Abstract
The first edition of the SIM 2021 congress gathers more than 90 participants from more than 10 nationalities, demonstrating the diversity of this new event. At this moment, the SIM 2021 1st edition will occur in a virtual format (April 08th and 09th, 2021) due to disorders caused by the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Hopefully, the conference 2nd edition will take place in person on 5 and 6 October 2021, in Belo Horizonte/Brazil. The International Congress on Structural Integrity and Maintenance (SIM 2021) is organized by Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG, Brazil), Institute for R&D in Structures and Construction (CONSTRUCT, FEUP, Portugal) and University of São Paulo (USP, Brazil). The purpose of this conference is to bring together academic researchers and scholars, as well as engineers from the construction sector to exchange and share their innovative research results and practical experiences on all aspects of Structural Integrity, Design and Maintenance. Then, the participants will have the opportunity to view and share the recent advances related to the following themes: structural integrity, fatigue, fracture, damage mechanics, structural design, advanced construction materials, design of all civil engineering structures types, building information modelling (BIM), artificial intelligence applied to design, safety and risk analysis, structural retrofit and maintenance, probabilistic assessment of structures, management and life-cycle performance, and construction sector management. This event also covers subjects related to computational and numerical modelling of a wide range of infrastructures, such as engineer technical systems, transportation systems, bridges, buildings, dams, railways, underground constructions, wind and transmission towers, offshore platforms, pipelines, naval vessels and ocean structures. It is expected contributions from engineers, metallurgists, material scientists, and other professionals, allowing a significant multidisciplinary discussion. The Organizing Committee of the SIM 2021 immensely acknowledges all members of the Advisory and Scientific Committees for their conference support, the Plenary Speakers and Sessions Chairmen for their knowledge and dedication, all the authors that contributed to the success of the event with their great presentations, and the sponsors for their important contributions. Finally, a word of appreciation for the Organizing Committee members as well as students and other UFMG/USP/FEUP staff for their tireless support.