In the experimental mechanics wide variety of optical methods including measurement of deformation at reduced length scales using combination of computer vision and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been recently applied. One of suitable methods for in-plane measurement of displacements and deformations in the micrographs obtained by SEM is the 2D digital image correlation. In contrast to images obtained in visible spectrum by classical optical devices temporally-varying distortions known as drift distortion are present in the SEM micrographs. These distortions are caused by positional errors of electron beam during scanning process. Magnitude of this effect decreases with higher conductivity of the sample and is also influenced by magnification and scanning time. For this purpose measurement of distortion was performed on a series of micrographs of conductive samples acquired at different magnifications and acquisition times. Surface of each sample was covered with liquid silver to ensure adequate contrast pattern necessary for determination of distortion’s magnitude and distortion magnitudes were assessed.

Tungsten is a promising candidate material for use in the tokamak device aimed at future production of nuclear fusion power. Here, tungsten is intended for the application in the part called first wall, with the function of a heat-resistant plasma facing armor. In the present work, two fractions of tungsten powder (2 and 4 µm) were used to prepare two consolidated samples by spark plasma sintering (SPS), using a combination of pressure, temperature and electric power. This sintering technique produces samples of near theoretical density which is positive for the application. Tungsten compacts were then studied to determine some basic thermal and mechanical properties, namely thermal conductivity using the laser-flash method and hardness by Vickers test. The measurements were focused on thermal conductivity of the compacts because high thermal conductivity is crucial for the material of tokamak first wall, loaded by high heat flux from the plasma. High hardness is desirable for good resistance to mechanical erosion. The obtained results pointed out the differences between the two tungsten compacts and provided an idea about suitable production parameters.

Study provides preliminary results of experimental study of tile grout material behavior. Experiments were performed with the use of microCT, three point bending test and methods for chemical analysis. It was proven that material behave very elastic and the suitability of the combination of used methods.

Porous metals and particularly aluminium foams are attractive materials for crash applications where constructional elements have to be able to absorb considerable amount of deformation energy while having as low weight as possible. Compressive behaviour for medium impact velocities can be experimentally assessed from a series of drop-tower impact tests instrumented with accelerometer and high-speed camera. However to predict such behaviour a proper modelling scheme has to be developed. In this paper drop-tower impact tests of Alporas aluminium foam were used for development of a material model for explicit finite element simulations of high-strain rate deformation process using LS-DYNA simulation environment. From the material models available low density foam, Fu-Chang’s foam, crushable foam and modified crushable foam models were selected for simulations using smoothed-particle hydrodynamics and solid formulations respectively. Numerical simulations were performed in order to assess constitutive parameters of these models and identify material model describing deformation behaviour of Alporas with the best accuracy.

Endovascular stents such as coronary stents can be used for the treatment of atherosclerosis. If the narrowing involves a main vessel and a side branch as well, physicians have to use bifurcation stenting technique. Bifurcation lesions constitute nearly 15 % of all percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), so the investigation of bifurcation stenting methods is very important. This article introduces a simple method to measure side branch access and related functional stent properties in the case of stent-balloon technique. With this method we can tell if bifurcation stenting is possible or not, and if so the size of the available access.