We present the Book of Abstracts for the 3rd HISTRATE Conference — Advanced Composites under HIgh STRAin raTEs Loading: A Route to Certification-by-Analysis, held at the University of Latvia on 10th and 11th June 2026 in Riga, Latvia. Building on the strong positive response to the first two HISTRATE conferences in 2024 and 2025, this year’s event continues to serve as a dedicated meeting place for specialists addressing challenges in composite materials, dynamic loading, and computational certification methodologies. Riga, the capital of Latvia, offered a unique blend of historical heritage, modern infrastructure, and a dynamic academic community. Known for its outstanding architecture and vibrant cultural life, the city provided an excellent environment for scientific discussions, networking, and international collaboration. As a major hub in the Baltic region, Riga was a fitting host for bringing together researchers, engineers, and industry professionals involved in the COST Action CA21155.
Advanced composite materials have become indispensable in industries such as aerospace, automotive, defense, marine, and renewable energy, where lightweight, high-performance, and impact-resistant structures are essential. Understanding their response under high strain-rate conditions is therefore a matter of both scientific significance and engineering necessity. In parallel, the growing adoption of certification-by-analysis reflects a shift toward more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective alternatives to traditional qualification procedures. Realizing this vision depends critically on the availability of validated, high-fidelity computational models capable of accurately predicting material and structural behavior under dynamic loading conditions. The HISTRATE conference series realizes knowledge transfer by ideas sharing and discussing both the advances and the hurdles in the domain of composites. The 2026 edition integrates experimental, numerical, and analytical approaches to make possible transition towards certification-by-analysis for composite structures subjected to high strain rate loading.
The conference program features 6 invite lectures by experts from industry, technical sessions with 25 oral presentations and 24 poster presentations following thematically the research conducted by the COST CA21155 Working groups, including research from early-career scientists. The program fostered both formal and informal exchanges, encouraging collaborations and continuation of research in future.
This Book of Abstracts offers diversity of methods, depth of analysis, and future trends by compiling contributions from 40 universities, 16 academic research centers, and 8 industrial research centers. A broad spectrum of topics is addressed, including innovative experimental material characterization, recent developments in constitutive modeling and high-strain-rate failure criteria, multiscale simulation methodologies, and advanced composite architectures tailored for enhanced dynamic performance. Particular emphasis is also placed on strategies for integrating numerical predictions into certification processes. Emerging directions such as the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to material modeling under dynamic loading, together with uncertainty quantification techniques for predictive simulations, constitute important and rapidly evolving areas represented in this volume. The conference united participants from 22 countries, including Belgium (3), Bulgaria (4), Chroatia (1), Cyprus (1), France (1), Georgia (2), Germany (3), India (2), Ireland (1), Italy (6), Kosovo (1), Latvia (8), Lithuania (1), The Netherlands (1), North Macedonia (5), Poland (8), Portugal (3), Romania (1), Spain (1), Switzerland (1), Tunisia (1), Turkiye (12), UK (2). There are 12 joint papers with authors from two or more of the following countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, North Macedonia, Portugal, Turkiye, UK. .
We wish to thank all the authors for their valuable contributions, the reviewers from the conference program committee for their thorough evaluations and their tireless efforts in shaping this conference. Special recognition is also due to our host from University of Latvia for their organizing work and generous support.
We believe this collection of abstracts will serve not only as a useful reference but also as a lasting record of the ongoing efforts to push the boundaries of composite material technology and certification practices under dynamic loading conditions.
The HISTRATE 2026 Organizing Committee
