Rapid Penetration into Granular Media: Visualizing the Fundamental Physics of Rapid Penetration introduces readers to the variety of methods developed to visualize, observe, and model the rapid penetration of natural and man-made projectiles into earth materials while providing seasoned practitioners with a standard reference that showcases the topic's most recent developments in research and application.

There has been a flurry of recently funded research both in the U.S. and Europe on studying the behavior of projectiles in granular media. This book compiles the findings of recent research on the subject and outlines the fundamental physics of rapid earth penetration, and assembles a comprehensive collection of experimental and numerical techniques to study the problem.

The conference proceedings of:

include a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts addressing and detailing state-of-the-art research projects in the areas of: Industrial Electronics, Technology and Automation, Telecommunications, Networking, Engineering Education, Instructional Technology and e-Learning.

The three conferences, (IETA 05, TENE 05 and EIAE 05) were part of the International Joint Conference on Computer, Information, and System Sciences, and Engineering (CISSE 2005).

CISSE 2005, the World''s first Engineering/Computing and Systems Research E-Conference was the first high-caliber Research Conference in the world to be completely conducted online in real-time via the internet.

CISSE received 255 research paper submissions and the final program included 140 accepted papers, from more than 45 countries. The whole concept and format of CISSE 2005 was very exciting and ground-breaking. The powerpoint presentations, final paper manuscripts and time schedule for live presentations over the web had been available for 3 weeks prior to the start of the conference for all registrants, so they could pick and choose the presentations they want to attend and think about questions that they might want to ask. The live audio presentations were also recorded and are part of the permanent CISSE archive, which includes all power point presentations, papers and recorded presentations.

All aspects of the conference were managed on-line; not only the reviewing, submissions and registration processes; but also the actual conference. Conference participants- authors, presenters and attendees - only needed an internet connection and sound available on their computers in order to be able to contribute and participate in this international ground-breaking conference. The on-line structure of this high-quality event allowed academic professionals and industry participants to contribute work and attend world-class technical presentations based on rigorously refereed submissions, live, without the need for investing significant travel funds or time out of the office. Suffice to say that CISSE received submissions from more than 50 countries, for whose researchers, this opportunity presented a much more affordable, dynamic and well-planned event to attend and submit their work to, versus a classic, on-the-ground conference.

The CISSE conference audio room provided superb audio even over low speed internet connections, the ability to display PowerPoint presentations, and cross-platform compatibility (the conferencing software runs on Windows, Mac, and any other operating system that supports Java). In addition, the conferencing system allowed for an unlimited number of participants, which in turn granted CISSE the opportunity to allow all participants to attend all presentations, as opposed to limiting the number of available seats for each session.

The implemented conferencing technology, starting with the submission & review system and ending with the online conferencing capability, allowed CISSE to conduct a very high quality, fulfilling event for all participants.

See: www.cissee2005.org, sections: IETA, TENE, EIAE

Innovations in E-learning, Instruction Technology, Assessment and Engineering Education includes a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts addressing and detailing state-of-the-art research projects in the areas of Engineering Education, Instructional Technology, Assessment, and E-learning.

Innovations in E-learning, Instruction Technology, Assessment and Engineering Education includes selected papers form the conference proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Education, Instructional Technology, Assessment, and E-learning (EIAE 2006) which was part of the International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information and Systems Sciences and Engineering (CISSE 2006).

All aspects of the conference were managed on-line; not only the reviewing, submissions and registration processes; but also the actual conference. Conference participants - authors, presenters and attendees - only needed an internet connection and sound available on their computers in order to be able to contribute and participate in this international ground-breaking conference. The on-line structure of this high-quality event allowed academic professionals and industry participants to contribute work and attend world-class technical presentations based on rigorously refereed submissions, live, without the need for investing significant travel funds or time out of the office. Suffice to say that CISSE received submissions from more than 70 countries, for whose researchers, this opportunity presented a much more affordable, dynamic and well-planned event to attend and submit their work to, versus a classic, on-the-ground conference.

