The EUROMECH Colloquium "Dynamics of Vibro-Impact Systems" was held at th th Loughborough University on September 15 _18 , 1998. This was the flrst international meeting on this subject continuing the traditions of the series of Russian meetings held regularly since 1963. Mechanical systems with multiple impact interactions have wide applications in engineering as the most intensive sources of mechanical influence on materials, structures and processes. Vibro-impact systems are used widely in machine dynamics, vibration engineering, and structural mechanics. Analysis of vibro-impact systems involves the investigation of mathematical models with discontinuities and reveals their behaviour as strongly non-linear. Such systems exhibit complex resonances, synchronisation and pulling, bifurcations and chaos, exCitation of space coherent structures, shock waves, and solitons. The aim of the Colloquium was to facilitate the exchange of up-to-date information on the analysis and synthesis of vibro-impact systems as well as on the new developments in excitation, control and applications of vibro-impact processes.
