HPSM/OPTI 2018

The 2018 International Conference on
High Performance and Optimum Design of Structures and Materials

11 - 13 July, 2018

Ljubljana, Slovenia

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, Ostend in 2014 and Siena in 2016.

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 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Composite materials
• Material characterisation
• Experiments and numerical analysis
• Natural fibre composites
• Nanocomposites
• 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
• Lifecycle assessment/analysis
• Structural reliability
• Maintenance
• Social impacts
• Smart materials and structures

                                                         Find out more on the conference webpage.

AFM 2018

12th International Conference on Advances in Fluid Mechanics

10 - 12 July, 2018

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Introduction

AFM 2018 is the 12th International Conference on Advances in Fluid Mechanics. The meeting is reconvened following the success of all previous conferences in the series, the first of which took place in New Orleans (1996), followed by Udine (1998); Montreal (2000); Ghent (2002); Lisboa (2004); Skiathos (2006); the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute (2008); The Algarve (2010); Split (2012); A Coruña (2014) and Ancona (2016).

The success of the Conference continues to attract high-quality contributions presenting original results. The evolution of the meeting is reflected in the variety of topics and applications published in the conference book series since its beginnings in 1996.

The field of fluid mechanics is vast and has numerous and diverse applications. The conference covers a wide range of topics, including basic formulations and their computer modelling as well as the relationship between experimental and analytical results. The emphasis is on new applications and research currently in progress.

The papers – like others presented at Wessex Institute conferences – are part of the WIT Transactions in Engineering Sciences series and are archived online in the WIT eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary), where they are freely available to the international scientific community.

The object of the meeting is to provide a forum for discussing new work in fluid mechanics and, in particular, for promoting the interchange of new ideas and the presentation on the latest applications in the field.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at AFM 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Computational methods
• Boundary elements and other mesh reduction methods
• Fluid structure interaction
• Cooling of electronic devices
• Environmental fluid dynamics
• Industrial applications
• Energy systems
• Nano and micro fluids
• Turbulent and complex flows
• Jets
• Droplet and spray dynamics
• Bubble dynamics
• Multiphase fluid flow
• Pumping and fluid transportation
• Experimental measurements
• Rheology
• Chemical reaction flow
• Hydroelectromagnetic flow
• High speed flow
• Wave theory
• Energy conversion systems

                     

                                                    Find out more on the conference webpage.

COMPRAIL 2018

16th International Conference on Railway Engineering Design & Operation

2 - 4 July, 2018

Lisbon, Portugal 

Introduction

The 16th International Conference on Railway Engineering Design and Operation (COMPRAIL 2018), is the latest in a series of very successful meetings which started in Frankfurt in 1987 and continued in Rome (1990); Washington (1992); Madrid (1994); Berlin (1996); Lisbon (1998); Bologna (2000); Lemnos (2002); Dresden (2004); Prague (2006); Toledo (2008); Beijing (2010); the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute (2012) ; Rome in 2014 and Madrid (2016).

The meeting is organised by the Wessex Institute and sponsored by WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, the International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning and the International Journal of Transport Development and Integration.

The Conference aims to update the use of advanced systems, promoting their general awareness throughout the management, design, manufacture and operation of railways and other emerging passenger, freight and transit systems. It emphasises the use of computer systems in advanced railway engineering.

The meeting attracts a variety of specialists interested in the development of railways, including managers, consultants, railway engineers, designers of advanced train control systems and computer specialists. It provides a forum for researchers, academics and practitioners involved in railway engineering to present and discuss the latest developments.

Since 1993 all published papers are permanently archived in the Wessex Institute eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary), where they are freely available to the international community.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at COMPRAIL 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Advanced train control
• Operations quality
• Risk management
• Planning and policy
• Monitoring and maintenance
• Energy supply and consumption
• Train control systems
• Timetable planning
• Rescheduling
• Safety and security
• Railway vehicle dynamics
• Driverless and automatic train operation
• Operational planning
• Systems integration
• High speed technology
• Interoperability
• Computer simulations
• Multi-modal integration
• Maglev and advanced technologies
• Communications and signalling systems
• Complex systems
• Freight transport
• Rail freight transport and logistics
• Real time economics
• Fares and prices
• Monorails
• Regional and single track lines
• Track design and maintenance
• Intelligent railway systems
• Big data in railway
• Railways and insurance

                                                    Find out more on the conference webpage.

Environmental Impact 2018

4th International Conference on Environmental and Economic Impact on Sustainable Development

20 - 22 June, 2018

Naples, Italy

Introduction

The 4th International Conference on Environmental and Economic Impact on Sustainable Development follows the success of three previous meetings held in the New Forest, UK, (home of the Wessex Institute of Technology) in 2012; Ancona, Italy in 2014; and Valencia, Spain in 2016.

