Books in the Springer Tracts in Civil Engineering series

The book discusses the concept of the smart city, and is based on a multi-service and multi-sectoral approach to urban planning, including various urban functions and the human capital of cities. The work is divided into three parts. The first is an introductory section which covers definitions, policies and tools used at European level for the development and classification of a smart city. The second presents a selection of examples of Western and Eastern communities, which experienced technologies and strategies that have made them smart. The third describes in detail the main three possible approaches (economical, technological and social) to the smart city concept which are the focus ambits of the holistic concept of smart city.The work provides a good overview of the concept of smart city, and also offers a critical analysis of the various approaches to smart cities, in order to provide tools to develop solutions that address the smart development of cities with an approach as multi-sectoral as possible.Its accessible language and several examples make the book easy to read and appealing to public administrators, students, planners and researchers.

The edited volume explores the topic of experiential walks, which is the practice of multi- or mono-sensory and in-motion immersion into an urban or natural environment. The act of walking is hence intended as a process of (re-)discovering, reflecting and learning through an embodied experience. Specific attention is devoted to the investigation of the ambiance of places and its dynamic atmospheric perception that contribute to generating the social experience. This topic is gaining increasing attention and has been studied in several forms in different disciplines to investigate the particular spatial, social, sensory and atmospheric character of places. The book contains chapters by experts in the field and covers both the theory and the practice of innovative methods, techniques, and technologies. It examines experiential walks in the perspective of an interdisciplinary approach to environmental and sensory urban design by organising the contributions according to three specificinterrelated focuses, namely the exploration and investigation of the multisensory dimension of public spaces, the different ways to grasp and communicate the in-motion experience through traditional and novel forms of representation, and the application of the approach to urban participatory planning and higher education. Shedding new light on the topic, the book offers both a reference guide for those engaged in applied research, and a toolkit for professionals and students.

This textbook offers a unique introduction to hydraulics and fluid mechanics through more than 100 exercises, with guided solutions, which students will find valuable in preparation for their preliminary or qualifying exams and for testing their grasp of the subject.

The book presents new technologies for easy and economical construction of light concrete structures saving materials and CO2.

This book offers a valuable tool for understanding current efforts to promote the reuse and enhancement of pre-consumer waste in the development of new products for the construction sector, as well as the financial and regulatory tools being used to support this trend.

Acoustic emission characterization of fresh cement-based materials.- Ultrasonic techniques for determination and monitoring various properties of cementitious materials at early ages.- Elastic modulus measurement through ambient response method.- Monitoring the viscoelastic behaviour of cement based materials by means of repeated minute-scale-duration loadings.- Monitoring of the thermal and autogenous strain.- Testing concrete since setting time under free and re-strained conditions.- Adjustable restraining frames for systematic investigation of cracking risk and crack formation in rein-forced concrete under restrained conditions.

The chapters reflect the various aspects of the three typical and practical methods (the finite element method, the block element method, the composite element method) that the author has been working on and made essential contributions to since the 1980s.

The book will appeal to all those who are interested in the required transformation in the planning, management, and operations of data-rich cities and the ways in which such cities can employ the latest technologies to use data efficiently, promoting data access, data sharing, and interoperability.

This book explores the nexus among food, energy and water in peri-urban areas, demonstrating how relevant this nexus is for environmental sustainability.

In this book, leading international experts explore the emerging concept of the zero energy mass custom home (ZEMCH) - designed to meet the need for social, economic, and environmental sustainability - and provide all of the knowledge required for the delivery of zero energy mass customized housing and community developments in developed and developing countries. The coverage is wide ranging, progressing from explanation of the meaning of sustainable development to discussion of challenges and trends in mass housing, the advantages and disadvantages of prefabricated methods of construction, and the concepts of mass customization, mass personalization, and inclusive design. A chapter on energy use will aid the reader in designing and retrofitting housing to reduce energy demand and/or improve energy end-use efficiency. Passive design strategies and active technologies (especially solar) are thoroughly reviewed. Application of the ZEMCH construction criteria to new buildings and refurbishment of old houses is explained and the methods and value of building performance simulation, analyzed. The concluding chapter presents examples of ZEMCH projects from around the world, with discussion of marketing strategy, design, quality assurance, and delivery challenges. The book will be invaluable as a training/teaching tool for both students and industry partners.

This book includes a collection of state-of-the-art contributions addressing both theoretical developments in, and successful applications of, seismic structural health monitoring (S2HM).

This book presents experimental results and theoretical advances in the field of ultra-low-cycle fatigue failure of metal structures under strong earthquakes, where the dominant failure mechanism is ductile fracture.

This book discusses the thermal-elastic mechanics problems of concrete rectangular thin plate. Using theoretical derivation combined with numerical examples, it explains in detail the analytical solution of the deflection, bending moment, thermal vibration and thermal buckling of concrete rectangular thin plate.

'Life-cycle Maintenance Management Framework for Medium and Short-Span Concrete Bridge Elements' describes a set of performance prediction and maintenance optimization models and approaches for life-cycle bridge maintenance management.

This book summarizes the research being pursued as part of the Erasmus+ CBHE KA2 project entitled "Development of master curricula for natural disasters risk management in Western Balkan countries¿ (NatRisk), which aims to educate experts on the prevention and management of natural disasters in the Western Balkan region in line with national and EU policies. The project has successfully developed and implemented master curricula and educational training in the field of natural disasters risk management, and a methodology for the identification and prevention of natural disasters. Consisting of 11 chapters, the book analyzes and discusses topics such as risk assessment tools and quality methods, the different approaches for civil-military collaboration, natural disasters risk management in Bosnia and Herzegovina, leadership models for managing crises resulting from natural disasters, natural disasters in industrial areas, natural risk management in geotechnics, flood risk modeling, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference models for flood prediction, collapse prediction of masonry arches, an algorithm for fire truck dispatch in emergency situations, and processing drought data in a GIS environment.

This book reports on the latest advances in using BIM modelling to achieve the semantic enrichment of objects, allowing them to be used both as multidimensional databases ¿ as comprehensive sources of information for finalizing various types of documentation in the building industry ¿ and as modelling tools for the construction of virtual environments. Having advanced to a new stage of development, BIM modelling is now being applied in a range of increasingly complex contexts, and for various new purposes. This book examines the role that virtual reality and related technologies such as AI and IoT can play in preserving and disseminating our cultural heritage and built environment.

This book provides an overview of flood and drought in the Lower Mekong Basin, reviews the characteristics of flood and drought, and details structural and non-structural measures for flood and drought mitigation employed in the basin countries, as well as their flood and drought mitigation capacity.

This book proposes the concept of a multi-layer pavement system to fulfill the blast resistance requirement for pavement design. Furthermore, field blast tests were conducted to show the actual behavior of this multi-layer pavement system subjected to blast load under real-world conditions.