Beginnings of theInternational Association
for Computational
Mechanics (IACM)
J. Tinsley Oden

WCCM-ECCOMAS Congress
will take placein 2021in DIGITAL version
January 11 to 15, 2021
Francisco Chinesta,
Rémi Abgrall,
Olivier Allix,
Michael Kaliske& David Néron

Bits and Bugs Thomas Huckle
Tobias NeckelBook Review
by Dan Givoli

KSCM
GIMC
USACM
GACM
CSMA
JACM
JSCES
UKACM
ACMT
SEMNI
ABMEC
AMCA

Korea
Italy
U.S.A.
Germany
France
Japan
Japan
U.K.
Asia Pacific
Spain
BrazilArgentina

Conference Diary

Bulletin for
The International Association
for Computational Mechanics

No 47
July 2020

Executive Council

IACM Affiliated Associations and Presidents

President: Antonio Huerta, Spain
Past Presidents: W. K. Liu, U.S.A., T. Hughes U.S.A, J.T. Oden U.S.A., E.Oñate Spain,
G. Yagawa Japan, A. SamuelssonU Sweden, O.C. ZienkiewiczU U.K.
Vice President (Americas): J. Fish, U.S.A
Vice President (Asia-Australia): S. Yoshimura, Japan
Vice President (Europe-Middle East-Africa): O. Allix, France
Secretary General: J. Dolbow, U.S.A
Members: F. Auricchio Italy, J.S. Chen USA, A. Coutinho Brazil, R. de Borst U.K.,
C. Farhat USA, S. Idelsohn Argentina, K. Kashiyama Japan, Y. Y. Kim Korea, T. Laursen UAE,
N. Moes France, D. R. J. Owen U.K., M. Papadrakakis Greece, K. Terada Japan,
P. Wriggers Germany, S.-K. Youn Korea

IACM General Council
O. Allix France
J. Ambrósio Portugal
T. Aoki Japan
I. Arias Spain
P. Ariza Spain
H. Askes UK
F. Auricchio Italy
J. Baiges Spain
P. Barbosa Lourenço Portugal
F. B. Barros Brazil
Z. P. Bar-Yoseph Israel
Y. Bazilevs United States
H. Ben Dhia France
M. Behr Germany
T. Burczynski Poland
D. Camotim Portugal
A. Cardona Argentina
D. Celentano Chile
S.W. Chae Korea
J-S. Chen United States
P. Chen China
D. Chen Taiwan
M. Cho Korea
I. Colominas Spain
M. Cruchaga Chile
F.S. Cui Singapore
P. de Mattos Pimenta Brazil
L. Demkowicz Poland
P. Díez Spain
J. Dolbow United States
J.L. Drummond Alves Brazil
C. A. Duarte United States
A. Düster Germany
E. N. Dvorkin Argentina
G. Etse Argentina
G. Farias Moita Brazil
F. Feyel France
N. Filipovic Serbia
K. Fujii Japan
K. Garikipati..United States
V. Gavini United States
R. G. Ghanem United States
S. Ghosh United States
L. Godoy Argentina
A. Gravouil France
Y.T. Gu Australia
S. Hagihara Japan
I. Hagiwara Japan
X. Han China

I. Harari Israel
T. J. R. Hughes United States
A. Iafrati Italy
A. Ibrahimbegovic France
S. Idelsohn Spain
I. Iordanoff France
D. Isobe JapanK. Kashiyama Japan
C. Kim Korea
M. Kleiber Poland
S. Klinkel Germany
T. Kobayashi Japan
J. Korelc Slovenia
S. Koshizuka Japan
E. Kuhl United States
O. J. Kwon Republic of Korea
P. Ladevèze France
O. Laghrouche U.K.
C. O. Lee Republic of Korea
H. K. Lee Republic of Korea
T. H. Lee Republic of Korea
S. Leyendecker Germany
A. Lew United States
G. Li China
Q. Li Australia
S. Li United States
Z. Liu China
C.W. Lim Hong Kong
T. A. Lodygowski Poland
P. R. M. Lyra Brazil
S. Marfia Italy
A. Marsden United States
J. Matsumoto Japan
Y. Matsumoto Japan
A. Menzel Germany
G. Meschke Germany
N. Miyazaki Japan
N. Moës France
J. Murín Slovakia
T. Münz Germany
T. Nagashima JapanK. Nakajima Japan
I. Narra Figuereido Portugal
R. N. Jorge Portugal
T. Y. Ng Singapore
N. Nishimura Japan
S. Nishiwaki Japan
T. Nomura Japan
S. Obayashi JapanJ. T. Oden United States
R. Ohayon France
H. Okada JapanS. Okazawa Japan
H. Okuda Japan
X. Oliver Spain
J. Orkisz Poland
M. Oshima Japan
J. Pamin Poland
H. S. Park United States
C. Pearce U. K.
J. C. F. Pereira Portugal
C. B. Pina Portugal
J. P. Ponthot Belgium
F. G. Rammerstorfer Austria
A. Reali Italy
I. Romero Spain
J. Schröder Germany
L. J. Sluys Netherlands
C. Song Australia
J. Soric Croatia
G. E. Stavroulakis Greece
G. Steven Australia
J. Stewart United States
N. Sukumar United States
K. Suzuki Japan
N. Takano Japan
N. Takeuchi Japan
M. N. Tamin Malaysia
V. B. C. Tan Singapore
J. A. Teixeira de Freitas Portugal
T. Tezduyar United States
R. Tian China
G. J. van Heijst Netherlands
W. Wall Germany
D. Wang China
H. Watanabe Japan
M. Xie Australia
T. Yabe Japan
G. Yagawa JapanT. Yamada JapanM. Yamamoto Japan
S. Yoshimura JapanK. Yuge JapanJ. Yvonnet France
Q. Zhang China
J. Zhang United States
Y. Zheng China
T. Zohdi United States

IACM Honorary Members
E. Alarcon Spain, E. de Arantes e Oliveira Portugal, T. Belytschko USA, J. Besseling Netherlands,
Y.K. Cheung China, C.K. Choi Korea, R. Dautray France, C.S. Desai U.S.A., S.J. Fenves U.S.A.,
R. Glowinski U.S.A., A. Jameson U.S.A., T. Kawai Japan, M. Kleiber Poland, P.K. Larsen Norway,
C. Mota Soares Portugal, J. Périaux France, O. Pironneau France, K.S. Pister U.S.A.,
E. Stein Germany, G. Strang U.S.A., C.W. Trowbridge U. K., S. Valliappan Australia,
E.L. Wilson U.S.A., W. Wunderlich Germany, G. Yagawa Japan, Y. Yamada Japan, Y. Yamamoto Japan,
W. Zhong China
Members of the Executive Council, Honorary Members & Presidents of Affiliated Associations are also
members of the General Council

IACM Membership - Fee
The annual fee for direct individual membership of IACM is 25 US dollars. For affiliated organisations themembership fee is reduced to 10US dollars. The Bulletin and a discount on IACM supported activities(congress, seminars, etc.) are some of the benefits of the membership.
IACM members are invited to send their contributions to the editors.
Views expressed in the contributed articles are not necessarily those of the IACM.

