Foreword_1981_Dislocation-Modelling-of-Physical-Systems

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Foreword 
Conferences devoted to limited topical areas provide convenient benchmarks that measure progress 
in the fields of study covered. By this standard, initial advances in understanding the relation 
of dislocations to physical properties occurred in the realm of solid state physics. In recent 
years the growing need for transferring fundamental concepts to engineering applications has 
stimulated much research in areas described generally as "modelling". This term refers to 
studies in which mathematical descriptions of atomic scale events lead to the interpretation of 
material parameters appearing in phenomenological equations describing the behavior of an 
ensemble of such events. Relating such material parameters - properties - to the nature of the 
governing events and their spatial and temporal distributions - structure - defines one of the 
most challenging and critical areas of research in materials science. 
The immediate predecessor of this conference, held at the National Bureau of Standards in 
April, 1969, focussed attention on fundamental aspects of Dislocation Theory. While not ignor-
ing the need for continuing advances in fundamental knowledge, the Organizing Committee of this 
Conference desired to emphasize the growing interest in relating dislocation theoretic concepts 
to engineering problems. This approach embraces a spectrum of disciplines and interest 
infrequently collected at a single conference. Accordingly, topic areas chosen for the program 
ranged from the fundamental, such as Properties of Single Dislocations, to the more applied, 
such as Fracture. Fracture and Dislocation-Point Defect Interactions illustrate classes of 
material behavior for which dislocation theory has provided a significant quantitative link 
between macroscopic and microscopic phenomena, while the relation of dislocation theoretic con-
cepts to constitutive equations employed in descriptions of multiaxial deformation has proved 
more elusive. By focussing attention on the more and less successful attempts to enlist quan-
titative dislocation theory in the attack on problems which beset materials scientists, the 
Organizing Committee hopes to stimulate further research of this nature and to reveal critical 
areas for continuing fundamental study. 
The Committee wishes to thank both the Division of Materials Research at the National Science 
Foundation for financial assistance with the Conference and the Metallurgy Program Director, 
Dr. R. J. Reynik, for his encouragement. Personnel of the University of Florida Division of 
Continuing Education rendered expert and timely administrative assistance not only with the 
local arrangements but also with the assembling of manuscripts for publication. The Graduate 
School and the College of Engineering of the University of Florida provided additional support 
necessary for the organizing of the Conference. Finally, the cooperation of the speakers and 
audience in conforming to an exhausting schedule of technical sessions and rigid deadlines for 
manuscript submission contributed most significantly to the success of the program. 
For the Organizing Committee 
C. S. Hartley 
Stony Brook, New York 
October, 1980