Although finite elasticity theory has its roots in the nineteenth century, its development was largely neglected until the end of the Second World War. Since then it has attracted a substantial amount of attention and considerable progress has been made both in our understanding of the basis of the subject and in its applications. It occurred to me about three years ago that finite elasticity had reached a level of development at which an international symposium on the subject was overdue. Accordingly, with strong encouragement from Professor P. M. Naghdi and numerous other colleagues, I submitted to the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics a proposal for their support of such a symposium to be held at Lehigh University during the period August 10-15, 1980. The proposal received enthusiastic support from the International Union and an international scientific committee under my chairmanship, consisting of Professors G. Fichera (Rome), W. T. Koiter (Delft), L. I. Sedov (Moscow), and A. J. M. Spencer (Nottingham), was assigned responsibility for the scientific program. In constructing the program we aimed at as broad a coverage as possible of the many aspects of the subject on which significant progress is currently being made. These range from theoretical studies of existence and uniqueness of solutions of the governing equations of finite elasticity theory to experimental studies of its application to such problems as tear resistance and friction in vulcanized rubbers.

Proceedings of the IUTAM Symposium held in Liverpool, UK, 8-11 July 2002

The steady increase in computational power induces an equally steady increase in the complexity of the engineering models and associated computer codes. This particularly affects the modeling of the mechanical response of materials. Material behavior is nowadays modeled in the strongly nonlinear range by tak ing into account finite strains, complex hysteresis effects, fracture phenomena and multiscale features. Progress in this field is of fundamental importance for many engineering disciplines, especially those concerned with material testing, safety, reliability and serviceability analyses of engineering structures. In recent years many important achievements have been made in the field of the theoretical formulation, the mathematical analysis and the numerical im plementation of deformation processes in solids. Computational methods and simulation techniques today play a central role in advancing the understanding of complex material behavior. Research in the field of "ComputationalMechan ics of Materials" is concerned with the development of mathematical models and numerical solution techniques for the simulation of material response. It is a very broad interdisciplinary field of science with inputs from traditional fields such as Applied Mechanics, Applied Mathematics, Materials Science, Solid State Physics and Information Technology. The intention of the IUTAM Symposium "Computational Mechanics of Solid Materials at Large Strains", held at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, from August 20-24, 200I, was to give a state of the art and a survey about recent developments in this field and to create perspectives for future research trends.

Variational Methods in the Mechanics of Solids contains the proceedings of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Symposium on Variational Methods in the Mechanics of Solids, held at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, on September 11-13, 1978. The papers focus on advances in the application of variational methods to a variety of mathematically and technically significant problems in solid mechanics. The discussions are organized around three themes: thermomechanical behavior of composites, elastic and inelastic boundary value problems, and elastic and inelastic dynamic problems. This book is comprised of 58 chapters and opens by addressing some questions of asymptotic expansions connected with composite and with perforated materials. The following chapters explore mathematical and computational methods in plasticity; variational irreversible thermodynamics of open physical-chemical continua; macroscopic behavior of elastic material with periodically spaced rigid inclusions; and application of the Lanczos method to structural vibration. Finite deformation of elastic beams and complementary theorems of solid mechanics are also considered, along with numerical contact elastostatics; periodic solutions in plasticity and viscoplasticity; and the convergence of the mixed finite element method in linear elasticity. This monograph will appeal to practitioners of mathematicians as well as theoretical and applied mechanics.

Proceedings of the IUTAM Symposium held in Paris, France, 22-25 April 1997

Variational calculus has been the basis of a variety of powerful methods in the ?eld of mechanics of materials for a long time. Examples range from numerical schemes like the ?nite element method to the determination of effective material properties via homogenization and multiscale approaches. In recent years, however, a broad range of novel applications of variational concepts has been developed. This c- prises the modeling of the evolution of internal variables in inelastic materials as well as the initiation and development of material patterns and microstructures. The IUTAM Symposium on “Variational Concepts with Applications to the - chanics of Materials” took place at the Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany, on September 22–26, 2008. The symposium was attended by 55 delegates from 10 countries. Altogether 31 lectures were presented. The objective of the symposium was to give an overview of the new dev- opments sketched above, to bring together leading experts in these ?elds, and to provide a forum for discussing recent advances and identifying open problems to work on in the future. The symposium focused on the developmentof new material models as well as the advancement of the corresponding computational techniques. Speci?c emphasis is put on the treatment of materials possessing an inherent - crostructure and thus exhibiting a behavior which fundamentally involves multiple scales. Among the topics addressed at the symposium were: 1. Energy-based modeling of material microstructures via envelopes of n- quasiconvex potentials and applications to plastic behavior and pha- transformations.