Geo.Engineerings

Rapid advances have been made during the past few decades in earthquake response modification technologies for structures, most notably in base isolation and energy dissipation systems. Many practical applications of various dampers can be found worldwide and, in the United States, damper design has been included in building codes. The current design process is simple and useful for adding supplemental damping up to a reasonable level—but it is not as useful with higher levels of damping.

Taking a different approach, Structural Damping: Applications in Seismic Response Modification considers the dynamic responses of structures with added damping devices as systems governed by the combined effect of the static stiffness, period, and damping—or "dynamic stiffness"—of the structure-device system. This formulation supplies additional information for higher-level supplemental damping design that current provisions may not adequately cover. The authors also propose a more comprehensive consideration of the core issues in structural damping, which provides a useful foundation for continued research and development in seismic response modification technologies for performance-based engineering.

The book includes design examples, based on the authors’ research and practical experience, to illustrate approaches that include higher-level supplemental damping to complement the use of the current NEHRP/ASCE-7 provisions. A self-contained resource on damping design principles, this book helps earthquake engineers select the most effective type of damper and determine the amount and configuration of damping under given working conditions.

The recent introduction of active and passive structural control methods has given structural designers powerful tools for performance-based design. However, structural engineers often lack the tools for the optimal selection and placement of such systems. In Building Control with Passive Dampers , Takewaki brings together most the reliable, state-of-the-art methods in practice around the world, arming readers with a real sense of how to address optimal selection and placement of passive control systems.

• The first book on optimal design, sizing, and location selection of passive dampers
• Combines theory and practical applications
• Describes step-by-step how to obtain optimal damper size and placement
• Covers the state-of-the-art in optimal design of passive control
• Integrates the most reliable techniques in the top literature and used in practice worldwide
• Written by a recognized expert in the area
• MATLAB code examples available from the book’s Companion Website

This book is essential for post-graduate students, researchers, and design consultants involved in building control. Professional engineers and advanced undergraduates interested in seismic design, as well as mechanical engineers looking for vibration damping techniques, will also find this book a helpful reference.

The tension structures discussed in this book are predominantly roofing forms created from pre-stressed cable nets, cable trusses, and continuous membranes (fabric structures). A unique feature in their design is form-finding an interactive process of defining the shape of a structure under tension. The book discusses the role of stable minimal surfaces (minimum energy forms occurring in natural objects, such as soap films) in finding optimal shapes of membrane and cable structures. The discussion of form-finding is extended to structural forms whose shape is supposedly known, such as suspension bridge cables.

Now in its 4th edition, Smith/Minton, Calculus offers students and instructors a mathematically sound text, robust exercise sets and elegant presentation of calculus concepts. When packaged with ALEKS Prep for Calculus, the most effective remediation tool on the market, Smith/Minton offers a complete package to ensure students success in calculus. The new edition has been updated with a reorganization of the exercise sets, making the range of exercises more transparent. Additionally, over 1,000 new classic calculus problems were added.

Water in its different forms has always been a source of wonder, curiosity and practical concern for humans everywhere. Hydrology: An Introduction presents a coherent introduction to the fundamental principles of hydrology, based on the course that Wilfried Brutsaert has taught at Cornell University for the last thirty years. Hydrologic phenomena are dealt with at spatial and temporal scales at which they occur in nature. The physics and mathematics necessary to describe these phenomena are introduced and developed, and readers will require a working knowledge of calculus and basic fluid mechanics. 

The book will be invaluable as a textbook for entry-level courses in hydrology directed at advanced seniors and graduate students in physical science and engineering. In addition, the book will be more broadly of interest to professional scientists and engineers in hydrology, environmental science, meteorology, agronomy, geology, climatology, oceanology, glaciology and other earth sciences.