In the paper mutual comparison of zinc coatings enriched with small additions of Mg and Al (up to 1 wt.% Mg and 1 wt.% Al) and traditional zinc coatings produced by hot dip galvanizing, concerning some important properties of coatings like coating structure, cracks formation after deformation and corrosion resistance of deformed samples was studied. It was shown, that while traditional hot-dip zinc coatings are formed by homogenous zinc layer, exhibiting only low amount of soluble aluminium, coatings enriched by small amounts of Mg and Al, namely 0.6% Mg and 0.8% Al are formed by dendritic zinc matrix and interdendritic phase containing Zn-Mg-Al eutectics. Development of cracks was investigated in the area of maximal deformation of the samples subjected to stretching. It was found, that while traditional zinc coatings showed sporadic long fine cracks, zinc coatings enriched with Mg and Al exhibited aggregation of short thick cracks in the deformed area. Samples of both materials after stretching were also exposed in neutral salt spray atmosphere in corrosion chamber. It can be concluded, that material with coatings enriched with Mg and Al showed better results in corrosion tests contrary to the presence of massive cracks in the coating. This significantly increased corrosion resistance is possible due to excellent adhesion of zinc coatings, containing Mg and Al on drawing steels.

The article is aimed at verifying the state of a real workplace using virtual reality. In analyzing the readiness of virtual reality applications, augmented reality was selected for the following work. The most significant advantage of augmented reality is the implementation of a virtual model and the ability to deal with the analysis in a real environment, which is particularly beneficial in the case of production plants. In the first phase of the work, an analysis of the current state of the workplace was carried out, where the requirements for the design of the new workplace were specified. This was followed by the phase of design preparation in 3D modeller. At this very stage it appeared to be advantageous to use virtual reality applications; in the design process, regular approval procedures are required as for an expert team (management, design, quality, ...), which puts high qualification requirements on the readiness of this team. In this phase, the 3D design of the new workplace was inserted into the application supported by augmented reality and some options were indicated to deal with the ergonomic and risk analysis. The result of this work is, in particular, an extension of options in designing and analyzing production workplaces and machinery in multidisciplinary teams.

Nowadays, number of customer and environmental requirements are laid to the automotive industry. These are related to safety increase, the weight and emission reduction as well as the life-time improvement. The article presents the way to improve the corrosion resistance of the car-body components when coated steel sheets are used based on Zn-Al-Mg coatings. Thus, the life-time of the car-body is improved. Samples with conventional Zn coating and samples with advanced Zn-Al-Mg coatings were deformed by stretching and 3-point bending to 90° and 180° tests. Consequently, the samples were exposed to salt spray in the corrosion chamber. Time to red corrosion appearance and adequate percentage of corroded surface was evaluated. The results showed the better corrosion protection of Zn-Al-Mg coatings when compared to the conventional Zn coating.