The present monograph intends to establish a solid link among three fields: fuzzy set theory, information retrieval, and cluster analysis. Fuzzy set theory supplies new concepts and methods for the other two fields, and provides a common frame work within which they can be reorganized. Four principal groups of readers are assumed: researchers or students who are interested in (a) application of fuzzy sets, (b) theory of information retrieval or bibliographic databases, (c) hierarchical clustering, and (d) application of methods in systems science. Readers in group (a) may notice that the...

While currently available texts dealing with the subject of high perfor- mance composite materials touch upon a spectra of topics such as mechanical metallurgy, physical metallurgy, micromechanics and macro- mechanics of such systems, it is the specific purpose of this text to examine elements of the mechanics of structural components composed of composite materials. This text is intended for use in training engineers in this new technology and rational thought processes necessary to develop a better understanding of the behavior of such material systems for use as structural components. The...

The aim of this book is to provide a unified presentation of modern mechanics of structures in a form which is suitable for graduate students as well as for engineers and scientists working in the field of applied mechanics. Traditionally, students at technical universities have been taught subjects such as continuum mechanics, elasticity, plates and shells, frames or finite element techniques in an entirely separate manner. The authors' teaching experience clearly suggests that this situation frequently tends to create in students' minds an incomplete and inconsistent picture of the...

Transport engineering structures are subjected to loads that vary in both time and space. In general mechanics parlance such loads are called moving loads. It is the aim of the book to analyze the effects of this type of load on various elements, components, structures and media of engineering me chanics. In recent years all branches of transport have experienced great advances characterized by increasingly higher speeds and weights of vehicles. As a result, structures and media over or in which the vehicles move have been subjected to vibrations and dynamic stresses far larger than ever...

The basic partial differential equations for the stresses and displacements in clas- sical three dimensional elasticity theory can be set up in three ways: (1) to solve for the displacements first and then the stresses; (2) to solve for the stresses first and then the displacements; and (3) to solve for both stresses and displacements simultaneously. These three methods are identified in the literature as (1) the displacement method, (2) the stress or force method, and (3) the combined or mixed method. Closed form solutions of the partial differential equations with their complicated boundary...