ABSTRACT
In this chapter the main features of post-yield fracture mechanics will be described, leaving aside details of test techniques (Chapter 3), methods of computing elastic-plastic behaviour (Chapter 4) and the synthesis of many factors into workable design procedures (Chapter 5). Of course it will be necessary to make some forward reference to those aspects in the presentation since, for example, understanding certain results depends on knowledge of the methods by which they were obtained. This chapter is divided into four main sections. In Section 2.1 certain features are described, which, at least with hindsight, must be common to any concept used in EPFM. It is of course the fuller appreciation of these common features that has in recent years brought together various approaches that at one time seemed disparate.
