This work examines problems, particularly in mining and civil engineering, related to the destruction of heterogenous materials. It details the physical mechanisms of destruction, methods of damage and fracture modelling, and the application of models to the improvement of drilling efficiency.

- self-contained and well illustrated - complete and comprehensive derivation of mechanical/mathematical results with enphasis on issues of practical importance - combines classical subjects of fracture mechanics with modern topics such as microheterogeneous materials, piezoelectric materials, thin films, damage - mechanically and mathematically clear and complete derivations of results

This book pursues optimal design from the perspective of mechanical properties and resistance to failure caused by cracks and fatigue. The book abandons the scale separation hypothesis and takes up phase-field modeling, which is at the cutting edge of research and is of high industrial and practical relevance. Part 1 starts by testing the limits of the homogenization-based approach when the size of the representative volume element is non-negligible compared to the structure. The book then introduces a non-local homogenization scheme to take into account the strain gradient effects. Using a phase field method, Part 2 offers three significant contributions concerning optimal placement of the inclusion phases. Respectively, these contributions take into account fractures in quasi-brittle materials, interface cracks and periodic composites. The topology optimization proposed has significantly increased the fracture resistance of the composites studied.

An introduction to the mechanics and mathematics of fracture for undergraduates in a wide range of fields, practical engineers, and other inquisitive readers with a background in at least the fundamentals of mechanics and mathematics. Describes the historical development of the fracture-mechanical concepts used today, and how these are applied in industry. Translated from the Russian; about half of the brief bibliography are works in Russian. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Fracture, Fatigue, Failure and Damage Evolution, Volume 8 of the Proceedings of the 2016 SEM Annual Conference & Exposition on Experimental and Applied Mechanics, the eighth volume of ten from the Conference, brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on a wide range of areas, including: In-situ Techniques for Fracture & Fatigue General Topics in Fracture & Fatigue Fracture & Fatigue of Composites Damage, Fracture, Fatigue & Durability Interfacial Effects in Fracture & Fatigue Damage Detection in Fracture & Fatigue

This book deals with the mechanics and physics of fractures at various scales. Based on advanced continuum mechanics of heterogeneous media, it develops a rigorous mathematical framework for single macrocrack problems as well as for the effective properties of microcracked materials. In both cases, two geometrical models of cracks are examined and discussed: the idealized representation of the crack as two parallel faces (the Griffith crack model), and the representation of a crack as a flat elliptic or ellipsoidal cavity (the Eshelby inhomogeneity problem). The book is composed of two parts: The first part deals with solutions to 2D and 3D problems involving a single crack in linear elasticity. Elementary solutions of cracks problems in the different modes are fully worked. Various mathematical techniques are presented, including Neuber-Papkovitch displacement potentials, complex analysis with conformal mapping and Eshelby-based solutions. The second part is devoted to continuum micromechanics approaches of microcracked materials in relation to methods and results presented in the first part. Various estimates and bounds of the effective elastic properties are presented. They are considered for the formulation and application of continuum micromechanics-based damage models.

This accessible text presents a unified approach of treating the microstructure and effective properties of heterogeneous media. Part I deals with the quantitative characterization of the microstructure of heterogeneous via theoretical methods; Part II treats a wide variety of effective properties of heterogeneous materials and how they are linked to the microstructure, accomplished by using rigorous methods.