Communications in Numerical Methods in Engineering is an international journal which publishes short refereed contributions describing significant developments in numerical methods and the application of such techniques to the solution of practical engineering problems. It is a companion journal to the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering the International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics and the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids . These journals will now concentrate largely on full-length papers. This journal will enable important developments in numerical methods and their application to be made available quickly to the scientific and engineering community whereas longer papers on these developments can subsequently appear in the established journals. Papers published in this journal will fall largely into two main categories. The first will contain those contributions describing new developments in numerical analysis and methods which have a practical application. The second category will contain contributions on the industrial application of numerical methods. Novel implementations of existing methods will also be particularly welcome. In modern engineering practice numerical methods are becoming increasingly integrated into the design process through fully interactive design software. However before any new technique can be implemented in computer-aided engineering and design it must be fully validated. This applies to the technique itself and to any new computational algorithms required to implement the new method. In consequence the description of new numerical methods their validation for example by comparison with experimental data and the description of new computational algorithms will be suitable material for this journal. Publication Policy Communications In Numerical Methods In Engineering is a high-quality publication containing short papers being refereed by members of an international panel. The nature of the papers will ensure rapid publication. There are no page charges and twenty-five reprints of each paper are supplied to the authors free of charge.