Combined theoretical and experimental methods in materials mechanics

During the last years, considerable progress was achieved in using computer technology for experimental mechanics. There are two domains that are affected by increased computer performance and advanced software solutions: simulation of both mechanical and optical systems and evaluation of primary experimental data. This paper reports on various approaches combining optical experiments and simulation with a varying degree of integration. Determination of materials properties and detection of flaws are of main interest in materials mechanics. Both topics have been addressed in recent work as will be illustrated by means of corresponding examples. It becomes obvious that hybrid solutions lead to a higher level of materials understanding than pure simulation or experiment can do. The most tight connection between theory and experiment is achieved if a mechanical model emerges in the automatic fringe processing algorithm of interferometric measurements as will be explained for the case of r esidual stress analysis.