Current Perspectives and New Directions in Mechanics, Modelling and Design of Structural Systems comprises 330 papers that were presented at the Eighth International Conference on Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation (SEMC 2022, Cape Town, South Africa, 5-7 September 2022).

The topics featured may be clustered into six broad categories that span the themes of mechanics, modelling and engineering design:

(i) mechanics of materials (elasticity, plasticity, porous media, fracture, fatigue, damage, delamination, viscosity, creep, shrinkage, etc);

(ii) mechanics of structures (dynamics, vibration, seismic response, soil-structure interaction, fluid-structure interaction, response to blast and impact, response to fire, structural stability, buckling, collapse behaviour);

(iii) numerical modelling and experimental testing (numerical methods, simulation techniques, multi-scale modelling, computational modelling, laboratory testing, field testing, experimental measurements);

(iv) design in traditional engineering materials (steel, concrete, steel-concrete composite, aluminium, masonry, timber);

(v) innovative concepts, sustainable engineering and special structures (nanostructures, adaptive structures, smart structures, composite structures, glass structures, bio-inspired structures, shells, membranes, space structures, lightweight structures, etc);

(vi) the engineering process and life-cycle considerations (conceptualisation, planning, analysis, design, optimization, construction, assembly, manufacture, maintenance, monitoring, assessment, repair, strength