SUSI 2014 is the 13th International Conference in the successful series of Structures Under Shock and Impact. The first conference started in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1989) and continued in Portsmouth, UK (1992); Madrid, Spain (1994); Udine, Italy (1996); Thessaloniki, Greece (1998); Cambridge, UK (2000); Montreal (2002); Crete (2004); the New Forest, home to the Wessex Institute of Technology, UK (2006); the Algarve, Portugal (2008); Tallinn, Estonia (2010) and Kos, Greece (2012). It is the objective of these meetings to bring together scientists and engineers from a wide range of academic disciplines and industrial backgrounds who have an interest in the structural impact response of structures and materials. In this way, the major developments in different areas can be brought to the attention of the entire community. The shock and impact behaviour of structures is a challenging area, not only because of the obvious time-dependent aspects, but also due to the difficulties in specifying the external dynamic loadings, boundary conditions and connection characteristics for structural design and hazard assessment, and in obtaining the dynamic properties of materials. Thus, it is important to recognise and utilise fully the contributions and understand the emerging theoretical, numerical and experimental studies on structures, as well as investigations into the material properties under dynamic loading conditions. Any increased knowledge will enhance our understanding of these problems and thorough forensic studies on the structural damage after accidents will lead to improved design requirements.