Argentina (AMCA)
V. Fachinotti
Asociación Argentina de Mecánica Computacional
Australia(AACM)
N. Khalili
Australian Association of Computational Mechanics
Belgium(NCTAM)
J-P. Ponthot
Belgian National Committee for Theoretical & Applied Mechanics
Brazil(ABMEC)E. de Morais Barreto CampelloBrazillian Association for Comp. Methods in Engineering
Austria, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, The Czech
Republic, Bosnia & Herzegovina(CEACM)
B. Pichler
Central-European Association for Comp. Mechanics
Chile(SCMC)
N. Moraga Benavides
Sociedad Chilena de Mecánica Computacional
PR China (CACM)
Z. Zhuang
Chinese Association of Computational Mechanics
France(CSMA)
F. Chinesta
Computational Structural Mechanics Association
Germany(GACM)
M. Kaliske
German Association of Computational Mechanics
Greece(GRACM)
M. Papadrakakis
The Greek Association of Computational Mechanics
Hong Kong (HKACM)
A.Y.T. Leung
Hong Kong Association of Computational Mechanics
Israel(IACMM)
Z. Yosibash
Israel Association of Computational Methods in Mechanics
Italy(GIMC/AIMETA) A. Pandolfi
Italian Group of Computational Mechanics
Japan(JSCES)T. YamadaJapan Society for Computational Engineering and ScienceJapan(JACM)
H. Okada
Japan Association for Computational Mechanics
Korea(KACM)
H-G. Kwak
Korean Association on Computational Mechanics
Korea(KSCM)Y. Y. Kim
Korean Society of Computational Mechanics
Malaysia(MACM)
A.K. Ariffin
Malaysian Association for Computational Mechanics
Mexico(AMMNI)
S. Botello
Asociación Mexicana de Métodos Numéricos en Ingeniería
Netherlands (NMC)
G-J.van Heijst
Netherlands Mechanics Committee
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania,
Norway, Sweden (NoACM)
T. Kvamsdal
The Nordic Association for Computational Mechanics
Poland(PACM)
J. Rojek
Polish Association for Computational Mechanics
Portugal(APMTAC)J. C. de Sá
Portuguese Society of Theoretical, Applied &Computational Mechanics
Serbia(SSCM)
M. Kojic
Serbian Association for Computational Mechanics
Singapore (SACM)
C. Fangsen
Singapore Association for Computational Mechanics
South Africa (SAAM)
S. Skatulla
South African Association for Theoretical & Applied Mechanics
Spain(SEMNI)E. Cueto
Sociedad Española de Métodos Numéricos en Ingeniería
Taiwan(ACMT)
Y.B. Yang
Taiwan Association for Computational Mechanics Taiwan
Thailand(TSCE)
W. Kanok-Nukulchai
Thailand Society of Computational Engineering
U.K.
(UKACM)
R. Sevilla
Association for Computer Methods in Engineering
U.S.A.
(USACM)
J. Dolbow
United States Association for Computational Mechanics

IACM Expressions
Published by: (IACM)
The International Association for Computational Mechanics
Editorial Address:
IACM Secretariat, Edificio C1, Campus Norte UPC,
Gran Capitán s/n, 08034, Barcelona, Spain.
Tel:(34) 93 - 405 4697
Email:
secretariat@iacm.info
Web:www.iacm.info
Editor:
Eugenio Oñate
Production Manager: Diane Duffett
Email:
diane.duffett@telefonica.net
Advertising:For details please contact
Diane Duffett at the
IACM Secretariat

2 Beginnings of the International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM)
J. Tinsley Oden
7 WCCM-ECCOMAS Congress will take placein 2021in DIGITAL version from January 11 to 15, 2021
Francisco Chinesta, Rémi Abgrall, Olivier Allix,
Michael Kaliske & David Néron
8 Bits and Bugs - Thomas Huckle & Tobias NeckelBook Review by Dan Givoli
10 KSCM

Korea

11 GIMCItaly

12 USACM

U.S.A.

14 GACM

Germany

17 CSMAFrance18 JACMJapan

20 JSCESJapan

22 UKACM

U.K.

24 ACMT

Asia Pacific

26 SEMNI

Spain

27 ABMEC

Brazil28 AMCA

Argentina

contents

29 Conference Diary PlannerB eginnings of the
I nternational A ssociation for C omputational M echanics(IACM)
byJ. Tinsley Oden

he Age of Computational Mechanics: What might be called the Age ofComputational Mechanics began in the mid-1950s with the confluence ofdevelopments in digital computers, computing technology and in revolutionary,
powerful numerical methods for solving partial differential equations.

T

These remarkable new developments gradually matured, and entered theconsciousness of the members of the engineering and science communities.
Many saw this period as a renaissance in applied science, providing new ways toview and resolve scientific and engineering problems in mechanics utilizing
computers. Some argue that this renaissance represented one of the greatest
scientific advancements in human history. It has certainly transformed every facetof engineering, revolutionizing engineering education and practice and has changed
forever how knowledge about physical processes and engineering can be used forthe benefit of mankind. The field has become a third pillar of science, standing
beside empirical observations and mathematical theory as a new path toward
acquiring knowledge about the behavior of physical systems.

iacm expressions 47/20 2

Postcard 1:
WCCM I
Austin 1986

“ The field has
become a third
pillar of science,
What is computational mechanics? It is the multidisciplinary, intellectual, scientific, andengineering field concerned with the use of computational methods and devices to fulfill
the mission of theoretical and applied mechanics. What is mechanics? Most primitively,
it is the study of the motion and behavior of material bodies under the action of forces.
However, forces do work, so mechanics must include the study of energy and thermodynamics. Thus, the full spectrum of physical processes taking place in our universe –thermal, electromechanical, quantum, molecular – fall under the general purview of
mechanics, while their study and utilization is within the province of computational
mechanics. Because of its importance in modern science and technology, it is understandable that the worldwide communities involved in research and applications ofcomputational mechanics were highly receptive to finding means to preserve, enrich,and perpetuate this field. This was the general consensus of many researchers andpractitioners during the 1970s and beyond.

standing
beside empiricalobservations &mathematicaltheory as a newpath toward...”The Idea and Creation of the IACM: By the mid-1970s, it was an undeniable fact thatthe interdisciplinary field of computational mechanics had emerged as a driving force inengineering and applied science throughout the academic and the industrialized world.
Postcard 2:
WCCM II
Stuttgart 1990

3 iacm expressions 47/20

Postcard 3:
WCCM II
Stuttgart 1990

companies were being created that employed the tools of computational“ ... suggested that Numerous
mechanics, new journals on the subject were launched by major publishers, courses

the time wasright fororganizing aninternational
association
devoted tosupporting
research,
educatingstudents, &facilitating
collaborations...”Postcard 4:
WCCM IIITokyo 1994

iacm expressions 47/20 4on the subject were added to the engineering curricula of many universities, andresearch centers were organized at several universities in different continents. Amongthem was a research institute at my home institution (U. Texas) which coined the term“Computational Mechanics” and launched TICOM in 1973. Other institutions developed
similar research groups, such as the famous team led by Olek Zienkiewicz at Swansea,
while Richard Gallagher was vigorously supporting new academic programs in thesubject at the University of Arizona and later at Clarkson University, where he was
President. It was within this environment that the three of us – me, the incomparable
Olek Zienkiewicz, and the venerable Dick Gallagher, found ourselves in 1980 at MIT
attending a conference on Finite Element Methods.
One evening during the meeting, the three of us went to dinner at a local seafood
restaurant. I will never forget that Olek ordered and consumed a huge lobster dinner.
It was Dick Gallagher that first suggested that the time was right for organizing aninternational association devoted to supporting research, educating students, andfacilitating collaborations that promoted and enriched the field of computational
mechanics.
The idea was that the International Association would be a federation of worldwide
associations that would periodically hold a World Congress on Computational
Mechanics, organize many related conferences and symposia devoted to subsets ofthe field, such as computational fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, electromagnetics,
applied mathematics, numerical analysis, and high-performance computing. In addition,
regional conferences would be held to foster collaboration with groups in Asia, Europe,
the Americas, and Africa. After the MIT dinner meeting, the three of us drafted a letterto prominent university researchers, describing the general plan and calling for ameeting of those interested to formally put in place an International Association for
Computational Mechanics. Such a meeting was first held at Georgia Institute ofTechnology in April, 1981, and it laid the groundwork for IACM, which was formallyestablished in 1983. The First World Congress on Computational Mechanics (WCCM I)
was held in Austin in 1986. In that meeting, further progress on developing the organizational plan and by-laws was made. Today IACM is a highly respected organization,
Postcard 5:
WCCM IV
Buenos Aires 1998

Postcard 6:
WCCM V
Vienna 2000

5 iacm expressions 47/20

Postcard 7:
WCCM VI
Beijing 2002

looked to by all proponents of computational mechanics as the body that serves as thesteward of the field which shepherds its growth and success.

“ ... valuable
framework foradvancingComputational
Mechanics thathas uplifted,
enabled, andenriched engineering andscience ...”

Postcard 8:
WCCM VII
Los Angeles 2006

iacm expressions 47/20 6

IACM Today: Today IACM has a membership of over 5,000 and consists of 33 affiliateorganizations worldwide devoted to Computational Mechanics. It has held 13 World
Congresses at sites that rotate between three geographical regions: the Americas,
Europe-Africa, and Asia-Australia. It has hosted numerous regional meetings andspecial technical conferences and it has established a prestigious list of medals andawards to recognize outstanding work in the field. I believe that the Association
has been hugely successful and has provided an extremely valuable framework foradvancing Computational Mechanics that has uplifted, enabled, and enrichedengineering and science throughout the world.
[I wish to thank Ruth Hengst for helping me recall dates and for typing this account.
She has been my friend and colleague and a great asset to the IACM from its inception
back in the 1980s. Also thanks to colleagues Tarek Zohdi, Ivo Babuska, and Tom
Hughes who made constructivecomments on an earlier draft.]WCCM-ECCOMAS Congress will take placein DIGITAL version from January 11 to 15, 2021
Francisco Chinesta
Rémi Abgrall
Olivier Allix
Michael Kaliske& David Néron

he tragedy of the covid-19 pandemic has made impossible to organize the joint
14th World Congress in Computational Mechanics and ECCOMAS Congress inParis in July 2020. The enthusiastic response of all the community with more than 400
mini-symposia (MS) and more than 5000 papers accepted, along with an exceptional
implication of the young community, has motivated the organizers to do whatever was
possible in order not to lose the work and involvement of so many scientists. This at
the end led us to this digital format. The schedule is unfortunately tied, please help us
to make this event the success that it deserves.

