This monograph provides both an introduction to and a thorough exposition of the theory of rate-independent systems, which the authors have been working on with a lot of collaborators over 15 years. The focus is mostly on fully rate-independent systems, first on an abstract level either with or even without a linear structure, discussing various concepts of solutions with full mathematical rigor. Then, usefulness of the abstract concepts is demonstrated on the level of various applications primarily in continuum mechanics of solids, including suitable approximation strategies with guaranteed numerical stability and convergence. Particular applications concern inelastic processes such as plasticity, damage, phase transformations, or adhesive-type contacts both at small strains and at finite strains. A few other physical systems, e.g. magnetic or ferroelectric materials, and couplings to rate-dependent thermodynamic models are considered as well. Selected applications are accompanied by numerical simulations illustrating both the models and the efficiency of computational algorithms. In this book, the mathematical framework for a rigorous mathematical treatment of "rate-independent systems" is presented in a comprehensive form for the first time. Researchers and graduate students in applied mathematics, engineering, and computational physics will find this timely and well written book useful.

A revolution is ongoing in the field of small-scale energy solutions, which can enable lower impact on the environment, more robust supply and self-determination. Solar power and other forms of renewable energy sources, which you can implement to generate your own electricity, are growing quickly. Electromobility is transforming the car industry and transportation systems and can also play a role in your energy system. Electricity can be used much more efficiently than before, for example by using LED light, variable speed motor drives and efficient home appliances. Smart controls are available, sometimes with free open source software. All this opens up tremendous opportunities for energy independence, which is the focus of this book. The book introduces the reader to a number of renewable energy sources, to different options for storing electricity and to smart use of electricity, particularly in the context of small isolated systems. This is important because many renewable energy sources are weather- and season-dependent and usually require storage and smart control, in order to obtain a system that is completely independent of the electricity grid. In the book, overall system design is explained, including how to combine different sources in a hybrid system. Different system sizes and architectures are also covered. A number of real cases are described, where homes, businesses and communities have achieved a high level of energy independence or are on their way to achieving it. This book will prove useful in university education in renewable energy at bachelor and master level, and also for companies and private individuals, who want to start or expand activities in the area of renewable energy.

This book shows an independent metering electro-hydraulic control system involving its flexible hardware layouts, complex software control, representative products and applications. The book includes one chapter introducing the background and motivation of the independent metering electro-hydraulic control system. It also includes one chapter to summarize various hardware layouts involving the utilized hydraulic components and circuits, as well as analyze their advantages and disadvantages. It emphatically consists of four chapters demonstrating the detailed multivariable control strategies from three levels: load, valve and pump, together with fault-tolerant control under the fault condition. It includes a last chapter, in which products of independent metering control valve and their applications in some typical heavy-duty mobile machinery are collective works of reviews illustrative of recent advances. This book is interesting and useful to a wide readership in the various fields of fluid power transmission and control.

The Bell System dominated telecommunications in the United States and Canada for most of the twentieth century, but its monopoly was not inevitable. In the decades around 1900, ordinary citizens—farmers, doctors, small-town entrepreneurs—established tens of thousands of independent telephone systems, stringing their own wires to bring this new technology to the people. Managed by opportunists and idealists alike, these small businesses were motivated not only by profit but also by the promise of open communication as a weapon against monopoly capital and for protection of regional autonomy. As the Bell empire grew, independents fought fiercely to retain control of their local networks and companies—a struggle with an emerging corporate giant that has been almost entirely forgotten. The People's Network reconstructs the story of the telephone's contentious beginnings, exploring the interplay of political economy, business strategy, and social practice in the creation of modern North American telecommunications. Drawing from government documents in the United States and Canada, independent telephone journals and publications, and the archives of regional Bell operating companies and their rivals, Robert MacDougall locates the national debates over the meaning, use, and organization of the telephone industry as a turning point in the history of information networks. The competing businesses represented dueling political philosophies: regional versus national identity and local versus centralized power. Although independent telephone companies did not win their fight with big business, they fundamentally changed the way telecommunications were conceived.