rd This book constitutes a collection of extended versions of papers presented at the 23 IFIP TC7 Conference on System Modeling and Optimization, which was held in C- cow, Poland, on July 23–27, 2007. It contains 7 plenary and 22 contributed articles, the latter selected via a peer reviewing process. Most of the papers are concerned with optimization and optimal control. Some of them deal with practical issues, e. g. , p- formance-based design for seismic risk reduction, or evolutionary optimization in structural engineering. Many contributions concern optimization of infini- dimensional systems, ranging from a general overview of the variational analysis, through optimization and sensitivity analysis of PDE systems, to optimal control of neutral systems. A significant group of papers is devoted to shape analysis and opti- zation. Sufficient optimality conditions for ODE problems, and stochastic control methods applied to mathematical finance, are also investigated. The remaining papers are on mathematical programming, modeling, and information technology. The conference was the 23rd event in the series of such meetings biennially org- ized under the auspices of the Seventh Technical Committee “Systems Modeling and Optimization” of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP TC7).

There are various methods for the analysis and design of bodies subject to static and dynamic loadings in structural and solid mechanics. Sensitivity analysis is concerned with the relationship between parameters, describing the structure under consideration and the function describing the response of that structure under loading conditions. This book addresses the finite element computational techniques typical of sensitivity analysis for solid mechanics systems with any nonlinearity. It is an attempt to combine theoretical modelling techniques with effective computer implementation: besides the theory many suitable finite element codes have been developed by the authors and used for computing examples discussed in the text.

As mankind continues to push back the boundaries and begins to explore other worlds and the ocean depths, a thorough understanding of how structures behave when subjected to extremes in temperature, pressure, and high loading rates will be essential. This symposium provided the perfect forum for presenting research into structures subjected to such extreme loads. There were a large number of papers presented under topics of impact, blast and shock loading, indicating a strong research interest in high rates of loading. Similarly new topics have been added to the traditional symposium list such as fire loading, earthquake loading, and fatigue and connection failures. It is clear now that fundamental knowledge of plastic deformation of structures to various extreme loads is coming of age. Each full paper was peer reviewed by at least two experts in the field.

The finite element, an approximation method for solving differential equations of mathematical physics, is a highly effective technique in the analysis and design, or synthesis, of structural dynamic systems. Starting from the system differential equations and its boundary conditions, what is referred to as a weak form of the problem (elaborated in the text) is developed in a variational sense. This variational statement is used to define elemental properties that may be written as matrices and vectors as well as to identify primary and secondary boundaries and all possible boundary conditions. Specific equilibrium problems are also solved. This book clearly reveals the effectiveness and great significance of the finite element method available and the essential role it will play in the future as further development occurs.