This book provides readers with an elementary understanding of the material behavior of structural silicones in façades. Based on extensive experimental investigations on a transparent structural silicone adhesive (TSSA), the material behavior, failure, and microscopic effects such as stress whitening, cavitation failure, and the Mullins effect are analyzed. In turn, novel hyperelastic material models are developed to account for nonlinear material behavior under arbitrary deformations. The development of a volumetric hyperelastic model makes it possible for the first time to approximate the structural behavior of TSSA under constrained tensile load and cavitation. The material models discussed here were implemented in a finite element code for validation, and their quality was confirmed by three-dimensional numerical simulations, in which an additional stretch-based failure criterion was evaluated for failure prediction. The numerical studies are in good agreement with the experimental results.

This thesis investigates the fracture of nearly incompressible hyperelastic media. It covers the different characteristics of bulk material failure under dilatational or distortional loads and develops a unified description of the corresponding failure surface. It proposes a coupled strain and energy failure criterion for the assessment of notch-induced crack nucleation and presents a weak-interface-model that allows for efficient stress, strain and failure analyses of hyperelastic adhesive lap joints. Theoretical concepts for the measurement of fracture properties of nonlinear elastic materials are provided. The methodology is developed using two exemplary hyperelastic silicones, DOWSIL 993 Structural Glazing Sealant and DOWSIL Transparent Structural Silicone Adhesive, and is validated using large sets of experiments of different loading conditions.

This book presents various questions of continuum mechanical modeling in the context of experimental and numerical methods, in particular, multi-field problems that go beyond the standard models of continuum mechanics. In addition, it discusses dynamic problems and practical solutions in the field of numerical methods. It focuses on continuum mechanics, which is often overlooked in the traditional division of mechanics into statics, strength of materials and kinetics. The book is dedicated to Prof. Volker Ulbricht, who passed away on April 9, 2021.

Current Perspectives and New Directions in Mechanics, Modelling and Design of Structural Systems comprises 330 papers that were presented at the Eighth International Conference on Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation (SEMC 2022, Cape Town, South Africa, 5-7 September 2022). The topics featured may be clustered into six broad categories that span the themes of mechanics, modelling and engineering design: (i) mechanics of materials (elasticity, plasticity, porous media, fracture, fatigue, damage, delamination, viscosity, creep, shrinkage, etc); (ii) mechanics of structures (dynamics, vibration, seismic response, soil-structure interaction, fluid-structure interaction, response to blast and impact, response to fire, structural stability, buckling, collapse behaviour); (iii) numerical modelling and experimental testing (numerical methods, simulation techniques, multi-scale modelling, computational modelling, laboratory testing, field testing, experimental measurements); (iv) design in traditional engineering materials (steel, concrete, steel-concrete composite, aluminium, masonry, timber); (v) innovative concepts, sustainable engineering and special structures (nanostructures, adaptive structures, smart structures, composite structures, glass structures, bio-inspired structures, shells, membranes, space structures, lightweight structures, etc); (vi) the engineering process and life-cycle considerations (conceptualisation, planning, analysis, design, optimization, construction, assembly, manufacture, maintenance, monitoring, assessment, repair, strengthening, retrofitting, decommissioning). Two versions of the papers are available: full papers of length 6 pages are included in the e-book, while short papers of length 2 pages, intended to be concise but self-contained summaries of the full papers, are in the printed book. This work will be of interest to civil, structural, mechanical, marine and aerospace engineers, as well as planners and architects.

The book is devoted to the retirement of Prof. Wilfried Becker—a liber amicorum for a well-known specialist in the field of structural mechanics. Many excellent scientists from institutions around the world wrote their scientific chapters, stressing the Becker’s influence to structural mechanics. Thus, this collection discusses a lot of important problems and applications of mechanics.

This book attempts to redress this issue by providing an overview of the recent developments in this field thereby providing a basis for the understanding of the structural performance and design of glass in buildings. Each chapter draws on the latest developments in practice and research and contains contributions from various international glass experts. The mix of general and specialist content ranging from rules of thumb to fracture mechanics and novel applications to post-breakage performance make this book useful to practitioners and researchers. Furthermore, the text is supplemented by tables of the major codes of practice and by an extensive list of references.

Challenges the market and creates discussions on the basis of concrete material. This book also focuses on non technological topics. It discusses items such as issues of strategy and the analysis of customer desires and demands.