BEM/MRM 39

39th International Conference on Boundary Elements and other Mesh Reduction Methods

20 - 22 September 2016

Siena, Italy

Introduction

The conference on Boundary Elements and other Mesh Reduction Methods, now in its 39th edition, is the recognised international forum for the latest advances in these techniques and their applications in science and engineering.

The history of the conference traces the evolution of these advanced methods since the first successful development of boundary integral techniques into BEM took place in Southampton in the mid-1970s, up to the emergence of the most recent Mesh Reduction Methods. The continued success of the conference is an indication of the strength of the research being carried out all over the world.

All the meetings since 1978 have produced a series of edited volumes in which the major developments in the field have been presented. This valuable collection has been available in digital form since 1993 when the volumes began to be archived in the Wessex Institute’s eLibrary (http://www.witpress.com/elibrary) where they can be easily accessed.

The objective of the research papers presented at the meetings is the further development of techniques that reduce or eliminate the type of meshes required by first generation computational methods, such as finite differences or finite elements. This has slowly been achieved through the development of BEM as a computational tool and continues through more recent research into advanced techniques, leading to further mesh reduction aiming to produce a truly meshless method in the future.

The meeting also encourages the presentation of papers on the use of BEM and, in particular, the description of new applications. Problems related to interface with other techniques, processes such as finite elements; the solution of large systems of equations and the direct coupling of BEM to rapid manufacturing are also welcome.

The annual meeting of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements (EABE) will take place during the Conference. The Journal has successfully become the main publication not only for Boundary Elements but for papers in the important field of Mesh Reduction Techniques.

The George Green Medal has been established by the University of Mississippi at Oxford, Mississippi, USA and the Wessex Institute, UK to honour the memory of the man who single-handedly set up the basis for the Boundary Element Method among other achievements.

George Green (1793-1841) was a self-taught genius who mysteriously delivered one of the most influential mathematics and physics works of all time. He educated himself in mathematics and self-published the work “An Essay on the Application of Mathematical Analysis to the Theories of Electricity and Magnetism”. In his very first article, he derived the Green’s first, second, and third identities, forged the concept of Green’s function, and solved the problem of electrical potential created by a single charge placed inside a spherical metal shell. The idea of Green’s function forever changed the landscape of science, as many physics and mathematics problems have been solved using this technique. As Green died early, and his work was discovered only posthumously, it remains a mystery today how Green could produce such a masterpiece without the guidance of a great teacher or school and, in fact, without a formal education. Only recently, due to the advent of powerful computers, has it been possible to take full advantage of Green’s pioneering developments.

The Medal is awarded to those scientists who have carried out original work with practical applications in the field of Boundary Elements and other Mesh Reduction Methods, continuing in this manner to further develop the pioneering ideas of George Green. They are also persons of the highest integrity who, by sharing their knowledge, have helped to establish research groups all around the world.

The selection process is conducted by a panel of internationally recognized scientists. The Medal is given once a year and presented during the conference.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at BEM/MRM 39. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Advanced formulations
• Advanced meshless and mesh reduction methods
• Structural mechanics applications
• Solid mechanics
• Heat and mass transfer
• Electrical engineering and electromagnetics
• Computational methods
• Fluid flow modelling
• Damage mechanics and fracture
• Dynamics and vibrations
• Engineering applications
• Interfacing with other methods
• Coupling with manufacturing
• Solution of large systems of equations

Find out more on the conference webpage.

HPSM/OPTI 2016

The 2016 International Conference on High Performance and Optimum Design of Structures and Materials

19 - 21 September 2016

Siena, Italy

Introduction

The use of novel materials and new structural concepts nowadays is not restricted to highly technical areas like aerospace, aeronautical applications or the automotive industry, but affects all engineering fields including those such as civil engineering and architecture.

The conference addresses issues involving advanced types of structures, particularly those based on new concepts or new materials and their system design. Contributions will highlight the latest development in design, optimisation, manufacturing and experimentation in those areas. The meeting also aims to search for higher performance sustainable materials. Most high performance structures require the development of a generation of new materials, which can more easily resist a range of external stimuli or react in a non-conventional manner. Particular emphasis will be placed on intelligent structures and materials as well as the application of computational methods for their modelling, control and management.

The conference also addresses the topic of design optimisation. Contributions on numerical methods and different optimisation techniques are also welcome, as well as papers on new software. Optimisation problems of interest to the meeting involve those related to size, shape and topology of structures and materials. Optimisation techniques have much to offer to those involved in the design of new industrial products. The development of new algorithms and the appearance of powerful commercial computer codes with easy to use graphical interfaces has created a fertile field for the incorporation of optimisation in the design process in all engineering disciplines.

