Including the latest developments in design, optimisation, manufacturing and experimentation, this text presents a wide range of topics relating to advanced types of structures, particularly those based on new concepts and new types of materials.

Including the latest developments in design, optimisation, manufacturing and experimentation, this text presents a wide range of topics relating to advanced types of structures, particularly those based on new concepts and new types of materials.

Most high performance structures require the development of a generation of new materials, which can more easily resist a range of external stimuli or react in a non-conventional manner. Formed of research works presented at the 10th International Conference on High Performance and Optimum Design of Structures and Materials, the included papers cover issues involving advanced types of structures, particularly those based on new concepts or new materials and their system design. Contributions highlight the latest developments in design, optimisation, manufacturing and experimentation. There is also a focus on the search for higher performance sustainable materials. Particular emphasis is placed on intelligent structures and materials as well as the application of computational methods for their modelling, control and management. Optimisation problems are also covered, including those related to the size, shape and topology of structures and materials. Optimisation techniques have much to offer to those involved in the design of new industrial products. The development of new algorithms and the appearance of powerful commercial computer codes with easy to use graphical interfaces has created a fertile field for the incorporation of optimisation in the design process in all engineering disciplines.

The use of novel materials and new structural concepts nowadays is not restricted to highly technical areas like aerospace, aeronautical applications or the automotive industry, but affects all engineering fields including those such as civil engineering and architecture. Addressing issues involving advanced types of structures, particularly those based on new concepts or new materials and their system design, contributions highlight the latest developments in design, optimisation, manufacturing and experimentation. Also included are contributions on new software, numerical methods and different optimisation techniques. Optimisation problems of interest involve those related to size, shape and topology of structures and materials. Most high performance structures require the development of a generation of new materials, which can more easily resist a range of external stimuli or react in a non-conventional manner. Particular emphasis is placed on intelligent structures and materials as well as the application of computational methods for their modelling, control and management. Optimisation techniques have much to offer to those involved in the design of new industrial products. The formulation of optimum design has evolved from the time it was purely an academic topic, able now to satisfy the requirements of real life prototypes. The development of new algorithms and the appearance of powerful commercial computer codes, with easy to use graphical interfaces, have created a fertile field for the incorporation of optimisation in the design process in all engineering disciplines. This proceedings volume is the first from a new edition of the High Performance Design of Structures and Materials and the Optimum Design of Structures conferences, which follows the success of a number of meetings that originated in 1989. Topics covered include: Composite materials & structures; Material characterisation; Experiments and numerical analysis; Steel structures; High performance concretes; Natural fibre composites; Transformable structures; Lightweight structures; Timber structures; Environmentally friendly and sustainable structures; Emerging structural applications; Optimisation in civil engineering; Evolutionary methods in optimisation; Shape and topology optimisation; Aerospace structures; Structural optimisation; Biomechanics application; Material optimisation; Life cost optimisation; Intelligence structures and smart materials.

The use of novel materials and new structural concepts nowadays is not restricted to highly technical areas like aerospace, aeronautical applications or the automotive industry, but affects all engineering fields including those such as civil engineering and architecture. The included contributions highlight the latest developments in design and manufacturing. Most high-performance structures require the development of a generation of new materials, which can more easily resist a range of external stimuli or react in a non-conventional manner. Particular emphasis is placed on intelligent structures and materials as well as the application of computational methods for their modelling, control and management. The book also addresses the topic of design optimisation. Contributions cover numerical methods, different optimisation techniques and new software. Optimisation problems include those related to the size, shape and topology of structures and materials. Optimisation techniques have much to offer to those involved in the design of new industrial products, as the appearance of powerful commercial computer codes has created a fertile field for the incorporation of optimisation in the design process of all engineering disciplines. The performance of structures under shock and impact loads is another area covered. The increasing need to protect civilian infrastructure and industrial facilities against unintentional loads arising from accidental impact and explosion events as well as terrorist attacks is reflected in the sustained interest worldwide. While advances have been made in recent decades, many challenges remain, such as developing more effective and efficient blast and impact mitigation approaches or assessing the uncertainties associated with large and small scale testing and validation of numerical and analytical models. The overall aim is to move towards a better understanding of the critical issues relating to the testing behaviour, modelling and analyses of protective structures against blast and impact loading. The studies contained in this volume were presented at the International Conference on High Performance and Optimum Structures and Materials Encompassing Shock and Impact Loading and address issues involving advanced types of structures, particularly those based on new concepts, and shock and impact resistance.

Containing the edited papers presented at the Sixth International Conference on High Performance Structures and Materials, High Performance Structures and Materials VI addresses the issues involved with advanced types of structures, particularly those based on new concepts or new materials. Contributions will highlight the latest developments in design, optimisation, manufacturing and experimentation in these areas.The use of novel materials and new structural concepts nowadays is not restricted to highly technical areas like aerospace, aeronautical applications or the automotive industry, but affects all engineering fields including those such as civil engineering and architecture. Most high performance structures require the development of a generation of new materials, which can more easily resist a range of external stimuli or react in a non-conventional manner.The book will cover such topics as: Composite materials and structures, Lightweight structures, Nanocomposites, High performance concretes, Concrete fibres, Automotive composites, Steel structures, Natural fibre composites, Timber structures, Material characterisation, Experiments and numerical analysis, Damage and fracture mechanics, Computational intelligence, Adaptable and mobile structures, Environmentally friendly structures.

Particular emphasis is placed on computational methods to model, control and manage new structural solutions and material types. This integration of their design together with optimisation technologies is prevalent in all aspects of industry and research. This book contains the most significant papers presented in OPTI 2009. Following the spirit of previous editions some of them deal with the algorithmic part of this scientific discipline while other authors describe innovative design optimisation formulations in several engineering fields or practical applications in industrial problems. Research topics included: New and enhanced algorithms; Shape optimisation; Design optimisation in materials, construction and bridge engineering; Design optimization in aircraft engineering; Optimisation in dam and soil engineering.