"Eleven peer-reviewed papers address the unique thermal and mechanical properties of shape memory alloys (SMA's), and metallic medical materials and devices. The principle focus is on nitinol since these unique alloys offer the designer new dimensions in controlling the shape of devices used in medical and many structural applications. Shape memory devices such as valves, actuators, clutches, and gaskets are proposed for monitoring units, drive systems, and repair schemes. Biocompatible implanted medical devices rely on the hyperelastic response of these unique materials."--Publisher's website.

"This book emphasizes the physical and practical aspects of fatigue and fracture. It covers mechanical properties of materials, differences between ductile and brittle fractures, fracture mechanics, the basics of fatigue, structural joints, high temperature failures, wear, environmentally-induced failures, and steps in the failure analysis process."--publishers website.

This book reviews problems in the mechanical behaviour of cyclically loaded metallic materials, primarily with regard to the nature of the fatigue process. The first edition of the book appeared in 1980. The present second edition represents a revised form of the original book and also covers recent developments in the field. As the book focuses on physical-metallurgical aspects, it occupies a unique and important position in the technical literature, which has so far been devoted mainly to engineering metal fatigue problems and their technical solution in specific practical cases. The book provides a compact review of current knowledge on physical metallurgical processes that accompany and affect the fatigue of metallic materials, and also presents the background for applying the new results to practical designing and to the selection of materials in engineering practice. The authors present an updated review of results from countries both in the east and the west and cover a relatively large field in a concise manner. The work will be of value to research workers and students following advanced and post-graduate courses in the fields of materials science and mechanical engineering.