Abstract
The 15th International Conference on the Strength of Materials (ICSMA 15) took place in Dresden, Germany, August 16–21, 2009. It belongs to the triennial series of ICSMA meetings with a long tradition, starting in 1967 - Tokyo, 1970 - Asilomar, 1973 - Cambridge, 1976 - Nancy, 1979 - Aachen, 1982 - Melbourne, 1985 - Montreal, 1988 - Tampere, 1991 - Haifa, 1994 - Sendai, 1997 - Prague, 2000 - Asilomar, 2003 - Budapest, 2006 - Xian. ICSMA 15 was hosted by the Dresden University of Technology, Institute of Structural Physics.
Following the tradition of this conference series, it was the main focus of ICSMA 15 to promote and strengthen the fundamental understanding of the basic processes that govern the strength of materials. Nonetheless, it was the aim to forge links between basic research on model materials and applied research on engineering materials of technical importance. Thus, ICSMA 15 provided a forum for the presentation and discussion of research on the mechanical properties of all materials which are of interest to materials scientists and engineers from many different areas. The topics covered by ICSMA 15 were:
1.Atomistic and microstructural aspects of plastic deformation 2.Atomistic and microstructural aspects of fracture 3.Adhesion and interfacial strength 4.Cyclic deformation and fatigue 5.High temperature deformation and creep 6.Mechanical properties related to phase transformations 7.Large and severe plastic deformation 8.Nano- and microscale phenomena in plasticity and fracture 9.Strength issues in biological systems and biomaterials 10.Mechanical behaviour of glasses and non-crystalline solids 11.Multiscale modelling and experimental validation 12.Insight through new experimental methods 13.Other new developments related to the field
While there was large interest in the new topics 7 and 8, contributions to topic 9 were much less than expected.
ICSMA 15 attracted 352 scientists from 30 countries with one fourth of the participants being students. This is a very good ratio showing that we could attract the young generation. There have been 272 oral and 135 poster presentations. It is our pleasure to thank the members of the International ICSMA Committee for their valuable help, especially for proposing and choosing the 18 plenary speakers. 187 papers were submitted for publication in the proceedings, 167 were accepted after reviewing. We would like to express our thanks to all referees for their efficient and prompt efforts. We acknowledge particularly support from the German Research Society (DFG), the Saxon Ministry for Science and Art and the City of Dresden. We are also grateful for industrial support from PLANSEE Metall GmbH, Goodfellow GmbH, MTS Systems GMB, Nagoya University and IOP Publishing. Finally we thank all members of the Local Organizing Committee, Intercom Dresden and Conwerk / Laboratory Ten for the excellent organization of ICSMA 15 and the very pleasant collaboration.
During the conference the International ICSMA Committee decided to convene the next conference in Bangalore, India, in 2012. We wish the organizers of ICSMA 16 great success and look forward to meeting you in Bangalore.
Werner Skrotzki (Technische Universität Dresden) Carl-Georg Oertel (Technische Universität Dresden) Horst Biermann (Bergakademie Technische Universität Freiberg) Martin Heilmaier (Technische Universität Darmstadt) Guest Editors Dresden, June 23, 2009 (* Corresponding author; e-mail address: werner.skrotzki@physik.tu-dresden.de)