From the European Group on Fracture to the European Structural Integrity Society

The first meeting of the European Group on Fracture took place at Université de Technologie de Compiègne in 1976. It was followed by more and more attended conferences every two years. The successive leaders strengthened the organization which became the European Structural Integrity Society in 1990. The ESIS is responsible for a number of activities, publications, technical committees, and the organization of conferences. They covered a number of topics which remained active throughout the years. In the future, it is recommended that the ESIS puts more emphasis on risk analysis and education. Laboratoire de Mécanique, CNPS URA 850, Ecole Centrale de Paris, Paris, France. Published in Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 32, No. 5, pp. 14–18, September–October, 1996.     

Esis technical committee 10 “environmentally assisted cracking”

We present a brief sketch of the history of creation of the Technical Committee 10 on “Environmentally Assisted Cracking” at the ESIS and outline its principal tasks. They are based on the application of the approaches of fracture mechanics to the investigation of the processes of corrosion cracking and corrosion fatigue. Since 1990, the TC 10 has organized six meetings with 154 participants from 15 countries. Recent years are marked by a significant increase in the number of participants from the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. As an achievement of the TC 10, one can also mention the appearance of a series of methodical works, in particular, by R. J. H. Wanhill “Fracture Control Guidelines for Stress Corrosion Cracking of High Strength Alloys” and by G. Gabetta and I. Cole “Fracture Control Guidelines for Environmentally-Assisted Cracking of Low-Alloy Steels.” In addition, the TC 10 developed the first draft of “Recommendations for Stress Corrosion Testing Using Precracked Specimens” (ESIS Document P4-92D). In future, the attention of the TC 10 will also be given to the development of procedures for the evaluation of lifetime, investigation of the mechanisms of corrosion cracking and corrosion fatigue, and simulation of these processes. Cochairman of TC 10. Corrosion Department. Institut für Werkstofforschung GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH, Germany. Published in Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 5–8, July–August, 1997.     

Knowledge management for environmentally-assisted cracking problems

We analyze the importance of knowledge management aimed at the solution of engineering problems of environmentally-assisted cracking of materials. The knowledge based on the systems of information and communication technologies is classified. The necessity of creation of complex databases in certain branches aimed at the development of new procedures of their most efficient application in specific situations is emphasized. As an example of application of this approach, we can mention the Technical Committees of the ESIS whose activities are analyzed. Published in Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 117–120, May–June, 2006.     

Effect of platinum oxidation on the characteristics of standard platinum resistance thermometers

Platinum oxidation in PTS-10 and PTS-25 standard platinum resistance thermometers has been studied. The experimental results show that heat treatment of a thermometer at 100–300°C can increase its resistance at the triple point of water by the equivalent of 1.5 mK. A procedure for calibration in the range 0–450°C is recommended. Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 7, pp. 41–44, July, 1996.     

Hydrodynamics of a point vortex ring

The kinematics and dynamics of a point vortex ring in an incompressible fluid and its interaction with a surface are considered. Polotsk State University, Novopolotsk, Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 1, pp. 118–122, January–February, 1996.     

Effect of low-temperature deformation on the plasticity of aluminum alloys

We study low-temperature deformation of aluminum alloys and its influence on the characteristics of plasticity. We show that the admissible level of strains in the process of straightening after hardening thermal treatment increases with the plasticity of alloys in the temperature range 173–77°K and the plasticity margin remains constant. Karpenko Physicomechanical Institute, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. L'viv. Translated from Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 32, No. 5, pp. 60–62, September–October, 1996.     

Simulation of the heat transfer of a lithospheric platform in the subduction zone. II. Method of solution and results of calculations

Based on the control volume method, a numerical algorithm is developed for solving the problem of natural convective heat exchange in the earth's upper mantle. Part I was published in Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 1, pp. 16–25 (1996). Khabarovsk Polytechnic Institute, Khabarovsk, Russia. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 2, pp. 261–271, March–April, 1996.     

High-frequency measuring impedance-to-voltage converter

An instrumental impedance-voltage converter operating in the 0.1–10 MHz frequency band is described. The impedance measurement error does not exceed 3%. Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 8, pp. 54–58, August, 1996.     

Automatic laser vibration gauge

This paper describes a non-contact laser device for measuring the parameters of vibrations; its technical characteristics and domain of application are discussed. The accuracy achieved in measurements is 0.01 μm for linear displacement, and 0.0001 μm for the amplitude of spectral components of vibrations in the audio-frequency range. Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 2, pp. 13–15, February, 1996.     

