The Mondragon Unibertsitatea Higher Polytechnic School organizes the GEF2025 congress in Vitoria-Gasteiz
The Mondragon Unibertsitatea Higher Polytechnic School organizes the GEF2025 congress in Vitoria-Gasteiz
The Mondragon Unibertsitatea Higher Polytechnic School organizes the GEF2025 congress in Vitoria-Gasteiz
This is an event dedicated to the study of the behavior of different materials when subjected to stress, use, temperature and tension, especially with regard to fatigue and fracture.
The 41st edition of the Spanish Fracture Group (GEF) Congress is being held today at the Europa Conference Center in Vitoria-Gasteiz. This forum is organized this year by the Mondragon Unibertsitatea School of Technology. The objective of the congress is to understand how different types of materials respond under various conditions of use, such as tension, compression, temperature, and stress, especially with regard to fatigue (wear and tear due to repeated stress) and fracture (how materials break or crack). Ultimately, these are crucial analyses in fields such as engineering, industry, and architecture to ensure the durability and safety of constantly evolving structures.
At the congress, expert engineers will take the opportunity to exchange ideas, present advances, and disseminate the work carried out by researchers in the field of engineering. Participants will also discuss new technological challenges. Specifically, this edition will discuss the analysis of wind turbine shaft failures, the prediction of fatigue crack growth (repeated stresses) in an industrial press, and the prediction of pipes used for gas transportation pipelines (gas transport systems).
The Spanish Fracture Group (GEF) is a multidisciplinary scientific and technological society whose mission is to improve the safety, durability, and performance of structures, components, and materials used in engineering.
Importance of Fracture and Fatigue
The study of fatigue and fracture of materials can be applied to various sectors, as it is based on the calculation, evaluation, and analysis of the service life of structures and products made from materials such as metal, plastic, composites, and ceramics.
In the case of the Basque Country, its greatest impact is in the transport sectors, which include automotive, aeronautics, and trains, as well as in the energy sector, encompassing wind, solar, and hydrogen.
It also applies to machine tools and capital goods, such as cranes and elevators, and to civil engineering, which includes infrastructure such as bridges and pavilions. In short, this research is relevant to all mechanical products, present in numerous sectors.
The main advances offered by the study of fracture and fatigue related to all these areas focus on the development of advanced calculation techniques that allow for improved analytical precision, as well as a deeper understanding of material behavior, especially in the context of the energy transition.
One of the most innovative aspects is related to hydrogen, both in research on how it affects materials and in the analysis of its impact on their useful life. Furthermore, new equipment and methodologies are being developed, as the hydrogen sector is still emerging and many of the key issues are not yet fully defined.
The Congress
The Congress began today at 9:00 a.m. and will run over the next few days. The meeting will be attended by approximately 130 people, primarily researchers, although it will also include research staff in training and doctoral candidates.
Over the three days, there will be 22 sessions, each featuring several research papers. You can view the full program here.
Research Groups at the University
The first professors and researchers from Mondragon University participated in the conference for the first time in 2003. Since then, the university has always been represented. This year, the Higher Polytechnic School of Mondragon Unibertsitatea has been in charge of organizing the event.
The Higher Polytechnic School of Mondragon Unibertsitatea has a close connection with the topics addressed at the forum, as it has several research groups in this sector, such as Structural Design and Mechanics and Surface Technologies, among others.
Mondragon Unibertsitatea boasts extensive research activity in this field, cutting-edge equipment and laboratories, and students who are training in engineering in the sector or pursuing dual training.