T

We are convinced that this new format, even with some drawbacks, has many
advantages, in particular for young scientists but also for the others. For instance,
it will become possible to follow all the presentations, browsing easily all the MS,
surfing by keywords from one room to another and selecting only the talks that you
want. The different talks will be available over a longer period than the classicalone-week format. We paid special attention to maintain interaction between theparticipants to that purpose, direct exchanges with other participants, either by voice orby chat will be possible.
All colleagues who already have an accepted paper will be asked to know ifthey want to continue the story.
New participants, who are interested in joining the conference, can submit an
abstract before October 25, 2020.
All presenters will be able to propose a recording of their talk via a dedicatedplatform provided and to participate to live discussion sessions.

“We hope you will embrace our proposal as a means to create an enthusiastic
and successful scientific event for our community. We look forward to this newexperience and thank you for your understanding and support.”
7 iacm expressions 47/20

Bits and Bugs
Thomas Huckle and Tobias Neckel
SIAM, Philadelphia, USA, 2019

B
O
O
K
R
E
V
I
E
W

ISBN: : 978-1-611975-55-0, 251 pages, soft cover, $44 (List Price).
Contents: Preface; 1: Introduction; 2: Machine Numbers, Precision, and Rounding Errors;
3: Mathematical Modeling and Discretization; 4: Design of Control Systems; 5: Synchronizationand Scheduling; 6: Software-Hardware Interplay; 7: Complexity; 8: Appendix; Index.
This uniquely interesting book, published as part of the SIAM series "Software – Environments –Tools", is a collection of analyzed true stories, or case studies, on failures due to numerical bugs.
The two authors are affiliated with the Institut für Informatik at the Technical University of Munich(TUM). The book is a very impressive work of collecting failure cases in scientific computing andanalyzing them.
The structure of the book is well thought and highly effective. Each section, which discusses
a specific case study, includes the following: (a) an amusing opening quote, often extremely
relevant to the case under study; (b) a brief overview (field of application; what happened; theloss; the type of failure); (c) an introduction (the background story); (d) the timeline (a detailed
description of the case); (e) a detailed description of the bug; (f) a discussion on the bug;(g) a discussion on related bugs (either other bugs in the same field of application or similarbugs in other fields); (h) bibliography. Scientific subjects that are relevant to understanding the
bug are explained in inserts called "excursions". The book is scattered with many illustrations,photos and QR codes for videos related to the failures discussed. I like the preciseness of the
exposition and the general appearance of the book.
When I teach a course on a computational subject, I tell the students that we will be using thewords "error" and "mistake" to mean two different things (there are two separate words in
Hebrew too). The error is the difference between the exact and computed solutions and isunavoidable. We wish to make the error small, but very rarely can we make it vanish. A mistakeis a flaw in the algorithm, a bug, etc., and must be completely avoided. In this book, there is no
distinction between the two words; the word "error" is used constantly to mean a bug, a mistake.
On the other hand, the authors distinguish between a bug (fault) and a defect. On page 4 there
is an amusing story about the source of the word "bug".
Each chapter deals with a certain type of bug or mistake. I will mention just one representative
case study from each chapter, except for Chapter 3, which I will describe in more detail below.
The chapter on rounding errors includes the story of the 1996 failure of the Ariane 5 launcher;the chapter on control systems includes a section on fly-by-wire; the chapter on schedulingincludes a description of the Mars Pathfinder failure; the chapter on software-hardware interaction
includes a section on the Pentium division bug; and the chapter on complexity includes the story
about the 1990's failures in the Denver Airport.

Chapter 3, on mistakes related to mathematical modeling and discretization, would probably be
the chapter most interesting to readers from the Computational Mechanics (CM) community.
It includes four case studies. The first is the loss of the Norwegian gas rig Sleipner A, due to ill
judgment in the Finite Element (FE)modeling. The design of the rig was
flawed due to a number of poor
choices in the FE discretization
byprocess. In particular, the FE mesh
Dan Givoli(the authors use the phrase "layout
Technion of the FE grid cells") was too skewed
and included low-order elements
Israel Institute ofwith a too high aspect ratio. This
Technology
caused an underestimation of thegivolid@technion.ac.il
Thomas Huckle
Tobias Neckel
iacm expressions 48/20 8

Figure 1:
The London Millennium Bridge failure, due to wrong input in the FE modeling.
Left: snapshot from a YouTube movie, showing the wobbling of the bridge during its opening.
Right: snapshot from another YouTube movie, showing the testing of the bridge after its repair and before
its reopening. Figure 3.11 in the book includes the QR codes for these two movies.
shear stresses in the structure. The anecdotes around the main story are also interesting: forexample, the project engineers were well aware of the poor quality of the mesh, but decided that
this would not be problematic, since in a previous case this type of mesh had been "successful".
This section includes a number of "excursions" on scientific subjects: "modeling and simulation","FE method" (with a slightly confused mixture of minimization and the weak form), "interpolation"and "extrapolation".
The second case study is that of the 2000 failure of the London Millennium Bridge. See Figure 1.
The failure was caused by a mistake in the load input; the case of many people walking in unisonon the bridge was not considered. The third case in this chapter is related to numerical weather
prediction; see Figure 2. In particular, it discusses the underestimation of the thunderstorm
Lothar in Europe in 1999. The failure was caused by two factors. First, the data assimilation
procedure caused a time shift in the measurements, which the computational software wasunaware of. Second, the time-step size of the global model was too large, which resulted inpoor boundary conditions for the regional model. The fourth case study, entitled "mathematicalfinance", discusses the rapid fall of financial markets due to careless use of mathematicalalgorithms for high-frequency trading.
In summary, this is a highly enjoyable book, and a good read for anybody interested in scientificcomputing. As the authors write in the Introduction, the book can be used as a supplementarymaterial for courses on numericalmethods, it can motivate
beginners in the field of scientificcomputing and raise the interestof the general public in the field,
and "it can just entertain theinterested reader". lFigure 2:
Computational weather
prediction: the Global Climate
Model (GCM) and the Regional
Climate Model (RCM).
This figure (not in the book) is
taken by permission from
F. Giorgi, "Thirty Years ofRegional Climate Modeling:
Where Are We and Where Are
We Going next?"
J. of Geophysical Research:
Atmospheres,
124, 5696–5723, 20199 iacm expressions 47/20

for all inclusions under KSCM
please contact
Ikjin Lee이익진 ikjin.lee@kaist.ac.kr

KSCM 2019
Winter Workshop
SCM 2019 Winter Workshop was held in the Four Seasons Hotel, Seoul,
Korea, on 21 Nov 2019. The workshop organized by the Korean Society for
Computational Mechanics aims to bring together Korean researchers in thefield of computational mechanics and to encourage research exchange andnetworking.

K

Three speakers – Hyungyu Kim (Seoul National University of Science &Technology), Sehun Chun (Yonsei University) and Namwoo Kang (Sookmyung
Women’s University) – gave lectures on the recent research trend incomputational mechanics.
Further information will be found at: http://www.kscm-society.org/. l

Figures 1, 2 & 3:
Speakers of KSCM 2019 Winter Workshop:
Attendants and Speakers:
Top Left:
Hyungyu Kim(Seoul National University of Science &Technology),
Top Right:
Sehun Chun
(Yonsei University),
andBottom Right:
Namwoo Kang
(Sookmyung Women’s University)

iacm expressions 47/20 10

for all inclusions under GIMC please contact
Sonia Marfia
sonia.marfia@uniroma3.it
Gruppo Italiano di
Meccanica Computazionale

News from the

Italian Associationof Theoretical and Applied Mechanics(AIMETA)The Italian Association of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics has renewed its
committee of directors. The newly elected members are:Stefano Lenci (President)
Paolo Luchini (Vicepresident)
Sandra Carillo (Secretary)
Carlo Casciola
Walter D’Ambrogio.
Fernando Fraternali
Umberto Perego
The Italian Group of Computational Mechanics (GIMC) sees a new composition, with
the new appointed members:
Stefano de Miranda
Giovanni Garcea
Sonia Marfia (Coordinator).