The CISSE conference audio room provided superb audio even over low speed internet connections, the ability to display PowerPoint presentations, and cross-platform compatibility (the conferencing software runs on Windows, Mac, and any other operating system that supports Java). In addition, the conferencing system allowed for an unlimited number of participants, which in turn granted CISSE the opportunity to allow all participants to attend all presentations, as opposed to limiting the number of available seats for each session.

Innovative Techniques in Instruction Technology, E-Learning, E-Assessment and Education is a collection of world-class paper articles addressing the following topics: (1) E-Learning including development of courses and systems for technical and liberal studies programs; online laboratories; intelligent testing using fuzzy logic; evaluation of on line courses in comparison to traditional courses; mediation in virtual environments; and methods for speaker verification. (2) Instruction Technology including internet textbooks; pedagogy-oriented markup languages; graphic design possibilities; open source classroom management software; automatic email response systems; tablet-pcs; personalization using web mining technology; intelligent digital chalkboards; virtual room concepts for cooperative scientific work; and network technologies, management, and architecture. (3) Science and Engineering Research Assessment Methods including assessment of K-12 and university level programs; adaptive assessments; auto assessments; assessment of virtual environments and e-learning. (4) Engineering and Technical Education including cap stone and case study course design; virtual laboratories; bioinformatics; robotics; metallurgy; building information modeling; statistical mechanics; thermodynamics; information technology; occupational stress and stress prevention; web enhanced courses; and promoting engineering careers. (5) Pedagogy including benchmarking; group-learning; active learning; teaching of multiple subjects together; ontology; and knowledge representation. (6) Issues in K-12 Education including 3D virtual learning environment for children; e-learning tools for children; game playing and systems thinking; and tools to learn how to write foreign languages.

This book explores the effectiveness of Dynamic Image Analysis (DIA) in granulometry studies of sand, and presents criteria for soil characterization using DIA, including test parameters, specimen size, efficacy in gap-graded soils, and its limitations. DIA is a modern experimental technique used to analyze and classify particulate materials based on their size, shape, and other morphological properties. This method employs a high-frame-rate camera to capture images of individual sand particles, which have been transported and separated using various techniques.

DIA generates both particle size and shape information by analyzing thousands to millions of particles, providing a quantitative statistical description of grain size and shape distribution within the specimen. The manuscript also offers a comprehensive examination of 2D and 3D particle size and shape descriptors. It demonstrates that there is no correlation between size and shape parameters in many sands and that shape descriptors can be reduced to four independent parameters representing sand granulometry at different scales. Additionally, the use of DIA in exploring the depositional history of two complex calcareous sands is presented.

The manuscript presents the properties of 30 representative sands, including size and shape parameters, and fits them to statistical distributions. The investigated soils encompass both natural and machine-sorted materials, particles with regular and irregular shapes, as well as siliceous and calcareous sands.

Physical granulometry of sand particles is compared using 2D, 3D DIA, and micro-computed tomography (μCT). The work demonstrates that DIA offers significant advantages in terms of efficiency for 3D shape analysis while providing an adequate representation of particle sizes and shapes of most sands.

Finally, the manuscript integrates classical geotechnical engineering with computer vision and artificial intelligence. Size and shape descriptors are utilized for sand classification through machine learning models. This work represents a crucial step toward the automatic machine classification of soils, potentially enabling on-site classification using smartphones equipped with high-resolution cameras.

One of the major difficulties in predicting the capacity of pipe piles in sand has resulted from a lack of understanding of the physical processes that control the behavior of piles during installation and loading.

This monograph presents a detailed blue print for developing experimental facilities necessary to identify these processes. These facilities include a unique instrumented double-walled pipe-pile that is used to delineate the frictional stresses acting against the external and internal surfaces of the pile. The pile is fitted with miniature pore-pressure transducers to monitor the generation of pore water pressure during installation and loading. A fast automatic laboratory pile hammer capable of representing the phenomena that occur during pile driving was also developed and used.

