Bringing together the work of practitioners in many fields of engineering, materials and computational science, this book includes most of the papers presented at the First International Conference on Material Characterisation. In some cases, experimentalists may not be aware of certain computational methods, while modelers may be equally unaware of a new application which is well suited to their simulation work. The central aim of this volume is to encourage interaction between experimentalists and modelers, thus prompting new collaborations, opportunities and ideas that will ultimately result in scientific advances. The contributions featured are divided under the following headings: parameter identification; optimisation of materials; thermomechanical behaviour; damage mechanisms; composites; foams; polymers; concretes; and interface phenomena.