The 4th International Conference on Vibro-Impact Systems and Systems with Contact and Friction was organized by the International Centre of Vibro-Impact Systems (ICoVIS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Kassel University with financial support of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and AVL List GmbH. It took place in Kassel, Germany on July 30-August 3, 2018. Four key-note lectures and 34 regular papers were presented by researchers from seven countries. They covered many aspects of dynamics of the vibro-impact systems, the systems with friction and multiple applications.

The Conference confirmed that discontinuous systems, especially systems with impacts and friction, are amongst the most challenging subjects of nonlinear dynamics, with great potential influence on engineering. The main features of the current stage of research into these systems are the intensive development of new mechanical models, mathematical methods and key industrial applications including machining, automotive and naval engineering, vibration protection, and health monitoring. Each of these areas has its own specific demands but the mathematical approaches employed in them are deeply related.

The papers presented in this Special Issue of the Journal of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (ZAMM) were selected by the International Scientific Committee after an international peer review of the conference papers and subsequent authors’ revisions. They present new mechanical models, mathematical approaches and important applications for systems with impacts and friction. Especial interest was attracted by new developments in the areas of nonstationary escape dynamics with applications in liquid sloshing and novel vibration protection systems utilizing impacts, friction and switching properties of electro- and magneto-rheological fluids.

Some of these methodology articles are collected in this Special Issue.

A group of more experimentally orientated papers were published in the Special Section “Vibro-impact and friction dynamics” of the Journal of Sound & Vibration.

The Guest Editor would like to thank all the contributing authors and numerous colleagues for their valuable reviews. Support of the Conference sponsors and the Journal Editor, Prof. H. Altenbach during the entire publication process is highly appreciated.

第四届振动冲击系统和接触摩擦系统国际会议由国际振动冲击系统中心 (ICoVIS)、卡尔斯鲁厄理工学院和卡塞尔大学主办，德国研究基金会 (DFG) 和 AVL 提供资金支持列表有限公司。它于 2018 年 7 月 30 日至 8 月 3 日在德国卡塞尔举行。 来自七个国家的研究人员发表了四场主题演讲和 34 篇常规论文。他们涵盖了振动冲击系统、摩擦系统和多种应用的动力学的许多方面。

会议确认，非连续系统，尤其是具有冲击和摩擦的系统，是非线性动力学中最具挑战性的课题之一，对工程具有巨大的潜在影响。目前对这些系统的研究的主要特点是新机械模型、数学方法和关键工业应用的密集开发，包括机械加工、汽车和船舶工程、振动保护和健康监测。这些领域中的每一个都有自己的特定需求，但其中所采用的数学方法是密切相关的。

本期《应用数学与力学杂志》 ( ZAMM )特刊中发表的论文是国际科学委员会在对会议论文进行国际同行评审和随后作者修改后选出的。他们为具有冲击和摩擦的系统提供了新的机械模型、数学方法和重要应用。非平稳逃逸动力学领域的新发展引起了特别的兴趣，这些领域在液体晃动和利用电流和磁流变流体的冲击、摩擦和开关特性的新型振动保护系统中的应用。

本期特刊收集了其中一些方法论文章。

一组更多以实验为导向的论文发表在“声音与振动杂志”的“振动冲击和摩擦动力学”专题部分。

客座编辑要感谢所有贡献作者和众多同事的宝贵评论。非常感谢会议赞助商和期刊编辑 H. Altenbach 教授在整个出版过程中的支持。