Wood Fracture Characterization provides a guide to the application of modern fracture mechanics concepts to wood materials used in structural engineering, which commonly involve discontinuities and irregularities. The authors cover the tests, data reduction schemes and numerical methods devised for wood structural applications, based on cohesive zone analysis, and used to validate experimental-based methodologies. Five detailed Case Studies are included to link theory with engineering practice. This important new text explains the basics of fracture mechanics, and extends them as needed to cover the special behaviour of an anisotropic wood materials.

Wood Fracture Characterization provides a guide to the application of modern fracture mechanics concepts to wood materials used in structural engineering, which commonly involve discontinuities and irregularities. The authors cover the tests, data reduction schemes and numerical methods devised for wood structural applications, based on cohesive zone analysis, and used to validate experimental-based methodologies. Five detailed Case Studies are included to link theory with engineering practice. This important new text explains the basics of fracture mechanics, and extends them as needed to cover the special behaviour of an anisotropic wood materials.

Damage in wood is principally the result of fatigue. Fatigue is the process of progressive localised irreversible change in a material, and may culminate in cracks or complete fracture if conditions that initiated or propagated the process persist. Comprehensive understanding of fatigue and fracture in engineered wood components must be founded on a proper understanding of the damage processes. Although wood is the world's most widely used structural material, whether measured by volume consumed or value of finished construction, its behaviour is not well understood even by people who have spent their careers studying it. * What is known about failure processes comes almost entirely from empirical evidence collected for engineering purposes. * Hypotheses about behaviour of wood are based on macroscopic observation of specimens during and following tests. * With only limited resources and the need to obtain practical results quickly, the timber engineering research community has steered away from the scientific approach. * Forestry practices are changing and are known to influence characteristics of wood cells therefore there is a need to periodically reassess the mechanical properties of visually graded lumber the blackbox approach. Fatigue and Fracture of Wood examines the above issues from a scientific point of view by drawing on the authors' own research as well as previously published material. Unlike the empirical research, the book begins by examining growth of wood. It briefly examines its structure in relation to how trees grow, before assessing the fatigue and fracture of wood and discussing the scientific methods of modelling fatigue. * Covers from macro to micro behaviour of wood * Presents direct evidence of how wood fractures using Scanning Electron Microscopy * The first book to present a physically correct model for fracture in wood * Provides experimental proof of so-called memory in wood (i.e. dependence of fatigue behaviour on the loading sequence) * Givse practical illustrations of how theories and models can be applied in practice An essential resource for wood scientists/engineers, timber-engineering practitioners, and graduate students studying wood and solid mechanics.

This book gathers the peer-reviewed papers presented at the 13th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions (SAHC), held in Kyoto, Japan, on September 12-15, 2023. It highlights the latest advances and innovations in the field of conservation and restoration of historical and heritage structures. The conference topics encompass history of construction and building technology, theory and practice of conservation, inspection methods, non-destructive techniques and laboratory testing, numerical modeling and structural analysis, management of heritage structures and conservation strategies, structural health monitoring, repair and strengthening strategies and techniques, vernacular constructions, seismic analysis and retrofit, vulnerability and risk analysis, resilience of historic areas to climate change and hazard events, durability, and sustainability. As such the book represents an invaluable, up-to-the-minute tool, providing an essential overview of conservation of historical constructions, and offers an important platform to engineers, architects, archeologists, and geophysicists. Chapter The Challenges of the Conservation of Earthen Sites in Seismic Areas, Chapter Performance Evaluation of Patch Repairs on Historic Concrete Structures (PEPS): Preliminary Results from Two English Case Studies are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This volume brings together a broad array of scientific expertise to focus on the characterization and utilization of cellulosic materials. Researchers from Austria, Germany, Sweden, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S. explore many facets of the plant cell wall, from its fundamental structure and its manipulation via molecular biology to its application in composite materials. Exciting applications of near infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, confocal microscopy, and molecular coupling as a viscoelastic probe provide new insights into the ultrastructure and properties of cellulosic materials.

Fracture of Polymers, Composites and Adhesives II

Bringing together the work of practitioners in many fields of engineering, materials and computational science, this book includes most of the papers presented at the Second International Conference on Material Characterisation. Compiled with the central aim of encouraging interaction between experimentalists and modelers, the contributions featured are divided under the following sections: MICROSTRUCTURES ? Composites; Alloys; Ceramics; Cements; Foams; Suspensions; Biomaterials; Thin Films; Coatings. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS - Optical Imaging; SEM, TEM; X-Ray Microtomography; Ultrasonic Techniques; NMR/MRI; Micro/Nano Indentation; Thermal Analysis; Surface Chemistry. COMPUTATIONAL METHODS - Continuum Methods (FEM, FV, BEM); Particle Models (MD, DPD, Lattice-Boltzmann); Montecarlo Methods; Cellular Automata; Hybrid Multiscale Methods; and Damage Mechanics.

In the last quarter century, delamination has come to mean more than just a failure in adhesion between layers of bonded composite plies that might affect their load-bearing capacity. Ever-increasing computer power has meant that we can now detect and analyze delamination between, for example, cell walls in solid wood. This fast-moving and critically important field of study is covered in a book that provides everyone from manufacturers to research scientists the state of the art in wood delamination studies. Divided into three sections, the book first details the general aspects of the subject, from basic information including terminology, to the theoretical basis for the evaluation of delamination. A settled terminology in this subject area is a first key goal of the book, as the terms which describe delamination in wood and wood-based composites are numerous and often confusing. The second section examines different and highly specialized methods for delamination detection such as confocal laser scanning microscopy, light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and ultrasonics. Ways in which NDE (non-destructive evaluation) can be employed to detect and locate defects are also covered. The book’s final section focuses on the practical aspects of this defect in a wide range of wood products covering the spectrum from trees, logs, laminated panels and glued laminated timbers to parquet floors. Intended as a primary reference, this book covers everything from the microscopic, anatomical level of delamination within solid wood sections to an examination of the interface of wood and its surface coatings. It provides readers with the perspective of industry as well as laboratory and is thus a highly practical sourcebook for wood engineers working in manufacturing as well as a comprehensively referenced text for materials scientists wrestling with the theory underlying the subject.

Scientific understanding of fluid flow in rock fractures--a process underlying contemporary earth science problems from the search for petroleum to the controversy over nuclear waste storage--has grown significantly in the past 20 years. This volume presents a comprehensive report on the state of the field, with an interdisciplinary viewpoint, case studies of fracture sites, illustrations, conclusions, and research recommendations. The book addresses these questions: How can fractures that are significant hydraulic conductors be identified, located, and characterized? How do flow and transport occur in fracture systems? How can changes in fracture systems be predicted and controlled? Among other topics, the committee provides a geomechanical understanding of fracture formation, reviews methods for detecting subsurface fractures, and looks at the use of hydraulic and tracer tests to investigate fluid flow. The volume examines the state of conceptual and mathematical modeling, and it provides a useful framework for understanding the complexity of fracture changes that occur during fluid pumping and other engineering practices. With a practical and multidisciplinary outlook, this volume will be welcomed by geologists, petroleum geologists, geoengineers, geophysicists, hydrologists, researchers, educators and students in these fields, and public officials involved in geological projects.