Year 1999 will mark the 50-th anniversary of the classical paper:

H.Kolsky, An Investigation of the Mechanical Properties of Materials at Very High Rates of Loading, Proc. Phys. Soc. London, B62, (1949), p.676.

Kolsky’s idea to use two instrumented bars, with a wafer specimen sandwiched  between them, was so brilliant that today - fifty years later - this configuration (called also a Split Hopkinson Bar) is the most popular configuration for measuring the response of materials  at high strain rates. The late Professor Herbert Kolsky (“Harry” to all knew him personally), was a faculty member at Brown University with his primary appointment in the Division of Applied Mathematics (as Professor of Applied Physics) and a joint appointment in the Division of Engineering. He made many contributions to the use and understanding of stress waves in experimental mechanics. Of these, he is probably best known for his landmark book “Stress Waves in Solids”, published by Oxford University Press in 1953, and since republished by Dover Publications. This book has been translated into many languages and used widely throughout the world.

This symposium is being organized to review a progress in experimental investigation of the mechanical behavior of materials at high strain rates, based on approaches utilizing Kolsky’s concept. Papers based on other approaches in which stress wave propagation is used to measure material behavior are also invited.

Authors are requested to submit a one-page abstract to fit 8.5 by 11 inch (21.5 by 28 cm) space with a 10inch (2.5 cm) margin on all four sides. The title (16 point, bold) should be followed by a single space, authors names (12 point, bold), and their affiliations (12 point) and an complete address (including e-mail), all single spaced. This header is to be followed by a single space and then the text of the abstract, 12 point and single spaced.

Important date: submission of abstracts by January 1/1999,  directly to one of the organizers of the Symposium (by e-mail or ordinary mail). Acceptance letters will be mailed on or before Feb. 28/1999.