This book resulted from a series of lecture notes presented in CISM, Udine in July 7 -11, 2008. The papers inform about recent advances in continuum damage mechanics for both metals and metal matrix composites as well as the micromechanics of localization in inelastic solids. Also many of the different constitutive damage models that have recently appeared in the literature and the different approaches to this topic are presented, making them easily accessible to researchers and graduate students in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, engineering mechanics, aerospace engineering, and material science.

The book contains the discussion of some important aspects of localization and fracture phenomena in inelastic solids (single crystals, polycrystalline solids and geological materials). Physical and experimental foundations of crystal plasticity are given. Constitutive modelling of dissipative solids for description of localization and fracture is presented. Various regularization methods for solution of the initial-boundary value problems are outlined. Numerical solutions based on finite element method of practicular evolution problems with localization of plastic deformation are considered.

The IUT AM Symposium on "Micromechanics of Plasticity and Damage of Multiphase Materials" was held in Sevres, Paris, France, 29 August - 1 September 1995. The Symposium was attended by 83 persons from 18 countries. In addition 17 young French students attended the meeting. During the 4 day meeting, a total of 55 papers were presented, including 24 papers in the poster sessions. The meeting was divided into 7 oral and 3 poster sessions. The 7 oral sessions were the following: - Plasticity and Viscoplasticity I and II; - Phase transformations; - Damage I and II; - Statistical and geometrical aspects; - Cracks and interfaces. Each poster session was introduced by a Rapporteur, as follows: - Session I (Plasticity and Viscoplasticity): G. Cailletaud; - Session 2 (Damage): D. Franc;:ois; - Session 3 (Phase transformation; statistical and geometrical aspects): D. Jeulin. The main purpose of the Symposium was the discussion of the state of the art in the development of micromechanical models used to predict the macroscopic mechanical behaviour of mUltiphase solid materials. These materials consist of at least two chemically different phases, present either initially or formed during plastic deformation, when a strain-induced phase transformation takes place. One session was devoted to the latter case. Continuously strengthened composite materials, containing long fibers, were out of the scope of the Symposium.

Sound source localization is an important research field that has attracted researchers' efforts from many technical and biomedical sciences. Sound source localization (SSL) is defined as the determination of the direction from a receiver, but also includes the distance from it. Because of the wave nature of sound propagation, phenomena such as refraction, diffraction, diffusion, reflection, reverberation and interference occur. The wide spectrum of sound frequencies that range from infrasounds through acoustic sounds to ultrasounds, also introduces difficulties, as different spectrum components have different penetration properties through the medium. Consequently, SSL is a complex computation problem and development of robust sound localization techniques calls for different approaches, including multisensor schemes, null-steering beamforming and time-difference arrival techniques. The book offers a rich source of valuable material on advances on SSL techniques and their applications that should appeal to researches representing diverse engineering and scientific disciplines.

This book deals with the mechanics and physics of fractures at various scales. Based on advanced continuum mechanics of heterogeneous media, it develops a rigorous mathematical framework for single macrocrack problems as well as for the effective properties of microcracked materials. In both cases, two geometrical models of cracks are examined and discussed: the idealized representation of the crack as two parallel faces (the Griffith crack model), and the representation of a crack as a flat elliptic or ellipsoidal cavity (the Eshelby inhomogeneity problem). The book is composed of two parts: The first part deals with solutions to 2D and 3D problems involving a single crack in linear elasticity. Elementary solutions of cracks problems in the different modes are fully worked. Various mathematical techniques are presented, including Neuber-Papkovitch displacement potentials, complex analysis with conformal mapping and Eshelby-based solutions. The second part is devoted to continuum micromechanics approaches of microcracked materials in relation to methods and results presented in the first part. Various estimates and bounds of the effective elastic properties are presented. They are considered for the formulation and application of continuum micromechanics-based damage models.

This book covers a wide range of topics in fracture and damage mechanics. It presents historical perspectives as well as recent innovative developments, presented by peer reviewed contributions from internationally acknowledged authors. The volume deals with the modeling of fracture and damage in smart materials, current industrial applications of fracture mechanics, and it explores advances in fracture testing methods. In addition, readers will discover trends in the field of local approach to fracture and approaches using analytical mechanics. Scholars in the fields of materials science, engineering and computational science will value this volume which is dedicated to Meinhard Kuna on the occasion of his 65th birthday in 2015. This book incorporates the proceedings of an international symposium that was organized to honor Meinhard Kuna’s contributions to the field of theoretical and applied fracture and damage mechanics.