SEDUREC 2009 will address the advances in both the computational methods and the experimental techniques for the analysis of the safety and durability of materials and constructions in civil engineering and architecture.

The ability to provide numerical simulations for predicting failure of structures with standard and new composite materials is advancing rapidly. Significant advances have been made in the formulation and implementation of algorithms for static and dynamic problems involving finite strains, complex contact interaction laws, constitutive material behaviours including multi-physics or multi-scale effects, progressive large scale fracturing, etc. Such advances, however, demand a closer interaction between numerical analysts and material scientists in order to produce theoretical models which provide a response in keeping with fundamental material principles and experimental observations. Numerical techniques, and in particular finite element and discrete element methods, are now extensively employed in non-linear structural analysis and very often offer the only means of solution for practical engineering problems.
Experimental methodologies for structural analysis on the other hand, are undergoing significant technological changes. The development of wireless sensor networks (WSN) incorporating the advances in networked info-mechanical systems (NIMS) for intelligent control and operation of maintenance systems add new possibilities for enhanced safety and durability of constructions.

SEDUREC 2009 will act as a forum for developers and partitioners in the field of safety and durability of materials and constructions to discuss recent advances in both computational and experimental techniques and identification of future research directions.