Materials and Testing
Volume 30 - 2006

Editorial

his volume of Materials Forum brings together the work of researchers and industry practitioners having a common interest in the characterization and performance of materials used in industry. The papers are based on the invited lectures delivered at the "Materials and Testing Conference" held in Western Australia 30th October to 2nd November 2005. The conference brought together experts from across the fields of materials science, engineering and non-destructive testing, and was a joint initiative between Materials Australia and the Australian Institute for Non Destructive Testing. The event was international in scope, and there were speakers from the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Holland, Russia, Morocco, Iran, India, Kuwait, Poland, Saudi Arabia and the USA, as well as, of course, Australia and New Zealand. The overarching theme at the meeting was a practical industry slant that emphasised the relationships between engineering materials and their applications, characterisation, inspection and testing. This collection of the formal papers that resulted from that meeting provide a timely opportunity to illustrate the breadth of this field of materials research, and to highlight the advanced nature of its status in Australia. We hope that its availability will further contribute to the development of the discipline, and that it will serve the interests of the wider Australian and international materials community.

All contributions were subject to a stringent and independent process of peer-review. The success of any journal is critically dependant on the efforts of these reviewers, who read the manuscripts on the Editors' behalf and provide the authors with constructive criticism. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the both the contributors and the reviewers. This volume of Materials Forum is the result of their hard work.

Richard Wuhrer
Michael Cortie

Editors

Dr Richard Wuhrer
Microstructural Analysis Unit
Faculty of Science
University of Technology, Sydney

Professor Michael Cortie
Director, Institute for Nanoscale Technology
University of Technology, Sydney

Aims and Scope

Materials Forum is published annually and presents critical reviews of recent research in materials science and engineering. These are written by researchers active in the field, reflecting areas of Australian interest and expertise, but are not limited to Australian research. Most importantly, it is expected that articles will, in the first instance, be intelligible to a wide audience of materials scientists and engineers who are not necessarily familiar with the specific field. Reviews will be succinct but authoritative. They may also be extended to include a complex analysis of current theories or present a new interpretation of existing knowledge. In this way, the reviews may also be useful to specialists. All articles are solicited by the Editorial Committee and are independently refereed by two or more assessors.

© 2006 Institute of Materials Engineering Australasia Ltd. Authorisation of copy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by the Institute of Materials Engineering Australasia Ltd for libraries and other users registered with the copyright clearance centre (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, provided that the base fee of $5.00 per copy is paid directly to CCC, 27 Congress Street, Salem, MA, 01970-7952/91, USA.