Evolutionary computation in crack problems

Evolutionary algorithms (EA) seem to be very interesting optimization algorithms, sometimes more efficient than the classical (especially gradient) ones. The application of EAs for many different problems connected with the optimization in fracture mechanics: the shape optimization of cracked structures, the identification of the cracks, the identification of the boundary conditions in cracked structures, the prediction of the crack growth path is presented. Boundary element method is used for solving the boundary-value problem. Numerical tests are included.