Chemistry International
Vol. 22, No.4, July 2000

2000, Vol. 22
No. 4 (July)
..Chemistry in Argentina
..News from IUPAC
..Report of Accounts 1998-99
..Reports from Symposia

..Reports from Commissions
..Provisional Recommendations
..Awards and Prizes
..New Books
..Conference Announcements
..Conference Calendar

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Chemistry International
Vol. 22, No. 4
July 2000

New Books and Publications

 

New Publication from IUPAC

Macromolecular Symposia, Vol. 147: Mechanical Behavior of Polymeric Materials.

Symposium Editor, Jaroslav Kahovec; Editor-in-Chief, Hartwig Hocker; Editors, W. Guth, B. Jung, I. Meisel, and S. Spiegel. Published by WILEY-VCH, December 1999, pp. 1-267. ISBN 3-527- 29907-6 (ISSN 1022-1360).

Lecturers and participants at the 18th Discussion Conference held in Prague, Czech Republic.

Volume 147 of Macromolecular Symposia contains main and special lectures delivered at the 18th Discussion Conference, organized as the 56th meeting in the series of Prague Meetings on Macromolecules (PMM), held in Prague, Czech Republic 20-23 July 1998, as usual under the auspices of IUPAC at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (see symposium report by Prof. Dr. G. H. Michler published in Chemistry International in July 1999, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 110-111).

> View Contents and Preface

The topic of the meeting and of this resultant volume, mechanical behavior of polymeric materials, is an area that has an interesting long history and tradition. From the very beginning, this field has been a meeting place of experts from polymer synthesis, processing, and applications. Indeed, mechanical characteristics are decisive for reliable functions of polymers in virtually all application fields—starting from materials for industrial structure parts through medical applications up to contemporary media for data storage. In all these fields, mechanical failure can cause extensive damage and heavy losses. Consequently, mechanical parameters serve for optimization of technological processes, quality control, and right design of dependable parts.

Mechanical behavior of polymeric materials depends on their structure. The structure, in turn, must be considered at various levels: molecular, supermolecular, crystalline, phase, up to microscopic cracks. Together with the development of mechanical testing methods, a considerable body of knowledge has subsequently been accumulated on interrelations between the parameters of individual levels of hierarchical structure and macroscopic mechanical behavior. This information allowed formulation of structure models on one hand and application of mechanical methods for the characterization of structure and structural dynamics on the other. The understanding of structure—property relationships finally allowed the development of high-performance polymeric materials with dramatically enhanced strength, toughness, durability, and reliability in comparison to classic polymers. Quite logically, the study of mechanical behavior became an important and respected branch of polymer physics.

The meeting that led to Volume 147 of Macromolecular Symposia attracted 127 participants from 24 countries. There were 10 main lectures, 10 special lectures, and 74 poster communications. Two panel discussions were devoted to mechanical behavior of high-performance polymers (led by A. Hiltner, United States) and strength and toughness of oriented polymer systems, composites, and blends (led by H. H. Kausch, Switzerland). All the contributions and discussions provided a gauge of the contemporary understanding of structural micromechanisms responsible for macroscopic molecular behavior. In particular, it is clear now that the assessment of complex hierarchical structure is important for the formulation of a realistic structure model of mechani-cal behavior. As expressed by Prof. Eric Baer, only very few experts in mechanical behavior of polymers did not come to Prague in the summer of 1998. The participants created not only an excellent professional forum, but also very agreeable company. We wish to express our gratitude to all participants and sponsors for supporting the meeting, to the organizing committee for their very good job, and to the contributors for their carefully prepared papers.

Drs.-Ing. Miroslav Raab and Jaroslav Kahovec
Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague

 

 

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