This book is an outgrowth of my involvement in the field of dynamic fracture mechanics over a period of nearly twenty years. This subbranch of fracture mechanics has been wonderfully rich in scope and diversity, attracting the attention of both researchers and practitioners with backgrounds in the mechanics of solids, applied mathematics, structural engineering, materials science, and earth science. A wide range of analytical, experimental, and computational methods have been brought to bear on the area. Overall, the field of dynamic fracture is highly interdisciplinary, it provides a wealth of challenging fundamental issues for study, and new results have the potential for immediate practical application. In my view, this combination of characteristics accounts for its continued vitality.

I have written this book in an effort to summarize the current state of the mechanics of dynamic fracture. The emphasis is on fundamental concepts, the development of mathematical models of phenomena which are dominated by mechanical features, and the analysis of these models. Mathematical problems which are representative of the problem classes that comprise the area are stated formally, and they are also described in common language in an effort to make their features clear. These problems are solved using mathematical methods that are developed to the degree required to make the presentation more or less self-contained. Experimental and computational approaches have been of central importance in this field, and relevant results are cited in the course of discussion.