Fundamentals of Fracture Mechanics: Theory, Test Methods and Applications

This book covers both the theory and applications of linear and non-linear fracture mechanics, together with the relevant testing methods, providing the essential knowledge of solid mechanics and materials science required for a complete understanding of fracture mechanics.This book on fracture mechanics is also a history of this science as it developed after World War II, particularly through the attempt to explain the inexplicable brittle fractures of Liberty ships.The reader is guided through the chapters from the early efforts to prevent brittle fracture using empirical approaches based on the transition temperature NDT-assessed with a test specimen introduced at the turn of the nineteenth century, the Charpy V notch specimen-and the Fracture Appearance Diagram, to the introduction of the stress intensity factor by G.Irwin, who founded the new science of Fracture Mechanics.The text then progresses to the most recent analytical approaches of Elastic Plastic Fracture Mechanics and Ge