STP 1343 features 28 peer-reviewed papers addressing developmentin fatigue crack growth (FTG) and fatigue life management.Worldwide leaders in the field provide their latest findings infive major areas:

Fundamental Studies -- answers basic questions aboutplasticity-induced crack closure and the adequacy of closureconcepts in a wide range of growth behaviors.

Experimental Characterization of Closure -- examines oneof the most active topics in closure studies. Included areexperimental methods of measuring and analyzing crack openinglevels and the correct way to incorporate closure information intothe effective value of the stress intensity factor range.

Load History Effects -- addresses perhaps the most usefulapplication of the crack closure concept, which has been to developlife prediction methods accounting for retardation and accelerationeffects under variable-amplitude and spectrum loading methods.

Surface Roughness Effects -- explores how roughnessinteracts with plasticity-induced closure to affect crack growthrates. Several authors address this issue by developing models thatinclude both effects.

Closure Effects on Crack Behavior -- investigates howfatigue crack closure, as an intrinsic feature of growing fatiguecracks, can have an influence on many different aspects of crackgrowth.

Organized according to the particular class of closure andincluding a variety of both experimental and analytical/numericaltechniques, STP 1343 is an invaluable resource for all FTGexperts.