The GIMC GMA GBMA 2020
conference
has been postponed to 2021
http://www.gimc-gma-gbma-2020.unirc.it/

GIMC Best PhD Thesis Award
The GIMC Best PhD Thesis Awards committee, composed by Giuseppe
Giambanco (Universita’ di Palermo), Marco Donato de Tullio (Politecnico di Bari),
Leonardo Leonetti (Università della Calabria) and Lorenzo Sanavia (Universita’di Padova), selected the following theses, defended during the 2019 year, as thebest Theses in Computational Solid and Fluid Mechanics:-

Dr. Vito Diana, Politecnico di Milano, “Discrete Physically-Based Models
in Solid Mechanics” . This thesis was also selected as candidate to the
ECCOMAS PhD Award-

Dr. Simone Meduri, Politecnico di Milano, “A fully explicit Lagrangian
Finite Element Method for highly nonlinear Fluid-Structure Interaction
problems”.

11 iacm expressions 47/20

Workshop on Experimental
andComputational Fracture Mechanics
he Workshop on Experimental and Computational Fracture Mechanics was held
February 26-28, 2020 on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton,
Rouge, Louisiana. Comparison of numerical simulations against experimental
data is essential for the validation of fracture models in order to gain confidence intheir predictability and reliability. Peridynamics and phase field approaches haverecently delivered promising results for modeling complex fracture phenomena
and significant efforts have been carried out in the past years to validate thecorresponding fracture models using available experimental data.

T

However, on one hand, it is still unclear whether the data obtained from current
experiments is informative enough to satisfactorily validate models in fracture
mechanics. On the other hand, it would also be interesting to combine simulation
tools and experimental design to optimize control parameters in fracture mechanics
experiments.
The objectives of the workshop were to bring together experts in experimental
fracture mechanics, peridynamics, and phase field methods to discuss thestate-of-the-art of experimental measurement and computational modeling withapplications in fracture mechanics, to promote a dialogue between thesecommunities, and to identify challenges and pathways for robust validation ofphase field and peridynamic models as well as integration of experimental andmodeling efforts.

Figure 1:
Louisiana Digital Media Center,location of the Workshop

This workshop was sponsored by:
The Technical Thrust Area on Large Scale Structural Systems and Optimal Designof the US Association for Computational Mechanics,
The Center for Computation & Technology at Louisiana State University,
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
The Society for Experimental Mechanics,
and The U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics(USNC/TAM).
Further information on the participants and program may be found at
http://wfm2020.usacm.org. l
iacm expressions 47/20 12for all inclusions under USACM please contact
admin@usacm.org

2020 USACM
Executive Committee Election
USACM has completed the 2020 elections for members of the Executive Committee
which included many qualified candidates. We are pleased to welcome the newly
elected members as follows:
Secretary-Treasurer:
Rekha Rao, Sandia National Laboratories.
Dr. Rao will begin her term this summer and will then rotate to Vice-President in
2022 and then to President in 2024.
Members-at-Large:
There were four openings for a Member-at-Large position.
Those elected are:John Foster, Oden Institute, University of Texas at Austin
H. Alicia Kim, University of California - San Diego
Christian Linder, Stanford University
Caglar Oskay, Vanderbilt University
The newly elected members will begin their four-year term this summer.
Continuing members:
In addition to the newly elected members, the following will continue their tenure on
the Executive Committee as follows:
President: Yuri Bazilevs, Brown University
Vice-President: Narayana Aluru, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Members-at-Large:
Joseph Bishop, Sandia National Laboratories
Guglielmo Scovazzi, Duke University
Haim Waisman, Columbia University
Lucy Zhang, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Directors:
J. Tinsley Oden, Oden Institute, University of Texas at Austin
Thomas J.R. Hughes, Oden Institute, University of Texas at Austin
Outgoing members:
The following will conclude their terms on the Executive Committee this summer;
we are appreciative of their service to the community.
John Dolbow, Duke University (President)
Ellen Kuhl, Stanford University (Member-at-Large)
Shaofan Li, University of California, - Berkeley (Member-at-Large)
Alison Marsden, Stanford University (Member-at-Large)
Jessica Zhang, Carnegie Mellon University (Member-at-Large) l

USACM Upcoming Events
further details at usacm.orgmmm

Meshfree and Novel Finite Elements with Applications, September 27-29, 2020; Berkeley, California;
http://mfem2020.usacm.org
Isogeometric Analysis 2020, POSTPONED until November 6-9, 2022; Banff, Canada;
http://iga2020.usacm.org. "Virtual IGA, VIGA2020, will be held August 11-12, 2020.
Details may be found on the IGA2020 website."
16th National Congress on Computational Mechanics, July 25-29, 2021; Chicago, Illinois;
http://16.usnccm.org l
13 iacm expressions 47/20

GACM Best PhD Awards
n 2012, GACM has successfully established an award for young academics,
namely the GACM Best PhD Award. It is our great pleasure to announce thatthe two outstanding doctoral theses of Dr.-Ing. Tobias Kaiser as well as ofDr.-Ing. Bettina Schröder are honored with this award for the year 2019.

I

The thesis "Computational modelling of non-simple and anisotropic materials"of Tobias Kaiser was conducted at Technische Universität Dortmund and has been
performed under the academic supervision of Prof. Andreas Menzel.
The thesis of Bettina Schröder titled "Consistent Higher Order Accurate Time
Discretization Methods for Inelastic Material Models" was conducted at Universityof Kassel and supervised by Prof. Detlef Kuhl.

Dr.-Ing. Tobias Kaiser:“Computational modelling of non-simple and anisotropic materials”
In his thesis, Tobias Kaiser develops generalised continuum theories for elastically
deforming nanocomposites and for localised plastic deformation processes ofmetals. In particular, the classic structural tensor-based modelling approach forfibre-reinforced composite materials is extended by accounting for higher-gradientcontributions of the deformation map in terms of gradients of the spatial fibre direction
field in the Helmholtz free energy density function. Moreover, by considering a
specific combination of generalised invariants that can be interpreted in terms of thefibre-curvature, it was shown that the proposed formulation is, in principle, capable ofreproducing experimentally observed size effects in nanocomposites.
With regard to plastic deformation processes in metals, a thermodynamic consistentgradient plasticity theory is proposed. The theory bases on an extended form of theClausius-Duhem inequality by means of a non-locality residual and relies on thephysical interpretation of incompatible plastic deformations in terms of dislocation
density tensors.
Taking into account thekinematics of plastic
deformation processes, acrystal plasticity framework isused, and localisation
phenomena as well as theassociated regularisingproperties of the proposed
formulation are studied.

Dr.-Ing. Bettina Schröder:“Consistent Higher Order Accurate Time Discretization Methods for Inelastic
Material Models”
In her thesis, Bettina Schröder investigates the usage of higher order accurate time
integrators together with appropriate error estimators for small and finite dynamic(visco)plasticity. Therefore, she derives a multifield formulation, adapting the principleof Jourdain. The idea is to assume that the balance of energy - taking into account a
pseudopotential representing dissipative effects – resembles a rate-type functional,
iacm expressions 47/20 14

for all inclusions under gacm please contact:
Michael Kaliske
gacm@mailbox.tu-dresden.de

whose stationarity condition leads to the equations describing small or finite dynamic(visco)- plasticity. Accordingly, the material laws and the balance of linear momentum
can be solved on the same level and only one single time discretization has to be
performed.
A great freedom in the choice of time integrators is obtained and the applicationof higher order accurate schemes - such as Newmark’s method, fully implicit aswell as diagonally implicit Runge-Kutta schemes, and continuous as well as
discontinuous Galerkin methods - is facilitated. An analysis of this multifield
formulation is accomplished by means of distinct examples where also classicalapproaches towards small and finite dynamic (visco)-plasticity are considered forcomparison.
Additionally, a variety of time discretization error estimators are formulated andevaluated. l

9 th GACM Colloquium
on Computational Mechanics
2021 - Essen, Germany
The 9th GACM Colloquium on Computational Mechanics for Young Scientists fromAcademia and Industry will take place from 25 to 27 August 2021 in Essen,
Germany. The colloquium is jointly hosted by the Institute of Structural Analysis
of Plates and Shells and the Institute of Mechanics at the University of DuisburgEssen.
The GACM Colloquium is a biennial conference that brings together young
researchers in the field of computational mechanics. This event provides excellent opportunities for students and postdocs to present their work, to acquire newknowledge in the field of numerical modeling in engineering and science, and toestablish a network of colleagues and peers.
We would like to invite you to attend the 9th GACM Colloquium.
Detailed information will be announced soon on www.colloquia.gacm.de
Colloquium Chairpersons:
D. Brands,
H. Gravenkamp,
C. Nisters,
L. Scheunemann,
A. Schwarz

