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The Nature of Fracture

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Finnie's Notes on Fracture Mechanics

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Abstract

Our objective in this introductory chapter will be to describe the general features of the fracture process and to introduce some of the terminology that will be used. After doing this, we will attempt to trace the route by which our present understanding of fracture developed. The historical aspects of our topic are of considerable interest because some of the early discoveries were forgotten or not used for long periods. As with any subject there were many false starts and competing theories, some of which later became reconciled. One could make the same statement about the literature of the present day. Perhaps some feeling for the historical development of fracture theories will help provide perspective in shifting and evaluating the vast amount of literature that continues to appear in the field of fracture.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    1 erg cm−2 = 10−3 Jm−2 = 5.7 × 10−6 in lb/in2.

  2. 2.

    In this quotation, Kelley’s notation has been changed to the one we are using.

  3. 3.

    There is also earlier work which the writer has not yet been able to locate. Orowan refers to the work of Mesnager [11, 12] in 1902 and 1906, which apparently anticipated the ideas of Ludwig and Scheu. An earlier 1909 reference by Ludwig [10] has also been cited by several writers. Modification of Ludwig’s concept of notch brittleness was apparently made by Davidenkov [13, 14] in 1936 and 1937 and is discussed by Orowan [1]. The collection of these early references, while not of great practical importance at the present time, would add to our knowledge of the history of fracture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    C. K. H. Dharan & Iain Finnie

  2. School of Engineering, Pusan National University Beon-gil, Busan, Korea, Republic of

    B. S. Kang (Dean)

Authors
  1. C. K. H. Dharan
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  2. B. S. Kang
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  3. Iain Finnie
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Dharan, C.K.H., Kang, B.S., Finnie, I. (2016). The Nature of Fracture. In: Finnie's Notes on Fracture Mechanics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2477-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2477-6_1

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