The planning meeting for a conference on Dynamic Crack Propagation was held at M.LT. in February 1971 and attended by research workers from several industrial, governmental and academic organizations. It was felt that a more specialized meeting would provide a better opportunity for both U.S. and foreign researchers to exchange their ideas and views on dynamic fracture, a subject which is seldom emphasized in national or international fracture conferences. Dynamic crack propagation has been a concern to specialists in many fields: continuum mechanics, metallurgy, geology, polymer chemistry, orthopedics, applied mathematics, as well as structural design and testing. It impinges on a wide variety of problems such as rock breaking and earthquakes, pressure vessels and line pipes, comminution and the per formance of armament and ordnance, etc. Advances have been numerous, covering theories and experiments from both the microscopic and macro scopic points of view. Hence, the need for comparing the theoretical and experimental results and bridging the gaps between the atomistic and continuum approaches must be constantly emphasized. It also appeared that the overall problem of dynamic fracture could benefit from a con solidation of crack models proposed for the various types of materials: metals, ceramics, composites, rocks, glasses, polymers and biomaterials.
