Within the Solid Mechanics Program at the Office of Naval Research (ONR), our primary mission is to establish a basic research program which addresses the funda mental issues in solid mechanics where a clear scientific understanding is lacking. Our approach involves first identifying the various scales at which material and structural response and failure occur. Within each level of behavior we address the basic mechanical phenomena for which a clear physical description is not available. ONR's program emphasizes experimental research to identify and quantify the interacting behavior and...