There have been stability theories developed for beams, plates and shells - the most significant elements in mechanical, aerospace, ocean and marine engineering. For beams and plates, the theoretical and experimental values of buckling loads are in close vicinity. However for thin shells, the experimental predictions do not confirm with the theory, due to presence of small geometric imperfections that are deviations from the ideal shape. This fact has been referred to in the literature as 'embarrassing', 'paradoxical' and 'perplexing.' Indeed, the popular adage, "In theory there is no...

This book presents, as a single package, three semingly contradictory and often competitive approaches to deal with ever present uncertainty in science and engineering. The book describes, as a unique view, probabilistic, fuzzy sets based and antioptimization based approaches, in order to remedy the present "tower ob Babel situation, in which researchers in competing fields do not communicate. Integrative approach will attract scientists and engineers alike and provide a strong impetus towards integrative, hybrid approaches."

Mechanics of Functionally Graded Material Structures is an authoritative and fresh look at various functionally graded materials, customizing them with various structures. The book is devoted to tailoring material properties to the needed structural performance. The authors pair materials with the appropriate structures based upon their purpose and use.Material grading of structures depending upon thickness, axial and polar directions are discussed. Three dimensional analysis of rectangular plates made of functional graded materials and vibrational tailoring of inhomogeneous beams and...