The main features of high-temperature superconductors (HTSC) that define their properties are intrinsic brittleness of oxide cuprates, the layered anisotropic structure and the supershort coherence length.
Taking into account these features, this treatise presents research into HTSC microstructure and properties, and also explores the possibilities of optimization of the preparation techniques and superconducting compositions.

Now in its Third Edition, Plastics is the key text for senior students studying the science and engineering of plastic materials. Starting from microstructure and physical properties, the book covers the mechanical, chemical and electrical properties of plastic materials, and also deals in detail with wider plastics issues that todays engineers and materials scientists need such as manufacturing processes and the design of plastic products.

Sintering is the process of forming materials and components from a powder under the action of thermal energy. It is a key materials science subject: most ceramic materials and many specialist metal powder products for use in key industries such as electronics, automotive and aerospace are formed this way. Written by one of the leading experts in the field, this book offers an unrivalled introduction to sintering and sintering processes for students of materials science and engineering, and practicing engineers in industry.

It is well recognized that the mechanical performance of materials is dependant upon the composition of their microstructures. By judiciously adjusting the composition new properties can be developed.

Direct strip casting is a continuous casting process for producing metallic sheet directly from the molten state that minimises the need for substantial secondary processing. This important book is the first to review the implications of strip casting technology for a range of alloys, including carbon and stainless steel, aluminium, magnesium, titanium, copper and other non-ferrous alloys. The book is divided into six chapters, with the first two describing the physical metallurgy of candidate alloys for direct strip casting and the development of microstructure during solidification. Chapter 3 describes the principles of continuous casting processes and the evolution of direct strip casting. It provides the foundation for the following two chapters which describe process variables and their impact on microstructure and strip quality. The final chapter describes possible techniques in secondary processing and fabrication of the as-cast strip. Two appendices discuss simulation and modelling issues, and the measurement and representation of textures in metal strip. Direct strip casting of metals and alloys is a standard reference on a technology destined to have a profound impact on the manufacturing landscape of the twenty-first century.

This book proposes new methods to build optimal portfolios and to analyze market liquidity and volatility under market microstructure effects, as well as new financial risk measures using parametric and non-parametric techniques. In particular, it investigates the market microstructure of foreign exchange and futures markets.

Now in its Third Edition, Plastics is the key text for senior students studying the science and engineering of plastic materials. Starting from microstructure and physical properties, the book covers the mechanical, chemical and electrical properties of plastic materials, and also deals in detail with wider plastics issues that today's engineers and materials scientists need such as manufacturing processes and the design of plastic products.

A State-of-the-Art Guide to the Mechanics of Asphalt Concrete

This much-needed monograph presents a systematic, step-by-step approach to the continuum modeling of flow phenomena exhibited within materials endowed with a complex internal microstructure, such as polymers and liquid crystals. By combining the principles of Hamiltonian mechanics with those of irreversible thermodynamics, Antony N. Beris and Brian J. Edwards, renowned authorities on the subject, expertly describe the complex interplay between conservative and dissipative processes. Throughout the book, the authors emphasize the evaluation of the free energy--largely based on ideas from statistical mechanics--and how to fit the values of the phenomenological parameters against those of microscopic models. With Thermodynamics of Flowing Systems in hand, mathematicians, engineers, and physicists involved with the theoretical study of flow behavior in structurally complex media now have a superb, self-contained theoretical framework on which to base their modeling efforts.

Microstructure and Texture in Steels and Other Materials comprises a collection of articles pertaining to experimental and theoretical aspects of the evolution of crystallographic texture and microstructure during processing of steels and some other materials.

The foreign exchange market is the largest, fastest-growing financial market in the world. Yet conventional macroeconomic approaches do not explain why people trade foreign exchange. At the same time, they fail to explain the short-run determinants of the exchange rate.
These nine innovative essays use a microstructure approach to analyze the workings of the foreign exchange market, with special emphasis on institutional aspects and the actual behavior of market participants. They examine the volume of transactions, heterogeneity of traders, the time of day and location of trading, the bid-ask spread, and the high level of exchange rate volatility that has puzzled many observers. They also consider the structure of the market, including such issues as nontransparency, asymmetric information, liquidity trading, the use of automated brokers, the relationship between spot and derivative markets, and the importance of systemic risk in the market.
This timely volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in the economics of international finance.

This book is intended for students on Engineering or Materials Science degree courses, and for scientists and engineers who require an introduction to the properties and applications of plastics. There is as much emphasis on the mechanical design of plastics products as there is on explaining physical properties in terms of the microstructure. When plastics are substituted for other materials, the mechanical properties of the rival materials must be compared. The responses of polymers to the chemical environment and the electrical properties differ from other materials, and this must also be considered. In order to take advantage of the low cost fabrication of plastics, the product design must be suitable for one of the existing processes. Therefore the merits and limitations of these processes must be understood. The processing has permanent consequences on the microstructure of the product. Hence the effects of processing must be anticipated, and used to advantage if possible. It is the interlocking nature of different aspects of plastics technology that provides a challenge to engineers.

This book provides an introduction to the structure and morphology of ancient and historic metallic materials. It deals extensively with many practical matters relating to the mounting, preparation, etching, polishing, and miscroscopy of metallic samples and includes an account of the way in which phase diagrams can be used to assist structural interpretation. The text is supplemented by an extensive number of microstructural studies carried out in the laboratory on ancient and historic metals.

Microstructure, Property and Processing of Functional Ceramics describes the preparation, property and local structure microscopy of functional ceramics. It covers functional ceramic fabrication processing, grain boundary phenomena and micro-, nanoscale structures characterizations including scanning electron acoustic microscopy, scanning probe acoustic microscopy and piezoresponse force microscopy.