacturing. The fundamentals behind the practical aspects of tool design, process parameter selection and weld related defects are discussed. Local microstructural refinement has enabled new concepts of superplastic forming and enhanced low temperature forming. The collection of friction stir based technologies is a versatile set of solid state manufacturing tools.