Vol.2, No 8, 1998 pp. 821 - 822
UDC: 531:518.12
ON THE FOURTH WORLD CONGRESS ON COMPUTATIONAL
MECHANICS
Mladen Berković
Faculty of Mathematics Belgrade
Abstract. In this article the essential data and impressions on
the Fourth World Congress on Computational Mechanics are given.
The Fourth World Congress on Computational Mechanics, was held in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, on June 29-July 2, 1998, under the auspices of the IACM
(International Association for Computational Mechanics). The first three
congresses in the series were held in Austin (1986), Stuttgart (1990) and
Tokyo (1994). The continuous importance of this research topic is demonstrated
by the fact that the number of papers has increased from 400 papers presented
in the first congress to over 1000 papers in the Buenos Aires meeting.
The developments that have taken place in the different theoretical
and engineering application fields of the broad area of Computational Mechanics
are illustrated by the contents of CD-ROM proceedings. The 700 papers included
represent a Compendium of nearly 14000 pages. The papers are classified
into the following main areas: (I) Mathematical Modeling and Numerical
Methods, (II) Solid and Structural Mechanics, (III) Solid Materials Modeling,
(IV) Fluid Mechanics (V) Heat Transfer and Fluid-Structure Interaction,
(VI) Inverse Problems and Optimizations (VII) Software Development, Algorithms
and Programming and (VIII) Applications Fields including problems in Biomechanics,
Computational Physics, Electromagnetics, Environmental Sciences, Geomechanics,
Forming Processes, Chemical Engineering, Robotics and Educational aspects
of Computational Mechanics, among others.
The opening lecture "Achievements and unsolved problems in the finite
element methods" was held by O. C. Zienkiewicz, University College of Swansea,
Wales. He was first president of IACM, and a person whose books are most
popular within the engineering users of the finite element methods. The
next plenary lecture was "Advances in adaptive modelling of heterogeneous
continuum", given by J. T. Oden, University of Texas at Austin, USA, the
second (1990-1994) president of IACM, and a person whose papers and books
cover equally thoroughly engineering, mechanical and mathematical aspects
of Computational Mechanics. The plenary lecture "Computational mechanics
and
hemodynamics", was given by T. J. R. Hughes, Stanford University, USA,
the newly elected president of IACM. The remaining four plenary lectures:
"Some remarks on the current state of finite element methods", "Parallel
stabilization of hyperbolic and Petrowsky systems", "Partitioned analysis
of coupled systems" and "Development of a self-evident nodeless method
of solution for the problem of solids"were given by K. J. Bathe, Massachusets
Institute of Technology , USA, developer of the popular software packages
SAP and ADINA, J. -L. Lions, College de France and Dassault Aviation, France,
the leading mathematician in the area, C. Felippa, University of Colorado
at Boulder, U.S.A., and T. Kawai, Science University of Tokyo, Japan.
The author of this report presented at the Conference the paper "An
efficient continuous stress mixed model based on the Reissner's principle",
written jointly by Dubravka Mijuca. Unfortunately, this has been the only
paper from this country presented at the Congress. However, this fact doesn't
represent the real state of our science and technology in the area, but
is rather the consequence of the very modest financial resources available.
E.g., one should note the existence of the strong group for the computational
mechanics leaded by the M. Kojić at the University of Kragujevac, or the
notable contribution of the researchers from the Civil Engineering Faculty
of Belgrade, initiated by N. Hajdin, and continued by M. Sekulović et al,
to mention only a few. At this point, one should once more point out the
significance of this relatively new scientific area, connecting mathematics,
mechanics, computer science and engineering sciences, and of vital importance
in the transition of the low technology industry into the high technology
industry, i.e. for the economy and the security of the country.
Bearing in mind our present insufficient international cooperation,
especially in the area of Computational Mechanics, the participation at
the World Congress has also been the opportunity to contact the leading
international experts in this strategic and propulsive area. The writer
of this article, as a member of the presidency of the Yugoslav Society
for
Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, discussed with several leading members
of IACM, especially with M. Kleiber (Poland), the president of the
Central European Association for Computational Mechanics, the possibilities
of the future scientific cooperation.
O ČETVRTOM SVETSKOM KONGRESU RAČUNSKE
MEHANIKE
U članku su dati osnovni podaci i utisci sa IV svetskog kongresa računske
mehanike.
