Contained in the volume are the papers presented at an International
Symposium on Advanced Technology for Design and Fabrication of Composite
Materials and Structures. The Symposium was organized by Consorzio per
la Ricerca e l'Educazione Permanente; Institute of Fracture and Solid
Mechanics, Lehigh University, Pennsylvania USA; Dipartimento di
Ingegneria Strutturale del Politecnico di Torino; and Dipartimento di
Ingegneria Aeronautica e Spaziale del Politecnico di Torino. It was held
at the Politecnico di Torino in Italy, May 24-28, 1993. The support from
the various organizations is acknowledged as follows: - Consiglio N
azionale delle Ricerche - ALENIA SP AZIO - AGUST A - CIRA - AERMACCHI -
Centro Ricerche FIAT - ALENIA (formerly AERITALIA) - Collegio
Costruttori Edili della Provincia di Torino As new knowledge is being
accumulated on the design and fabrication of advanced composite systems
in different sectors of the world, there is the need not only to
exchange new ideas but also to disseminate the information from the
researchers to the users. The theme of this Symposium is particularly
relevant to the automobile, marine, aerospace and construction industry
where the competitive edge lies on improved processing and/or
manufacturing of the products. Technological advances have been and will
continue to depend strongly on the development of new materials and
their effective use in design. Empirical trial-and- error methods could
no longer be considered economically feasible when applied to
usage-specific materials such as composites.
