This grant supports the Engineering Foundation conference titled "Small Fatigue Cracks: Mechanics and Mechanisms" to be held December 6-11, 1998 in Kona, Hawaii. The principal objective of this conference is to bring renewed focus on the aspects of small fatigue cracks. Of special interest are new developments related to mechanisms and related mechanics, owing to their relevance to many diverse engineering applications. Through invited presentations from experts, the conference will foster links between veteran researchers, young investigators, graduate students and application engineers by providing a forum for discussion of concepts and new directions. All interested authors and attendees from universities, research laboratories and industry will be encouraged to participate. A compendium of papers presented will be published as proceedings. A concerted effort is being made by organizers to involve a number of young scientists, graduate students and minority participants. %%% The subject of small fatigue cracks has drawn intense scrutiny in modern fatigue and fracture research. The increased use of high strength, low toughness structural materials has resulted in smaller crack sizes required for catastrophic failures. Therefore understanding the nature of small crack growth and improving the capabilities for predicting fracture are critical to the design of advanced structures. ***
