description abstract | The design and structural integrity evaluation of pressure retaining equipment are crucial elements in the nuclear, oil, and gas industries. Accordingly, many research has been done to improve the accuracy of design and structural integrity assessment methodologies and to develop new techniques and procedures. In this special issue, it is intended to introduce the latest research results on these subjects. The papers in this issue were collected from two groups.The first group is peer-reviewed technical papers selected from those presented at the 16th APCFS 2020 (Asia-Pacific Conference on Fracture and Strength 2020, Jeju Island, November 2020) conference. The conference was organized by the Division of Materials and Fracture, The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME). Historically, the first conference was held in 1984 (Sendai, Japan) and the subsequent conferences have been held alternately every two years in Korea, Japan, China, and Australia. A total of 229 papers were presented in the APCFS 2020, in spite of the COVID-19 situation. Among these, eight papers were selected for this special issue, covering | |