Concrete made using mineral cements, the raw materials which on earth are practically endless, is known as one of the oldest building materials and during the last decades of the twentieth century has become a dominant building material for general use. At the same time, the requirements of the quality of concrete and its performance properties, in particular compressive strength, durability, economical efficiency, and low negative impact of its manufacture on the environment have not yet been completely met. Bearing these requirements in mind, researchers and engineers worldwide are working on how to satisfy these requirements. This book has been written by researchers and experts in the field and provides the state of the art on recent progress achieved on the properties of concrete, including concrete in which industrial by-products are utilized. The book is dedicated to graduate students, researchers, and practicing engineers in related fields.

This book is based on Reinforced Concrete-Prestressed Concrete, Volume 2, Accounting for the Effects of Creep and Shrinkage on the Behavior of Structural Systems by Hubert Rusch and Dieter Jungwirth, which appeared in German in 1976. Even then, it was Hubert Rusch's fervent wish to have his thoughts on the deformations of concrete translated into English in order to reach a wider audience. His earlier efforts to contribute a study to the Series of Monographs of the Ameri can Institute had unfortunately not succeeded. Despite a serious illness, Hubert Rusch undertook, with his characteristic prudence and thoroughness, the preparatory work for the translation and related revision of his book. Unfortunately fate did not grant him the satisfaction of seeing his work completed. Hubert Rusch died on October 17, 1979. In writing this book, Hubert Rusch drew on his many years of devoted study of the creep problem. These investigations go back to 1934. His awareness of the plastic deformation of concrete under sustained load, which had been reported to him on the occasion of an American sojourn, led him to discover the causes of a major building collapse. At his urging, Professor A. Hummel published, in 1935, a critical survey of the test results then available on concrete creep.

The importance of the nanoscale effects has been recognized in materials research for over fifty years, but it is only recently that advanced characterization and fabrication methods are enabling scientists to build structures atom-by-atom or molecule-by molecule. The understanding and control of the nanostructure has been, to a large extent, made possible by new atomistic analysis and characterization methods pioneered by transmission electron microscopy. Nano and Microstructural Design of Advanced Materials focuses on the effective use of such advanced analysis and characterization techniques in the design of materials. Teaches effective use of advanced analysis and characterization methods at an atomistic level Contains many supporting examples of materials in which such design concepts have been successfully applied