Böcker av RADIM KOCICH

This Special Issue consists of selected papers from the Experimental Stress Analysis 2020 conference. Experimental Stress Analysis 2020 was organized with the support of the Czech Society for Mechanics, Expert Group of Experimental Mechanics, and was, for this particular year, held online in 19-22 October 2020. The objectives of the conference included identification of current situation, sharing professional experience and knowledge, discussing new theoretical and practical findings, and the establishment and strengthening of relationships between universities, companies, and scientists from the field of experimental mechanics in mechanical and civil engineering. The topics of the conference were focused on experimental research on materials and structures subjected to mechanical, thermal-mechanical, and dynamic loading, including damage, fatigue, and fracture analyses. The selected papers deal with top-level contemporary phenomena, such as modern durable materials, numerical modeling and simulations, and innovative non-destructive materials'' testing.

The demands on innovative materials given by the ever-increasing requirements of contemporary industry require the use of high-performance engineering materials. The properties of materials and alloys are a result of their structures, which can primarily be affected by the preparation/production process. However, the production of materials featuring high levels of the required properties without the necessity to use costly alloying elements or time- and money-demanding heat treatment technologies typically used to enhance the mechanical properties of metallic materials (especially specific strength) still remains a challenge. The introduction of thermomechanical treatment represented a breakthrough in grain refinement, consequently leading to significant improvement of the mechanical properties of metallic materials. Contrary to conventional production technologies, the main advantage of such treatment is the possibility to precisely control structural phenomena that affect the final mechanical and utility properties. Thermomechanical treatment can only decrease the grain size to the scale of microns. However, further research devoted to pushing materials'' performance beyond the limits led to the introduction of severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods providing producers with the ability to acquire ultra-fine-grained and nanoscaled metallic materials with superior mechanical properties. SPD methods can be performed with the help of conventional forming equipment; however, many newly designed processes have also been introduced.