The contribution presents the verification of the methodology of accelerated creep tests from the point of view of obtaining more information about the stress–strain behaviour of the investigated materials using the Digital Image Correlation method. Creep tests are performed on SAC305 and SACX0807 lead-free solders and are supplemented by numerical modelling using the finite element method, considering the viscoplastic model based on the theory of Perzyna, Chaboche, and Norton. The stress–strain behaviour of both solders appears to be very similar at applied strain rates of 0.0002–0.0026%/s and applied creep stresses of 15–28 MPa. Initially, the viscoplastic model is calibrated using an analytical approach. Then, the finite element model updating approach is used to optimise the material parameters based on the simultaneous simulations of creep and tensile tests. As a result, the total objective function value is reduced almost five times due to optimisation. The proposed type of accelerated test with an hourglass specimen proves to be suitable for calibrating the considered class of viscoplastic models. The main benefit is that a single specimen is required to obtain creep curves on various stress levels.

Currently, there is an increasing use of machine parts manufactured using 3D printing technology. For the numerical prediction of the behavior of such printed parts, it is necessary to choose a suitable material model and the corresponding material parameters. This paper focuses on the determination of material parameters of the Anand material model for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS-M30) material. Material parameters were determined using the genetic algorithm (GA) method using finite element method (FEM) calculations. The FEM simulations were subsequently adjusted to experimental tests carried out to achieve the possible best agreement. Several experimental tensile and indentation tests were performed. The tests were set up in such a way that the relaxation and creep behaviors were at least partially captured. Experimental tests were performed at temperatures of 23 °C, 44 °C, 60 °C, and 80 °C. The results obtained suggest that the Anand material model can also be used for ABS-M30 plastic material, but only if the goal is not to detect anisotropic behavior. Future work will focus on the search for a suitable material model that would be able to capture the anisotropic behavior of printed plastic materials.

The design of a manipulator arm, which is built from a construction kit, is presented in this article. The procedure is based on the results of the discrete optimization of a truss structure and its application to a simple component system (assuming a predefined shape and material of components). A genetic algorithm is used to optimize the truss structure, and the results of the solution are verified on a simple task used in literature (the code was written in the Python language). The construction kit was inspired by Merkur^®, and the article proposes several components with different shapes and materials. The construction kit and the optimization of the truss structure were used to design the manipulator arm. The truss topology has been predefined with respect to the construction set. The finite element method (software ANSYS^®) was used to analyze the components (shell elements) and truss structures (linear analysis, buckling analysis, etc.). To validate the presented approach, the arm designed by topological optimization was used. The comparison shows that the use of components may be an alternative to topology optimization and additive manufacturing. The next step will be the modification of the presented method in order to minimize the differences between the simplified task used for optimization (truss structure-rod element) and the simulation composed of components (components assembly-shell element).

The aim of this work is to find out the components of stress tensor in plane specimens. For this purpose the photoelasticity methodology is used. In order to make this technique more comfortable for use, there was developed an algorithm in MATLAB program. The results are compared with numerical solution. The main advantages of the developed algorithm are the speed and the capabilities to extend to analyze the plastic deformation and strain conditions in the material during forming processes

The contribution deals with the problematics of topology optimization of the arm of a mobile robot manipulator for the international competition European Rover Challenge (ERC). The manipulator was designed at the Department of Robotics at VSB - TU Ostrava and is described in detail below. The aim...

The article deals with the design of the technology of production of polyurethane foam (PU) specimens and with their mechanical testing. A simple procedure is proposed to produce specimens with complex shapes. The procedure is tested on two different mounting foams. These specimens were subjected to several experiments. The article presents experimental results for only one mounting foam. The tests were performed on a Testometric M500-50CT testing machine. Specifically, these are a tensile/compression test, a 3-point bending test, a shear test, and a modified indentation test. For each specimen, the displacement was also measured in the selected area with Digital Image Correlation Method. These measured data are presented in the article.