CHUDNOVSKY, Alexander
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois - USA

VERGHESE, Nikhil E.
Corporate R&D - MS&IR - Materials Research
Freeport, Texas - USA

Abstract
The effect of scale is of great importance in the evaluation of performance of any material. This is mainly so because all materials have morphologies and structural details that exist in different forms and sizes and at different length scales. Often times in nature, even though the material in a system based on its chemical constituents is similar, it is put together in a unique way at different length scales and provides a critical function in concert with the remaining structure to serve the overall purpose both effectively and efficiently.
The 2 sessions being put together each explore different definitions of scale. One focuses on the element of time which is an extremely crucial component of scale, namely "How long will something last under a specific set of conditions?" and "How can we reliably evaluate this experimentally using short-term experiments so that we have the ability to rapidly compare and select different materials?" . It therefore seeks to bring together people who have spent time on the topic of accelerated test protocol development and those who have developed philosophies to tackle the problem of predicting lifetime of a material or a system.
The other session investigates the element of size which is another element of scale. In doing so it focuses its attention on the topic of of damage and its development which is a precursor to final failure (therefore ties into the topic for session 1). This session will attempt to bring together people who have spent time understanding and defining damage and its development in specific scenarios and possibly over different length scales and those who have made attempts to prevent the progression of damage namely healing. This being a broad topic, the session will be open to discussions on damage in biological or natural as well as synthetic or man-made systems.

BOTVINA, Ludmila R.
Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science
Russian Academy of Sciences - Inst. of Metallurgy
Moscow - Russia

KORSUNSKY, Alexander M.
Department of Engineering Science
University of Oxford
United Kingdom

Abstract
Fundamental laws governing the evolution of fracture remain unchanged across various scale levels, from microscopic to global, i.e. associated with natural processes occurring in the earth crust. This conclusion follows from the analysis of extensive literature on the subject of fracture process zone kinetics, the main features of fracture surfaces, and crack size distribution curves.
These regularities also manifest themselves in changing physical characteristics: number of acoustic and seismic events, their magnitude distribution, parameters of propagation of ultrasound and seismic waves.
This multidisciplinary Mini-Symposium will allow to bring together researchers of various fields of science, including materials science, fracture mechanics, nondestructive testing, geophysics and seismology, and will make it possible to discuss common laws of mechanical and physical behavior of solids underlying the size effects and the self-similarity of the fracture process.