Features the latest trends in fracture mechanics research from the world's leading scientists and engineers in the field. This edition presents 45 peer-reviewed papers, including nearly a third from foreign contributors, divided into six comprehensive sections:

Fracture Mechanics of Ceramics -- Six papers deal with various aspects of the fracture phenomenon in structural ceramics.

Interface Fracture -- The general problem of fracture mechanics of interfaces and interfacial zones in bonded dissimilar materials is explored in nine papers.

New Techniques -- Five papers feature innovative experimental methods as well as familiar standard techniques used in novel applications.

Inelastic Fracture -- The types of fracture problems classified in this particular category are presented in nine papers.

Fatigue and Fracture -- Eight papers demonstrate fundamental work and practical applications of fatigue crack growth and fracture in engineering materials.

Computational and Analytical Techniques -- Analytical results for various flaw interaction problems for a half plane and two- and three-dimensional finite element method applications for fracture mechanics problems are covered in eight papers.