Abstract

The aim of the 6th International Fatigue Congress, besides covering the entire field of fatigue, was to promote the intimate connection between basic science and engineering application by the selection of appropriate session topics.

Fatigue is the main cause of failure of engineering structures and components. Making reliable fatigue predictions is highly difficult because knowledge about fatigue mechanisms in all stages of the fatigue process must be developed much further. In addition, the decreasing availability of raw materials and energy resources forces engineers to continually reduce the weight of constructions. This congress presents research results also particularly for new materials, including composites. Researchers, on the other hand, are confronted with the engineering demands. Futhermore, the overwhelming development which is presently taking place in the field of computer software and hardware dealing with fatigue problems is outlined along with the directions of future developments in all areas of fatigue.

Close to 300 fully peer-reviewed papers are published in the proceedings, including nearly 30 overview and keynote papers covering the various session topics. The proceedings should therefore serve as a comprehensive review of the fatigue field at the present state-of-the-art, suitable for scientists, engineers and students.