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Ashby Festschrift
Progress in Materials Science 46 (2001) 187±188 www.elsevier.com/locate/pmatsci
Preface
Ashby Festschrift This Festschrift stems from a Symposium held at Cambridge University to honour Mike Ashby in his 65th year. Mike has been a pioneer in many branches of materials science and engineering, moving from fundamental electron microscopy to modelling and to engineering design. In keeping with the spirit of his work the Symposium was entitled ``Materials Engineering Ð A Forward Look''. Three broad themes capture most of his research activities of the past 45 years, and these formed the basis of the meeting: Micromechanical Modelling, Process Modelling and Design Methods. The presentations drew on past and current contributions that Mike has made in these ®elds, but also identi®ed the rich potential of these research ®elds. This special issue contains the keynote papers from the Symposium. Mike's ®rst major contribution to materials was his doctoral thesis work on dislocation mechanisms in dispersion hardened metals, one of the early signi®cant studies to exploit transmission electron microscopy, and coupled to the elegant, clear modelling of a problem, which was to become an Ashby trademark. Capturing the essence of dislocation and diusion based material behaviour in simple models was the fundamental basis of Mike's work on deformation mechanisms, leading to the ®rst of the ``Ashby maps'', another trademark. Maps for fracture mechanisms, the visco-elasticity of polymers and fatigue and wear were to follow. Through his work on the deformation and fracture of the materials of the Earth's crust, and of ice, Mike also acquired international recognition in the geophysics community. The engineering aspects of materials steadily assumed greater importance in Mike's work, through modelling of manufacturing processes and modelling of the micromechanics of deformation and failure in many diverse materials. Process models for laser treatment, welding, sintering and HIPing required the same skills and judgement, to couple processing conditions to microstructure and property evolution. Through a whole suite of process maps, and software, Mike showed the emerging importance of modelling in optimisation and development of materials processing Ð a lesson still slowly being learnt in many parts of industry. In micromechanics of materials, combined experiment, modelling and mapping led to contributions to failure of polymer and ceramic matrix composites, toughening of ceramics, and the establishment of a comprehensive understanding of cellular solids Ð the last leading to further diversi®cation into woods and other natural materials. And in recent years, Mike's earlier work on cellular solids has had a revival through the development of metal foams and lattice materials. 0079-6425/01/$ - see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0079-6425(00)00010-4
188
Preface
A review of the ®elds in which Mike has worked generally indicates periods of roughly 5 years of intense activity, before he would move on to new problems (while retaining a remarkable ability to recall and continue with everything he had done before, if required). This pattern was broken by his work on selection methods in engineering design, which has spanned 15 years and looks set to continue to his retirement. From the initial concept of a material selection chart as a novel way to display material properties and to provide a systematic approach to optimisation of material choice, the work has led to a ¯ourishing software package covering materials, processes and structural shapes, with the ability for databases to be customised for almost any engineering entity. This work has also stimulated interest in the sustainability and environmental impact of materials. No review of Mike's impact in materials science and engineering would be complete without reference to his enthusiasm and in¯uence in teaching. The clarity and interest of Mike's lectures and seminars are memorable to many diverse audiences. Engineering Materials I and II have set the standard for undergraduate textbooks in this ®eld for 20 years, and are sold in six languages. Cellular Solids and Materials Selection in Mechanical Design are both in their second editions, and will long continue to be the authoritative reference books for these subjects. And it is worth noting Mike's ®rm belief in maintaining a close interaction between teaching and research Ð all of the textbooks, and many emerging research concepts, received their ®rst airing with undergraduate audiences. Mike's other long-term contribution to materials science and engineering has been his journal editorships, for 21 years of Acta Metallurgica, and since 1995 of Progress in Materials Science. Both leading journals owe much to Mike's judgement and hard work. The papers in this volume are the keynote presentations from the Symposium, which in total included 30 talks. The contributors to the Symposium spanned Mike's whole career. It was evident that people have been inspired by Mike in many diverse ways Ð for example, in his generosity with sharing ideas, his approach to supervising graduate students and encouraging younger colleagues, combining research and teaching, maintaining a balance of experiment and theory, aiming for simplicity and clarity in modelling, and mapping the big picture without getting lost in detail and complexity. His in¯uence and style have undoubtedly been propagated to many universities and laboratories in the UK, Europe and N. America. Above all, colleagues recall Mike's friendship and modesty, which have gone hand in hand with his scienti®c endeavours. H.R. Shercli N.A. Fleck
