The book is focused on constitutive description of mechanical behaviour of engineering materials: both conventional (polycrystalline homogeneous isotropic or anisotropic metallic materials) and non-conventional (heterogeneous multicomponent anisotropic composite materials). Effective material properties at the macro-level depend on both the material microstructure (originally isotropic or anisotropic) as well as dissipative phenomena occurred on fabrication and consecutive loading phase (hardening) resulting in irreversible microstructure changes (acquired anisotropy). The material symmetry is a background and anisotropy is a core around which the book is formed. In this way a revision of classical rules of enhanced constitutive description of materials is required.

The book is focused on constitutive description of mechanical behaviour of engineering materials: both conventional (polycrystalline homogeneous isotropic or anisotropic metallic materials) and non-conventional (heterogeneous multicomponent anisotropic composite materials). Effective material properties at the macro-level depend on both the material microstructure (originally isotropic or anisotropic) as well as dissipative phenomena occurred on fabrication and consecutive loading phase (hardening) resulting in irreversible microstructure changes (acquired anisotropy). The material symmetry is a background and anisotropy is a core around which the book is formed. In this way a revision of classical rules of enhanced constitutive description of materials is required.

The scope of this book is based on the keynote lectures delivered during the Inter national Symposium on Anisotropic Behaviour of Damaged Materials ABDM, held in Krakow-Przegorzaiy, Poland, September 9-11, 2002. The Symposium was organized by the Solid Mechanics Division of the Institute of Mechanics and Machine Design - Cracow University of Technology, under aus pices of the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Prof. S. Michalowski. The Co-organizers of the ABDM Symposium were: * Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg, * Centre of Excellence for Advanced Materials and Structures AMAS at the In stitute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sci ences, Warsaw, * Committee of Mechanics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. Ten chapters of this book in their present form essentially exceed lectures de livered at the Symposium. They should rather be read as not only author's recent achievements in the field, but also the state of art and synthesis done by the lead ers in the mechanics community. The mixed formula of the Symposium, namely: the invited lectures and presentations of the original papers by the participants was used. 23 original papers, published in the Symposium Proceedings on CD, exhaust the full scope of the ABDM Symposium. The present book provides a survey of various damage models focusing on the damage response in anisotropic materials as well as damage-induced anisotropy.

In the pages of this present monograph readers will find virtually everything they need to know about the latest advanced materials. The authors have covered almost every angle, including composites, functionally graded materials, and materials for high temperature service. They also examine advanced approaches to local and non-local analysis of localized damage, and provide a new description of crack deactivation. This highly informative volume also tackles the material properties for high temperature applications.

In the pages of this present monograph readers will find virtually everything they need to know about the latest advanced materials. The authors have covered almost every angle, including composites, functionally graded materials, and materials for high temperature service. They also examine advanced approaches to local and non-local analysis of localized damage, and provide a new description of crack deactivation. This highly informative volume also tackles the material properties for high temperature applications.

The book contains invited lectures from the International Symposium on the Anisotropic Behaviour of Damaged Materials, held in Krakow, Poland, September 9-11, 2002. Eminent researchers and world experts in the field of damage mechanics report recent achievements and state-of-the-art results in the field. The book deals with the anisotropic damage mechanics involving micromechanical aspects and thermo-mechanical coupling. The contents are both of academic interest and relevant for practical applications, especially those concerning more advanced anisotropic models of materials and the transition from the microscopic to the macroscopic level.