Technische Mechanik - European Journal of Engineering Mechanics

Preface to the Special Issue on Material Modelling:

The current special issue collects research topics that were presented at the 8th International Conference on Material Modelling (ICMM8), which took place at Loughborough University London on 15-17 July 2024. The conference was organized by Vadim Silberschmidt and his team of the Mechanics of Advanced Materials Research Group at Loughborough University.

Material modelling has become a field of high scientific importance in the last decades. Although there are many workshops, meetings, colloquia, etc. on specific materials and particular applications, an ICMM conference series is dedicated to material modelling and its various aspects. To this end, the aim of the ICMM conference is to bring together researchers from various fields of material modelling and material characterization and to cover all aspects of material modelling. The conference series provides the opportunity for interaction with and exchanges between scientists working in different subareas of mechanics of materials, who otherwise would not come into contact with each other.

This biennial conference is the eighth in the ICMM series. The first ICMM took place in Dortmund (Germany) in 2009. The conference since then was held in Paris (France), Warsaw (Poland), Berkeley (USA), Rome (Italy), Lund (Sweden), and Cape Town (South Africa).

Some 120 participants from 22 countries attended the conference. The largest delegations were from UK (39), Germany (22), France (17), India (6) and USA (5). The participation confirms a strong interest in conferences focussing on the modelling and understanding the behaviour of materials.

The next conference of the series - ICMM9 - will be organized in Prague, Czech Republic, in September 2026.

Vadim Silberschmidt

Albrecht Bertram