Invited Speaker


Dr. Tadeusz Szymczak

Dr. Tadeusz Szymczak

Department of Vehicle Type-Approval & Testing, Motor Transport Institute, Poland
Speech Title: Engineering Mechanics for Automotive Industry Basing on Components To Special Vehicles

Abstract: Structural materials and components for the automotive industry play an important role in vehicle safety. Therefore, they should be tested in different manners collecting a lot of results in a form of digital data, schemes, courses and photos. In this approach, many features of the tested objects can be evidenced to the research-development and scientific stages. Therefore, the presentation covers many experimental approaches to determining the behaviour of different structural materials and components under static and fatigue loading. This collects data for a lot of variants of Rear Underrun Protective Device (RUPD) and mechanical coupling devices (A-50X class) at Digital Image Correlation measurements. In the case of RUPD results will be expressed by variations of displacement components in the 3D coordinate system under loading and unloading. Besides this kind of data for destruction regions will be shown in detail on cracks and deformation. They can be used directly in designing and modelling. Data from tests under cyclic loading in a form of force and displacement courses for specimens and huge components as well as photos reflect the behaviour of the tested object at different values of a number of cycles and at the final stage of tests. Structural materials are represented by modern high-strength grade steels (S700MC, S960MC) and aluminium alloy, recommend for Recovery Vehicles for roads and highway accidences. Results will be expressed by stress-strain curves, Wöhler curves and fracture zones with respect to a base metal. This enables to distinguish differences in behaviour, fracturing and values of fatigue limits, which can support many engineering and scientist approaches to research and development efforts as well as modelling stages, respectively.


Biography: Dr. Tadeusz Szymczak graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Bialystok University of Technology in Poland, specialisation: in applied mechanics. He obtained a PhD degree at the Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Automotive and Construction Machinery Engineering, focusing on the influence of cyclic proportional and non-proportional loadings (circular and square strain paths) and monotonic-cyclic ones on mechanical parameters of materials (structural steels and aluminium alloys). The next scientific stage, expressed in habilitation, was awarded to him by the Air Force Institute of Technology (Warsaw, Poland), based on his achievement related to the assessment of technical conditions of metal and composite elements for machines.

The main scientific interest is focused on the influence of various types of loading on material behaviour, determining the mechanical resistance of welded joints, fracture toughness, fatigue, and durability testing of components including elements for the automotive industry (mechanical coupling devices, RUPD and others). For these experimental cases, damage analysis at various scales, and modern measurement techniques, including DIC systems (ARAMIS and PONTOS) are used.

He is the author or co-author of about 70 scientific publications in journals and 65 in conference proceedings.