New developments in the applications of fracture mechanics to
engineering problems have taken place in the last years. Composite
materials have extensively been used in engineering problems.
Quasi-brittle materials including concrete, cement pastes, rock, soil,
etc. all benefit from these developments. Layered materials and
especially thin film/substrate systems are becoming important in small
volume systems used in micro and nanoelectromechancial systems (MEMS and
NEMS). Nanostructured materials are being introduced in our every day
life. In all these problems fracture mechanics plays a major role for
the prediction of failure and safe design of materials and structures.
These new challenges motivated the author to proceed with the second
edition of the book.
The second edition of the book contains four new chapters in addition to
the ten chapters of the first edition. The fourteen chapters of the book
cover the basic principles and traditional applications, as well as the
latest developments of fracture mechanics as applied to problems of
composite materials, thin films, nanoindentation and cementitious
materials. Thus the book provides an introductory coverage of the
traditional and contemporary applications of fracture mechanics in
problems of utmost technological importance.
With the addition of the four new chapters the book presents a
comprehensive treatment of fracture mechanics. It includes the basic
principles and traditional applications as well as the new frontiers of
research of fracture mechanics during the last three decades in topics
of contemporary importance, like composites, thin films, nanoindentation
and cementitious materials. The book contains fifty example problems and
more than two hundred unsolved problems. A "Solutions Manual" is
available upon request for course instructors from the author.
