The growing use of polymer composites is leading to increasing demand for fractographic expertise. Fractography is the study of fracture surface morphologies and it gives an insight into damage and failure mechanisms, underpinning the development of physically-based failure criteria. In composites research it provides a crucial link between predictive models and experimental observations. Finally, it is vital for post-mortem analysis of failed or crashed polymer composite components, the findings of which can be used to optimise future designs.Failure analysis and fractography of polymer composites covers the following topics: methodology and tools for failure analysis; fibre-dominated failures; delamination-dominated failures; fatigue failures; the influence of fibre architecture on failure; types of defect and damage; case studies of failures due to overload and design deficiencies; case studies of failures due to material and manufacturing defects; and case studies of failures due to in-service factors.With its distinguished author, Failure analysis and fractography of polymer composites is a standard reference text for researchers working on damage and failure mechanisms in composites, engineers characterising manufacturing and in-service defects in composite structures, and investigators undertaking post-mortem failure analysis of components. The book is aimed at both academic and industrial users, specifically final year and postgraduate engineering and materials students researching composites and industry designers and engineers in aerospace, civil, marine, power and transport applications.

Professor Greenhalgh has a PhD in damage growth in composites and over thirty-seven years’ experience in composites research and teaching. Between 1987 and 2003 he worked at RAE (now QinetiQ), conducting research on a broad range of aspects of polymer composites. In 2003 he joined Aeronautics at Imperial College London, and is now a Professor of Composite Materials, Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and co-Head of the Composite Centre. He has a H-index of 44, having published over 100 papers (8075 citations), two textbooks and four patents. He has initiated European working groups on composites fractography, conducted numerous failure investigations and has led involvement in high profile component failures (e.g. Formula One crashes) and as an expert witness in litigation cases. He has delivered training courses on fractography to industry and university students. He is recognised as one of the world experts on failure analysis of composites.