Multiphysics Approaches for the Behavior of Polymer-Based Materials

The papers represented in this edition of the Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology (JEMT) were presented at the Third International Conference on Polymer Behavior (ICPB3), which was held in Marrakech, Morocco, on November 3–7, 2008. This conference was organized by the Institute of Mechanics of Fluids and Solids and the University of Strasbourg (France), the Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA), in collaboration with the Faculty of Sciences at the University Cadi Ayyadi (Morocco). The organizers were S. Ahzi, Y. Rémond, S. Patlazhan, M. Khaleel, and M. Skouri. The main goal of the meeting in Marrakech consisted of scientific discussions around the novel trends in multiphysics and multiscale approaches of structure-sensitive mechanics and rheology of modern polymeric materials. The following topics were addressed: thermo-mechanical behavior of polymers and polymer-based nanocomposites; multiphysics and multiscale approaches; microstructure sensitive materials design; micro-mechanics and homogenization approaches; molecular dynamics modeling of structural transformations; and advanced multiscale experimental techniques. We should note that the eight papers accepted in this special issue of JEMT are representative of the discussed topics and that some of the presenters did not submit an article.