This book concentrates upon the mathematical theory of plasticity and fracture as opposed to the physical theory of these fields, presented in the thermomechanical framework.

This book is based on 40 years of research and teaching in the fields of fracture mechanics and plasticity. It will bring students and engineers from various disciplines up to date on key concepts that have become increasingly important in the design of safety-relevant engineering structures in general and in modern lightweight structures in the transportation industry in particular. Primarily intended for graduate students in the engineering sciences and practicing structural engineers, it employs a multidisciplinary approach that comprises theoretical concepts, numerical methods, and experimental techniques. In addition, it includes a wealth of analytical and numerical examples, used to illustrate the applications of the concepts discussed.

This book presents studies on the plasticity, failure, and damage behavior of materials and structures under monotonic and cyclic loads. Featuring contributions by leading authors from around the globe, it focuses on the description of new effects observed in experiments, such as damage under cyclic loading. It also proposes various simulation models based on different approaches and compares them with tests, taking scaling aspects into account.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to numerical modeling of size effects in metal plasticity. The main classes of strain gradient plasticity formulations are described and efficiently implemented in the context of the finite element method. A robust numerical framework is presented and employed to investigate the role of strain gradients on structural integrity assessment. The results obtained reveal the need of incorporating the influence on geometrically necessary dislocations in the modeling of various damage mechanisms. Large gradients of plastic strain increase dislocation density, promoting strain hardening and elevating crack tip stresses. This stress elevation is quantified under both infinitesimal and finite deformation theories, rationalizing the experimental observation of cleavage fracture in the presence of significant plastic flow. Gradient-enhanced modeling of crack growth resistance, hydrogen diffusion and environmentally assisted cracking highlighted the relevance of an appropriate characterization of the mechanical response at the small scales involved in crack tip deformation. Particularly promising predictions are attained in the field of hydrogen embrittlement. The research has been conducted at the Universities of Cambridge, Oviedo, Luxembourg, and the Technical University of Denmark, in a collaborative effort to understand, model and optimize the mechanical response of engineering materials.

A physical, mechanism-based presentation of the plasticity and fracture of polymers, covering industrial scale applications through to nanoscale biofluidic devices.