In 1979 the first InternationalSymposium on Low CycleFatigue and Elasto-Plastic Behaviour of Materials was held in Stuttgart, FRG. Since then research in low cycle fatigue has proceeded rapidly. The vital interest of engineers and researchers in communicating the rapid advances in the ongoing research in low cycle fatigue has encouraged me to initiate again the Second International Conference which was held in Munich, FRG, 7-11 September 1987. Failure in low cycle fatigue represents a serious problem in the design and opera tion of highly stressed structures. Under complex loading and environmental cir cumstances, especially for high temperature services, reliable life prediction can not be expected without detailed consideration of the failure mechanism and with out extensive use of mechanistic approaches. The purpose of this conference was to provide a forum to discuss the advances in recent research in the field of low cycle fatigue. The conference was intended to help to further bridge the gap between those who are involved in basic research, and the engineers who have to perform the design of highly stressed structural components."

This volume of proceedings contains the papers from the third in a successful series of conferences organized by the Deutscher Verband fur Materialforschung undprufung DVM]. The purpose of the conference was to review methods of improving the performance of materials and structures and to extend working life, especially under complex loading conditions such as environmental attack and high temperature degradation as well as providing a comprehensive evaluation of recent progress in low cycle fatigue and elasto-plastic behaviour of materials. Safe design and effective operation of highly stressed structures rely on the extensive use of mechanical approaches and micromechanics analysis to predict the deformation and fracture response of materials in service. Because of the need to create greater confidence in the engineering world in advanced materials as efficient replacements for conventional materials, many of the papers emphasize the role of new materials and emerging technology.

The 4th International Conference on Low Cycle Fatigue and Elasto-Plastic Behaviour of Materials was held from 7-11 September 1998 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

In response to a call for papers, nearly 200 extended abstracts from 32 countries were submitted to the organizing committee. These papers were presented at the conference as invited lectures or short contributions and as oral or poster presentation. All the papers were presented in poster form in extended poster sessions a peculiarity of the LCF Conferences which allows an intense, thorough discussion of all contributions.

Each chapter provides a comprehensive overview of a materials class or a given subject. Many contributions could have been included in two or even three chapters and so, in order to give a better overview of the content, the reader will find a subject index, a material index and an author index in the back of the book.
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