9508624 Swartz The purpose of the workshop is to bring together the leading researchers in the field of fracture mechanics applications to quasi-brittle materials in order to develop draft standards for testing concrete to determine fracture mechanics properties. Prior to the workshop, draft reports will be prepared and distributed to the attendees. The size of the group will be on the order of 30 to 40 and will include persons from countries in Europe and other countries who actively involved with the national organizations which develop testing standards. The interaction of the U.S. participants with those from other countries is particularly important at this time. It is noted that the practicing engineers in Europe and Japan are making great progress toward implementing the concepts of fracture mechanics into forensic engineering and design practice, while this has been lagging in the U.S. The results of this workshop will lead to testing standards which will be proposed to ASTM for their adoption.