The meeting will provide an international forum to discuss the most serious problems affecting sustainable development. The Conference will consider the impact of economic constraints on the environment, taking into account the social aspects as well as the over-use of natural resources. Uncontrolled development can also result in damage to the environment in terms of the release of toxic substances and hazardous waste.

The meeting will examine issues related to whether some forms of development are compatible with environmental protection, particularly in cases of possible serious contamination and toxicity.

The conference will address problems of great importance discussing more constructive and progressive approaches to ensure sustainability. A major motivation for the meeting is to learn from past failure, to avoid repeating similar mistakes, while attempting to prevent emerging threats to environmental and ecological systems.

Fundamental to these concepts is the analysis of the inherent risk and the development of appropriate strategies.

All published papers from previous meetings are permanently archived in the Wessex Institute eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary) where they are freely available to the international community

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Environmental Impact 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Environmental policies and planning
• Environmental assessments
• Development issues
• Sustainable cities
• Economic impact
• Natural resources management
• Energy and the environment
• Food production systems and policies
• Ecosystems health
• Soil contamination
• Remediation
• Decommissioning of hazardous plants
• Brownfields rehabilitation
• Water resources management
• Air and water pollution
• Toxicity studies
• Pollution and public health
• Environmental health risk
• Community participation
• Legislation and regulations

                                                   Find out more on the conference webpage.

Air Pollution 2018

26th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution

19 - 21 June, 2018

Naples, Italy

Introduction

Air Pollution 2018 is the 26th Annual Meeting in the successful series of international conferences organised by the Wessex Institute dealing with Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution.

The meetings in this series have discussed and considered many important air pollution issues and the international nature of the attendees has ensured that the conference findings and conclusions enjoy a wide and rapid dissemination amongst the air pollution science and policy communities. Air pollution issues remain one of the most challenging problems facing the international community. The series has demonstrated the widespread nature of the air pollution phenomena and has explored in depth their impacts on human health and the environment.

The scientific knowledge derived from well-designed studies needs to be allied with further technical and economic studies in order to ensure cost-effective and efficient mitigation. In turn, the science, technology and economic outcomes are necessary but not sufficient. Increasingly, the conference has recognised that the outcome of such research needs to be contextualised within well-formulated communication strategies that help policymakers and citizens to understand and appreciate the risks and rewards arising from air pollution management. Consequently, the series has enjoyed a wide range of high-quality papers that develop the fundamental science of air pollution and an equally impressive range of presentations that places these new developments within the frame of mitigation and management of air pollution.

This important conference brings together contributions from scientists from around the world to present recent work on various aspects of air pollution phenomena. Notable in each of the conferences in this series has been the opportunity to foster scientific exchange between participants. Each meeting has provided a further opportunity for identifying new areas of air pollution science demanding collaborative investigations.

These meetings have attracted outstanding contributions from leading researchers from around the world. The papers selected for presentation and included in the Conference Proceedings have been permanently stored in the WIT eLibrary (see www.witpress.com/elibrary) from where they can be freely downloaded. These collected papers provide an invaluable record of the development of science and policy pertaining to air pollution.

The series started in Mexico (1993) and continued in Barcelona (1994); Halkidiki (1995); Toulouse (1996); Bologna (1997); Genova (1998); San Francisco (1999); Cambridge, UK (2000); Ancona (2001); Segovia (2002); Catania (2003); Rhodes (2004); Cordoba (2005); New Forest (2006); Algarve (2007); Skiathos (2008); Tallinn (2009); Kos (2010); Malta (2011); A Coruna (2012); Siena (2013); Split (2014); Valencia (2015); Crete (2016) and Cadiz (2017).

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Air Pollution 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Air pollution modelling
• Aerosols and particles
• Emission studies
• Health effects
• Indoor air pollution
• Air data quality
• Monitoring and measuring
• Air pollution control technologies
• Industrial air pollution
• Global and regional studies
• Climate change effects
• Emerging pollutants
• Air pollution management, policy and legislation
• Socio economic issues
• Public engagement
• Emerging technologies
• Case studies

                                                 Find out more on the conference webpage.

Risk Analysis 2018

11th International Conference on Risk Analysis and Hazard Mitigation

6 - 8 June, 2018

Seville, Spain

Introduction

Risk Analysis 2018 is the 11th International Conference on Computer Simulation in Risk Analysis and Hazard Mitigation. Risk Analysis 2018 follows on from the other successful meetings in this series, which first started in Valencia, Spain (1998) and continued in Bologna, Italy (2000); Sintra, Portugal (2002); Rhodes, Greece (2004); Malta (2006); Cephalonia, Greece (2008); Algarve, Portugal (2010); the island of Brac in Croatia (2012), the New Forest, home of the Wessex Institute of Technology (2014) and Crete, Greece (2016).

