This volume presents recent developments in the theory of defects and the mechanics of material forces. Most of the contributions were presented at the International Symposium on Defect and Material Forces (ISDMM2007), held in Aussois, France, March 2007.

A novel and unified presentation of the elements of mechanics in material space or configurational mechanics, with applications to fracture and defect mechanics. The level is kept accessible for any engineer, scientist or graduate possessing some knowledge of calculus and partial differential equations, and working in the various areas where rational use of materials is essential.

This book stems from a course on Micromechanics that I started about fifteen years ago at Northwestern University. At that time, micromechanics was a rather unfamiliar subject. Although I repeated the course every year, I was never convinced that my notes have quite developed into a final manuscript because new topics emerged constantly requiring revisions, and additions. I finally came to realize that if this is continued, then I will never complete the book to my total satisfaction. Meanwhile, T. Mori and I had coauthored a book in Japanese, entitled Micromechanics, published by Baifu-kan, Tokyo, in 1975. It received an extremely favorable response from students and re searchers in Japan. This encouraged me to go ahead and publish my course notes in their latest version, as this book, which contains further development of the subject and is more comprehensive than the one published in Japanese. Micromechanics encompasses mechanics related to microstructures of materials. The method employed is a continuum theory of elasticity yet its applications cover a broad area relating to the mechanical behavior of materi als: plasticity, fracture and fatigue, constitutive equations, composite materi als, polycrystals, etc. These subjects are treated in this book by means of a powerful and unified method which is called the 'eigenstrain method. ' In particular, problems relating to inclusions and dislocations are most effectively analyzed by this method, and therefore, special emphasis is placed on these topics.

Uncertainty Quantification of Stochastic Defects in Materials investigates the uncertainty quantification methods for stochastic defects in material microstructures. It provides effective supplementary approaches for conventional experimental observation with the consideration of stochastic factors and uncertainty propagation. Pursuing a comprehensive numerical analytical system, this book establishes a fundamental framework for this topic, while emphasizing the importance of stochastic and uncertainty quantification analysis and the significant influence of microstructure defects on the material macro properties. Key Features Consists of two parts: one exploring methods and theories and the other detailing related examples Defines stochastic defects in materials and presents the uncertainty quantification for defect location, size, geometrical configuration, and instability Introduces general Monte Carlo methods, polynomial chaos expansion, stochastic finite element methods, and machine learning methods Provides a variety of examples to support the introduced methods and theories Applicable to MATLAB® and ANSYS software This book is intended for advanced students interested in material defect quantification methods and material reliability assessment, researchers investigating artificial material microstructure optimization, and engineers working on defect influence analysis and nondestructive defect testing.

Elements of Structures and Defects of Crystalline Materials has been written to cover not only the fundamental principles behind structures and defects, but also to provide deep insights into understanding the relationships of properties, defect chemistry and processing of the concerned materials. Part One deals with structures, while Part Two covers defects. Since the knowledge of the electron configuration of elements is necessary for understanding the nature of chemical bonding, it is discussed in the opening chapter. Chapter Two then describes the bonding formation within the crystal structures of varied materials, with Chapter Three delving into how a material's structure is formed. In view of the importance of the effects of the structure distortion on the material properties due to the fields, the related topics have been included in section 3.4. Moreover, several materials still under intensive investigation have been illustrated to provide deep insights into understanding the effects of the relationships of processing, structures and defects on the material properties. The defects of materials are explored in Part II. Chapter 4 deals with the point defects of metal and ceramics. Chapter 5 covers the fundamentals of the characteristics of dislocations, wherein physics and the atomic mechanics of several issues have been described in detail. In view of the significant influence of the morphologies including size, shape and distribution of grains, phases on the microstructure evolution, and, in turn, the properties of materials, the final chapter focuses on the fundamentals of interface energies, including single phase (grain) boundary and interphase boundary. - Discusses the relationship between properties, defect chemistry and the processing of materials - Presents coverage of the fundamental principles behind structures and defects - Includes information on two-dimensional and three-dimensional imperfections in solids

These lecture notes cover numerous elements of configurational mechanics, including mathematical foundations, linear and nonlinear elasticity and continuum mechanics, coupled fields, fracture mechanics, as well as strength of materials.

Provides a thorough understanding of the chemistry and physics of defects, enabling the reader to manipulate them in the engineering of materials. Reinforces theoretical concepts by placing emphasis on real world processes and applications. Includes two kinds of end-of-chapter problems: multiple choice (to test knowledge of terms and principles) and more extensive exercises and calculations (to build skills and understanding). Supplementary material on crystallography and band structure are included in separate appendices.