Background, energy release rate; Griffith’s analysis, mathematical formulation, change in compliance and strain energy approaches, energy release rate of double cantilever beam, crack resistance, stable and unstable crack growth, critical energy release rate, stress intensity factor; linear elastic fracture mechanics, stress and displacement fields, Westergaard’s approach for Modes I, II and III, stress intensity factor for more complex cases; wedge loads on cracked surfaces, crack in finite plate, edge and embedded cracks, G and K relationship, bending and twisting of cracked plates, inelastic deformation at the crack tip; J-integral; crack tip opening displacement; test methods; KIC, JIC, GIC, GIIC and critical CTOD tests, fatigue failure and environmental assisted fracture; crack initiation and growth in constant and variable amplitude loading, environmental assisted fracture and fatigue, finite element analysis of cracks in solids; mixed mode crack initiation and growth; crack detection through non-destructive testing.