The papers in this volume represent a considerable cross-section of the field of fracture mechanics, a testimony to the breadth of interest that Mel and Max Williams' friends share with them. Several are expanded versions of papers that were given in special sessions honoring them at the 1997 Ninth International Conference on Fracture Mechanics in Sydney, Australia. The subjects treated in this volume can be classified as follows: dynamic fracture problems as viewed primarily from a classical continuum point of view; analysis of relatively general crack geometrics; fracture problems of...

The papers in this volume represent a considerable cross-section of the field of fracture mechanics, a testimony to the breadth of interest that Mel and Max Williams' friends share with them. Several are expanded versions of papers that were given in special sessions honoring them at the 1997 Ninth International Conference on Fracture Mechanics in Sydney, Australia. The subjects treated in this volume can be classified as follows: dynamic fracture problems as viewed primarily from a classical continuum point of view; analysis of relatively general crack geometrics; fracture problems...