In the past two decades there has been considerable progress and significant advances made in the development of fundamental concepts of damage mechanics and their application to solve practical engineering problems. For instance, new concepts have been effectively applied to characterize creep damage, low and high cycle fatigue damage, creep-fatigue interaction, brittle/elastics damage, ductile plastic damage, straing softening, strain-rate-sensitivity damage, impact damage, and other physical phenomena. Materials investigated include polymers, composites, ceramics and metals.

The International Journal of Damage Mechanics provides an effective mechanism to accelerate dissemination of information on damage mechanics not only within the research community but also between the research laboratory and industrial design department. The journal promotes and contributes to development of the concept of damage mechanics.

Featuring original, peer-reviewed papers by leading specialists from around the world, the International Journal of Damage Mechanics covers new developments in the science and engineering of fracture and damage mechanics.

Topics include:

• creep damage
• low and high cycle fatigue damage ·creep-fatigue interaction
• brittle/elastic damage
• ductile/plastic damage
• strain softening
• strain-rate sensitivity damage
• impact damage
• modelling and numerical simulation

Applications involving all engineering materials including metals, composites, polymers, ceramics and concrete.