The conference covers a series of important topics of current research interests and many practical applications. It is concerned with all aspects of risk management and hazard mitigation, associated with both natural and anthropogenic hazards.

Current events help to emphasise the importance of the analysis and management of risk to planners and researchers around the world. Natural hazards such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, fires and others have always affected human societies. The more recent emergence of the importance of man-made hazards is a consequence of the rapid technological advances made in the last few centuries. The interaction of natural and anthropogenic risks adds to the complexity of the problems.

The papers presented at the Risk Conferences cover a variety of topics related to risk analysis and hazard mitigation. They are published as volumes of Transactions of Engineering Sciences, which is widely disseminated around the world in both hardcover and digital formats. Furthermore, all the papers are also archived in the WIT eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary), where they are freely and permanently available to the international scientific community.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at SUSI 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Risk analysis, assessment and management
• Early warning and vulnerability
• Temporal and spatial aspects of risk
• Disaster management
• Vulnerability assessment
• Health risk
• Case studies
• Natural disasters (climate change, earthquake, flood)
• Engineering risk (construction and transportation)
• Safety and security
• Evacuation, simulation and design
• Political and socio-economic risk
• Community and economic resilience
• Communication of risk
• Insurance
• Economic risk

                                                 Find out more on the conference webpage.

SUSI 2018

15th International Conference on Structures under Shock and Impact

4 - 6 June, 2018

Seville, Spain

Introduction

SUSI 2018 is the 15th International Conference in the successful series of Structures Under Shock and Impact. The first conference started in Cambridge, Massachusetts, (1989) and continued in Portsmouth, UK (1992); Madrid, Spain (1994); Udine, Italy (1996); Thessaloniki, Greece (1998); Cambridge, UK (2000); Montreal (2002); Crete (2004); the New Forest, home to the Wessex Institute (2006); the Algarve, Portugal (2008); Tallinn, Estonia (2010), Kos, Greece (2012); The New Forest, UK (2014); and Crete, Greece (2016).

The increasing need to protect civilian infrastructure and industrial facilities against unintentional loads arising from accidental impact and explosion events as well as a terrorist attack is reflected in the sustained interest in the SUSI meetings over three decades. While advances have been made over this period, nevertheless many challenges remain, such as to develop more effective and efficient blast and impact mitigation approaches than currently exist. The primary focus remains the survivability of physical facilities and the protection of people, as well as reducing economic losses and impact on the environment, with emphasis on innovative protective technologies to support the needs of an economically growing, modern society. The application of this technology ranges from the safe transportation of people in several modes and the transportation of dangerous or combustible materials to defences against natural hazard threats such as flood, wind, storm, tsunami and earthquake.

Large-scale testing is prohibitive and small-scale laboratory testing results in scaling uncertainties. Continuing research is therefore essential to improve knowledge of how these structures behave under a variety of load actions, some of which interact making it even more complex and difficult to define. Consequently, more use of advanced numerical simulations for load and structural response calculations is common practice in industry and research. Such calculations can directly be used in design and risk assessment calculations, but also be applied as an input to more simplified design tools and design codes. Whether numerical or analytical modelling techniques are employed, experimental validation is vital for there to be acceptance of the approach to be used. The SUSI meeting over the years has fulfilled many objectives, not least to provide a forum for the exchange of research ideas and results to promote a better understanding of these critical issues relating to the testing behaviour, modelling and analyses of protective structures against blast and impact loading.

It is the objective of these meetings to bring together scientists and engineers from a wide range of academic disciplines and industrial backgrounds who have an interest in the structural impact and blast response of structures and materials. In this way, the major developments in different areas can be brought to the attention of the entire community.

All papers presented at the SUSI conference since 1994 are archived in the eLibrary of the Wessex Institute (www.witpress.com/elibrary), where they are accessible to the international community.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at SUSI 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Impact and blast loading
• Energy absorbing issues
• Computational and experimental results
• Response of reinforced concrete under impact
• Response of building to blast
• Seismic behaviour
• Protection of existing structures
• Industrial accidents and explosions
• Hazard mitigation and assessment
• Security issues
• Dynamic analysis of composite structures
• Vehicle impact
• Ballistics analysis
• Dynamic material behaviour
• Structural design against multipole based activities
• Fluid structure interaction

                                             Find out more on the conference webpage.

Water Pollution 2018

14th International Conference on Monitoring, Modelling and Management of Water Pollution

22 - 24 May, 2018

A Coruña, Spain

Introduction

Water Pollution 2018 is the 14th International Conference in the series of Monitoring, Modelling and Management of Water Pollution. The conference, which has always been very successful, provides a forum for discussion amongst scientists, managers and academics from different areas of water contamination. The wealth of information exchanged in this international meeting continues to be of great benefit to all involved with water pollution problems. 

