Mechanics for a New Millennium

The 20th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mech- ics, ICTAM 2000, took place August 27 – September 2, 2000, in the c- ference facilities of the Chicago Marriott Downtown on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, USA. This volume contains the proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, ICTAM2000, held in Chicago, Illinois, in August 2000. Full texts of invited lectures are included along with a full programme listing and the names of all delegates. Also included are major portions of the speeches given at the opening and closing ceremonies and the full text of the play performed during the Opening. Comprehensive statistics on papers submitted, accepted and presented by nation are given. The book captures a snapshot view of the state-of-the-art in the field of mechanics and should prove useful to engineers and scientists from a variety of disciplines with interest in the mechanical sciences.