15 iacm expressions 47/20

Two GACM Related Research Training Groups by the German Research
Foundation (DFG)“Research Training Groups are established by universities to promote early career researchers.
They are funded by the DFG for a period of up to nine years. Their key emphasis is on thequalification of doctoral researchers within the framework of a focused research programme
and a structured training strategy.” [http://www.dfg.de/en]
GRK 2423 FRASCAL: Fracture across Scales: Integrating Mechanics, Materials
Science, Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics
The Research Training Group GRK 2423 FRASCAL started in January 2019 at theFriedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg and comprises eleven PhD projects andone postdoctoral project.
The aim of this interdisciplinary RTG, consisting of mechanics, materials science, mathematics,
chemistry and physics, is to gain a deeper understanding of the fracture behavior of brittle,
heterogeneous materials by developing simulation methods that can capture the multi-scalecharacter of fracture processes. Although various simulation approaches describing fracture
exist for particular types of materials and specific time and length scales, an integrated andoverarching approach that is able to capture fracture processes in different – and in particular
heterogeneous – materials at various length and time resolutions is still lacking. The projects of
the RTG cover a representative spectrum of brittle materials and their composites as well as
granular and porous materials. These are investigated on time and length scales relevant to thenatural and engineering sciences. Modelling and simulations are based on approaches fromquantum mechanics, molecular mechanics and continuum mechanics. These are embedded in
a comprehensive framework leading to a virtual laboratory. The knowledge thus gained and themethodological framework allow the development of tailor-made materials that are optimized
with regard to fracture behavior.
Coordinator: Prof. Paul Steinmann, Erlangen.
Homepage: https://www.frascal.research.fau.eu/

IRTG 2379: Modern Inverse Problems: From Geometry and Data to Models andApplications
The International Research Training Group 2379 “Modern Inverse
Problems” was initiated by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
in late 2018 and fully established in 2019.
It builds on a unique and complementary consortium, at RWTH Aachen University with its
Aachen Institute of Advanced Study in Computational Engineering Science (AICES), and at
the University of Texas at Austin with its Oden Institute for Computational Engineering andSciences.
The projects are embedded in the field of modern inverse problems and introduce a new
innovative perspective into the education of future scientists and engineers. They focus on
the challenges that arise in the interaction of the four specific themes: geometry, data, models,and applications. IRTG MIP funds 14 doctoral positions working in 12 interdisciplinary projects.
A matching number of associated doctoral students is strengthening this collaboration in both
Aachen and Austin. Extensive experience with doctoral training at both partners is being
perfected. Joint research training with the right combination of structure and individuality, atailored academic program of courses and colloquia, and a common supervision concept makethis transatlantic cooperation a success and a blueprint for future collaborations.
Coordinator (RWTH): Prof. Marek Behr, Aachen,
Coordinator (UT): Prof. Leszek Demkowicz, Austin.
Homepage: www.irtg-mip.rwth-aachen.deiacm expressions 47/20 16

for all inclusions under CSMA please contact
CHINESTA Francisco
Francisco.CHINESTA@ensam.eu

The CSMA Prizes
very year CSMA rewards the best two PhD thesis of the year. For the 2019 edition, theCSMA prize committee has examined 20 applications. The two awardees are RubenIBAÑEZ and Andrei SHVARTS. Ruben IBAÑEZ is designated as the CSMA candidate for the
ECCOMAS award for the best PhD theses in 2019.

E

Ruben IBAÑEZ:Advanced Physics-Based and Data-Driven Strategies
Advisors: F. Chinesta (ENSAM), A. Huerta - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya,
E. Abisset-Chavanne (ENSAM), E. Cueto - Universid de Zaragoza, J.-L. Duval - ESI Group
Simulation Based Engineering Science (SBES) has brought major improvements in optimization,
control and inverse analysis. These noticeable breakthroughs are present in a vast variety of
sectors such as aeronautic, automotive industries, mobile telecommunications or healthcare.
Nevertheless, SBES is currently confronting several difficulties to provide accurate results incomplex industrial problems. Apart from the high computational costs associated with industrial
applications, the errors introduced by constitutive modeling become more and more importantwhen dealing with new materials. Concurrently, an unceasingly growing interest in concepts
such as Big-Data, Machine Learning or Data-Analytics has been experienced. For instance,
an aircraft may produce over 500 GB of data during a single flight. This panorama brings a
perfect opportunity to the so-called Dynamic Data Driven Application Systems (DDDAS), whose
main objective is to merge classical simulation algorithms with data coming from experimental
measures in a dynamic way. Within this scenario, data and simulations would no longer be
uncoupled but rather form a symbiosis. Several numerical algorithms are presented throughout
this thesis whose main objective is to strengthen the link between data and computational
mechanics. The first part of the work is mainly focused on parameter identification, data-driven
and data completion techniques. The second part is focused on Model Order Reduction (MOR)
techniques, since they constitute a fundamental ally to achieve real time constraints arising fromDDDAS framework.
Current situation: Ruben IBAÑEZ is currently Post-doc at ENSAM Paris, France.

Andrei SHVARTS:

Coupling mechanical frictional contact with interfacial fluid
flow at small and large scales
Advisors: J. Vignollet ( Safran Tech), V. Yastrebov (MINES paristech),
G. Cailletaud (MINES paristech)This thesis deals with the problem of a thin fluid flow in narrow interfaces between contacting
solids subject to a normal loading, which is relevant for a range of tribological and engineering
applications, as well as for geophysical sciences. In this thesis a monolithic finite-element
framework for handling frictional contact, thin incompressible viscous flow and transfer of
fluid-induced tractions to the solid is developed. Additionally, we considered fluid entrapment
in “pools” delimited by contact patches and formulated a novel trapped-fluid element using a
non-linear compressible constitutive law. This computational framework makes use of image
analysis algorithms to distinguish between contact, fluid flow and trapped fluid zones. The
constructed framework is suitable for both one- and two-way coupling approaches. First, thedeveloped framework was applied to a study of a fluid trapped between a deformable solid witha wavy surface and a rigid flat. Next, we studied a thin fluid flow between a rigid flat and a
deformable solid with a model geometry or random surface roughness. We showed that fora range of physically relevant parameters, one-way coupling underestimates the interface
permeability and the critical external load needed to seal the interface, compared to the two-way
approach. A refined non-local phenomenological law for macroscopic permeability of roughcontact interfaces was proposed. Finally, the developed framework was used to calculate theevolution of the fluid leakage through a metal-to-sapphire contact interface using an elastoplastic material behaviour and real measurements of surface roughness.
Current situation: Andrei SHVARTS is currently post-doc at University of Glasgow, UK.
CSMA selected the PhD thesis of Ruben IBAÑEZ for the ECCOMAS Olympiads 2019l

17 iacm expressions 47/20

Report from theJapan Association
for Computational Mechanics
he JACM is a union of researchers and engineers working in the field ofcomputational mechanics mainly in Japan. JACM is a loosely coupled umbrellaorganization covering 29 computational mechanics related societies in Japan throughcommunication with e-mail and web page (https://ja-cm.org/index-e.html). The
number of individual members is about 350. JACM members actively participate
in the IACM activities.

