fracture |ˈfrak ch ər|
verb
break or cause to break : [ intrans. ] the stone has fractured | [ trans. ] ancient magmas fractured by the forces of wind and ice.
• [ trans. ] sustain a fracture of (a bone) : [as adj. ] (fractured) she suffered a fractured skull.
• figurative (with reference to an organization or other abstract thing) split or fragment so as to no longer function or exist : [ intrans. ] the movement had fractured without his leadership.
• [as adj. ] (fractured) (of speech or a language) broken.
ORIGIN late Middle English : from French, or from Latin fractura, from frangere ‘to break.’
mechanics |məˈkaniks| |məˈkønɪks| |mɪˈkanɪks|
plural noun
1 [treated as sing. ] the branch of applied mathematics dealing with motion and forces producing motion.
• machinery as a subject; engineering.
2 the machinery or working parts of something : he looks at the mechanics of a car before the bodywork.
• the way in which something is done or operated; the practicalities or details of something : the mechanics of cello playing.
http://www.efunda.com/formulae/solid_mechanics/fracture_mechanics/fm_intro.cfm
