Wood - The Internal Optimization of Trees
Wood - The Internal Optimization of Trees

Author: Claus Mattheck

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 3642612199

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Here are two physicists looking over the fence of physics, getting thrilled by the life and growth of trees, taking an altogether different, exciting view of wood: trees produce wood for their own benefit. They do not live for the benefit of man who builds his world using wood as a raw material. Timber is revealed in a different light, and the reader is taught to stop thinking of it in terms of defective beams and boards. Wood only fails as a part of the living tree. To us, the tree and wood biologists, this new definition is a real, inspiring challenge, which is just what Kubler and Mattheck intended it to be. Their answers may seem too simple or little logical to some of us; but the authors are not at a loss for sound and solid arguments. Their field studies prove the incredible, their hypotheses makes us want to get to the bottom of the un proven unbelievable. The authors' answers and arguments are bold and cour ageous. They arouse our curiosity and force us to fathom the facts. It seems as if Kubler and Mattheck wanted to trick us into believing that trees only live and react following mechanical rules and strategies. To tell the truth, that was what I first suspected the authors of: but I was wrong.

Design in Nature
Design in Nature

Author: Claus Mattheck

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1998-01-28

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 9783540629375

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This book describes and verifies external shape laws in nature, not only valid for trees, but also a variety of other things such as bones, claws and thorns. It shows how growing structures repair their disturbed optimum design after damage has occurred. Computer simulations of these load-adaptive growths are used to find an ideal ecological engineering design, characterized by minimum weight and maximum strength.

Structures and Architecture
Structures and Architecture

Author: Paulo J. Cruz

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2016-10-14

Total Pages: 1553

ISBN-13: 1317549961

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Although the disciplines of architecture and structural engineering have both experienced their own historical development, their interaction has resulted in many fascinating and delightful structures. To take this interaction to a higher level, there is a need to stimulate the inventive and creative design of architectural structures and to persuade architects and structural engineers to further collaborate in this process, exploiting together new concepts, applications and challenges. This set of book of abstracts and full paper searchable CD-ROM presents selected papers presented at the 3rd International Conference on Structures and Architecture Conference (ICSA2016), organized by the School of Architecture of the University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal (July 2016), to promote the synergy in the collaboration between the disciplines of architecture and structural engineering.

Biomimetics
Biomimetics

Author: Akihiro Miyauchi

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2022-09-29

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 1000565173

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Biomimetics is based on nature, while technology is based on economy. One of the solutions for a sustainable society is to learn a grand design of technology from nature. Methods that mimic nature have a long history in various fields. Now is the time to use biomimetics as a starting technology design. Biomimetics is gaining a great deal of attention not only in materials and mechanical engineering but also in the ecosystem that comprises city planning, agriculture, and forestry. Informatics is being added to biomimetics to support its diversity and cross-disciplinarity. This book will inspire the undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and general readers who aim to develop technology for sustainability. Edited by Profs Akihiro Miyauchi and Masatsugu Shimomura, two prominent nanotechnology researchers, the book is their second volume on biomimetics. The first volume, Industrial Biomimetics, also published by Jenny Stanford Publishing, focused on the engineering aspect of biomimetics.

Wood Structure and Environment
Wood Structure and Environment

Author: Fritz Hans Schweingruber

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-06-15

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 3540485481

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The primary aim of Wood Structure and Environment is to reveal the hidden ecological richness in stems and roots from trees, shrubs and herbs. The detailed, lucid text will inspire researchers to consider the anatomic microcosm of wood plants and use it as a retrospective source of information, solving problems related to ecophysiology, competition, site conditions, population biology, earth science, wood quality and even human history.

Crystalline Cellulose and Derivatives
Crystalline Cellulose and Derivatives

Author: Peter Zugenmaier

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-01-12

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 3540739343

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Cellulose as an abundant renewable material has stimulated basic and applied research that has resulted in significant progress in polymer science. This book discusses reliable crystal structures of all cellulose polymorphs and cellulose derivatives. Models are represented in graphs, together with a collection of geometrical data and the atomic coordinates. This book is a concise guide for members of the materials and life sciences communities interested in cellulose and related materials.

