ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

MiniSymposium on Contact-Impact Problems and Nonlinear Mechanics
Fifth U.S. Congress on Computational Mechanics
August 4-6, 1999
University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado, USA

Symposium Organizer:  Tod Laursen, Duke University, USA



This symposium is concerned with recent developments in the computational
treatment of contact-impact problems in computational solid mechanics.
Papers dealing with theoretical developments, numerical methods, implementationa
l
issues, and practical applications are all welcome.  Sessions will consist
of both invited and contributed papers.

Topics to be encompassed by this MiniSymposium include:

  --Finite element discretization of contact problems
  --Frictional contact problems; constitutive modeling of friction
  --Numerical treatment of coupled interface behavior (e.g., thermomechanical
      contact response)
  --Time integration schemes for transient contact problems
       (implicit and explicit)
  --Error estimation and refinement of contact surface discretization
  --Modeling of tribological complexity (wear, abrasion, lubricant behavior)
  --Related problems in nonsmooth mechanics (e.g., surface adhesion; surface
       growth in biomechanics and corrosion)
  --Implementation of contact treatments in parallel architectures
  --Applications-oriented numerical work where contact-impact plays
       a crucial role (e.g., metal forming, biomechanics, crash analysis,
       automotive applications, etc)

If you would like to contribute to the symposium, please send a one-page
abstract of up to 400 words to the organizer on or before December 15, 1998.
E-mail is the preferred medium for this submission; please send abstracts
in plain ASCII text format.  Please be sure that your submission includes
all contact information (name, affiliation, address, phone, FAX, and e-mail
address) for all co-authors.

Abstracts selected for the symposium will be sent to the Congress organizers
by January 15, 1999, and notification of acceptance will be given to authors
at that time.  Final versions of abstracts will be due on or before
May 15, 1999.  For more information about the Congress, refer to the
website at http://civil.colorado.edu/usnccm99.