T

The 2019 JACM Annual Meeting was held on the occasion of APCOM 2019 (theAsian Pacific Congress on Computational Mechanics) held in the Taipei International
Convention Center, Taipei, Taiwan. The JACM meetings have been held on theoccasions of WCCM (World Congress on Computational Mechanics), USNCCM(US National Congress on Computational Mechanics) and APCOM.
The meeting started at 12:30 on Thursday December 19. Hiroshi Okada, President,
JACM reported the past activities of JACM. 49 members participated the meeting.
Then, the award ceremony took place. The report includes the present number ofmembers (about 330), executive members, affiliated societies, etc. (Figure 1)
Then, the award ceremony followed.
The JACM Computational Mechanics Awards were awarded to Professors
Hiroshi Okuda (UTokyo), Makoto Yamamoto (Tokyo Univ. Science) and
Makoto Ohsaki (Kyoto Univ.).
The JACM Fellows Awards and the JACM Young Investigator Awards flowed.
The JACM Fellows Awards were given to Professor Koji Fukagata (Keio Univ.)
Yoshiaki Tamura (Toyo Univ.), Daisuke Ishihara (Kyushu Inst. Tech.) andDaisuke Tagami (Kyushu Univ.).
The JACM Young Investigator Awards were awarded to Professors Akinori
Yamanaka (Tokyo Univ. of Agri. and Tech.), Hikaru Aono (Tokyo Univ. Science)
and Prof. Shin-ichiro Sugimoto (Hachinohe Inst. Tech.). After the ceremony,
the award winners gave short speeches. The JACM meeting ended with a photosession (Figure 2).
Figure 1:
2019 JACM annual meeting(H. Okada, President, was reporting the recent activities
and status of JACM)

Figure 2:
A photo of the2019 JACM Award
recipients and the
JACM executive memebers
iacm expressions 47/20 18

For all inclusions under JACM news please contact:
Hiroshi Okada
jim@ja-cm.org

On Tuesday, December 11, 2019, JACM took a part of the ninth Computational
Mechanics Symposium. The symposium is organized by the Science Council ofJapan (SCJ) in association with eight computational mechanics related academic
societies in Japan. The function of SCJ is defined as:“The Science Council of Japan was established in 1949 as a “specialorganization” under the justification of the Prime Minister, operating independentlyof the government for the purpose of promoting and enhancing the field of
science, and having science reflected in and permeated in administration,industries and people’s lives. It represents Japan’s scientists both domesticallyand internationally …” <http://www.scj.go.jp/en/scj/index.html>.
In the ninth symposium, Professors Seiichi Koshizuka (UTokyo) andKenjiro Terada (Tohoku Univ.) served as the general chairs. After the opening
remark by Professor Shinobu Yoshimura of University of Tokyo, eight young
researchers representing participating computational mechanics related societies
presented their latest research accomplishments. Majority of them were the recent
award recipients of the participating societies. Professor Hikaru Aono (Tokyo Univ.
Science) was the recipient of the 2019 JACM Young Investigator Award. He
represented JACM and gave a presentation on the computational fluid dynamics
simulations of flapping wings and data mining (Figure 3). Besides the presentations
by the young researchers, three senior researchers (Professors Kumiko Tanaka(UTokyo), Kokichi Sugihara (Meiji Univ.) and Tamotsu Murakami (UTokyo)) gave
talks on mathematical informatics of language, three-dimensional optical illusion anddesign idea generation. (Figure 4)
From December 8 through 11, 2020, COMPSAFE 2020 (the 3rd International
Conference on Computational Engineering and Science for Safety andEnvironmental Problems, an APACM Thematic Conference and an IACM Special
Interest Conference <https://compsafe2020.org/>) will be held as an online
conference.
The conference will be jointly hosted by JACM (Japan Association for Computational
Mechanics) and JSCES (Japan Society for Computational Engineering and Science).
Both organizations are IACM affiliated associations. l
Figure 3:
Professor H. Aono
during his presentation

Figure 4:
Speekers, representatives of particpating societies and committeee memebersof the ninth computational mechanics symposium
19 iacm expressions 47/20

Award Winners for JSCES Prizes
he JSCES prizes were presented to those researchers and practitioners who havemarked outstanding achievements and contributions to the field of computational
mechanics.

T

This year’s recipients were: Mr. Hitoshi Nakamura (Nuclear Regulation Authority, Figure 1)
for the JSCES Achievements Award, Prof. Yoshitaka Wada (Kindai University, Figure 2)
for the Kawai Medal, Dr. Masakazu Takagaki (Railway Technical Research Institute,
Figure 3) for the Shoji Medal and Prof. Hiroyuki Tosaka (the University of Tokyo, Figure 4)
for the Technology Prize.
Paper awards associated with the Transaction of the JSCES (see,https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jsces) were also given to the following researchers:
Mr. Makoto Tsukino (Quint Corporation, Figure 5) for the Outstanding Paper Award,
Mr. Takayuki Nishino (Showa Denko K.K., Figure 6), Prof. Junji Kato (Nagoya University,
Figure 7) and Prof. Takashi Kyoya (Tohoku University, Figure 8) for the Outstanding
Paper Award, Dr. Kenta Sato (the University of Tokyo, Figure 9) for the Young Researcher
Paper Award. Moreover, Dr. Hideyuki Sakurai (Shimizu Corporation, Figure 10) andProf. Shinobu Yoshimura (the University of Tokyo, Figure 11) were awarded as fellow
members, and Dr. Takashi Kuraishi (Waseda University, Figure 12) was awarded for his
outstanding Ph.D. dissertation.

The JSCES Grand Prize 2019rof. Antonio Huerta (Figure 13) of Universitat Politècnica de Cataluna received thisyear’s JSCES Grand Prize for his outstanding contributions in thefield of computational engineering and sciences.

P

The awarding ceremony and his special lecture are postponed due to
COVID-19 and will be held during the annual conference 2021.

iacm expressions 47/20 20

Daigoro Isobe
isobe@kz.tsukuba.ac.jp

Workshop on research perspectives of
uncertainty modeling in natural disaster simulations
orkshop on research perspectives of uncertainty modeling in natural disaster
simulations was held on December 27, 2019, at International Research Institute ofDisaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University. The workshop wasorganized by two study groups in JSCES: study group on uncertainty
modeling and simulation and study group on hyper complex disaster
simulation.

W

This workshop was aimed at discussing the latest outcomes and future
perspectives of uncertainty modeling in natural disaster simulations.
The lecturers, Dr. Mayuko Nishio (University of Tsukuba),
Dr. Mao Kurumatani (Ibaraki University), Dr. Shinya Yamamoto(Shimizu Corporation), and Dr. Daigoro Isobe (University of Tsukuba),
delivered lively lectures (Figures 14, 15, and 16).
After the lectures, discussion was held among the participants andlecturers to share important
knowledge and concepts for
uncertainty modeling.
by: Shuji Moriguchi

COMPSAFE2020

he 3rd International Conference on Computational Engineering and Science for Safety
and Environmental Problems (COMPSAFE2020), which was first scheduled to be heldin March 2020, is postponed to December 8-11, 2020, due to the pandemic of COVID-19.
This conference will be held fully online. The registration fees for participants are all
uniformly set to 30,000 JPY.

T

This conference series is an APACM Thematic Conference and an IACM Special Interest
Conference, aimed to connect researchers and scientists from all over the world on-line,
who fight daily in the field of disaster prevention and mitigation, structural and material
failure, safety and security maintenance, and so on.
The new important dates of the conference are:Deadline for abstracts submission
July 17, 2020
Notification of acceptanceAugust 31, 2020
Online submission of extended abstracts opens (optional) September 1, 2020
Deadline for early registration
September 15, 2020
Deadline for extended abstracts submission (optional)
October 16, 2020
Deadline for registration
October 16, 2020
Conference dates
December 8-11, 2020
Conference venue:
ONLINE
Secretary email:secretary@compsafe2020.org
Please check:
http://www.compsafe2020.org/ for further information.
21 iacm expressions 47/20

UKACM response to
COVID-19 crisis

he effect of the COVID-19 has been profound at all levels of society around the world andUKACM has not been an exception. The UKACM 2020 conference was planned to takeplace on April 1-3, 2020 in Loughborough University. The UKACM Executive Committee
considered that it was not safe to go ahead with the conference and, with regret, decided
to cancel the event.

T

The principal activity of UKACM is the organisation of the annual conference, aiming toprovide a platform for UK PhD students and post-doctoral researchers to showcase theirresearch. To continue supporting the young generation of UK researchers in computational
mechanics, UKACM has decided to organise a Research Highlight Competition to provide aplatform for the young generation of UK researchers in computational mechanics to showcase
their research.
Participants are asked to submit one slide and a video (maximum 3 minutes) explaining theslide. A committee formed by members of UKACM will select three winners that will receivea diploma from UKACM and a monetary prize•
Mike Crisfield Prize for the best presentation (£250)•
Best Post-doctoral researcher (£100)•
Best Post-graduate Research Student (£100)
Eligible participants are PhD students and post-doctoral researchers affiliated to a UK
institution represented in the Board of UKACM (http://ukacm.org/ukacm-board/).

