This book covers both the theory and applications of linear and non-linear fracture mechanics, together with the relevant testing methods, providing the essential knowledge of solid mechanics and materials science required for a complete understanding of fracture mechanics. This book on fracture mechanics is also a history of this science as it developed after World War II, particularly through the attempt to explain the inexplicable brittle fractures of Liberty ships. The reader is guided through the chapters from the early efforts to prevent brittle fracture using empirical approaches based on the transition temperature NDT—assessed with a test specimen introduced at the turn of the nineteenth century, the Charpy V notch specimen—and the Fracture Appearance Diagram, to the introduction of the stress intensity factor by G. Irwin, who founded the new science of Fracture Mechanics. The text then progresses to the most recent analytical approaches of Elastic Plastic Fracture Mechanics and General Yield. It also includes three full chapters dedicated to topics never addressed in previous fracture mechanics books, such as warm prestressing, metallurgical variability, and piping and vessel integrity assessment. With more than 800 graphs, drawings, and photographs—many of which have never appeared before in textbooks—this book can be considered one of the most comprehensive references available today on fracture mechanics and serves as a valuable resource for anyone involved in its theory and applications.

Pietro Paolo Milella belongs to the first generation of Italian nuclear engineers. He served as the director of the Analysis and Mechanical Technologies Division at ENEA/DISP, the Italian National Nuclear Authority, where he was also responsible for all Italian nuclear safety research programs in the mechanical field. He developed the Italian Design Criteria for the next generation of nuclear power plants. In the 1980s, he became an adjunct professor of Machine Design at the University of Cassino, Italy. In 1995, he was appointed as the deputy director general of the National Agency for Environmental Protection (ANPA). He is the author of the books Meccanica della Frattura (in Italian) and Fatigue and Corrosion in Metals. He is celebrating 55 years of professional activity.