Pressure vessels enter into many phases of human activity and@ consequently@ the services derived from pressure vessels lead to a tremendous variety of applications and associated engineering problems. The most important of these engineering problems cover various aspects of public safety and economics@ and are noncompetitive. Because these problems are the responsibility of the entire engineering community and are of national concern@ there has been a recognition by leaders in industry and government that the burden of finding solutions must be handled on a cooperative basis and that this effort can best be supported by equitable contributions from industry and public funds.