Optimal design with advanced materials is becoming a very progressive and challenging domain within applied mechanics. The increasing use of advanced materials, such as anisotropic fiber composites and ceramics, is instigating new developments to be made within constitutive modelling and the computational methods of analysis, sensitivity analysis and optimization. A new dimension of optimal design is being realised by the direct tailoring and building of new materials. Research in this area is accelerating rapidly with the results already being applied to high technology industries. Two vital high technology research areas covered in this volume include homogenization and smart materials/structures. The 31 papers will prove an indispensable reference source for all those involved in the interdisciplinary research and development aspects of mechanics, materials and mathematics in the design of advanced materials.
