Table of Contents

I Principles.- 1 Summary of basic problems and concepts.- 2 Mechanisms of fracture and crack growth.- 3 The elastic crack-tip stress field.- 4 The crack tip plastic zone.- 5 The energy principle.- 6 Dynamics and crack arrest.- 7 Plane strain fracture toughness.- 8 Plane stress and transitional behaviour.- 9 Elastic-plastic fracture.- 10 Fatigue crack propagation.- 11 Fracture resistance of materials.- II Applications.- 12 Fail-safety and damage tolerance.- 13 Determination of stress intensity factors.- 14 Practical problems.- 15 Fracture of structures.- 16 Stiffened sheet structures.- 17 Prediction of fatigue crack growth.- Author index.