|
||||||
|
||||||
Technical ProgramPlantema Memorial Lecture
The First Conference of the ICAF was held in Amsterdam in 1952 and was attended by representatives of the original 5 member nations: Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, Belgium and Switzerland. With time, other nations saw the merits of his vision and have joined the committee. Dr. Plantema was the first General Secretary of ICAF and guided its development with skill and diplomacy until his death in November of 1966. To honour his contribution, the first Plantema Memorial Lecture was given in Australia in 1967 by Mr. J. Branger. The Plantema Memorial Lecture has become a highlight of the ICAF Symposium and we have been privileged to hear outstanding contributors to our field. Dr. Graham Clark's Lecture will continue this heritage. Professor Graham Clark Professor Clark has been involved with ICAF since 1990 and was Australian National Delegate to ICAF from 2002 to 2010. He retired from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation in Australia in 2005 where he served as Research Leader Structural Integrity. In that role he was responsible for leading DSTO's basic research on aircraft structures, including full-scale testing, and providing support to the Australian Defence Force, and involved responsibility for DSTO's advice to the Australian Defence Force on all fleet aircraft life and structural integrity issues. Prior to that he led a DSTO research group whose primary role was research into fatigue and life extension; the group also supported the ADF by assessing aircraft structural and materials defects, failures and deterioration, in service and in major full-scale fatigue tests. He also led the DSTO Accident Investigation Team, over a period in which it handled some 50 accidents and incidents; this included several very demanding investigations which identified major issues with fleet airworthiness and led to extensive research programs for fleet recovery. In 1977 Graham started his DSTO career developing research programs on fatigue and fracture issues for a wide range of Army and NAVY equipment, notably large-calibre (105mm) ordnance and armoured vehicles, torpedo and propulsion systems. He then moved to aircraft research, developing programs modeling impact damage and fatigue of impact-damaged composites for F/A-18. Prior to this, in the UK, he undertook post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge for the Royal Navy into fatigue cracking in nuclear pressure vessels for submarines; this included the development of structural health monitoring systems to ensure integrity. His PhD research investigated fatigue crack growth at notches, principally in high-strength steels and titanium alloy. Since 2008, he has been Innovation Professor, Aeronautical Design, at RMIT University in Melbourne, where he leads research into the degradation of aircraft components, repair, life extension and crashworthiness. Professor Clark has served as the National Leader of the Materials Performance in Systems panel of The Technical Cooperation Program, and on numerous structural review teams/panels. He has authored over 270 publications in the structural integrity area, and has received numerous 'best paper' awards. He is a fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia. View » Preliminary Program Details (pdf)
|
||||||
This Lecture is in memory of Dr. Fredrick J. Plantema, the founder of the International Committee on Aeronautical Fatigue. Dr. Plantema took the initiative of forming the International Committee on Aeronautical Fatigue in 1951 with the stated objectives of forming closer cooperation with various institutes carrying out non-classified work. This was to be accomplished by the exchange of reports and experience to mutual benefit. A founding principle was to encourage regular personal contacts of the persons doing this work. 