This scientific event is a new edition of the High Performance Design of Structures and Materials conference and follows the success of a number of meetings on structures and materials and on optimum design that originated in Southampton as long ago as 1989. As the meetings evolved they gave rise to the current series, which started in Seville in 2002, and followed by Ancona in 2004, Ostend in 2006, the Algarve in 2008, Tallinn in 2010, the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute in 2012, and Ostend in 2014. The meeting will provide a friendly and useful forum for the interchange of ideas and interaction amongst researchers, designers and scholars in the community to share advances in High Performance and Optimum Design of Structures and Materials.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at HPSM/OPTI 2016. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Composite materials and structures
• Material characterisation
• Experiments and numerical analysis
• Natural fibre composites
• Green composites
• Composites for automotive applications
• Transformable structures
• Environmentally friendly and Sustainable structures
• Structural optimisation
• Design optimisation under uncertainties
• Non deterministic approaches
• Evolutionary methods in optimisation
• Aerospace structures
• Biomechanics application
• Structures under extreme loading
• Surface modification
• Lightweight structures
• Design for sustainability
• Design for durability
• Pneumatic structures

Find out more on the conference webpage.

Design & Nature 2016

8th International Conference on Comparing Design in Nature with Science and Engineering

13 - 15 September 2016

New Forest, UK

Introduction

The Design and Nature conference is to be reconvened in 2016 following the success of all previous meetings, the first of which was held in Udine, in 2002; followed by Rhodes, (2004); the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute (2006); the Algarve (2008); Pisa (2010); La Coruna (2012); and Opatija (2014).

The conference attracts researchers from all over the world working on a variety of studies involving nature and their significance for modern scientific thought and design.

Learning from nature has given rise to many original insights into how to solve science and engineering problems. More recently the developments of new experimental and computational tools have broadened our understanding of nature and we have been able to interpret better her processes in mathematical terms.

The conference deals with a wide variety of studies, some of them focusing on the fundamentals of natural processes, while others deal with particular applications. Although the topics are diverse, the common threat throughout them is in searching for a harmonisation of humankind activities with nature. The papers develop many interesting insights and theories, most of them transferable between different disciplines.

Previous papers presented at the Conference have been archived on line in the Institute’s eLibrary as part of the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment and the International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics. The eLibrary provides a permanent and easily available archive of these important contributions (www.witpress.com).

The success of the series is in great part due to the interdisciplinary character of the conference, which brings together a wide variety of specialists such as physical scientists, engineers, biologists, medical experts, as well as those involved in humanities and arts.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Design & Nature 2016. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Mechanics in nature
• Natural materials and processes
• Learning from nature
• Biometrics and bio-inspiration
• Biological studies
• Locomotion in nature
• Nature and architecture
• Natural energy harvesting
• Adaptation in nature
• Emerging ideas
• Light and lighting
• Nature and art
• Energy efficiency
• Bio-inspired products
• Networks

Find out more on the conference webpage.

Heat Transfer 2016

14th International Conference on Simulation and Experiments in Heat Transfer and its Applications

7 - 9 September 2016

Ancona, Italy

Introduction 

Heat Transfer 2016 is the 14th conference in the well-established series on Simulation and Experiments in Heat Transfer and its Applications. The Heat Transfer conference started in Portsmouth, UK in 1988 followed by Milan, Italy (1992); Southampton, UK (1994); Udine, Italy (1996); Krakow, Poland (1998); Madrid, Spain(2000); Halkidiki, Greece (2002); Lisbon, Portugal (2004); New Forest, UK (2006); Maribor, Slovenia (2008); Tallinn, Estonia (2010); Split, Croatia (2012) and A Coruña, Spain (2014).

The objective of the series is to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of advanced topics, new approaches and applications of innovative advanced computational methods and experimental measurements to heat and mass transfer problems. Heat transfer topics and related phenomena are commonly of a complex nature and different mechanisms like heat conduction, convection, turbulence, thermal radiation and phase change as well as chemical reactions may occur simultaneously. Typically, applications are found in heat exchangers, gas turbine cooling, turbulent combustion and fires, fuel cells, batteries, micro- and mini-channels, electronics cooling, melting and solidification, chemical processing, aerospace engineering etc.

Heat transfer might be regarded as an established and mature scientific discipline, but it has played a major role in new emerging areas such as sustainable development and reduction of greenhouse gases as well as for micro- and nano-scale structures, nano-fluids and bio-engineering. Non-linear phenomena besides the momentum transfer may occur due to temperature-dependent thermophysical properties. To analyse thermal processes and enable design and optimisation, advances in computational methods for solving and understanding heat transfer problems continue to be important. Engineering design and development require reliable and accurate computational methods to replace or complement expensive and time consuming experimental trial and error work. Tremendous advances have been achieved during recent years due to improved numerical solution algorithms for non-linear partial differential equations, turbulence modelling and development of computers and computing algorithms to achieve efficient and rapid simulations by massive parallel computation. 

Nevertheless, further progress in computational methods will require developments in theoretical and predictive procedures – both basic and innovative – and in applied research. Accurate experimental investigations with advanced instrumentation are needed to validate the numerical calculation procedures. Papers presented in the Heat Transfer conference series can be found in the Wessex Institute eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary).

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Heat Transfer 2016. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Energy conversion devices
• Heat transfer enhancements
• Heat exchanges
• Natural and forced convection
• Radiation
• Multiphase flow heat transfer
• Modelling and simulation
• Heat recovery
• Heat and mass transfer problems
• Heat transfer in nature
• Renewable energy systems
• Biotechnology
• Thermal electric devices
• High temperature heat transfer

Find out more on the conference webpage.