It is the objective of the series IIMaterials Research and Engineeringll to publish information on technical facts and pro cesses together with specific scientific models and theories. Fundamental considerations assist in the recognition of the origin of properties and the roots of processes. By providing a higher level of understanding, such considerations form the basis for further improving the quality of both traditional and future engineering materials, as well as the efficiency of industrial operations. In a more general sense, theory helps to integrate facts into a framework which ties relations between physical equilibria and mechanisms on the one hand, product development and econo mical competition on the other. Aspects of environmental compati bili ty, conservation of resources and of socio-cul tural inter action form the final horizon - a subject treated in the first ll volume of this series, IIMaterials in World Perspective . The four authors of the present book endeavor to present a comprehensive picture of process modelling in the important field of metal forming and thermomechanical treatment. The reader will be introduced to the rapidly-growing new field of application of computer-aided numerical methods to the quanti tative simulation of complex technical processes. Extensive use is made of the state of scientific knowledge related to materials behavior under mechanical stress and thermal treat ment.
