In this book a systematic discussion of crack problems in elastic-plastic materials is presented. The state of the art in fracture mechanics research and assessment of cracks is documented, with the help of analytic, asymptotic methods as well as finite element computations. After a brief introduction to fracture mechanics, the two-parameter concept for stationary cracks is studied in addition to the issues in three-dimensional crack fields under coupling with strong out-of-plane effects. Cracks along interfaces and crack growth problems under mixed mode conditions are also treated. A...

During the last decades completely new technologies for high speed railway vehicles have been developed. The primary goals have been to increase traction, axle load, and travelling speed, and to guarantee the safety of the passengers. However, new developments have revealed new limitations: settlement and destruction of the ballast and the subgrade lead to deterioration of the track; irregular wear of the wheels causes an increase in overall load and deterioration in passenger comfort; and damage of the running surfaces of the rail and the wheel is becoming more frequent. These problems have...

My wife Tatyana, daughter Mariya, son Alexandr It is well known that the mixed-mode conditions appear when the direction of the applied loading does not coincide with the orthogonal K, -Kn-Km space. In general, in the industrial practice the mixed-mode fracture and the mixed-mode crack growth are more likely to be considered the rule than the exception. Miller et al. considers that cracks can grow due to a mixture of processes (ductile and brittle), mechanisms (static, fatigue, creep) and loading modes (tension, torsion, biax ial/multiaxial). Additionally mixed-mode crack-extension can be...

This text links applied mathematics to real world engineering problems by proposing an alternative BEM (boundary element method) formulation based on the Fourier transform, which can be applied to almost all cases relevant in engineering mechanics.