Structures placed on hillsides often present a number of challenges and a limited number of economical choices for site design. An option sometimes employed is to use the building frame as a retaining element, comprising a Rigidly Framed Earth Retaining Structure (RFERS). The relationship between temperature and earth pressure acting on RFERS, is explored in this monograph through a 4.5 year monitoring program of a heavily instrumented in service structure. The data indicated that the coefficient of earth pressure behind the monitored RFERS had a strong linear correlation with temperature. The study also revealed that thermal cycles, rather than lateral earth pressure, were the cause of failure in many structural elements.

The book demonstrates that depending on the relative stiffness of the retained soil mass and that of the structural frame, the developed lateral earth pressure, during thermal expansion, can reach magnitudes several times larger than those determined using classical earth pressure theories. Additionally, a nearly perpetual lateral displacement away from the retained soil mass may occur at the free end of the RFERS leading to unacceptable serviceability problems. These results suggest that reinforced concrete structures designed for the flexural stresses imposed by the backfill soil will be inadequately reinforced to resist stresses produced during the expansion cycles.

Parametric studies of single and multi-story RFERS with varying geometries and properties are also presented to investigate the effects of structural stiffness on the displacement of RFERS and the lateral earth pressure developed in the soil mass. These studies can aid the reader in selecting appropriate values of lateral earth pressure for the design of RFERS. Finally, simplified closed form equations that can be used to predict the lateral drift of RFERS are presented.

KEY WORDS: Earth Pressure; Soil-Structure Interaction; Mechanics; Failure;Distress; Temperature; Thermal Effects; Concrete; Coefficient of Thermal Expansion; Segmental Bridges; Jointless Bridges; Integral Bridges; Geotechnical Instrumentation; Finite Element Modeling; FEM; Numerical Modeling.

Technological Developments in Education and Automation includes set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts dealing with the increasing role of technology in daily lives including education and industrial automation

Technological Developments in Education and Automation contains papers presented at the International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Technology & Automation and the International Conference on Engineering Education, Instructional Technology, Assessment, and E-learning which were part of the International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information and Systems Sciences and Engineering

Technological Developments in Networking, Education and Automation includes a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts addressing and detailing state-of-the-art research projects in the following areas:

Computer Networks: Access Technologies, Medium Access Control, Network architectures and Equipment, Optical Networks and Switching, Telecommunication Technology, and Ultra Wideband Communications.

Engineering Education and Online Learning: including development of courses and systems for engineering, technical and liberal studies programs; online laboratories; intelligent testing using fuzzy logic; taxonomy of e-courses; and evaluation of online courses.

Pedagogy: including benchmarking; group-learning; active learning; teaching of multiple subjects together; ontology; and knowledge management.

Instruction Technology: including internet textbooks; virtual reality labs, instructional design, virtual models, pedagogy-oriented markup languages; graphic design possibilities; open source classroom management software; automatic email response systems; tablet-pcs; personalization using web mining technology; intelligent digital chalkboards; virtual room concepts for cooperative scientific work; and network technologies, management, and architecture.

Coding and Modulation: Modeling and Simulation, OFDM technology , Space-time Coding, Spread Spectrum and CDMA Systems.

Wireless technologies: Bluetooth , Cellular Wireless Networks, Cordless Systems and Wireless Local Loop, HIPERLAN, IEEE 802.11, Mobile Network Layer, Mobile Transport Layer, and Spread Spectrum.

Network Security and applications: Authentication Applications, Block Ciphers Design Principles, Block Ciphers Modes of Operation, Electronic Mail Security, Encryption & Message Confidentiality, Firewalls, IP Security, Key Cryptography & Message Authentication, and Web Security.

Robotics, Control Systems and Automation: Distributed Control Systems, Automation, Expert Systems, Robotics, Factory Automation, Intelligent Control Systems, Man Machine Interaction, Manufacturing Information System, Motion Control, and Process Automation.

Vision Systems: for human action sensing, face recognition, and image processing algorithms for smoothing of high speed motion.

Electronics and Power Systems: Actuators, Electro-Mechanical Systems, High Frequency Converters, Industrial Electronics, Motors and Drives, Power Converters, Power Devices and Components, and Power Electronics.

