Foreword

Abstract
DYMAT is celebrating this year its twenty years of work on the dynamic behaviour of materials. Since its foundation in France in 1983, DYMAT has been the leading forum of interchange of experience and achievement in this field.

In 1992 DYMAT became a full European Association with representatives in the Board of scientists and engineers of other European countries. It is a matter of congratulation for all of us to have maintained the aim and spirit of the Association since 1983. Our series of conferences every three years and our annual technical meetings are a guarantee of continuity. The cooperation of scientists and engineers in the DYMAT project ensures a steady advance of knowledge in the field of dynamic behaviour of materials and this conference is a unique occasion to meet and to interchange new ideas and developments.

This seventh International Conferences on Mechanical and Physical Behaviour of Materials under Dynamic Loading covers areas that need much more development, such as those of constitutive equations field, numerical simulations of dynamic problems in which material high strain rates are involved, new testing experimental techniques and new developments in measuring, structures subjected to impulsive loading conditions, such the cases of crashworthiness, ballistics, etc., and finally shock loading.

I would like to thank most sincerely Coimbra University for having accepted the task of organizing the EURODYMAT-2003 in Porto, in particular Professor JosC Cirne and the local organizing committee, for the interest they have devoted to the conference. I would also like to thank the members of the Association Governing Board for their help in reading, selecting and re-reading manuscripts in order to assess the quality of the papers submitted to the conference.

With all my colleagues on the Board, I hope you enjoy the conference both for its scientific level and for the magnificent location.

Leganés, May 6, 2003

Carlos Navarro

President of DYMAT Association