Mechanics in Material Space with Applications to Defect and Fracture Mechanics [Paperback]

A novel and unified presentation of the elements of mechanics in material space or configurational mechanics, with applications to fracture and defect mechanics. The level is kept accessible for any engineer, scientist or graduate possessing some knowledge of calculus and partial differential equations, and working in the various areas where rational use of materials is essential.The aim of the book is to present, in a novel and unified fashion, the elements of Mechanics in Material Space or Configurational Mechanics, with applications to fracture and defect mechanics. This mechanics, in contrast to Newtonian mechanics in physical space, is concerned with defects such as cracks and dislocations, which are embedded in the material and might move in it. The level is kept accessible to any engineer, scientist or graduate student possessing some knowledge of calculus and partial differential equations, and working in the various areas where rational use of materials is essential.1 Mathematical Preliminaries.- 1.1 General Remarks.- 1.2 What is a Conservation Law?.- 1.3 Trivial Conservation Laws.- 1.4 System with a Lagrangian; Noethers Method.- 1.5 System without a Lagrangian; Neutral-Action Method.- 1.6 Discussion.- 2 Linear Theory of Elasticity.- 2.1 General Remarks.- 2.2 Elements of Linear Elasticity.- 2.3 Conservation Laws of Linear Elastostatics.- 2.4 Alternative Derivations of Conservation Laws.- 3 Properties of the Eshelby Tensor.- 3.1 General Remarks 81.- 3.2 Physical Interpretation of the Components of the Eshelby Tensor.- 3.3 Invariants, Principal Values, Principal Directions and Extremal Values of the Eshelby Tensor.- 4 Linear Elasticity with Defects.- 4.1 General Remarks.- 4.2 Path-Independent Integrals and Energy-Release Rates.- 4.3 Example: Hole-Dislocation Interaction.- 4.4 Path-Independent Integrals of Fracture Mechanics.- 5 Inhomogeneous Elastostatics.- 5.1 General Remarks.- 5.2 Symmetry Transformations.- 5.3 The Homogeneous Case.- 5.4 The Inhomogeneous l3U