LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

CONFERENCE THEME

As the engineering community continues to cross the boundaries of known practices, materials and manufacturing techniques into the frontiers of new, materials, energy sources, and their effects on the environments, the opportunities for failure will inevitably increase. If our knowledge of how to engineer systems, structures and components to minimize or prevent failure is to keep pace with modern demanding applications and the intolerance of a safety conscious society, we must develop and apply superior analytical and experimental tools to evaluate the potential for damage or failure of engineering structures and/or components and the associated energy harvesting systems.

IRF'2009 is the third international gathering of scientists and engineers interested in the fields of energy harvesting, materials engineering, engineering mechanics and their effect on the environment is planned for July 20-24, 2009 in Porto, Portugal. The first conference was also held in Porto, in 1999, and a second meeting was held in Singapore,  in 2004.  These meetings resulted from the belief that of those disciplines associated with advanced product design and manufacture, engineering mechanics, materials engineering and thermo-fluid mechanics have made the most significant advance in recent years. Important and dramatic improvements in systems and component design can be made by the use of the latest advances in Integrity, Reliability and Failure of energy systems, structures and materials. Their effect on the environment is significant and will help in avoiding global warming and harmful CO₂ emissions.

The development and utilisation of materials, fillers, devices, and systems with dimensions on the order of 0.1 to 100 nanometers, exhibiting novel and significantly enhanced mechanical, physical, chemical, and biological properties, due to their nanoscale size, is attracting considerable attention from the scientific community. Contributions in the fields of Nanotechnologies and Nanomaterials will also be welcome.

It is therefore the objective of this meeting to provide a forum for the discussion and dissemination of recent advances in three related areas: Integrity, Reliability and Failure of engineering structures, components and systems. The goal is to enable mechanical, aeronautical, civil, automotive, biomedical, environmental, and nuclear engineers, researchers and scientists to exchange ideas on the following topics.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

The conference will address the following main topics:

CONFERENCE VENUE

Porto, the country´s second largest city, is in itself full of interest, but the district it heads, though largely industrialized, offers the visitor plenty to see. Along the coast, holiday resorts like the cosmopolitan beach of Espinho, busy ports like Matosinhos, with splendid seafood, or traditional fishing towns like Póvoa de Varzim, but where there is also an animated casino. Inland, for example, the quaint charm of Amarante, with 17th century mansions overlooking the river and famous for a kind of sweet egg pastries called "papos de anjo" (angel bellies). Right next to Porto you can visit, in Vila Nova de Gaia, the lodges where Port wine is blended and aged and where you can taste the different varieties, or you may choose to take a river cruise along the Douro. The whole district is filled with prosperous towns, as commerce and industry thrive there, but you can drive along many calm roads with wonderful views over the river or enjoy a rugged and still unspoilt coastline.

The conference will be held at the new campus of Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto.

IRF’2009 BOOK OF EXTENDED ABSTRACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

All abstracts of invited and contributed papers to be presented in the Third International Conference on Integrity, Reliability and Failure would appear in a book, and full papers in a CD-ROM, both being made available to delegates during the event. Instructions to authors are given below.

JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS OF SELECTED ARTICLES

Extended versions of ALL papers will be considered for publication in the International Journal Mechanics and Materials in Design (SPRINGER).  Requirements will be provided at a later stage.   Please visit the conference web page for further information and instructions.

INTERNET ACCESS

All conference information, including titles, registration, hotels, social program, sessions and papers schedule will be provided at the conference web page:

http://paginas.fe.up.pt/clme/IRF2009/

This site will be updated regularly. Please check the announcement page for all updates.

COMPLEMENTARY SYMPOSIA

Individuals interested in running a Symposium on any or derivatives of the above main topics should inform the conference chairs of their intention as soon as possible. Upon approval, the symposium organiser will be requested to submit a summary of his/her plans with regards to the title of symposium, number of sessions required (5 papers per session), names of potential authors and any other special requirements. If you are interested  in proposing the organization of a Symposium within IRF'2009, please see HERE

SOCIAL PROGRAM

A social programme for delegates and accompanying persons will be arranged during the days of the conference. A full day tour & river cruise, reception and banquet will be organized for delegates and registered accompanying persons. All these are included in the registration fee. Costs for the complementary optional programs will be posted on the conference home page.

SUMMARY OF DEADLINES

FORMAT & SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS and FULL PAPERS

NEW DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF FULL PAPERS: 24 MAY 2009

Extended abstracts of TWO pages should be written in the same format as the FULL PAPERS for the CD-ROM (no limitation in length for the full papers):

Paper Size:                                   A4

Margins:                                       Top 1^st page 4,0 cm; Top other pages 3 cm; Bottom 2,5 cm, Left&Right 2,5 cm

Font and line spacing:                  Times New Roman; single space

   Title:                                          Capital letters, size 14, bold, left alignment at one column

   Authors Names:                        Size 10, bold, left alignment at one column, two lines interval from title above

   Authors Affiliation:                    Size 10, left alignment at one column, two lines interval from text below

   Main Text:                                 Size 12, full justification at one column, 6 pt space after paragraph, no indentation

   Headings:                                  Capital letters, size 12, bold, one line interval from text above

   Legends (Figs & Tables):          Size 10

References:         References to cited literature should be identified in the text with author(s) name(s) and year of publication (ex: Mascarenhas, 1997).  Full citations should be grouped at the end of the paper and in alphabetical order of first author’s name. Always give inclusive page numbers for references to journal articles and a page range for books.  Each reference must be cited in the text.

A sample abstract (please use the same for the full paper) is available for download as a Microsof WORD file in following address:

http://paginas.fe.up.pt/clme/IRF2009/Abstract_Sample.doc

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR  ABSTRACT AND FULL PAPER BY ELECTRONIC MAIL  AS FILE  ATTACHMENT(S) IN MS-WORD FORMAT TO PROF.  J.F. SILVA GOMES, AT:  sg@fe.up.pt

REGISTRATION

^† Entitles the registrant to one copy of the book of abstracts, CD-ROM, attend all technical sessions, reception, refreshments, lunches, banquet and full day tour & river cruise.  Accompanying Persons are entitled to reception, banquet and full day tour & river cruise.

Payment of Registration Fees can be made by Credit Card (VISA and Mastercard), Certified Cheque or International Money Order.   A Registration Form  with details for payment is available for download as a Microsoft Excel file HERE.

For additional information, please contact either of the following: