Impact & Friction Of Solids, Structures & Machines: Theory & Applications In Engineering & Science, Intl Symp

An exploration of the dynamics of mechanical systems in the presence of impact and friction. The contributors are an international group of engineers and scientists from industrial and academic institutions from more than 23 countries around the world concerned with the modelling, analysis, measurement and control of nonsmooth mechanical structures. Contact laws lead to mathematical models that are highly nonlinear and nonsmooth or discontinuous. Discontinuous and nonsmooth processes introduce problems with data processing techniques and analytical methods. Thanks to great advances in computer technology and computational analysis, as well as the introduction of new experimental devices such as the atomic-force microscope and the quartz-crystal-microbalance probe, the study of impact and friction - one of the oldest problems in physics - is now in a phase of rapid and exciting development. The growing number of research breakthroughs have promoted the development of new technologies in the description and design of systems with impact and friction models to understand nature, structures, machines, transportation systems, and other processes. A comprehensive picture of these developments is presented in this book by researchers who give accounts of the state of the field in many aspects.