This will be the 7th International Conference in the series organised by the European Structural Integrity Society - Technical Committee 4 on Fracture Mechanics related to Polymers, Polymeric Composites and Adhesives. We are again inviting papers in the areas reflecting the current and future interests of TC4 as listed below. New developments and innovative applications are especially welcome. Both experimental and analytical work is sought in order to give a balanced view of the subject areas:
Polymers: Low rate properties, Kc, Gc and Jc. Essential work of fracture, we. Impact and high rate properties. Ductile energy dissipation. Environmental effects. Fracture in soft materials. Cutting, machining and scratching.
Composites: Delamination in continuous fibre composites including cross-ply and 3-D reinforcement. Impact and high rate properties. Fatigue and thermal properties. Toughness of short fibre and particulate composites. Nano and micro-scale composites. Mixed-mode and mode II fracture.
Adhesives: Structural adhesives toughness evaluation. Geometry and thickness effects on Gc. Toughening mechanisms, including nano-scale additives. Impact and high rate behaviour. Peeling of flexible laminates.
Application of fracture mechanics: Service life prediction models, including cyclic fatigue loads and environmental ageing effects. Data for FE design codes. Applications in electronics, pipelines and layered structures. Crash simulations.
Topics will include:
Adhesives;
Application of fracture mechanics;
Composites;
Polymers, Other.
Les Diablerets, Switzerland.
