Contact Mechanics -- Atomic Force Microscopy at Ultrasonic Frequencies -- Indentation Size Effect on the Hardness of Zirconia Polycrystals -- Indentation Fracture, Acoustic Emission and Modelling of the Mechanical Properties of Thin Ceramic Coatings -- Nanoindentation, Nanoscratch and Nanoimpact Testing of Silicon-Based Materials with Nanostructured Surfaces -- Microstructural Control of Indentation Crack Extension under Externally Applied Stress -- Instrumented Hardness Test on Alumina Ceramics and Single Crystal with Spherical Indenter -- Glass -- Controlling the Fragmentation Behavior of Stressed Glass -- Elasto-Plastic Behavior of Glassy Carbon and Silica Glass by Nano-Indentation with Spherical Tipped Indenter -- Scratch Test for Evaluation of Surface Damage in Glass -- Shear Driven Damage and Internal Friction in Indentation Loading of a Glass-Ceramic -- Indentation and Scratching of Glass: Load, Composition and Temperature Effects -- Effects of Tin on the Physical Properties and Crack Growth in Soda-Lime-Silica Float Glass -- Indentation Size Effect for Glasses: Yes, There is a Fracture Contribution -- Fracture of Nano-Scale Materials -- Slow Crack Propagation in Ceramics at the Nano- and Micro-Scale: Effect of the Microstructure -- Toughening and Strengthening Mechanisms in Nanocomposites Based on Dislocation Activity -- Composites -- Creep Behavior and Mechanism for CMCs with Continuous Ceramic Fibers -- Strain Accumulation and Damage Evolution During Creep of SiCf/SiC Composites -- Modelling Multilayer Damage in Cross-ply Ceramic Matrix Composites -- Quantification of Toughness Increase Due to Metal Particles in Glass Matrix Composites -- Fracture Resistance of Hybrid Glass Matrix Composite and Its Degradation Due to Thermal Ageing and Thermal Shock -- Creep Investigation of SiCf-SiBC Composites -- Fracture Toughness of BaTiO3-MgO Composites Sintered by Spark Plasma Sintering -- Fracture Toughness of BaTiO3 and BaTiO3-Al2O3 Composite under Electric Field -- Room Temperature Post-Fracture Tensile (PFT) Study of Two Fiber-Reinforced Ceramic Matrix Composites with a “Strong” Fiber/Matrix Interface -- A FE Model of Carbon/Carbon Composite Fracture -- Fracture Fundamentals -- Tailoring the Composition of Self-Reinforced Silicon Nitride Ceramics to Enhance Mechanical Behavior -- Nonlinear Fracture of a Polycrystalline Graphite — Size-Effect Law and Irwin’s Similarity -- Fragmentation of Ceramics in Rapid Expansion Mode -- Experimental Approach to Microfracture Process of Ceramics under Thermal Shock -- Finite Element Analysis of Crack-Path Selection in a Brick and Mortar Structure -- Investigation of Crack Growth Process in Dense Hydroxyapatite Using the Double Torsion Method -- Crack Propagation Behavior of Alumina with Different Grain Sizes under Static and Cyclic Fatigue -- Effects of Pore/Grain-Size Interaction and Porosity on the Fracture of Electroceramics -- Fracture of Coatings -- Fracture Behaviour of Plasma Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings -- Particle Impact Damage and Point Load-Induced Fracture Behavior in Zirconia Plasma Spray Coating Film -- Model I, Mode II, and Mixed-Mode Fracture of Plasma-Sprayed Thermal Barrier Coatings at Ambient and Elevated Temperatures -- Ferroelectric Materials -- Modeling of Fracture in Ferroelastic Ceramics -- Strength and Reliability of Lead Zirconate Titanate Ceramics -- Reliability Prediction, Standardization and Design -- Standard Reference Material 2100: Fracture Toughness of Ceramics -- Measuring the Real Fracture Toughness of Ceramics: ASTM C 1421 -- Predicting the Reliability of Brittle Material Structures Subjected to Transient Proof Test and Service Loading -- Estimation and Simulation of Slow Crack Growth Parameters from Constant Stress Rate Data -- On Integrity of Flexible Displays -- Fracture of Conductive Cracks in Poled and Depoled PZT-4 Ceramics -- Increasing Resistance to Low Temperature Ageing Degradation of Y-TZP by Surface Modification.The 8th International Symposium on fracture mechanics of ceramics was held in on the campus of the University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA, on February 25-28, 2003. With the natural maturing of the fields of structural ceramics, this symposium focused on nano-scale materials, composites, thin films and coatings as well as glass. The symposium also addressed new issues on fundamentals of fracture mechanics and contact mechanics, and a session on reliability and standardization.