Most industrial and natural materials exhibit a macroscopic behaviour which results from the existence of microscale inhomogeneities. The influence of such inhomogeneities is commonly modelled using probabilistic methods. Most of the approaches to the evaluation of the safety of structures according to probabilistic criteria are somewhat scattered, however, and it is time to present such material in a coherent and up-to-date form. Probabilities and Materials undertakes this task, and also defines the great tasks that must be tackled in coming years.
For engineers and...