This book presents the theoretical concepts of stress and strain, as well as the strengthening and fracture mechanisms of engineering materials in an accessible level for non-expert readers, but without losing scientific rigor. This volume fills the gap between the specialized books on mechanical behavior, physical metallurgy and material science and engineering books on strength of materials, structural design and materials failure. Therefore it is intended for college students and practicing engineers that are learning for the first time the mechanical behavior and failure of engineering materials or wish to deepen their understanding on these topics.

The book includes specific topics seldom covered in other books, such as: how to determine a state of stress, the relation between stress definition and mechanical design, or the theory behind the methods included in industrial standards to assess defects or to determine fatigue life. The emphasis is put into the link between scientific knowledge and practical applications, including solved problems of the main topics, such as stress and strain calculation. Mohr's Circle, yield criteria, fracture mechanics, fatigue and creep life prediction. The volume covers both the original findings in the field of mechanical behavior of engineering materials, and the most recent and widely accepted theories and techniques applied to this topic. At the beginning of some selected topics that by the author's judgement are transcendental for this field of study, the prime references are given, as well as a brief biographical semblance of those who were the pioneers or original contributors. Finally, the intention of this book is to be a textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses on Mechanical Behavior, Mechanical Metallurgy and Materials Science, as well as a consulting and/or training material for practicing engineers in industry that deal with mechanical design, materials selection, material processing, structural integrity assessment, and for researchers that incursion for the first time in the topics covered in this book.

1 Stress.- 2 Strain.- 3 Plastic Deformation Mechanisms.- 4 Strengthening Mechanisms.- 5 Mechanical Behavior of Composites and Polymers.- 6 Fracture.- Fatigue.- 8 High Temperature Mechanical Behavior.

Jorge Luis Gonzalez-Velazquez, Ph.D. is a Professor of Metallurgy & Materials Engineering at the Instituto Politecnico Nacional (IPN) in Mexico and founder and Director of the Pipeline Integrity Assessment Group.  Dr. Gonzalez-Velazquez has published over 160 scholarly papers and authored the books, Mecanica de Fractura (first ed. '98, now in third ed.), Metalurgia Mecanica ('99), both published by Limusa-Noriega, Mexico, and Fractography and Failure Analysis by Spriger Nature in 2018. In 2007, the President of Mexico presented him the Lazaro Cardenas Award, which is conferred upon IPN's most outstanding professor and researcher; he also received the 2007 Outstanding Alumnus Award and the 2008 Academy of Distinguished Enginners & Hall of Fame, both by the University of Connecticut. He has directed over 110 research projects and performed thousands of design, structural integrity and failure analysis consulting services for the industry and owns a number of patents.