The Eighteenth European Conference on Fracture belongs to the wellestablished series of biennial international conferences held under the auspices of the European Structural Integrity Society ESIS since 1976. In 2010 the ECF 18 will be organised by the German Group on Fracture in the beautiful historical city of Dresden. The objective of the conference is to provide a world wide platform for scientific communication, discussion and activities for all those interested in the broad range of fracture mechanics and fatigue. The conference topics will focus on all important fundamental aspects and practical applications concerning strength, durability and reliability of engineering materials, components and structures. Special emphasis will be given to a multi-scale understanding of fracture and fatigue, starting from the nano-scale of atomistic structures up to the macro-scale of engineering components. Such an integrated approach requires collaboration between physicists, materials scientists and engineers. The conference aims to bring together researchers from various engineering disciplines as mechanical engineering, civil engineering, power plant engineering, automotive and transportation, aerospace, geotechnique, microelectronics, bioengineering and other branches, all faced with failure phenomena and their prevention, in order to exchange their experiences and to gain a more comprehensive understanding. We invite both researchers and practitioners in this field from academic, industrial and government organizations. Especially young scientists are encouraged to attend the conference. The conference will comprise invited key-note lectures by outstanding international scientists and contributed oral presentations to the following topics and scientific subjects.

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