Seeing the Unseen. Geophysics and Landscape Archaeology

Geophysics in Engineering Investigations (CIRIA)

The full potential of geophysics in engineering investigations is still to be realised. The many available techniques can provide important information about the ground, its mass properties, its small-scale variations, and its anomalies of structure or content. The advantage of a geophysical survey is that it enables information to be obtained for large volumes of ground that cannot be investigated by direct methods due to cost. The applications of geophysics in the characterisation of contaminated land are still developing, but have great potential for example in the distribution and migration of pollutants in the ground and groundwater. Geophysics is still insufficiently or inappropriately used in engineering and the newer capabilities are not appreciated, so there is a need for up-to-date guidance about how to apply geophysical investigations.This report is published in co-operation with the Geological Society and presents a logical guide through the process of using geophysical investigation methods in site characterisation. It explores the roles of geophysical methods and provides the background to geophysics as an investigative tool. The procurement, management and reporting frameworks for a geophysical investigation are set out, and the importance of the involvement of a recognised geophysics specialist adviser with the work is emphasised. The report explains the need for a conceptual ground model to enable appropriate investigative methods to be chosen. The underlying science and current practices of the main techniques are explained as well as the processes of data acquisition, handling and presentation. The different targets determinable by geophysical methods are considered in separate sections for geological, geotechnical, geo-environmental and structural engineering applications. The report concludes with recommendations for practice. The guide is aimed at geotechnical and civil engineers, geologists and engineering geologists, specialist geophysics contractors, contractors, consultants and clients.

A Field Guide to Geophysics in Archaeology (Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences)

This report discusses some issues related to seismic behavior of various types of steel moment-resisting frames used in building structures. However, the emphasis of the report is on the seismic behavior and design of steel moment-resisting frames with bolted beam-to-column connections. A summary of relevant research and applicable code provisions is provided followed by design procedures that can be used to design steel moment-resisting frames. The appendices to the report provide typical details of bolted moment connections, a numerical example and photographs of structures designed and constructed recently using bolted steel moment-resisting frames.

Earthquake Proof Design and Active Faults

Hardbound. On 17th January 1995 an inland earthquake of 7.2 magnitude occurred under Kobe city in central Japan. More than 5,500 people lost their lives. There was immense and serious damage to buildings. Researchers and engineers were shocked and astonished by the extent of the devastation and loss of life. Ground motions, generated by the event were far greater than the seismic standard for earthquake-proof designs in Japan.

Recent academic progress in the fields of geology and geophysics, which would help to reduce the severity of seismic disasters, has not been sufficiently applied to the development of earthquake-proof designs.

This book contains 13 original and innovative papers of interdisciplinary study spanning earthquake-proof technology and active fault science (seven of the papers cover topics concerning the 1995 Kobe earthquake).

Seismic Interferometry by: Gerard Thomas Schuster

Professor Olek C Zienkiewicz, widely regarded as the 'Father of the Finite Element Method', has died. Born in Surrey in 1921, he was one of the early pioneers of the Finite Element Method and is cited as being the first to recognise the general potential for using the method outside the area of solid mechanics.

His books on FEA were the first to present the subject and to this day remain standard reference texts for all those dealing with analysis. His own contribution to the Method's development made it the widely applicable tool of computational mechanics and engineering that it is today. He also founded the first journal dealing with computational mechanics in 1968 (International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering ), which is still the major journal in the field of Numerical Computations.

“Professor Zienkiewicz inspired a generation of eminent researchers and practitioners” , commented Tim Morris, NAFEMS CEO. “No-one who has made their career in FEA can have failed to hear of him, and all of us are indebted to him for the contributions that he made to establishing the technology that so many have been able to widely exploit. He will be correctly remembered as one of the leading forefathers of the finite element method."

Prof. Zenkiewicz attended primary and secondary schools in his native Poland, and obtained his BSc, PhD and DSc at Imperial College, London.

He was the recipient of many awards, including the title of Commander of the British Empire, the prestigious Royal Medal of the Royal Society from HM Queen Elizabeth II, the Carl Friedrich Gauss Medal of the West German Academy of Science, the Nathan Newmark Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Newton-Gauss Medal of the International Association for Computational Mechanics, the Gold Medal of the Institution for Mathematics and its Applications, a Gold Medal from the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Timoshenko Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Professor Zienkiewicz received honorary degrees from Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, China, Poland, Scotland, Wales, France, England, Italy, Portugal, Hong Kong, Hungary and the United States.

He was elected to the Royal Society and The Royal Academy of Engineering in 1979 and was a Foreign Member of the United States National Academy of Engineering, the Polish Academy of Science, the Italian National Academy of Sciences and the Chinese National Academy of Sciences

Professor Zienkiewicz passed away on Friday January 2nd 2009, and at that moment, the engineering community lost one of its true pioneers.