This book provides a state-of-the-art review of the fail-safe and damage tolerance approaches
allowing weight savings and increasing aircraft reliability and structural integrity. The
application of the damage tolerance approach requires extensive know-how of the fatigue and
fracture properties corrosion strength potential failure modes and non-destructive inspection
techniques particularly minimum detectable defect and inspection intervals. In parallel
engineering practice involving damage tolerance requires numerical techniques for stress
analysis of cracked structures. These evolved from basic mode I evaluations using rough finite
element approaches to current 3D modeling based on energetic approaches as the VCCT or
simulation of joining processes. This book provides a concise introduction to this subject.
