A brief review and prospect of experimental solid mechanics in China

In this review, a critical look at the research progress of experimental solid mechanics in China for the past years is presented. Issues are discussed of the discovery and development of new fundamental methods and techniques versus performance benchmarking for many of their applications. Included herein are photoelasticity and various forms of modern photomechanics, acoustical techniques, image processing and videometrics, radial and spectrum techniques, and experimental mechanics on micro/nano scale. It is also noticed that both the ever developed instrumentation and specialized synthetical techniques have played important roles in advancing experimental mechanics in scientific researches and industrial applications. Finally, an attempt is made to look into the future of experimental solid mechanics with personal opinions offered on what the future trends will be for the researches in the field.