This book covers the fundamentals of electrical system design commonly found in residential, commercial, and industrial occupancies. The emphasis is on practical, real-world applications, and stresses designing electrical systems in accordance with the National Electrical Code(r) (NEC(r)). This book leads the reader through topics starting with the basics of electrical system design through more advanced subjects such as voltage drop, short circuit, coordination, and harmonics. For electrical designers and electrical engineers.

This innovative volume provides a systematic treatment of the basic concepts and computational procedures for structural motion design and engineering for civil installations. The authors illustrate the application of motion control to a wide spectrum of buildings through many examples. Topics covered include optimal stiffness distributions for building-type structures, the role of damping in controlling motion, tuned mass dampers, base isolation systems, linear control, and nonlinear control. The book's primary objective the satisfaction of motion-related design requirements such as restrictions on displacement and acceleration and seeks the optimal deployment of material stiffness and motion control devices to achieve these design targets as well as satisfy constraints on strength. The book is ideal for practicing engineers and graduate students.

Base isolation, passive energy dissipation and active control represent three innovative technologies for protection of structures under environmental loads. Increasingly, they are being applied to the design of new structures or to the retrofit of existing structures against wind, earthquakes and other external loads. This book, with contributions from leading researchers from Japan, Europe, and the United States, presents a balanced view of current research and world-wide development in this exciting and fast expanding field. Basic principles as well as practical design and implementational issues associated with the application of base isolation systems and passive and active control devices to civil engineering structures are carefully addressed. Examples of structural applications are presented and extensively discussed.

Structural control represents a high technology proposal for civil engineering innovation. This book collects the invited papers presented at the 3rd International Workshop on Structural Control. The geographical coverage and the high quality of the invited speaker's contributions make the book a unique update in the areas of intelligent structures, structural control and smart materials for civil and infrastructure engineers. Contents: An Identification Algorithm for Feedback Active Control (N D Anh); Application of Control Techniques to Masonry and Monumental Constructions (A Baratta et al.); Monitoring of Infrastructures in the Marine Environment (A Del Grosso); Health Monitoring and Optimum Maintenance Programs for Structures in Seismic Zones (L Esteva & E Heredia-Zavoni); Outline of Safety Evaluation of Structural Response-Control Buildings and Smart Structural Systems as Future Trends (K Yoshikazu & T Hiroyuki); Recent Developments in Smart Structures Research in India (S Narayanan & V Balamurugan); Perspective of Application of Active Damping of Cable Structures (A Preumont & F Bossens); Parametric and Nonparametric Adaptive Identification of Nonlinear Structural Systems (A W Smyth et al.); Active Control Requirements in Railway Projects (H Wenzel); and other papers. Readership: Civil engineers and scientists working in the areas of intelligent systems and smart materials.

Passive vibration control plays a crucial role in structural engineering. Common solutions include seismic isolation and damping systems with various kinds of devices, such as viscous, viscoelastic, hysteretic, and friction dampers. These strategies have been widely utilized in engineering practice, and their efficacy has been demonstrated in mitigating damage and preventing the collapse of buildings, bridges, and industrial facilities. However, there is a need for more sophisticated analytical and numerical tools to design structures equipped with optimally configured devices. On the other hand, the family of devices and dissipative elements used for structural protection keeps evolving, because of growing performance demands and new progress achieved in materials science and mechanical engineering. This Special Issue collects 13 contributions related to the development and application of passive vibration control strategies for structures, covering both traditional and innovative devices. In particular, the contributions concern experimental and theoretical investigations of high-efficiency dampers and isolation bearings; optimization of conventional and innovative energy dissipation devices; performance-based and probability-based design of damped structures; application of nonlinear dynamics, random vibration theory, and modern control theory to the design of structures with passive energy dissipation systems; and critical discussion of implemented isolation/damping technologies in significant or emblematic engineering projects.

Motion Control Systems is concerned with design methods that support the never-ending requirements for faster and more accurate control of mechanical motion. The book presents material that is fundamental, yet at the same time discusses the solution of complex problems in motion control systems. Methods presented in the book are based on the authors' original research results. Mathematical complexities are kept to a required minimum so that practicing engineers as well as students with a limited background in control may use the book. It is unique in presenting know-how accumulated through work on very diverse problems into a comprehensive unified approach suitable for application in high demanding, high-tech products. Major issues covered include motion control ranging from simple trajectory tracking and force control, to topics related to haptics, bilateral control with and without delay in measurement and control channels, as well as control of nonredundant and redundant multibody systems. Provides a consistent unified theoretical framework for motion control design Offers graduated increase in complexity and reinforcement throughout the book Gives detailed explanation of underlying similarities and specifics in motion control Unified treatment of single degree-of-freedom and multibody systems Explains the fundamentals through implementation examples Based on classroom-tested materials and the authors' original research work Written by the leading researchers in sliding mode control (SMC) and disturbance observer (DOB) Accompanying lecture notes for instructors Simulink and MATLAB® codes available for readers to download Motion Control Systemsis an ideal textbook for a course on motion control or as a reference for post-graduates and researchers in robotics and mechatronics. Researchers and practicing engineers will also find the techniques helpful in designing mechanical motion systems.

Protecting the natural environment and promoting sustainability have become important objectives, but achieving such goals presents myriad challenges for even the most committed environmentalist. American Environmentalism: Philosophy, History, and Public Policy examines whether competing interests can be reconciled while developing consistent, coherent, effective public policy to regulate uses and protection of the natural environment without destroying the national economy. It then reviews a range of possible solutions. The book delves into key normative concepts that undergird American perspectives on nature by providing an overview of philosophical concepts found in the western intellectual tradition, the presuppositions inherent in neoclassical economics, and anthropocentric (human-centered) and biocentric (earth-centered) positions on sustainability. It traces the evolution of attitudes about nature from the time of the Ancient Greeks through Europeans in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the American Founders, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and up to the present. Building on this foundation, the author examines the political landscape as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry leaders, and government officials struggle to balance industrial development with environmental concerns. Outrageous claims, silly misrepresentations, bogus arguments, absurd contentions, and overblown prophesies of impending calamities are bandied about by many parties on all sides of the debate—industry spokespeople, elected representatives, unelected regulators, concerned citizens, and environmental NGOs alike. In lieu of descending into this morass, the author circumvents the silliness to explore the crucial issues through a more focused, disciplined approach. Rather than engage in acrimonious debate over minutiae, as so often occurs in the context of "green" claims, he recasts the issue in a way that provides a cohesive look at all sides. This effort may be quixotic, but how else to cut the Gordian knot?