The nature and the human creations are full of complex phenomena, which sometimes can be observed but rarely follow our hypotheses. The best we can do is to build a parametric model and try to adjust (identify) the unknown parameters based on the available observations. The authors discuss problems relevant to materials and structures like inverse analysis in structures, crack, material parameter and damage identification, modal analysis and thermographic methods. The solution methods vary from classical optimization to neural networks and genetic algorithms. Since all the authors are...

Structural optimization, a broad interdisciplinary field, requires skillful combining of mathematical and mechanical knowledge with engineering. It is both intellectually attractive and technologically rewarding. The Symposium on Optimization in Structural Design was the second IUTAM Symposium in Poland. Fifteen years have elapsed since the Symposium on Nonhomogeneity in Elasticity and Plasticity, presided by Professor Olszak, was held in Warsaw. These fifteen years mean a lot for mechanics in Poland. Continuing the tradition of Professor Maksymilian Tytus Huber's research, considerable...