In recent years, discretization methods have been proposed which are more flexible and which have the potential of capturing (moving) discontinuities in a robust and efficient manner. This monograph assembles contributions of leading experts with the most recent developments in this rapidly evolving field. It provides the most comprehensive coverage of state-of-the art numerical methods for treating discontinuities in mechanics.

Inhalt
Meshless Finite Element Methods.- Meshless discretisation of nonlocal damage theories.- Three-dimensional non-linear fracture mechanics by enriched meshfree methods without asymptotic enrichment.- Accounting for weak discontinuities and moving boundaries in the context of the Natural Element Method and model reduction techniques.- Discontinuous Galerkin Methods.- Modeling Evolving Discontinuities with Spacetime Discontinuous Galerkin Methods.- Analysis of a finite element formulation for modelling phase separation.- Finite Element Methods with Embedded Discontinuities.- Recent Developments in the Formulation of Finite Elements with Embedded Strong Discontinuities.- Evolving Material Discontinuities: Numerical Modeling by the Continuum Strong Discontinuity Approach (CSDA).- A 3D Cohesive Investigation on Branching for Brittle Materials.- Partition-of-Unity Based Finite Element Methods.- On Applications of XFEM to Dynamic Fracture and Dislocations.- Some improvements of Xfem for cracked domains.- 2D X-FEM Simulation of Dynamic Brittle Crack Propagation.- A numerical framework to model 3-D fracture in bone tissue with application to failure of the proximal femur.- Application of X-FEM to 3D Real Cracks and Elastic-Plastic Fatigue Crack Growth.- Accurate Simulation of Frictionless and Frictional Cohesive Crack Growth in Quasi-Brittle Materials Using XFEM.- On the Application of Hansbo's Method for Interface Problems.- An optimal explicit time stepping scheme for cracks modeled with X-FEM.- Variational Extended Finite Element Model for Cohesive Cracks: Influence of Integration and Interface Law.- An Evaluation of the Accuracy of Discontinuous Finite Elements in Explicit Dynamic Calculations.- A discrete model for the propagation of discontinuities in a fluid-saturatedmedium.- Single Domain Quadrature Techniques for Discontinuous and Non-Linear Enrichments in Local Partion of Unity FEM.- Other Discretization Methods.- Numerical determination of crack stress and deformation fields in gradient elastic solids.- The variational formulation of brittle fracture: numerical implementation and extensions.- Measurement and Identification Techniques for Evolving Discontinuities.- Conservation under Incompatibility for Fluid-Solid-Interaction Problems: the NPCL Method.