The First African InterQuadrennial ICF Conference ¿AIQ-ICF2008¿ on Damage and Fracture Mechanics ¿ Failure Analysis of Engineering Materials and Structures¿, Algiers, Algeria, June 1¿5, 2008 is the first in the series of InterQuadrennial Conferences on Fracture to be held in the continent of Africa. During the conference, African researchers have shown that they merit a strong reputation in international circles and continue to make substantial contributions to the field of fracture mechanics. As in most countries, the research effort in Africa is und- taken at the industrial, academic, private sector and governmental levels, and covers the whole spectrum of fracture and fatigue. The AIQ-ICF2008 has brought together researchers and engineers to review and discuss advances in the development of methods and approaches on Damage and Fracture Mechanics. By bringing together the leading international experts in the field, AIQ-ICF promotes technology transfer and provides a forum for industry and researchers of the host nation to present their accomplishments and to develop new ideas at the highest level. International Conferences have an important role to play in the technology transfer process, especially in terms of the relationships to be established between the participants and the informal exchange of ideas that this ICF offers.

The proceedings of the first conference of this kind, to be held every four years from now on

Acknowledgments; Editors¿ Biographies; Foreword; Preamble; Determination of the Hardness of the Oxide Layers of 2017A Alloys, by Chahinez Fares, Taoufik Boukharouba, Mohamed El Amine Belouchrani, Abdelmalek Britah and Moussa Naït Abdelaziz; Effect of Non-Metallic Inclusions on Hydrogen Induced Cracking, by Mimoun Elboujdaini and Winston Revie; Defect Assessment on Pipe Transporting a Mixture of Natural Gas and Hydrogen, by Guy Pluvinage; Reliability Analysis of Low Alloy Ferritic Piping Materials, by A. Guedri, B. Merzoug, Moe Khaleel and A. Zeghloul; Experimental Characterization and Effect of the Triaxiality on the Behavior of the HDPE, by K. Hachour, R. Ferhoum, M. Aberkane, F. Zairi and M. Nait Abdelaziz; Effects of Aggressive Chemical Environments on Mechanical Behavior of Polyethylene Piping Material, by Souheila Rehab-Bekkouche, Nadjette Kiass and Kamel Chaoui; Hydrogen Embrittlement Enhanced by Plastic Deformation of Super Duplex Stainless Steel, by A. Elhoud, N. Renton and W. Deans; Hydrogen Effect on Local Fracture Emanating From Notches in Pipeline Steels, by Julien Capelle, Igor Dmytrakh, Joseph Gilgert and Guy Pluvinage; Reliability Assessment of Underground Pipelines under Active Corrosion Defects, by A. Amirat, A. Benmoussat and K. Chaoui; An Overview of the Applications of NDI/NDT in Engineering Design for Structural Integrity and Damage Tolerance in Aircraft Structures, by A.M. Abdel-Latif; Improvement in the Design of Automobile Upper Suspension Control Arms Using Aluminum Alloys, by M. Bouazara; Performances of Vehicles¿Active Suspensions, by Nadhira Kheznadji Messaoud-Nacer; Damaging Influence of Cutting Tools on the Manufactured Surfaces Quality, by Idriss Amara, Embarek Ferkous and Fayçal Bentaleb; Design and Test of a Sandwich T-Joint for Naval Ships, by Lotfi Hamitouche, Mostapha Tarfaoui and Alain Vautrin; Vibroacoustic Sources Identification of Gear Mechanism Transmission, by Abbassia Derouiche, Nacer Hamzaoui and TaoufikBoukharouba; Prediction of Structural and Dynamic Behaviors of Impacted Plates, by Miloudi Abdelhamid and Neder Mahmoud; Application of Structural INTegrity Assessment Procedure to Nuclear Power Plant Component, by Nenad Gubeljak and Jozef Predan; Failure Assessment Diagrams in Structural Integrity Analysis, by Yu. G. Matvienko; Degradation and Failure of Some Polymers (Polyethylene and Polyamide) for Industrial Applications, by Boubaker Bounamous and Kamel Chaoui ; On the Structural Integrity of the Nano-PVD Coatings Applied on Cutting Tools, by Miroslav Piska, Ales Polzer, Petra Cihlarova and Dagmar Stankova; Investigation of Energy Balance in Nanocrystalline Titanium under Cyclic Loading, by O. Plekhov, O. Naimark, R.Valiev and I. Semenova; Behavior of Stainless Steel 316L under Impact Test, by M. Benachour, A. Hadjoui and F.Z. Seriari; Spall Fracture in ARMCO Iron: Structure Evolution and Spall Strength, by Oleg Naimark, Sergey Uvarov and Vladimir Oborin; Damage Modelling of Impacted Tubular Structures by Using Material Property Degradation Approach, by Mostapha Tarfaoui, Papa Birame Gning and Francis Collombet; Fracture Control for Northern Pipelines, by W.R. Tyson; The Influence of the Interface on Fracture Parameters, by L. Marsavina and T. Sadowski; Crack Propagation in the Vicinity of the Interface Between Two Elastic Materials, by Luboš Náhlík, Lucie Šestáková and Pavel Hutar; Fracture Behaviour of TiAl Intermetalics, by Ivo Dlouhý, Zdenek Chlup, Hynek Hadraba and Vladislav Kozák; Numerical and Experimental Investigations of Mixed Mode Fracture in Granite Using Four-Point-Bend Specimen, by M.R.M. Aliha, M.R. Ayatollahi and B. Kharazi; Experimental and Numerical Determination of Stress Intensity Factors of Crack in Plate with a Multiple Holes, by S. Belamri, T. Tamine and A. Nemdili; Dynamic Response of Cracked Plate Subjected to Impact Loading Using the Extended Finite Element Method (X-FEM), by R. Tiberkak, M. Bachene, B.K. Hachi, S. Rechak and