eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Mechanical Engineering 2328-4110 2016-12-17 4 7 353 356 10.12691/ajme-4-7-21 AJME20164721 article Patrik Šarga patrik.sarga@tuke.sk 1 František Trebuňa 2 Department of Mechatronics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovak Republic Department of Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, Slovak Republic Residual stresses in the constructions have in most cases a negative effect on their overall life. Large numbers of investigations have been carried out to study this phenomenon and its effect on the mechanical characteristics of these constructions or their components. Hole-drilling method is one of the most used methods used for the determination of residual stresses. This method typically uses strain gauges. This article describes options of using optical methods instead of strain gauge in the process of evaluation of residual stresses by hole-drilling method. http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajme/4/7/21/ajme-4-7-21.pdf residual stresses hole-drilling method optical methods