In addition, the Executive Committee of UKACM has decided that the next conference willtake place in Loughborough University.
The ASCE engineering mechanics institute international conference planned forApril 5-8, 2020 and sponsored by UKACM was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The conference will be organised in Durham in 2021 and will have the support of UKACM.
In 2020, UKACM was planning to host the first meeting between the UK and the Chinese
Associations for Computational Mechanics. The event, planned for the week after the World
Congress in Paris, has also been postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis. l

iacm expressions 47/20 22

for all inclusions under UKACM please contact
Rubén Sevillar.sevilla@swansea.ac.uk

Professor Roger Owen, FRS
It is with great sadness that UKACM informs that Roger Owen passed
away on Monday 13th January 2020. Roger was a recognised world
leading authority in the field of Computational Mechanics and an inspiring
person that has led so many of us to be willing to come to Swansea todevelop our careers. He made leading scientific contributions to thefields of computational plasticity, finite element and discrete element
methods. In addition to being elected Fellow of the Royal Society,he was the recipient of many honours, including being elected Foreign
Member of the US National Academy of Engineering and the Chinese
Academy of Sciences. In recognition for his contribution, leadershipand impact, he received Honorary Doctorates from world leading
institutions, including UPC in Barcelona, University of Cape Town,
University of Porto and others.
Roger also was a co-founder of Rockfield Software Ltd, which specialises
in finite/discrete element software. The company received two Queen'sAward for Innovation in 2002 and 2007. His dedication to the field has
been admirable, being part of both the UKACM and IACM for many
years.
Roger’s remarkable good humour and ability to socialise with colleagues
will certainly be missed by the whole community.
Roger will be sorely missed but forever remembered!
In his honour, the Executive Committee of UKACM decided to name the prize of the bestl
UK PhD thesis in computational mechanics after Roger Owen.

Professor Peter Bettess
It is with great sadness that UKACM, have to informs that Peter Bettess
passed away at his home in the Lake District at the age of 74.
Prof Bettess obtained his BSc in Civil Engineering and MSc in StructuralEngineering from Imperial College. He then moved to Durham tocomplete his PhD in the Department of Engineering Science.
After spending some time working for the British Ship Research
Association, he became a lecturer in the Department of Civil
Engineering at Swansea, in 1971, where he worked with Professor
Olek Zienkiewicz. In 1986 he became the Lloyd's Register Professorof Offshore Engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
In 1995 he moved back to Durham, where he continued his teaching
and research activities until his retirement in 2004.
Many of you will be familiar with one of the most well-known contributions
by Peter, the infinite elements.
Peter will be sorely missed by the whole community.

l

23 iacm expressions 47/20

The 7th Asia-Pacific Congress on Computational Mechanics(APCOM 2019)
Hosted by:
Association of Computational Mechanics Taiwan(ACMT)he APACM used as a shorthand for Asian-Pacific Association of Computational
Mechanics since its formation in 1999 comprises of the national and regional
associations for computational mechanics in the Asia-Australia Region. The APACM
is one of the three continental associations affiliated with the International
Association of Computational Mechanics (IACM). To promote the computational
mechanics activities within the designated region, the APACM organizes the Asian
Pacific Congress on Computational Mechanics (APCOM) in different countries of theregion at an interval of three years. The following is a historical count of the venues
for the APCOM: Sydney (2001), Beijing (2004), Sydney (2007), Sydney (2010),
Singapore (2013), and Seoul (2016). The APCOM 2019 held in Taipei is the 7th
meeting in the series.

T

Conference Organisers:

YB Yang
ybyang@ntu.edu.tw
ChairmanPresident, APACM,
ACMT

Figure 1:
Participating regions

CA Lincalin@pme.nthu.edu.tw
Co-Chairman
Vice President, ACMTLJ Leuljleu@ntu.edu.tw
Co-Chairman
Executive Council
Member, ACMTCS David Chen
dchen@ntu.edu.tw
Co-Chairman/Secretary
General, Secretary
General, ACMTAPCOM 2019 aims to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners to discussand share the latest findings and developments in all aspects of computational
mechanics. A total number of 747 participants from 29 countries and regions cameand celebrated the three-day event. We are honored to have several world-leading
scholars to deliver the 8 plenary and 16 semi-plenary lectures, including Prof.
Herbert Mang (Former President of Austrian Academy of Sciences), Prof. Wing-Kam
Liu (Former President of IACM), Prof. David J. Srolovitz (Member of US National
Academy of Engineering), Prof. Antonio Huerta (President of IACM), Prof. J.S. Chen
(Former President of US Association of Computational Mechanics), Prof. Gui-Rong
Liu (Former President of APACM), etc.
APCOM 2019 featured 67 minisymposia, 96 session keynote lectures,and 544 oral presentations. There were 147 sessions for topics ofmethods and applications related to various aspects of computational
mechanics and interdisciplinary topics, including, bio-medical
applications, materials modeling, fluid-structure interaction, materials
genome, etc. We also took this opportunity to host APACM executive
council and general council meetings, JACM meeting, and ACMT
executive council and general council meeting. Most of the members
are long-time old friends and all enjoyed this opportunity to greet andshare the latest excitement with each other.

iacm expressions 47/20 24

for all inclusions under ACTM please contact
Chuin-Shan David Chen
dchen@ntu.edu.tw

A special feature of this conference is the dedication of 3 minisymposia to thecelebration of Prof. Genki Yagawa for his 77th birthday, and to Prof. Shinobu
Yoshimura and Kazuo Kashiyama for their 60th Birthday. This adds to thetechnical atmosphere some soft, touching elements of friendship.
APCOM 2019 was a great
success. We appreciate
the support of plenary andsemi-plenary speakers,
keynote speakers, theminisymposia organizers
and strong involvement of
the participants. l

25 iacm expressions 47/20

for all inclusions under SEMNI please contact
Elias Cueto
ecueto@unizar.es
Figure 1:
From left to right, profs.
P. Díez, X. Oliver, R. Rossi,
M. Casteleiro, R. Yu,
E. Cueto, I. Arias, E. Oñate,J. Baiges, J. J. Ródenas,
I. Romero, F. Montáns,
A. Huerta (IACM president)
and F. Navarrina

Meeting of the

SEMNI Executive Board
ast February 2nd, the SEMNI executive board meeting took place at the Schoolof Civil Engineering of the Technical University of Catalonia, UPC. Among otherissues, the board decided on the annual Ph.D. thesis prize. This year, Dr. Rubén
Ibáñez, who earned double-degree diploma under the advice of Profs. Chinesta at
ENSAM Institute of Technology, and prof. Antonio Huerta, at UPC BarcelonaTech,
was awarded the prize. Congratulations, Rubén! l

L

What computational mechanics has to say aboutcoronavirus
t may appear that our community has little to say about a crisis such as the
COVID-19. However, you may be surprised to know that structural andcomputational mechanics may play a fundamental role in beating SARS-CoV 2.
An international consortium of IACM and SEMNI researchers has been granted a
project by the Carlos III Spanish National Health Institute. The team, coordinatedby Prof. Fermín Navarrina at the University of Coruña, Spain, is also composed bylabs of the Universities of Vienna, Michigan and Purdue.

I
Figure 2:
Prof. Fermín Navarrina,
principal investigatorof the Project

The main goal of the project is to destroy viruses by destroying their virion’s capsid.
The capsid is the protein shell of the virus, enclosing the genetic material. Once
destroyed, the genetic material will lose its ability to introduce itself in the cells and,once defenseless, will degrade.
The project will conduct a structural dynamics study in order to unveil theresonance frequencies of the capsid. This will be done by developing
specific numerical strategies that, once completed, will allow identifying
these frequencies.
Once the structural behavior of the virus is identified, viruses could
be destroyed by employing ultrasound techniques, for instance.
The consortium hopes the prototype of such a machine to be readyin a “relatively short” period of time and, perhaps more importantly,
with affordable cost.. lFigure 3:
An image of the SARS CoV 2 virus, courtesy of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. In red, the spikes of the virion.
The capsid is represented in grey

iacm expressions 47/20 26

for all inclusions under ABMEC please contact
Eduardo Campellocampello@usp.br

The XLI Ibero‐Latin American Congress on Computational Methods in Engineering(CILAMCE 2020) will take place in the amazing venue of Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná,
Brazil, from 16 to 19 November 2020. CILAMCE is an annual conference promotedby the Brazilian Association of Computational Methods in Engineering (ABMEC),
intended to serve as an international forum for communicating latest developments on
numerical methods in all fields of engineering and related sciences.
Since its inception in 1977 by the then emerging Brazilian community of computational
mechanics, CILAMCE has become the main scientific conference for researchers,
graduate students, engineers and other professionals from Brazil and Ibero‐Latin
America (and even from further abroad) to discuss and explore the state‐of‐the‐art
on computational methods in engineering.
The technical program typically includes worldly prominent plenary speakers, together
with several mini‐symposia parallel sessions with contributed papers. CILAMCE also
promotes a special student competition – the Agustin Ferrante Award – to acknowledge
undergraduate students who show potential for outstanding scientific achievements.
THE DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION TO CILAMCE‐2020 IS JULY 1, 2020.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to Foz do Iguaçu for the CILAMCE 2020 nextNovember!
Warmest regards,

27 iacm expressions 47/20

LAMEC
Computational Mechanics Laboratory
Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina
he Computational Mechanics Laboratory (LAMEC) is a research groupdedicated to the implementation and development of computational methods
in science and engineering. It also performs technical assistance to the industry
on problems related to several fields of computational mechanics. LAMEC
depends on both the Faculty of Engineering of the National University of theNorthEast (UNNE) and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council –Argentina - (CONICET) through the Institute of Modeling and TechnologicalInnovation (IMIT).

