Masters Theses in the Pure and Applied Sciences was first conceived, published, and disseminated by the Center for Information and Numerical Data Analysis and Synthesis (CINDAS) * at Purdue University in 1957, starting its coverage of theses with the academic year 1955. Beginning with Volume 13, the printing and dissemination phases of the activity were transferred to University Microfilms/Xerox of Ann Arbor, Michigan, with the thought that such an arrangement would be more beneficial to the academic and general scientific and technical community. After five years of this joint undertaking we had concluded that it was in the interest of all con cerned if the printing and distribution of the volumes were handled by an interna tional publishing house to assure improved service and broader dissemination. Hence, starting with Volume 18, Masters Theses in the Pure and Applied Sciences has been disseminated on a worldwide basis by Plenum Publishing Cor poration of New York, and in the same year the coverage was broadened to include Canadian universities. All back issues can also be ordered from Plenum. We have reported in Volume 34 (thesis year 1989) a total of 13,377 theses titles from 26 Canadian and 184 United States universities. We are sure that this broader base for these titles reported will greatly enhance the value of this important annual reference work. While Volume 34 reports theses submitted in 1989, on occasion, certain univer sities do report theses submitted in previous years but not reported at the time.

The Defence Research Establishment, Valcatier (DREV) has been studying the application of composite materials for use in a lightweight anti-tank recoilless gun. Since thermoset resins are very sensitive to impact, it is important to determine the severity of damage using a nondestructive technique in order to establish the serviceability of the tube.

In this book, two kinds of analysis based on acoustic emission recorded during mechanical tests are investigated. In the first, individual, analysis, acoustic signature of each damage mechanism is characterized. So with a clustering method, AE signals that have similar shapes or similar features can be group together into a cluster. Afterwards, each cluster can be linked with a main damage. The second analysis is based on a global AE analysis, on the investigation of liberated energy, with a view to identify a critical point. So beyond this characteristic point, the criticality can be modeled with a power-law in order to evaluate time to failure.

Non-destructive Testing of Impact Damage in Fiber-reinforced Polymer Composites: Fundamentals and Applications provides detailed knowledge on the fundamentals and applications of frequently used nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques utilized to assess impact damage in composite structures. This book starts with an introduction to impact damage in composite structures, each subsequent chapter focuses on evaluating damage using specific NDT methods. Chapters 2–4 concentrate on vision-based NDT methods such as visual inspection, digital image correlation, and digital shearography. Following this, Chapters 5–6 delve into ultrasound-based methods, including acoustic emission and phased-array ultrasonic inspection. Radiation-based methods, micro-CT, and thermography are discussed in Chapters 7 and 8, while Chapters 9 and 10 elucidate microwave inspection and electrical impedance tomography. This book is a useful reference for both academia and industry and covers the fundamentals, practical tips, case studies, and applications, as well as current research trends and future possibilities, for each technique. - Insights into the diverse damage levels in composite materials resulting from low-velocity impact, ranging from micro matrix cracks to severe delamination and fiber breakage - Covers a broad range of NDT techniques, including recently developed NDT techniques, suitable for detecting impact damage in composite materials - Serves as a valuable reference for both academia and industry, providing comprehensive coverage of fundamental principles, practical insights, applications, case studies, current research trends, and future prospects for each NDT technique