Material and contact characterisation is a rapidly advancing field that requires the application of a combination of numerical and experimental methods. Including papers from the International Conference on Computational Methods and Experiments in Material and Contact Characterisation this volume presents the latest research in the field.

This book highlights methods of characterizing material properties at nano, micro, and macro levels. Chapter 1 addresses nanaoindentation techniques comprehensively. Chapter 2 concerns polymer surface properties using nanoindentation techniques. Chapter 3 deals with the wear properties of dental composites. Chapter 4 compares global and local properties of a lead free solder. Chapter 5 discusses methods of determining plastic zones at the crack tip. Fatigue resistance of a synthetic polymer under different loading conditions is dealt with in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 is a review of methods of measuring fatigue crack growth resistance. Chapter 8 treats bulk and surface properties of coated materials. Chapter 9 presents a method for determining elastic constants using a resonance technique. This book gives a comprehensive state-of-the-art treatment to nanoindentation techniques and applications (four chapters cover metals, polymers, and rubber—novel applications such as creep and impact tests results at micro/nano level are considered). In fact Chapter 1 is a thorough analysis of this technique, its possibilities, and future developments. There are two chapters regarding corrosion and abrasion resistance of metals and dental composites and three chapters treating fatigue—one on rubber that highlights a hitherto unknown mechanism in a chloroprene rubber. There is one chapter on a very precise technique for modulus measurements up to 1200 °C.

Containing selected papers on Materials Characterisation this volume presents the latest research in the field. Material and contact characterisation is a rapidly advancing field that requires the application of a combination of numerical and experimental methods. Contributions come from both industry and research communities using computational methods and performing experiments. Demand for high quality production from both industry and consumers has led to rapid developments in materials science and engineering. Current research is focussed on modification technologies that can increase the surface durability of materials. The characteristics of the system reveal which surface engineering methods should be chosen and as a consequence it is essential to study the combination of surface treatment and contact mechanics. The accurate characterisation of the physical and chemical properties of materials requires the application of both experimental techniques and computer simulation methods in order to gain a correct analysis. A very wide range of materials, starting with metals through polymers and semiconductors to composites, necessitates a whole spectrum of characteristic experimental techniques and research methods. The papers in this book examine various combinations of techniques across various topics.

1. Introduction -- 2. Contact Angle in Surface Analysis -- 3. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Auger Electron Spectroscopy -- 4. Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy -- 5. X-ray Diffraction -- 6. Transmission Electron Miscroscopy -- 7. Scanning Electron Microscopy -- 8. Chromatographic Methods -- 9. Infrared Spectroscopy and UV/Vis Spectroscopy -- 10. Macro and Micro Thermal Analyses -- 11. Laser Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy.

Different physical models for the Snoek-type relaxation in ternary systems (Fe-C-Me) are analyzed from the viewpoint of a distance of interatomic interaction taken into account: For non-saturated from the viewpoint of overlapping of interatomic interaction in b.c.c. alloys the physically sufficient and optimal for the computer simulation is the short-range model, which takes into account the interatomic interaction and the average amount of substitutional atoms in the first coordination shell, only. For high alloyed b.c.c. systems (i.e. with the overlapped interatomic interaction) the carbon atom undergoes an interaction of a few substitutional atoms simultaneously. That leads to the appearance of one broadened Snoek peak. Activation energy of such a peak is summed from the "elastic" and "chemical" interatomic interactions. Experimental results for alloys with b.c.c. solid solution structure and its computer simulations allow to introduce the new criterion for the high alloy state of monophase steels: the high alloyed state corresponds to the situation when substitutional atoms can not be considered any longer as the isolated atoms. From the viewpoint of mechanical spectroscopy this situation corresponds to the appearance of one broadened IF Snoek-type peak instead of two peaks existed for the steels with lower substitutional atom concentration.

Selected, peer reviewed papers from the 8th International Conference on Materials Science and Technology (MSAT-8), December 15-16, 2014, Bangkok, Thailand