T

Figure 1:
LAMEC Staff(2019 photograph)

LAMEC was created in July 2018 as an initiative of the Faculty of Engineering(UNNE) authorities to lay the foundations of a research group dedicated to thestudy of new topics that until then were not addressed by the local scientificcommunity.
The research group is composed by faculty
and research partners from across the Facultyof Engineering, as well as members of IMIT
and CONICET involved in education andresearch in computational engineering. In thisway, LAMEC currently has nine Researchers
from CONICET and the Faculty ofEngineering, five PhD students and several
undergraduate students.
LAMEC also provides support for master anddoctoral programs in engineering at UNNE,
by teaching several courses and guiding
students through their thesis work, (Figure 1).
The areas of research include:

Figure 2:
CFD applied to a tall building
aerodynamics study

iacm expressions 47/20 28• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Fundamental research in fluid
mechanics and turbulence: external aerodynamic performance of groundvehicles, turbulence synthesis, tall buildings aerodynamics, pollutant dispersion(Figure 2), flow through porous media in general.
•

Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI).
Solid dynamics coupled with fluidin problems related to groundvehicles stability, occupantcomfort performance of tallbuildings, rotating machinery.

•Computational Modeling ofMultiphase Porous Media.
Theoretical, mathematical andnumerical implementation of themechanical behavior of porous
media: constitutive modeling of
porous concretes, consolidation ofpartially saturated soils, pollutant
dispersion in ground water table,
tumor growth simulation.

for all inclusions under AMCA please contact
Pablo A. Kler
kler@cimec.santafe-conicet.gov.ar• Mechanical Modeling of Materials. Modeling of material behavior acrossmultiple spatial scales. Development and application of constitutive theories
describing mechanical, physical and coupled responses: Non-linear behavior,
elasticity, elasto-plasticity, visco-plasticity. Developments based on
homogenization methods. Specifically at LAMEC an alternative framework
is been developed. The classical mixture theory and volume fraction concepts
are replaced by the stress state decomposition technique and saturation
degree.
• Computational Material Design. Design of compounds with tailored properties(metamaterials). Understanding of this new materials via theoretical andnumerical approaches. Metamaterials and composite materials research
applied to regional problems.
• Computational Optimization. Optimization formulations
applied to problems such as microstructures topology
optimization, optimal structural design (Figure 3) and inverse
design. Different approaches: interior point algorithms(deterministic), genetic algorithms-like formulations(stochastic).
• Discrete Elements Method (DEM) applied to fracture
mechanics. Computational mechanics applied to failure
mechanisms. Numerical and computational models
development. DEM applied to unstable spread of cracks.
Determination of stress intensity factor, static and dynamic.
Crack propagation studies.
Particularly, regarding wind flow-related problems, LAMEC has
a strong foundation in the experimental field. Several collaborative
research lines/works are jointly developed with the Aerodynamics Laboratory of
the Faculty of Engineering (Wind Tunnel facility). l

MECOM 2020
XXXVII Argentine Congress for Computational Mechanics
November 3-5, 2020
Dear AMCA Members,
Beforehand, we want to express our sincere gratitude for your commitment in participating at the thirty-seventh
edition of the Argentine Congress of Computational Mechanics. Unfortunately, given the current situation
regarding SARS-CoV-2, we have been forced to cancel this year’s edition of the mentioned Congress.
This was a difficult decision but we strongly feel that the health and safety of our potential attendees are ofparamount importance. In addition, we have experienced innumerable drawbacks that would undermine thequality that MECOM Congresses used to have.
In a joint agreement with the Argentine Association for Computational Mechanics (AMCA), our city
(Resistencia, Chaco) will again be the Congress venue for the year 2021, on a date to be yet confirmed.
We hope we can count once again on your support and with your distinguished presence.
We will remain available to answer any questions that you may have in the future.
Best regards,
Dr. Ing. Javier Mroginski (Organizing Committee President)
Dr. Ing. Guillermo Castro (Scientific Committee President)
29 iacm expressions 47/20

conference diary planner
13 - 16 Oct 2020 MuSMe2020 - 7th International Symposium on Multibody Systems and Mechatronics
Venue:

Córdoba, Argentina

Contact:

https://amcaonline.org.ar/

Contact:

ruth@usacm.org

6 - 10 Nov 2020 IGA2020 - Isogeometric Analysis 2020
Venue:

Banff, Canada

16 - 19 Nov 2020 XLI CILAMCE - XLI Ibero-Latin-American Congress on Computational Methods in Engineering
Venue:

ON-LINE

Contact:

www.cilamce.com.br

30 Nov - 2 Dec 2020 AfriComp - African Conference on Computational Mechanics
Venue:

Cape Town, South Africa

Contact:

https://africomp2020.org/

8 - 11 Dec 2020 COMSAFE 2020 - Computational Engineering & Science for Safety & Environmental Problems
Venue:

ON-LINE

Contact:

https://www.compsafe2020.org/

11 - 15 Jan 2021 WCCM-ECCOMAS - 14th World Congress in Computational Mechanics & ECCOMAS Congress
Venue:

ON-LINE

Contact:

https://www.wccm-eccomas2020.org

1 - 5 March 2021 CSE21 - SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering
Venue:

Fort Worth, Texas US

Contact:

Siam.org/Conferences/CM/conference/cse21

2 - 4 June 2021 Marine 2021 - International Conference on Computational Methods in Marine Engineering
Venue:

Edinburgh, Scotland

Contact:

https://congress.cimne.com/marine2021/

13 - 16 June 2021 COUPLED 2021 – 1X International Conference on Coupled Problems in Science & Engineering
Venue:

Sardinia, Italy

Contact:

https://congress.cimne.com/Coupled2021/th

21 - 23 June 2021 COMPDYN 2021 - 8 International Conference on Computational Methods in Structural
Dynamics & Earthquake Engineering
UNCECOMP 2021 – 4th International Conference on Uncertainty Quantification in
Computational Sciences & Engineering
Venue:

Athens, GreeceContact:

https://2021.compdyn.org/

21 - 23 June 2021 ADMOS 2021 – X International Conference on Adaptive Modeling and Simulation
Venue:

Gothenburg, Sweden

Contact:

https://congress.cimne.com/ADMOS2021/

27 - 30 June 2021 CSME 2021 - Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering International Congress
Venue:Charlottetown, PEI

Contact:

https://www.csmecongress.org/

th25 - 29 July 2021 USNCCM16 - 16 U.S. National Congress on Computational Mechanics
Venue:

Chicago, Illinois

Contact:

http://16.usnccm.org/

22 - 27 Aug 2021 25th ICTAM - International Conference of Theroetical and Applied Mechanics
Venue:

Milan, Italy

Contact:

http://www.icta,2020.org/

7 - 10 Sept 2021 COMPLAS 2021 XVI International Conference on Computational Plasticity
Venue:

Barcelona, Spain

Contact:

https://congress.cimne.com/complas2021/

13 - 15 Sept 2021 Structural Membranes 2021 – X International Conference on Textime Composites andInflatable Structures
Venue:

Munich, Germany

Contact:

https://congress.cimne.com/Membranes2021/

22 - 27 Aug 2021 IUTAM Symposium on Computational fracture mechanics in multi-field problems
Venue:

Milan, Italy

Contact:

https://iutam.org/

4 - 6 Oct 2021 PARTICLES 2021 – VI International Conference on Particle-based Methods
Venue:

Hamburg, Germany

Contact:

https://congress.cimne.com/Particles2021/

st17 - 21 Oct 2021 21 International Symposium on Finite Element Methods in Flow Problems
Venue:

Hangzhou, China

Contact:

https://iacm.info/scientific-events/fef/

6 - 9 Nov 2022 USACM Thematic Conference - Isogeometric Analysis 2020
Venue:

iacm expressions 26/10 30

Banff, Canada

Contact:

http://iga2020.usacm.org/