In the preface to Volume 1, I expressed my trepidation at starting to write a book on non-linear finite elements and the associated mechanics. These doubts grew as I worked on Volume 2, which attempts to cover ‘advanced topics’. These topics include many areas which are still the subject of considerable controversy. None the less, I have finally completed this second volume, although in so doing, I have almost certainly made mistakes. In persevering, I have received much encouragement from a number of readers of Volume 1 who have urged me not to abandon the second volume and who have made me believe that there is some need for a book of this kind. As with the subject-matter of the first book, there are many specialist texts which cover the background mechanics. My aim has not been to replace such books and, indeed, I have attempted to reference these books with a view to encouraging wider reading. Instead, my aim has been to emphasise the numerical implementation. As with the earlier volume, an engineering approach is adopted in contrast to a strict mathematical development.

MATLAB provides extensive documentation, in both printed and online format, to help you learn about and use all of its features. If you are a new user, start with this book, Getting Started with MATLAB, which introduces you to MATLAB. It covers all the primary MATLAB features at a high level, including plenty of examples to help you to learn the material quickly.

This book provides the background and techniques that will allow successful modeling, analysis, monitoring, testing, design, modification, and control of vibration in engineering systems. It is suitable as both a course textbook for students and instructors, and a practical reference tool for engineers and other professionals. As a textbook, it can be used in a single-semester course for third-year (junior) and fourth-year (senior) undergraduate students, or for Master’s level graduate students in any branch of engineering such as aeronautical and aerospace, civil, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering. But, in view of the practical considerations, design issues, experimental techniques, and instrumentation that are presented throughout the book, and in view of the simplified and snapshot-style presentation of fundamentals and advanced theory, the book will also serve as a valuable reference tool for engineers, technicians, and other professionals in industry and in research laboratories.

The book is an outgrowth of the author’s experience in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Dynamics, Mechanical Vibration, Dynamic System Modeling, Instrumentation and Design, Feedback Control, Modern Control Engineering, and Modal Analysis and Testing in the U.S. and Canada (Carnegie Mellon University and the University of British Columbia) for more than 20 years. The industrial experience and training that he received in product testing and qualification, analysis, design, and vibration instrumentation at places like Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, IBM Corporation in Boca Raton, NASA’s Langley and Lewis Research Centers, and Bruel and Kjaer in Denmark enabled the author to provide a realistic and practical treatment of the subject.