Recently, I have found a new theory, called Peridynamics, used to solve, mainly, fracture mechanics problems in materials. But, I am confused about the issue if it is a superset of continuum mechanics or is it a totally new theory that reformulate our previous understanding of continuum mechanics? How do you measure material properties with this theory? Do we need to reformulate our theories to deal with fracture mechanics problems? Is it a totally accepted scientific theory?

cordially,

Mario J. Juha

 http://www.eng.usf.edu/~mjuha/

Discontinuities have a fundamental role in the mechanics of solids. The most famous type of discontinuity is a crack, but others are important too, such as dislocations and phase boundaries. Many types of deformation that appear to be continuous at the macroscale, such as plastic flow in metals, really involve the evolution of discontinuities at some smaller scale.