Numerical Methods for Experimental Mechanics

Numerical Methods for Experimental Mechanics is a resource for engineering mechanics researchers to enable them to understand and to obtain a working familiarity with important numerical methods particularly useful in the field. The book is organized to permit readers to study the methods and to observe their application in experimental problems. It also enables readers to directly apply the methods to the same problems or to similar problems of their choosing. To this end, computer programs are available, together with data for easy application. Program listings are given in the appendix. Some of the topics covered include the following: Least-squares for curve fitting and for general problem solving. Linear and nonlinear least-squares. Weighting. Splines and smoothed splines; for differentiation. General boundary conditions. Controlling the smoothing. Discrete and Fast Fourier Transforms; a unified presentation. Using the DFT and FFT together. Digital filters; single pass and two-pass. Higher order filters. High pass filters. Good behavior at ends. Differentiation and integration of experimental data. The essential problem with discrete data.