Harmonic and biharmonic boundary value problems (BVP) arising in physical situations in fluid mechanics are, in general, intractable by analytic techniques. In the last decade there has been a rapid increase in the application of integral equation techniques for the numerical solution of such problems 1,2,3]. One such method is the boundary integral equation method (BIE) which is based on Green's Formula 4] and enables one to reformulate certain BVP as integral equations. The reformulation has the effect of reducing the dimension of the problem by one. Because discretisation occurs only on...

The increasing size and complexity of new structural forces in engineering have made it necessary for designers to be aware of their dynamic behaviour. Dynamics is a subject which has traditionally been poorly taught in most engineering courses. This book was conceived as a way of providing engineers with a deeper knowledge of dynamic analysis and of indicating to them how some of the new vibrations problems can be solved. The authors start from basic principles to end up with the latest random vibration applications. The book originated 1n a week course given annually by the authors at the...

DEFINITION AND NOMENCLATURE A Stirling engine is a mechanical device which operates on a closed regenerative thermodynamic cycle with cyclic compression and expansion of the working fluid at different temperature levels. The flow of working fluid is controlled only by the internal volume changes, there are no valves and, overall, there is a net conversion of heat to work or vice-versa. This generalized definition embraces a large family of machines with different functions; characteristics and configurations. It includes both rotary and reciprocating systems utilizing mechanisms of varying...

Computational fluid flow is not an easy subject. Not only is the mathematical representation of physico-chemical hydrodynamics complex, but the accurate numerical solution of the resulting equations has challenged many numerate scientists and engineers over the past two decades. The modelling of physical phenomena and testing of new numerical schemes has been aided in the last 10 years or so by a number of basic fluid flow programs (MAC, TEACH, 2-E-FIX, GENMIX, etc). However, in 1981 a program (perhaps more precisely, a software product) called PHOENICS was released that was then (and still...

1. 1 Historical Background Thin plates and shells are widely used structural elements in numerous civil, mechanical, aeronautical and marine engineering design applications. Floor slabs, bridge decks, concrete pavements, sheet pile retaining walls are all, under normal lateral loading circumstances, instances of plate bending in civil engineering. The problem of elastic instability of plates occurs when load is applied in a direction parallel to the plane of the plate. The deck of a bridge subjected to a strong wind loading, the web of a girder under the action of shear forces transmitted by...

Virtual distortions are incompatible deIormations imposed on structures (e. g., by nonhomogeneous heating or by local imperIections) causing a compatible state OI deIormation (initial deformations) and a selI-equilibrated state OI stress (initial stresses). The theory OI virtual distortions provides an eIIicient tool which can be used to treat many problems that diIIer Irom the physical point OI view. Thermal stresses, material deIects, residual stresses in plasticity are examples OI problems that can be analysed emploing the virtual distortions approach, where the temperature Iield,...

In 1984, while I was following his postgraduate course on VLSI design, my supervisor Dr. David Skellern, asked me if I was interested in investigating intelligent approaches to automatic Ie floorplanning. He told me then: "a circuit that works always looks nice, has a clever data and control flow. A fast way to look at students' Ie projects is by looking at their fioorplans.." Later, I took a course on Knowledge Engineering (KE) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Professor John Gero, who encouraged me to investigate this area of design automation. The resources for such development were...

This book presents a new formulation of the boundary element method for two-dimensional and axisymmetric contact problems. The solution procedure includes the effects of non-frictional as well as frictional contact between elastic bodies. Following a literature survey of various experimental and analytical approaches for solving elastic contact problems, a comprehensive review of numerical techniques used for analyses of contact problems is presented. The boundary element formulations for two-, three-dimensional and axisymmetric problems in elasticity are derived and numerical implementation...

Along much of the shoreline of the world, tidal inlets play an important role in nearshore processes, providing links between the coastal oceans and protected embayments. Their study is of particular importance not only for the understanding of fundamental processes in coastal oceanography but also for engineering and the proper management of the delicate equilibrium of our shorelines. This volume, based on the International Symposium on Hydrodynamics and Sediment Dynamics of Tidal Inlets held at Woods Hole, MA, presents the reader with an overview of contemporary research on...