This book gives an overview of the current state of uncertainty modeling in vibration, control, and fuzzy analysis of structural and mechanical systems. It is a coherent compendium written by leading experts and offers the reader a sampling of exciting research areas in several fast-growing branches in this field. Uncertainty modeling and analysis are becoming an integral part of system definition and modeling in many fields. The book consists of ten chapters that report the work of researchers, scientists and engineers on theoretical developments and diversified applications in engineering systems. They deal with modeling for vibration, control, and fuzzy analysis of structural and mechanical systems under uncertain conditions. The book designed for readers who are familiar with the fundamentals and wish to study a particular topic or use the book as an authoritative reference. It gives readers a sophisticated toolbox for tackling modeling problems in mechanical and structural systems in real-world situations. The book is part of a series on Stability, Vibration and Control of Structures, and provides vital information in these areas.

This straightforward text, primer and reference introduces the theoretical, testing and control aspects of structural dynamics and vibration, as practised in industry today. Written by an expert engineer of over 40 years experience, the book comprehensively opens up the dynamic behavior of structures and provides engineers and students with a comprehensive practice based understanding of the key aspects of this key engineering topic. Written with the needs of engineers of a wide range of backgrounds in mind, this book will be a key resource for those studying structural dynamics and vibration at undergraduate level for the first time in aeronautical, mechanical, civil and automotive engineering. It will be ideal for laboratory classes and as a primer for readers returning to the subject, or coming to it fresh at graduate level. It is a guide for students to keep and for practicing engineers to refer to: its worked example approach ensures that engineers will turn to Thorby for advice in many engineering situations. - Presents students and practitioners in all branches of engineering with a unique structural dynamics resource and primer, covering practical approaches to vibration engineering while remaining grounded in the theory of the topic - Written by a leading industry expert, with a worked example lead approach for clarity and ease of understanding - Makes the topic as easy to read as possible, omitting no steps in the development of the subject; covers computer based techniques and finite elements

Many structures suffer from unwanted vibrations and, although careful analysis at the design stage can minimise these, the vibration levels of many structures are excessive. In this book the entire range of methods of control, both by damping and by excitation, is described in a single volume.Clear and concise descriptions are given of the techniques for mathematically modelling real structures so that the equations which describe the motion of such structures can be derived. This approach leads to a comprehensive discussion of the analysis of typical models of vibrating structures excited by a range of periodic and random inputs. Careful consideration is also given to the sources of excitation, both internal and external, and the effects of isolation and transmissability. A major part of the book is devoted to damping of structures and many sources of damping are considered, as are the ways of changing damping using both active and passive methods. The numerous worked examples liberally distributed throughout the text, amplify and clarify the theoretical analysis presented. Particular attention is paid to the meaning and interpretation of results, further enhancing the scope and applications of analysis. Over 80 problems are included with answers and worked solutions to most. This book provides engineering students, designers and professional engineers with a detailed insight into the principles involved in the analysis and damping of structural vibration while presenting a sound theoretical basis for further study.Suitable for students of engineering to first degree level and for designers and practising engineersNumerous worked examplesClear and easy to follow

This book compiles recent research in the field of nonlinear dynamics, vibrations and damping applied to engineering structures. It addresses the modeling of nonlinear vibrations in beams, frames and complex mechanical systems, as well as the modeling of damping systems and viscoelastic materials applied to structural dynamics. The book includes several chapters related to solution techniques and signal analysis techniques. Last but not least, it deals with the identification of nonlinear responses applied to condition monitoring systems.

The aim of this book is to present recent and innovative advances on research studies and engineering applications in important areas of vibration engineering and structural dynamics. The fourteen chapters of the book cover a wide range of interesting issues related to modelling, rotordynamics, vibration control, estimation and identification, modal analysis, dynamic structures, finite element analysis, numerical methods and other practical engineering applications and theoretical developments on this very broad matter. The audience of the book includes researchers, professors, engineers, practitioners, engineering students and new comers in a variety of disciplines seeking to know more about the state of the art, challenging open problems and innovative solution proposals in vibration engineering and structural dynamics.

This text addresses the modeling of vibrating systems with the perspective of finding the model of minimum complexity which accounts for the physics of the phenomena at play. The first half of the book (Ch.1-6) deals with the dynamics of discrete and continuous mechanical systems; the classical approach emphasizes the use of Lagrange's equations. The second half of the book (Ch.7-12) deals with more advanced topics, rarely encountered in the existing literature: seismic excitation, random vibration (including fatigue), rotor dynamics, vibration isolation and dynamic vibration absorbers; the final chapter is an introduction to active control of vibrations. The first part of this text may be used as a one semester course for 3rd year students in Mechanical, Aerospace or Civil Engineering. The second part of the text is intended for graduate classes. A set of problems is provided at the end of every chapter. The author has a 35 years experience in various aspects of Structural dynamics, both in industry (nuclear and aerospace) and in academia; he was one of the pioneers in the field of active structures. He is the author of several books on random vibration, active structures and structural control.

My objective in writing this book was to cross the bridge between the structural dynamics and control communities, while providing an overview of the potential of SMART materials for sensing and actuating purposes in active vibration c- trol. I wanted to keep it relatively simple and focused on systems which worked. This resulted in the following: (i) I restricted the text to fundamental concepts and left aside most advanced ones (i.e. robust control) whose usefulness had not yet clearly been established for the application at hand. (ii) I promoted the use of collocated actuator/sensor pairs whose potential, I thought, was strongly underestimated by the control community. (iii) I emphasized control laws with guaranteed stability for active damping (the wide-ranging applications of the IFF are particularly impressive). (iv) I tried to explain why an accurate pred- tion of the transmission zeros (usually called anti-resonances by the structural dynamicists) is so important in evaluating the performance of a control system. (v) I emphasized the fact that the open-loop zeros are more difficult to predict than the poles, and that they could be strongly influenced by the model trun- tion (high frequency dynamics) or by local effects (such as membrane strains in piezoelectric shells), especially for nearly collocated distributed actuator/sensor pairs; this effect alone explains many disappointments in active control systems.