Preface
Ashby Festschrift This Festschrift stems from a Symposium held at Cambridge University to honour Mike Ashby in his 65th year. Mike has been a pioneer in many branches of materials science and engineering, moving from fundamental electron microscopy to modelling and to engineering design. In keeping with the spirit of his work the Symposium was entitled ``Materials Engineering Ð A Forward Look''. Three broad themes capture most of his research activities of the past 45 years, and these formed the basis of the meeting: Micromechanical Modelling, Process Modelling and Design Methods. The presentations drew on past and current contributions that Mike has made in these ®elds, but also identi®ed the rich potential of these research ®elds. This special issue contains the keynote papers from the Symposium. Mike's ®rst major contribution to materials was his doctoral thesis work on dislocation mechanisms in dispersion hardened metals, one of the early signi®cant studies to exploit transmission electron microscopy, and coupled to the elegant, clear modelling of a problem, which was to become an Ashby trademark. Capturing the essence of dislocation and diusion based material behaviour in simple models was the fundamental basis of Mike's work on deformation mechanisms, leading to the ®rst of the ``Ashby maps'', another trademark. Maps for fracture mechanisms, the visco-elasticity of polymers and fatigue and wear were to follow. Through his work on the deformation and fracture of the materials of the Earth's crust, and of ice, Mike also acquired international recognition in the geophysics community. The engineering aspects of materials steadily assumed greater importance in Mike's work, through modelling of manufacturing processes and modelling of the micromechanics of deformation and failure in many diverse materials. Process models for laser treatment, welding, sintering and HIPing required the same skills and judgement, to couple processing conditions to microstructure and property evolution. Through a whole suite of process maps, and software, Mike showed the emerging importance of modelling in optimisation and development of materials processing Ð a lesson still slowly being learnt in many parts of industry. In micromechanics of materials, combined experiment, modelling and mapping led to contributions to failure of polymer and ceramic matrix composites, toughening of ceramics, and the establishment of a comprehensive understanding of cellular solids Ð the last leading to further diversi®cation into woods and other natural materials. And in recent years, Mike's earlier work on cellular solids has had a revival through the development of metal foams and lattice materials. 0079-6425/01/$ - see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0079-6425(00)00010-4
188
Preface
A review of the ®elds in which Mike has worked generally indicates periods of roughly 5 years of intense activity, before he would move on to new problems (while retaining a remarkable ability to recall and continue with everything he had done before, if required). This pattern was broken by his work on selection methods in engineering design, which has spanned 15 years and looks set to continue to his retirement. From the initial concept of a material selection chart as a novel way to display material properties and to provide a systematic approach to optimisation of material choice, the work has led to a ¯ourishing software package covering materials, processes and structural shapes, with the ability for databases to be customised for almost any engineering entity. This work has also stimulated interest in the sustainability and environmental impact of materials. No review of Mike's impact in materials science and engineering would be complete without reference to his enthusiasm and in¯uence in teaching. The clarity and interest of Mike's lectures and seminars are memorable to many diverse audiences. Engineering Materials I and II have set the standard for undergraduate textbooks in this ®eld for 20 years, and are sold in six languages. Cellular Solids and Materials Selection in Mechanical Design are both in their second editions, and will long continue to be the authoritative reference books for these subjects. And it is worth noting Mike's ®rm belief in maintaining a close interaction between teaching and research Ð all of the textbooks, and many emerging research concepts, received their ®rst airing with undergraduate audiences. Mike's other long-term contribution to materials science and engineering has been his journal editorships, for 21 years of Acta Metallurgica, and since 1995 of Progress in Materials Science. Both leading journals owe much to Mike's judgement and hard work. The papers in this volume are the keynote presentations from the Symposium, which in total included 30 talks. The contributors to the Symposium spanned Mike's whole career. It was evident that people have been inspired by Mike in many diverse ways Ð for example, in his generosity with sharing ideas, his approach to supervising graduate students and encouraging younger colleagues, combining research and teaching, maintaining a balance of experiment and theory, aiming for simplicity and clarity in modelling, and mapping the big picture without getting lost in detail and complexity. His in¯uence and style have undoubtedly been propagated to many universities and laboratories in the UK, Europe and N. America. Above all, colleagues recall Mike's friendship and modesty, which have gone hand in hand with his scienti®c endeavours. H.R. Shercli N.A. Fleck