This volume contains the proceedings of the USA-Japan Joint Seminar on "Fracture Mechanics of Ductile and Tough Materials and Its Applications to Energy Related Structures". The seminar was supported jointly by the National Science Foundation of the United States and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences. The seminar was held from November 12th to 16th, 1979, at Hayama, Japan, a picturesque resort town by the beach of Sagami Bay facing Mt. Fugi. The safety and integrity of the engineering structures for energy explora tion, energy production, and energy transportation are of utmost importance to our welfare. Both the United States and Japan are at the forefront of the re search on fracture mechanics and its applications to fracture prevention. Dur ing the past few years, major research efforts have been made in the areas of non-linear fracture mechanics and its applications to fracture initiation, slow crack growth, creep and fatigue. This joint seminar offered an unique opportunity for detailed exchange of information on current researches and fu ture efforts.

This volume contains the proceedings of the USA-Japan Joint Seminar on "Fracture Mechanics of Ductile and Tough Materials and Its Applications to Energy Related Structures". The seminar was supported jointly by the National Science Foundation of the United States and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences. The seminar was held from November 12th to 16th, 1979, at Hayama, Japan, a picturesque resort town by the beach of Sagami Bay facing Mt. Fugi. The safety and integrity of the engineering structures for energy explora tion, energy production, and energy transportation are of utmost importance to our welfare. Both the United States and Japan are at the forefront of the re search on fracture mechanics and its applications to fracture prevention. Dur ing the past few years, major research efforts have been made in the areas of non-linear fracture mechanics and its applications to fracture initiation, slow crack growth, creep and fatigue. This joint seminar offered an unique opportunity for detailed exchange of information on current researches and fu ture efforts.

The aim of this major reference work is to provide a first point of entry to the literature for the researchers in any field relating to structural integrity in the form of a definitive research/reference tool which links the various sub-disciplines that comprise the whole of structural integrity. Special emphasis will be given to the interaction between mechanics and materials and structural integrity applications. Because of the interdisciplinary and applied nature of the work, it will be of interest to mechanical engineers and materials scientists from both academic and industrial backgrounds including bioengineering, interface engineering and nanotechnology. The scope of this work encompasses, but is not restricted to: fracture mechanics, fatigue, creep, materials, dynamics, environmental degradation, numerical methods, failure mechanisms and damage mechanics, interfacial fracture and nano-technology, structural analysis, surface behaviour and heart valves. The structures under consideration include: pressure vessels and piping, off-shore structures, gas installations and pipelines, chemical plants, aircraft, railways, bridges, plates and shells, electronic circuits, interfaces, nanotechnology, artificial organs, biomaterial prostheses, cast structures, mining... and more. Case studies will form an integral part of the work.