The physics of degradation in engineered materials and devices : fundamentals and principles / edited by Jonathan Swingler ; with major contribution by Alec Feinberg. [electronic resource]

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Rationale and emphasis -- 1.3 Thermodynamics and entropy -- 1.4 Technologies and applications -- 1.5 Conclusion -- References --

2. History of the physics of degradation -- 2.1 Context -- 2.2 History -- 2.3 Conclusion -- References --

3. Thermodynamics of ageing and degradation in engineering devices and machines -- 3.1 Introduction to degradation and ageing -- 3.2 Thermodynamic degradation paradigm -- 3.3 Review of the DEG theorem -- 3.4 Review of thermodynamics -- 3.5 Entropy and production of irreversible entropy -- 3.6 Dissipative mechanisms and ageing -- 3.7 Example applications of the DEG theorem -- 3.8 Conclusion -- References --

4. Thermodynamic damage within physics of degradation -- Section 1. Equilibrium thermodynamic damage assessment -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 The system (device) and its environment -- 4.3 Thermodynamic work and the first law -- 4.4 Thermodynamic second law in terms of device entropy damage -- 4.5 Thermodynamic catastrophic and parametric failures -- 4.6 Entropy of a complex system -- 4.7 Measuring damage entropy processes -- 4.8 Measures for system-level entropy damage -- Section 2. Non-equilibrium thermodynamic damage assessment -- 4.9 Equilibrium versus non-equilibrium ageing approach -- 4.10 Application to cyclic work and cumulative damage -- 4.11 Thermodynamic damage in mechanical systems -- 4.12 Thermal activation free energy approach -- Appendix -- References --

5. Monitoring degradation in the field -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Electromagnetic NDT -- 5.3 Insulation degradation -- 5.4 PD measurement -- 5.5 Conclusion -- References --

6. Physics of degradation in ferroelectric devices -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Humidity -- 6.3 Temperature effects on reliability of piezoelectric actuators -- 6.4 Measurement techniques -- 6.5 Conclusion --

Acknowledgments -- References -- About the contributing authors -- Index.

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Degradation is apparent in all things and is fundamental to manufactured as well as natural objects. It is often described by the second law of thermodynamics where entropy, a measure of disorder, tends to increase with time in a closed system. Things age! This concise reference work brings together experts and key players engaged in the physics of degradation to present the background science, current thinking and developments in understanding, and give a detailed account of emerging issues across a selection of engineering applications. The work has been put together to equip the upper level undergraduate student, postgraduate student as well as the professional engineer and scientist in the importance of physics of degradation. The aim of the work is to bridge the gap between published textbooks on the fundamental science of degradation phenomena and published research on the engineering science of actual fabricated materials and devices. A history of the observation and understanding of physics of degradation is presented. The fundamentals and principles of thermodynamics and entropy are extensively discussed. This is the focus of this work with an extended chapter by Alec Feinberg on equilibrium thermodynamic damage and non-equilibrium thermodynamic damage. The work concludes with two particular technologies to give examples of areas of application.

Title from PDF title page (viewed on January 24, 2015).

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.