This Special Issue of Engineering Fracture Mechanics includes 11 papers selected from the workshop ''MatModels" which was organised by GKSS Research Centre and held from 11 to 12 June 2007 in the Hotel Residenz Hafen Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany. In total, 55 experts from 8 countries participated in this workshop, which was structured along 20 comprehensive oral contributions.
The rapidly increasing importance of numerical simulations of the integrity of structural components and systems sheds light on the availability and reliability of appropriate material models as an essential prerequisite for simulation. This motivated setting up this workshop, and the resonance of experts invited to present their views was very encouraging.
The contributions covered a wide range of topics: constitutive laws and design, extreme conditions, controlling separation, texture evolution, multi-scale, nano-objects and -testing, and -of course -cohesive zones and ductile fracture. The papers actually realised in the present issue treat simulation of damage and fracture with special emphasis on the underlying material models.
The workshop was organised to honour Prof. Wolfgang Brocks who celebrated his 65th anniversary on 11th June. He and his group have laid the foundations of internationally recognised numerical simulation in the materials mechanics activities of the GKSS Institute of Materials Research. Therefore, his birthday was taken as an excellent opportunity to appreciate his contribution to our work and to the general knowledge in the field. Beside damage and fracture mechanics, a prominent area of Wolfgang Brocks' group is concerned with improving the cohesive model for numerical damage simulation and its practical application; this important activity has already been appreciated by another workshop with a Special Issue of this journal (vol. 70, 2003). Several contributors have followed the invitation to Hamburg again, presumably to honour Wolfgang Brocks as a researcher who has gained greatest respect in the field as well as highest regard as an extraordinarily honest and cooperative colleague.