This volume is a collection of the papers given at the workshop on Fracture Scaling, held at the University of Maryland, USA, 10-12 June 1999, under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, USA. These papers can be grouped under five major themes, micromechanical analysis, size effects in fiber composites; scaling and heterogeneity, computational aspects and nonlocal or gradient models, and size effects in concrete, ice and soils. This workshop is the result of a significant research effort, supported by the Office of Naval Research, into the problems of scaling of fracture in fiber composites, and generally into the problems of scaling in solid mechanics. These problems, which are of interest for many materials, especially all quasibrittle materials, share similar characteristics. Thus, progress in the understanding of scaling problems for one material may help progress for another material. This makes it clear that a dialogue between researchers in various fields of mechanics is highly desirable and should be promoted.
In view of this, this volume should be of interest to researchers and advanced graduate students in materials science, solid mechanics and civil engineering.