The environmental problems caused by the increase of pollutant loads discharged into natural water bodies requires the formation of a framework for regulation and control. This framework needs to be based on scientific results that relate pollutant discharge with changes in water quality. The results of these studies allow the industry to apply more efficient methods of controlling and treating waste loads, and water authorities to enforce appropriate regulations regarding this matter. Environmental problems are essentially interdisciplinary. Engineers and scientists working in this field must be familiar with a wide range of issues including the physical processes of mixing and dilution, chemical and biological processes, mathematical modelling, data acquisition and measurement, to name but a few. In view of the scarcity of available data, it is important that experiences are shared on an international basis. Thus, a continuous exchange of information between scientists from different countries is essential.

The Water Pollution Conference started in Southampton in 1991 and has been held in Milan, Italy (1993); Porto Carras, Greece (1995); Lake Bled, Slovenia (1997); Lemnos, Greece (1999); Rhodes, Greece (2001); Cadiz, Spain (2003); Bologna, Italy (2006); Alicante, Spain (2008); Bucharest, Romania (2010); The New Forest, UK, home of the Wessex Institute (2012); the Algarve (2014), and Venice in 2016. All published papers since 1993 have been widely distributed and archived in the eLibrary where they are permanently and freely available to the scientific community (www.witpress.com/elibrary).

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Water Pollution 2018. Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

• Water contamination
• Monitoring, modelling and forecasting
• Water management
• Wastewater management
• Groundwater and aquifers
• Flood damage
• Freshwater quality
• Coastal and offshore pollution
• Health risk studies
• Agricultural contamination
• Industrial pollution
• Water reusage
• Emerging technologies
• Socio-economic-political consequences
• Population and climate change
• Education and training

                                                Find out more on the conference webpage.

Complex Systems 2018

The New Forest Complex Systems Conference 2018

14 - 16 May, 2018

The New Forest, UK

Introduction

The Complex Systems Conference aims to bring together researchers and practitioners of Complex Systems from a variety of disciplines interested in developing the new approaches for resolving complex issues that cannot be resolved using conventional mathematical or software models.

It also welcomes specialists in modelling complex issues using Multi-Agent Technology and similar distributed approaches, which have achieved credible application results, and those aspiring to design and build Digital Ecosystems, inspired by natural ecosystems.

The Conference is particularly interested in methods for resolving complex issues that exhibit the following attributes: connectivity, autonomy, emergence, non-equilibrium, non-linearity, self-organisation and co-evolution.

High level of dynamics of such systems, which is usually expressed through the frequent occurrence of unpredictable disruptive events, makes conventional optimizers, batch schedulers and resource planning systems unworkable.

Complex Systems occur in an infinite variety of problems, not only in the realm of physical sciences and engineering but encompassing fields as diverse as the economy, the environment, humanities, social and political sciences. Further examples are given in the enclosed list of topics which although incomplete gives an idea of the themes to be covered by the meeting.

By now the conference is well established and is distinguished by its friendly and informal atmosphere in which it is easy for participants to help each other to further advance their appreciation of the subject of managing complexity.

Among the participants, one will find renowned complexity thinkers, well-established practitioners and novices in the area of complexity happily discussing issues of common interest.

And, of course, the New Forest is beautiful and provides the right opportunity to bring your family and friends with you.

Papers presented at previous meetings have been published in paper and digital format. They are freely available in Open Access format in the WIT eLibrary (www.witpress.com/elibrary).

Conference Topics

All issues arising from complexity are acceptable. Examples of particular interest are given below:

Complexity Science

• Emergence
• Emergent Intelligence
• Adaptation in response to disruptive events
• Resilience to extreme events
• Autocatalytic properties
• Self-organisation
• Evolution

Digital Ecosystems

• Urban digital ecosystems
• Healthcare digital ecosystems

Complex Adaptive Business

• Self-organisation versus control
• Real-time logistics
• Real-time supply chains
• Adaptive business processes
• Enterprise ontology
• Mining big data (extracting knowledge from data)
• Resilience to electronic attacks and fraud

Complex Adaptive Healthcare

• Adaptation in human biology
• Self-organisation of healthcare resources

Complex Networks

• The Internet of documents
• The Internet of people
• The Internet of things
• Social media

Complexity in Transportation Systems

• Self-organisation in air traffic management
• Adaptive aircraft lifecycle
• Adaptive space logistics
• Intelligent drones
• Real-time scheduling of multi-modal transport
• Swarming

                                                 Find out more on the conference webpage.