ABSTRACT
In certain fracture problems, time is an important variable. At high loading rates, for example, inertia effects and material rate dependence can be significant. Metals and ceramics also exhibit rate-dependent deformation (creep) at temperatures that are close to the melting point of the material. The mechanical behavior of polymers is highly sensitive to strain rate, particularly above the glass transition temperature. In each of these cases, linear elastic and elastic-plastic fracture mechanics, which assume quasistatic, rate-independent deformation, are inadequate.