Rapid Penetration into Granular Media: Visualizing the Fundamental Physics of Rapid Penetration introduces readers to the variety of methods developed to visualize, observe, and model the rapid penetration of natural and man-made projectiles into earth materials while providing seasoned practitioners with a standard reference that showcases the topic's most recent developments in research and application.

There has been a flurry of recently funded research both in the U.S. and Europe on studying the behavior of projectiles in granular media. This book compiles the findings of recent research on the subject and outlines the fundamental physics of rapid earth penetration, and assembles a comprehensive collection of experimental and numerical techniques to study the problem.

The conference proceedings of:

include a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts addressing and detailing state-of-the-art research projects in the areas of: Industrial Electronics, Technology and Automation, Telecommunications, Networking, Engineering Education, Instructional Technology and e-Learning.

The three conferences, (IETA 05, TENE 05 and EIAE 05) were part of the International Joint Conference on Computer, Information, and System Sciences, and Engineering (CISSE 2005).

CISSE 2005, the World''s first Engineering/Computing and Systems Research E-Conference was the first high-caliber Research Conference in the world to be completely conducted online in real-time via the internet.

CISSE received 255 research paper submissions and the final program included 140 accepted papers, from more than 45 countries. The whole concept and format of CISSE 2005 was very exciting and ground-breaking. The powerpoint presentations, final paper manuscripts and time schedule for live presentations over the web had been available for 3 weeks prior to the start of the conference for all registrants, so they could pick and choose the presentations they want to attend and think about questions that they might want to ask. The live audio presentations were also recorded and are part of the permanent CISSE archive, which includes all power point presentations, papers and recorded presentations.

All aspects of the conference were managed on-line; not only the reviewing, submissions and registration processes; but also the actual conference. Conference participants- authors, presenters and attendees - only needed an internet connection and sound available on their computers in order to be able to contribute and participate in this international ground-breaking conference. The on-line structure of this high-quality event allowed academic professionals and industry participants to contribute work and attend world-class technical presentations based on rigorously refereed submissions, live, without the need for investing significant travel funds or time out of the office. Suffice to say that CISSE received submissions from more than 50 countries, for whose researchers, this opportunity presented a much more affordable, dynamic and well-planned event to attend and submit their work to, versus a classic, on-the-ground conference.

The CISSE conference audio room provided superb audio even over low speed internet connections, the ability to display PowerPoint presentations, and cross-platform compatibility (the conferencing software runs on Windows, Mac, and any other operating system that supports Java). In addition, the conferencing system allowed for an unlimited number of participants, which in turn granted CISSE the opportunity to allow all participants to attend all presentations, as opposed to limiting the number of available seats for each session.

The implemented conferencing technology, starting with the submission & review system and ending with the online conferencing capability, allowed CISSE to conduct a very high quality, fulfilling event for all participants.

See: www.cissee2005.org, sections: IETA, TENE, EIAE

Innovations in E-learning, Instruction Technology, Assessment and Engineering Education includes a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts addressing and detailing state-of-the-art research projects in the areas of Engineering Education, Instructional Technology, Assessment, and E-learning.

Innovations in E-learning, Instruction Technology, Assessment and Engineering Education includes selected papers form the conference proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Education, Instructional Technology, Assessment, and E-learning (EIAE 2006) which was part of the International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information and Systems Sciences and Engineering (CISSE 2006).

All aspects of the conference were managed on-line; not only the reviewing, submissions and registration processes; but also the actual conference. Conference participants - authors, presenters and attendees - only needed an internet connection and sound available on their computers in order to be able to contribute and participate in this international ground-breaking conference. The on-line structure of this high-quality event allowed academic professionals and industry participants to contribute work and attend world-class technical presentations based on rigorously refereed submissions, live, without the need for investing significant travel funds or time out of the office. Suffice to say that CISSE received submissions from more than 70 countries, for whose researchers, this opportunity presented a much more affordable, dynamic and well-planned event to attend and submit their work to, versus a classic, on-the-ground conference.

