The deformation near a material particle of the classical continuum is produced by successive superposition of a rigid-body translation, a pure stretch along principal directions of strain and a rigid-body ro tation of those directions. The rotational part of deformation is par ticularly important in the non-linear analysis of thin-walled solid structures such as eams, thin-walled bars, plates and shells, since in this case finite rotations may appear even if the strains are infinite simal. It seems that the research concerning the application of finite ro tations is carried out independently in different fields of structural mechanics. Theoretical and numerical methods developed and the results obtained for a particular type of the structure or for a particular ma terial behaviour not always are used to analyse similar problems for other types of structures or for another material behaviour. Since the research in this field had been growing rapidly, it was decided to organize an informal international meeting, under the auspi ces of the European Mechanics Co mittee, entitled: Euromech Colloquium 197 "Finite Rotations in Structural Mechanics." The meeting was held on 17 - 20 September 1985 in Jablonna, a small suburbian area of Warsaw."

Shells are basic structural elements of modern technology and everyday life. Examples are automobile bodies, water and oil tanks, pipelines, aircraft fuselages, nanotubes, graphene sheets or beer cans. Also nature is full of living shells such as leaves of trees, blooming flowers, seashells, cell membranes, the double helix of DNA or wings of insects. In the human body arteries, the shell of the eye, the diaphragm, the skin or the pericardium are all shells as well. Shell Structures: Theory and Applications, Volume 3 contains 137 contributions presented at the 10th Conference "Shell Structures: Theory and Applications" held October 16-18, 2013 in Gdansk, Poland. The papers cover a wide spectrum of scientific and engineering problems which are divided into seven broad groups: general lectures, theoretical modelling, stability, dynamics, bioshells, numerical analyses, and engineering design. The volume will be of interest to researchers and designers dealing with modelling and analyses of shell structures and thin-walled structural elements.

Shells are basic structural elements of modern technology. Examples of shell structures include automobile bodies, domes, water and oil tanks, pipelines, ship hulls, aircraft fuselages, turbine blades, laudspeaker cones, but also balloons, parachutes, biological membranes, a human skin, a bottle of wine or a beer can. This volume contains full texts of over 100 papers presented by specialists from over 20 countries at the 8th Conference "Shell Structures: Theory and Applications," 12-14 October, 2005 in Jurata (Poland). The aim of the meeting was to bring together scientists, designers, engineers and other specialists in shell structures in order to discuss important results and new ideas in this field. The goal is to pursue more accurate theoretical models, to develop more powerful and versatile methods of analysis, and to disseminate expertise in design and maintenance of shell structures. Among the authors there are many distinguished specialists of shell structures, including the authors of general lectures: I.V. Andrianov (Ukraine), V.A. Eremeyev (Russia), A. Ibrahimbegovic (France), P. Klosowski (Poland), B.H. Kroplin (Germany), E. Ramm (Germany), J.M. Rotter (UK) and D. Steigmann (USA). The subject area of the papers covers various theoretical models and numerical analyses of strength, dynamics, stability, optimization etc. of different types of shell structures, their design and maintenance, as well as modelling of some surface-related mechanical phenomena. "

Shells are basic structural elements of modern technology and everyday life. Examples of shell structures in technology include automobile bodies, water and oil tanks, pipelines, silos, wind turbine towers, and nanotubes. Nature is full of living shells such as leaves of trees, blooming flowers, seashells, cell membranes or wings of insects. In the human body arteries, the eye shell, the diaphragm, the skin and the pericardium are all shells as well. Shell Structures: Theory and Applications, Volume 4 contains 132 contributions presented at the 11th Conference on Shell Structures: Theory and Applications (Gdansk, Poland, 11-13 October 2017). The papers reflect a wide spectrum of scientific and engineering problems from theoretical modelling through strength, stability and dynamic behaviour, numerical analyses, biomechanic applications up to engineering design of shell structures. Shell Structures: Theory and Applications, Volume 4 will be of interest to academics, researchers, designers and engineers dealing with modelling and analyses of shell structures. It may also provide supplementary reading to graduate students in Civil, Mechanical, Naval and Aerospace Engineering.

Shell Structures. Theory and Applications, Volume 2 contains 77 contributions from over 17 countries, reflecting a wide spectrum of scientific and engineering problems of shell structures. The papers are divided into six broad groups: 1. General lectures; 2. Theoretical modeling; 3. Stability; 4. Dynamics; 5. Numerical analysis; 6. Engineering design, and will be of interest to academics, researchers, designers and engineers dealing with theoretical modelling, computerized analyses and engineering design of thin-walled structures and shell structural elements.