Bücher der Reihe SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology

This book presents a design research on the basalt fiber, a natural mineral material with important characteristics, and investigates the material's properties, production techniques, and most common uses, while also delving into aspects yet to be improved. The work presents a part of original research in between art and design, in which concepts, prototypes, and ideas are proposed, aimed at the enhancement of basalt fiber also from an esthetic point of view and not only from a performance one. By working on its perceived qualities and creative and formal potential, it is possible to support and extend the use of this material in many areas of design, including product, exhibit, cultural industries, and fashion. Considering that environmental regulations are increasingly stringent, the use of basalt fiber may in some cases be more advantageous than other popular technical fibers, both because of its own performance characteristics and specifically because of its inherent sustainability.

The book explores current characteristics of the urban built environment in view of possible future transformations. A cross-reading analysis of existing public social housing buildings is proposed, based on the investigation of their architectural, structural, and energetic characteristics. The study aims to provide an integrated approach that captures the link between typology, construction, and energy demands, offering a key to understanding the main critical issues and transformation readiness. It focuses on large-scale interventions composing public social housing stocks, realized during the second half of the twentieth century. More than other public interventions, such building stocks clearly lack in meeting current housing needs such as modern apartment architectural layout, energy and structural regulations, and social mix. However, due to their numerical presence, strategical and widespread distribution across urban areas, and transformability, these buildings can bethe target for future strategic regeneration projects. In particular, the book thoroughly investigates the social housing estate constructed in Rome (Italy) after the approval in 1964 of the first urban economic and social housing plan.

Fatigue occurs under cyclic loading and can significantly degrade the operational capability and safety of metallic aircraft components and structures. This book provides summaries of some metallic aircraft structural integrity issues, innovative but established examples of maintaining operational capability¿airworthiness, and assessments of safe in-service fatigue lives. These topics are based on a through-life fatigue management philosophy that ensures safe and continued operation, including during life extensions that are almost inevitably required. This philosophy is underpinned by observations of the behaviour of fatigue cracks in actual structures subjected to realistic service loading conditions. The book includes topics like aircraft design requirements, individual aircraft fatigue loads monitoring, airframe fatigue testing, sources of fatigue-nucleating discontinuities, and prediction of fatigue crack growth from these discontinuities. All these aspects contribute to discussing methods of assuring the structural integrity and operational capability of realistically cracked structures. The book also discusses the exponential behaviour of lead or dominant cracks¿those leading to first failure¿and the practical significance of differences between fatigue fracture topographies produced under constant amplitude and variable amplitude loading. The book can be a valuable reference for researchers and professionals interested in aircraft fatigue management and allied fields.

This book highlights several methods and quantitative implementations of both probabilistic and fuzzy-based approaches to uncertainty quantification and uncertainty propagation through environmental subsurface pollution models with uncertain input parameters. The book focuses on methods as well as applications in hydrogeology, soil hydrology, groundwater contamination, and related areas (e.g., corrosion of nuclear waste canisters). The methods are illustrated for a broad spectrum of models, from non-differential I/O models to complex PDE solvers, including a novel 3D quasi-analytical model of contaminant transport, and a site-specific computer model of dissolved contaminant migration from a DNAPL (Dense Non Aqueous Phase Liquid) pollution source.

This book delves into the world of metakaolin (MK) and its impact on the properties of geopolymers. Beginning with an introduction to the abundance and versatility of kaolin, the author explores how calcination transforms it into the highly reactive material known as MK. The book investigates the incorporation of MK into different types of geopolymers and examines how factors such as precursor type and fineness, MK fineness, activator type and concentration, curing conditions, and testing age influence the resulting properties. Through a meticulous evaluation of prior studies, the text presents valuable insights into workability, setting time, density, compressive strength (with specific focus on slag, fly ash, and other precursors), flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, elastic modulus, porosity, water absorption, shrinkage, carbonation resistance, corrosion resistance, and other durability aspects. Drawing upon a wealth of knowledge, this work serves as a comprehensive reference for researchers and offers a roadmap for future investigations.

This book presents experimental investigations and digital image processing, highlighting the interaction of polarized radiation with phase-inhomogeneous and optically anisotropic biological layers. The promising and efficient use of vector-parametric description of the formation of polarization-inhomogeneous object fields is noted. Applications of a set of Mueller-matrix polarimetry methods are highlighted. The book includes- structural and logical scheme of multi-parameter (singular, interference and layer-by-layer Stokes-polarimetric), polarization-correlation study of the structure of distributions of the number of singularities, maps of local contrast of interference distributions and layer-by-layer maps of microscopic polarization azimuth and ellipticity; determination of relationships between changes in the magnitude of statistical parameters characterizing polarization-correlation distributions and pathology of prostate tumors.

This book explores a dynamic landscape where cutting-edge technologies are revolutionizing various domains. This captivating book delves into the advancements in security, communication, and environmental management, highlighting their profound impact on society. The developments bridge the gap between human needs and technological innovation. Readers will uncover the fascinating world of IoT-driven devices that seamlessly integrate into our lives, ensuring enhanced safety and communication efficiency. This book is a must-read for technology enthusiasts, researchers, and anyone curious about the transformative power of technology in shaping our present and future.

This brief highlights the factors associated with good goalkeeping techniques and their impact on goalkeepers¿ performance in elite European football leagues. The goalkeeping performances of 1600 goalkeepers from five consecutive seasons across the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, and German Bundesliga are studied. The findings from this brief are useful for identifying the success metrices of top-class goalkeepers that help stakeholders to devise strategies to further enhance their performances and empower talent identification experts with pertinent information for mapping out future high-performance goalkeepers.

This book highlights the dynamical behavior of self-similar waves in graded-index waveguides in (1+1)-dimensions and (2+1)-dimensions. The mechanism to control these optical similaritons by tailoring the tapering profile is presented. Various nonlinear waves like rogons, butterfly-shaped, and dromion-like waves and their controllable behavior are discussed in detail. The phenomenon of unbreakable Parity-Time symmetry of some of these waves has been delineated for different variety of solvable potentials. Compression of these exotic waves has been demonstrated for dispersion decreasing fiber and periodic management of dispersion and nonlinearity parameters. Competing cubic-quintic nonlinearity scenario and its potential implication on the dynamics of these similaritons has been described in detail. Symbiotic self-similar rogue waves have been discussed in (2+1)-dimensional garded-index waveguide. The book also includes numerical simulations that complement these analytical insights.