The CISSE conference audio room provided superb audio even over low speed internet connections, the ability to display PowerPoint presentations, and cross-platform compatibility (the conferencing software runs on Windows, Mac, and any other operating system that supports Java). In addition, the conferencing system allowed for an unlimited number of participants, which in turn granted CISSE the opportunity to allow all participants to attend all presentations, as opposed to limiting the number of available seats for each session.

Innovative Techniques in Instruction Technology, E-Learning, E-Assessment and Education is a collection of world-class paper articles addressing the following topics: (1) E-Learning including development of courses and systems for technical and liberal studies programs; online laboratories; intelligent testing using fuzzy logic; evaluation of on line courses in comparison to traditional courses; mediation in virtual environments; and methods for speaker verification. (2) Instruction Technology including internet textbooks; pedagogy-oriented markup languages; graphic design possibilities; open source classroom management software; automatic email response systems; tablet-pcs; personalization using web mining technology; intelligent digital chalkboards; virtual room concepts for cooperative scientific work; and network technologies, management, and architecture. (3) Science and Engineering Research Assessment Methods including assessment of K-12 and university level programs; adaptive assessments; auto assessments; assessment of virtual environments and e-learning. (4) Engineering and Technical Education including cap stone and case study course design; virtual laboratories; bioinformatics; robotics; metallurgy; building information modeling; statistical mechanics; thermodynamics; information technology; occupational stress and stress prevention; web enhanced courses; and promoting engineering careers. (5) Pedagogy including benchmarking; group-learning; active learning; teaching of multiple subjects together; ontology; and knowledge representation. (6) Issues in K-12 Education including 3D virtual learning environment for children; e-learning tools for children; game playing and systems thinking; and tools to learn how to write foreign languages.

This book explores the effectiveness of Dynamic Image Analysis (DIA) in granulometry studies of sand, and presents criteria for soil characterization using DIA, including test parameters, specimen size, efficacy in gap-graded soils, and its limitations. DIA is a modern experimental technique used to analyze and classify particulate materials based on their size, shape, and other morphological properties. This method employs a high-frame-rate camera to capture images of individual sand particles, which have been transported and separated using various techniques.

DIA generates both particle size and shape information by analyzing thousands to millions of particles, providing a quantitative statistical description of grain size and shape distribution within the specimen. The manuscript also offers a comprehensive examination of 2D and 3D particle size and shape descriptors. It demonstrates that there is no correlation between size and shape parameters in many sands and that shape descriptors can be reduced to four independent parameters representing sand granulometry at different scales. Additionally, the use of DIA in exploring the depositional history of two complex calcareous sands is presented.

The manuscript presents the properties of 30 representative sands, including size and shape parameters, and fits them to statistical distributions. The investigated soils encompass both natural and machine-sorted materials, particles with regular and irregular shapes, as well as siliceous and calcareous sands.

Physical granulometry of sand particles is compared using 2D, 3D DIA, and micro-computed tomography (μCT). The work demonstrates that DIA offers significant advantages in terms of efficiency for 3D shape analysis while providing an adequate representation of particle sizes and shapes of most sands.

Finally, the manuscript integrates classical geotechnical engineering with computer vision and artificial intelligence. Size and shape descriptors are utilized for sand classification through machine learning models. This work represents a crucial step toward the automatic machine classification of soils, potentially enabling on-site classification using smartphones equipped with high-resolution cameras.

One of the major difficulties in predicting the capacity of pipe piles in sand has resulted from a lack of understanding of the physical processes that control the behavior of piles during installation and loading.

This monograph presents a detailed blue print for developing experimental facilities necessary to identify these processes. These facilities include a unique instrumented double-walled pipe-pile that is used to delineate the frictional stresses acting against the external and internal surfaces of the pile. The pile is fitted with miniature pore-pressure transducers to monitor the generation of pore water pressure during installation and loading. A fast automatic laboratory pile hammer capable of representing the phenomena that occur during pile driving was also developed and used.

