This book, based on Transport and Urban Development COST Action TU1208, presents the most advanced applications of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in a civil engineering context, with documentation of instrumentation, methods and results. It explains clearly how GPR can be employed for the surveying of critical transport infrastructure, such as roads, pavements, bridges and tunnels and for the sensing and mapping of underground utilities and voids. Detailed attention is also devoted to use of GPR in the inspection of geological structures and of construction materials and structures, including reinforced concrete, steel reinforcing bars and pre/post-tensioned stressing ducts. Advanced methods for solution of electromagnetic scattering problems and new data processing techniques are also presented. Readers will come to appreciate that GPR is a safe, advanced, non destructive and noninvasive imaging technique that can be effectively used for the inspection of composite structures and the performance of diagnostics relevant to the entire life cycle of civil engineering works.
A result of the Strategic Highway Research Program's asphalt research is the development of performance-based specifications for asphalt binders and mixtures to control 3 distress modes: rutting; fatigue cracking; and thermal cracking. The SHRP A-005 project developed detailed pavement performance models to support these binder and mixture specifications and performance-based mixture designs. This report documents the findings of this extensive research effort and provides supporting data for the performance-based specifications and mixture design procedure called SUPERPAVE. The A-005 contract developed and used a sophisticated, mechanistic-based pavement performance model to define the relationships between asphalt binder and mixture properties and pavement distress. A comprehensive pavement performance model was developed that predicts the amount of fatigue cracking, thermal cracking and rutting in asphalt concrete pavements with time, using results from the accelerated laboratory tests. The pavement performance models for each distress were also used to confirm the relevant binder and mixture properties established by other SHRP contractors. The model has 3 parts: a mixture evaluation model; a pavement response model; and a pavement distress model.
This second edition of An Introduction to Predictive Maintenance helps plant, process, maintenance and reliability managers and engineers to develop and implement a comprehensive maintenance management program, providing proven strategies for regularly monitoring critical process equipment and systems, predicting machine failures, and scheduling maintenance accordingly. Since the publication of the first edition in 1990, there have been many changes in both technology and methodology, including financial implications, the role of a maintenance organization, predictive maintenance techniques, various analyses, and maintenance of the program itself. This revision includes a complete update of the applicable chapters from the first edition as well as six additional chapters outlining the most recent information available. Having already been implemented and maintained successfully in hundreds of manufacturing and process plants worldwide, the practices detailed in this second edition of An Introduction to Predictive Maintenance will save plants and corporations, as well as U.S. industry as a whole, billions of dollars by minimizing unexpected equipment failures and its resultant high maintenance cost while increasing productivity. - A comprehensive introduction to a system of monitoring critical industrial equipment - Optimize the availability of process machinery and greatly reduce the cost of maintenance - Provides the means to improve product quality, productivity and profitability of manufacturing and production plants
Electrical Conductivity in Polymer-Based Composites: Experiments, Modelling and Applications offers detailed information on all aspects of conductive composites. These composites offer many benefits in comparison to traditional conductive materials, and have a broad range of applications, including electronic packaging, capacitors, thermistors, fuel cell devices, dielectrics, piezoelectric functions and ferroelectric memories. Sections cover the theory of electrical conductivity and the different categories of conductive composites, describing percolation threshold, tunneling effect and other phenomena in the field. Subsequent chapters present thorough coverage of the key phases in the development and use of conductive composites, including manufacturing methods, external parameters, applications, modelling and testing methods. This is an essential source of information for materials scientists and engineers working in the fields of polymer technology, processing and engineering, enabling them to improve manufacture and testing methods, and to benefit fully from applications. The book also provides industrial and academic researchers with a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of conductive composites and related issues. - Explains the methods used in the manufacture and testing of conductive composites, and in the modeling of electrical conductivity - Contains specialized information on the full range of applications for conductive composites, including conductive adhesives or pastes - Brings scientists, engineers and researchers up-to-date with the latest advances in the field