Preface to the First Volume by S.S. Manson

The past half century has witnessed a virtual revolution in the development of two fields which are the subject of this book: the introduction of advanced materials as structural components in severely loaded machines exposed to high temperatures and temperature gradients, and the development of technology of life computation for such components, of which one of the major failure mechanisms is fatigue. This book is based on the experience of the authors during this period. Although it emphasizes our research both as individuals and as colleagues for half a century, it also includes the work of numerous others who have provided useful results that have moved progress in these fields.

My first report on fatigue appeared in 1953. An intense interest and activity in this rapidly changing field has continued since. Collaboration with Dr. Gary Halford started in 1966 when he joined NASA at its Cleveland center where I served as Chief of the Materials and Structures Division. This cooperation continued after I retired in 1974 to join the faculty of Case Western Reserve University, and even after I retired from CWRU two decades later. We started to write this book well before I left CWRU. Thus, this book has been in the making for a long time, perhaps longer than we care to admit. But to compensate for the slowness of its progress toward publication, it is fair to say that we have been continuously adding content from our own research, and from that developed elsewhere, as warranted.

Initially this book was prepared as a text on fatigue, and its content fashioned after my regular curriculum presentations at Case Western Reserve University, short course presentations at the Pennsylvania State University, and shorter presentations at MIT, The Technion in Israel, and numerous other universities. In later-year presentations it was broadened under the title Relation of Materials to Design to include content developed at NASA. Its current context is still largely related to fatigue but includes other subjects representative of the material presented in these courses.

I am grateful to NASA for the support it has rendered me during my employment there, and later in grants provided to continue my activities initiated there. I am also grateful to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the Metals Properties Council for their grants to conduct the research described in this book. My most heartfelt gratitude is expressed toward my co-author, Gary R. Halford. It has been a genuine joy to work with him as a colleague, friend, and co-author.

As always, I express my deep appreciation to the Almighty for the gift of life and long-time participation in the developments contained in this book.