ABSTRACT
This chapter covers the basic concepts of creep, fatigue, and fracture behavior of materials. Different stages of creep and associated deformation mechanisms are also explained here. The crack formation and propagation processes of metals under cyclic loading, thereby leading to fatigue failure, are discussed. The mechanisms of Griffith micro-crack, fracture toughness, cleavage, and ductile brittle transition are covered related to fracture mechanics of materials. The deformation behavior of fiber-reinforced composite materials is also described. Furthermore, the discussion on strengthening and toughening mechanisms for metallic and polymeric composite systems are included in this chapter.
