Organiser: Dr. Rostand Moutou Pitti, Université Clermont Auvergne, France
Email: Rostand.moutou_pitti@uca.fr
Summary: The aim of this mini-symposium is to bring together top scientists and researchers in fracture mechanics of wood and timber structures, in order to present the latest research results and formulate a framework for future research activities. The mini-symposium will focus on theoretical and analytical fracture-mechanics models in two and three dimensions, reliability considerations, numerical simulations and experimental approaches applied to wood as a material, and timber structures. Topics of particular interest will be the orthotropic character of wood, its hygroscopic and viscoelastic properties, as well as its quasi-brittle behaviour. Theoretical, numerical and experimental contributions on these and other aspects of the fracture mechanics of wood are all welcome, as are those dealing with damage, fracture and related phenomena in timber components and structures.