The physics of fracture processes, which includes Fracture mechanics, is crucial for understanding the longevity and reliability of any structure, from fracture initiation to propagation and final catastrophic failure. This textbook introduces the thermodynamics of irreversible processes along with entropy to address the time dependency of fracture.

Working from observations of structural failure, the book identifies the principal failure types such as brittle fracture, with considerations of solo crack initiation and crack propagation associated with collective distributed damage. The other type is ductile fracture, when a crack blunts immediately on the application of stress resulting in large deformation. The book then addresses the life of a structure in a specific environment and load condition, using irreversible thermodynamics and the entropy criterion to address cooperative fracture and novel statistical Fracture mechanics to address solo fracture.

The book is ideal for graduate students and design engineers in civil and materials engineering, as well as mechanical and chemical engineering. Students using the book need no more than basic college-level mechanics, mathematics, and statistics knowledge.