In recent years, the mechanistic understanding of the fatigue behavior of advanced materials has continued to emerge. Some of the systems that have been examined include: biomaterials, cellular materials, aerospace materials, advanced composite systems, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), and novel ultrasonically welded aluminum structures for automotive applications. This special section of the ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology brings together selected papers from the ASME Symposium on The Fatigue of Advanced Materials. The Symposium was held in November of 2002, as part of the ASME Winter Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.
Since 2002, much work has gone into the review and revision of selected papers from the symposium. The editors are grateful to the reviewers and authors for their contributions to this special section of JEMT. Special thanks and acknowledgment are also due to Ms. Betty Adam of Princeton University, who coordinated the review process and the correspondence with the authors.
We are particularly grateful to the Editor of ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology, Prof. Huseyin Sehitoglu, for his encouragement and support of this special section.
Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Joe Akkara, Dr. Carmen Huber, and Dr. Libby Lyons (of the National Science Foundation) for providing financial support for the preparation of this special section (Grant Nos. F5262-07, INT-0221416, and DMR-0231418). We hope that the papers in this special section will provide some new insights to those with a fundamental interest in the basic mechanisms and mechanics of fatigue.
Alfred Soboyejo
Columbus, OH
Wole´ Soboyejo
Princeton, NJ
