The influence of the thermo-oxidative aging semi-crystalline polyethylene terephthalate process on the thermal and mechanical properties was analysed in the article. For this purpose, PET was aged at 140 °C for 21, 35 and 56 days. The research showed that as a result of aging, the amount of the crystalline phase increases by about 8%, which translates into the properties of the aged material. The glass transition and melt temperature of lamellar crystals formed during first and second crystallisation increase with aging. The mechanical properties of the material were analysed in the temperature range of 25 to 75 °C. The tests were showing an increase in Young’s modulus and a decrease in elongation at the break as a result of aging. This phenomenon was particularly visible during tests at 75 °C and during the morphological observation of the fracture surface, where the fracture character of the material changes from ductile to brittle. In the case of the material aged for the longest time, the temperature has a negligible influence on the elongation at break.

The effect of using a pulse shaper technique, such as rounding a striker or applying a pulse shaper on the signals recorded with the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) technique, when the striker and the input bar are in an imperfect position, was investigated. Two of the most common cases have been analyzed: an offset of the symmetry axes of the striker and the input bar; and an inclination angle between the striker and the input bar. LS-Dyna software was used to examine this problem numerically. The inclination angle imperfection has a significant impact on signal disturbances, whereas the use of a rounded striker significantly affects the limitation of the vibration flexural modes. In all considered cases, a slight imperfection causes a reduction in the high-frequency Pochhammer–Chree oscillations.

The mechanical properties and microstructure evolution caused by dynamic loads of 316L stainless steel, fabricated using the Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) technique and hot forging method were studied. Full-density samples, without cracks made of 316L stainless steel alloy powder by using the LENS technique, are characterized by an untypical bi-modal microstructure consisting of macro-grains, which form sub-grains with a similar crystallographic orientation. Wrought stainless steel 316L has an initial equiaxed and one-phase structure, which is formed by austenite grains. The electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) technique was used to illustrate changes in the microstructure of SS316L after it was subjected to dynamic loads, and it was revealed that for both samples, the grain refinement increases as the deformation rate increases. However, in the case of SS316L samples made by LENS, the share of low-angle boundaries (sub-grains) decreases, and the share of high-angle boundaries (grains of austenite) increases. Dynamically deformed wrought SS316L is characterized by the reverse trend: a decrease in the share of high-angle boundaries and an increase in the share of low-angle boundaries. Moreover, additively manufactured SS316L is characterized by lower plastic flow stresses compared with hot-forged steel, which is caused by the finer microstructure of wrought samples relative to that of additive samples. In the case of additively manufactured 316L steel samples subjected to a dynamic load, plastic deformation occurs predominantly through dislocation slip, in contrast to the wrought samples, in which the dominant mechanism of deformation is twinning, which is favored by a high deformation speed and low stacking fault energy (SFE) for austenite.

An ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene composite sample totally punctured by a projectile was examined by THz TDS raster scanning method in reflection configuration. The scanning results correctly match the distribution of delaminations inside the sample, which was proven with cross-sectional and frontal views after waterjet cutting. For further analysis, a signal-processing algorithm based on the deconvolution method was developed and the modified reference signal was used to reduce disturbances. The complex refractive index of the sample was determined by transmission TDS technique and was later used for the simulation of pulse propagation by the finite difference time domain method. These simulations verified the correctness of the proposed method and showed its constraints. Using the proposed algorithm, the ambiguous raw THz image was converted into a binary 3D image of the sample, which consists only of two areas: sample—polyethylene and delamination—air. As a result, a clear image of the distribution of delaminations with their spatial extent was obtained which can be used for further comparative analysis. The limitation of the proposed method is that parts of the central area of the puncture cannot be analyzed because tilted layers deflect the incident signal.

Results of numerical analysis of the influence of pulse shaper geometry on wave signals in the split Hopkinson pressure bar experiment are presented. Five pulse shapers, i.e. square, ring, cross, star and disk ones have been analysed. It has been assumed that the disc pulse shaper is the reference geometry to assess the remaining types of pulse shapers. The results of numerical analyses have shown that pulse shapers with shapes different than disk are highly capable of minimizing high-frequency Pochhammer-Chree oscillations and, thus, reduce dispersion of waves propagating in the bar. The greatest damping ability has been observed while using the ring pulse shaper at both low and high impact velocities of the striker.