Structures placed on hillsides often present a number of challenges and a limited number of economical choices for site design. An option sometimes employed is to use the building frame as a retaining element, comprising a Rigidly Framed Earth Retaining Structure (RFERS). The relationship between temperature and earth pressure acting on RFERS, is explored in this monograph through a 4.5 year monitoring program of a heavily instrumented in service structure. The data indicated that the coefficient of earth pressure behind the monitored RFERS had a strong linear correlation with temperature. The study also revealed that thermal cycles, rather than lateral earth pressure, were the cause of failure in many structural elements.

The book demonstrates that depending on the relative stiffness of the retained soil mass and that of the structural frame, the developed lateral earth pressure, during thermal expansion, can reach magnitudes several times larger than those determined using classical earth pressure theories. Additionally, a nearly perpetual lateral displacement away from the retained soil mass may occur at the free end of the RFERS leading to unacceptable serviceability problems. These results suggest that reinforced concrete structures designed for the flexural stresses imposed by the backfill soil will be inadequately reinforced to resist stresses produced during the expansion cycles.

Parametric studies of single and multi-story RFERS with varying geometries and properties are also presented to investigate the effects of structural stiffness on the displacement of RFERS and the lateral earth pressure developed in the soil mass. These studies can aid the reader in selecting appropriate values of lateral earth pressure for the design of RFERS. Finally, simplified closed form equations that can be used to predict the lateral drift of RFERS are presented.

KEY WORDS: Earth Pressure; Soil-Structure Interaction; Mechanics; Failure;Distress; Temperature; Thermal Effects; Concrete; Coefficient of Thermal Expansion; Segmental Bridges; Jointless Bridges; Integral Bridges; Geotechnical Instrumentation; Finite Element Modeling; FEM; Numerical Modeling.

Technological Developments in Education and Automation includes set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts dealing with the increasing role of technology in daily lives including education and industrial automation

Technological Developments in Education and Automation contains papers presented at the International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Technology & Automation and the International Conference on Engineering Education, Instructional Technology, Assessment, and E-learning which were part of the International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information and Systems Sciences and Engineering

Technological Developments in Networking, Education and Automation includes a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts addressing and detailing state-of-the-art research projects in the following areas:

Computer Networks: Access Technologies, Medium Access Control, Network architectures and Equipment, Optical Networks and Switching, Telecommunication Technology, and Ultra Wideband Communications.

Engineering Education and Online Learning: including development of courses and systems for engineering, technical and liberal studies programs; online laboratories; intelligent testing using fuzzy logic; taxonomy of e-courses; and evaluation of online courses.

Pedagogy: including benchmarking; group-learning; active learning; teaching of multiple subjects together; ontology; and knowledge management.

Instruction Technology: including internet textbooks; virtual reality labs, instructional design, virtual models, pedagogy-oriented markup languages; graphic design possibilities; open source classroom management software; automatic email response systems; tablet-pcs; personalization using web mining technology; intelligent digital chalkboards; virtual room concepts for cooperative scientific work; and network technologies, management, and architecture.

Coding and Modulation: Modeling and Simulation, OFDM technology , Space-time Coding, Spread Spectrum and CDMA Systems.

Wireless technologies: Bluetooth , Cellular Wireless Networks, Cordless Systems and Wireless Local Loop, HIPERLAN, IEEE 802.11, Mobile Network Layer, Mobile Transport Layer, and Spread Spectrum.

Network Security and applications: Authentication Applications, Block Ciphers Design Principles, Block Ciphers Modes of Operation, Electronic Mail Security, Encryption & Message Confidentiality, Firewalls, IP Security, Key Cryptography & Message Authentication, and Web Security.

Robotics, Control Systems and Automation: Distributed Control Systems, Automation, Expert Systems, Robotics, Factory Automation, Intelligent Control Systems, Man Machine Interaction, Manufacturing Information System, Motion Control, and Process Automation.

Vision Systems: for human action sensing, face recognition, and image processing algorithms for smoothing of high speed motion.

Electronics and Power Systems: Actuators, Electro-Mechanical Systems, High Frequency Converters, Industrial Electronics, Motors and Drives, Power Converters, Power Devices and Components, and Power Electronics.