Substructuring and component mode synthesis (CMS), is a very popular method of model reduction for large structural dynamics problems. Starting from the pioneering works on this technique in the early 1960s, many researchers have studied and used tl?is technique in a variety of applications. Besides model reduction, CMS offers several other crucial advantages. The present work aims to provide a review of the available literature on this important technique. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.