Castastrophic failure of Liberty Ships and T-2 tankers during Word War II and many ships' failures thereafter instigated extensive research into the problem of brittle fracture. Later, the failure of missiles and aircraft gave a new boost to fracture research in the late 50's and 60's. New concepts of fatigue analysis and fracture are being continuously established and refined.

Fracture, fatigue, and other subcritical processes, such as creep crack growth or stress corrosion cracking, present numerous open issues from both scientific and industrial points of view. These phenomena are of special interest in industrial and civil metallic structures, such as pipes, vessels, machinery, aircrafts, ship hulls, and bridges, given that their failure may imply catastrophic consequences for human life, the natural environment, and/or the economy. Moreover, an adequate management of their operational life, defining suitable inspection periods, repairs, or replacements, requires their safety or unsafety conditions to be defined. The analysis of these technological challenges requires accurate comprehensive assessment tools based on solid theoretical foundations as well as structural integrity assessment standards or procedures incorporating such tools into industrial practice. This volume is focused on new advances in fracture, fatigue, and structural integrity of metallic structural components containing defects (e.g., cracks, notches, metal loss, etc.), and also on those developments that are being or could be incorporated into structural integrity assessment procedures, such as BS7910, R6, or API 579-1/ASME FFS-1.