Failure analysis in China

The introduction of fracture mechanics in China coincided with the beginning of failure analysis research and case studies in the early 1970's. Since then, many institutions and individuals have been involved in this field. Four National Conferences on Failure Analysis of Mechanical equipment, five National Conferences on Fracture, four National Conferences on Fatigue and many symposiums have been held in China. Many seminars and short courses have also been organized. In some universities, a basic course on failure analysis has been introduced. Beijing University has taken a very active part in this field since the 1970's. The Failure Analysis Working Committee of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society was founded in 1986. There are nearly 500 experts and 40 institutions in this committee whose secretariat is at the authors' university.