Wood Quality and its Biological Basis
Wood Quality and its Biological Basis

Author: John Barnett

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-02-18

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1405147814

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Wood is the most versatile raw material available to man. It isburned as fuel, shaped into utensils, used as a structuralengineering material, converted into fibres for paper production,and put to newer uses as a source of industrial chemicals. Its quality results largely from the chemical and physicalstructure of the cell walls of its component fibres, which can bemodified in nature as the tree responds to physical environmentalstresses. Internal stresses can accumulate, which are releasedcatastrophically when the tree is felled, often rendering thetimber useless. The quality of timber as an engineering materialalso depends on the structure of the wood and the way in which ithas developed in the living tree. Tree improvement for quality cannot be carried out without anunderstanding of the biological basis underlying wood formation andstructure. This volume brings together the viewpoints of bothbiologists and physical scientists, covering the spectrum from theformation of wood to its structure and properties, and relatingthese properties to industrial use. This is a volume for researchers and professionals in plantphysiology, molecular biology and biochemistry.

Self-healing Materials
Self-healing Materials

Author: Brahim Aissa

Publisher: Smithers Rapra

Published: 2014-08-27

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1909030120

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This book summarizes the general concepts of the self-healing processes, starting with their occurrences in nature (plants, human skin, etc.) and leading to the most recent academic and industrial advances. It includes a detailed description and explanation of a wide range of materials and applications, such as polymeric, anticorrosion, smart paints, satellite coatings, etc. A particular emphasis will be given to the space environment (in terms of vacuum, thermal gradients, mechanical vibrations, space radiation, etc.). The book discusses the most recent and innovative results towards controlling the self-healing materials for the space debris mitigation. It concludes with a comprehensive outlook into the future developments and applications. An extensive survey of published papers and conference reports is also included.

Trees
Trees

Author: P. A. Thomas

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2000-02-13

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 9780521459631

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Trees are familiar components of many landscapes, vital to the healthy functioning of the global ecosystem and unparalled in the range of materials which they provide for human use. Yet how much do we really understand about how they work? This 2000 book provides a comprehensive introduction to the natural history of trees, presenting information on all aspects of tree biology and ecology in an easy to read and concise text. Fascinating insights into the workings of these everyday plants are uncovered throughout the book, with questions such as how are trees designed, how do they grow and reproduce, and why do they eventually die tackled in an illuminating way. Written for a non-technical audience, the book is nonetheless rigorous in its treatment and will therefore provide a valuable source of reference for beginning students as well as those with a less formal interest in this fascinating group of plants.

Springer Handbook of Wood Science and Technology
Springer Handbook of Wood Science and Technology

Author: Peter Niemz

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-04-01

Total Pages: 2064

ISBN-13: 3030813150

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This handbook provides an overview on wood science and technology of unparalleled comprehensiveness and international validity. It describes the fundamental wood biology, chemistry and physics, as well as structure-property relations of wood and wood-based materials. The different aspects and steps of wood processing are presented in detail from both a fundamental technological perspective and their realisation in industrial contexts. The discussed industrial processes extend beyond sawmilling and the manufacturing of adhesively bonded wood products to the processing of the various wood-based materials, including pulp and paper, natural fibre materials and aspects of bio-refinery. Core concepts of wood applications, quality and life cycle assessment of this important natural resource are presented. The book concludes with a useful compilation of fundamental material parameters and data as well as a glossary of terms in accordance with the most important industry standards. Written and edited by a truly international team of experts from academia, research institutes and industry, thoroughly reviewed by external colleagues, this handbook is well-attuned to educational demands, as well as providing a summary of state-of-the-art research trends and industrial requirements. It is an invaluable resource for all professionals in research and development, and engineers in practise in the field of wood science and technology.