How do latecomers catch up with forerunners? Analysis of patents and patent citations in the field of flat panel display technologies

This paper sets out to explore the patterns of technological change and knowledge spillover in the field of flat panel display (FPD) technology, along with the catching-up behavior of latecomers, through the analysis of US patents and patent citations between 1976 and 2005. Our results show that: (i) the catching-up by FPD technology latecomers began at the transition stage (1987-1996) when the dominant design became established in areas with high ‘revealed technology advantage’ (RTA); (ii) there is no apparent localization of knowledge spillover amongst FPD technology latecomers; instead, higher citation frequencies of forerunners’ patents were found in latecomers’ FPD patents during the transition (1987–1996) and post-dominant design (1997–2005) stages and; and (iii) a few extraordinary peaks were found in the citation frequency of forerunners’ patents at long citation lags in latecomers’ FPD patents, particularly during the transition stage (1987–1996), indicative of the knowledge threshold which latecomers need to cross in order to catch up with forerunners.     

Phase method for monitoring the permittivity of different media

A nondestructive method was developed for rapidly monitoring the permittivities of solid, liquid, and gaseous materials, based on measuring the phase difference of signals passing along two transmission lines and comparing the parameters of the “standard” and “investigated” media. The design of a volume-integral microwave transducer is considered together with its operating principle and its range of application. Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 4, pp. 53–55, April, 1996.     

Thermostable scintillation detector

A design of a scintillation detector of ionizing radiation based on a Tl-activated NaI single or polycrystal is proposed. The detector is equipped with a unique compensator of inconsistent variations of the axial dimensions of the scintillator and its container. Khar’kov Institute of Electrification and Mechanization of Agriculture, Khar’kov, Ukraine. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 4, pp. 577–581, July–August, 1996.     

Dependence of the characteristics of radiative heat exchange on the optical properties of absorbing,emitting, and scattering media and their boundary surfaces

We suggest a new hybrid numerical-analytical method for solving an integrodifferential equation of radiation transfer. We present results of an investigation of the effect of the temperature distribution and scattering properties of a medium and its absorption density as well as the emissivity of the boundary on the intensity and density of the emergent-radiation fluxes. Academic Scientific Complex “A. V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus,” Minsk, Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 6, pp. 1014–1020, November–December, 1996.     

Investigation of the instability of an arc descharge in an air flow

Using an automated complex of spectral apparatuses that allow one to determine local profiles of averaged temperature and its oscillations in a dc arc-discharge column, we investigated the temperature instability of the arc plasma in a laminar air flow. We show that the character of oscillations corresponds to the model of thermal destabilization of discharge. Academic Scientific Complex “A. V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus,” Minsk, Institute of Molecular and Atomic Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 5, pp. 800–804, September–October, 1996.     

The state of hemodynamics and level of repair processes in patients with lower jaw fractures

Biomechanical investigations made it possible to determine the character and extent of functional deformations of a lower jaw in its different parts. Minimal deformations are observed in the region of the angle and alveolar part in the horizontal plane of the lower jaw. Deformations in the mentum part are not regular and depend on the kind of functional load. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 472–477, May–June 1996.     

Heat transfer in regional extracorporal perfusion of limbs

Two problems of heat transfer in regional perfusion are analyzed, viz., in heating of limbs by hot blood and in normothermal perfusion in combination with local SHF hyperthermia. The efficiency of the procedure in the latter case and its inefficiency in the former case are shown. The coefficient of heat transfer between a circulatory system and biotissue is estimated. Academic Scientific Complex “A. V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute, Academy of Sciences of Belarus,” Minsk; Scientific Research Institute of Oncology and Medical Radiology, Ministry of Public Health of Belarus,” Minsk, Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 3, pp. 434–442, May–June, 1996.     

Linear thermodynamic systems with memory. III. Theory of thermodynamic nonequilibrium potentials

In the last paper of this series on nonequilibrium thermodynamics of linear systems with memory, methods of the theory of linear passive dynamic systems are used to construct a complete family of thermodynamic nonequilibrium potentials for the thermodynamic systems considered. it is shown by a specific example that the property of nonuniqueness of the thermodynamic potential is inherent even in very simple thermodynamic systems, and its possible physical interpretation is discussed. Academic Scientific Complex “A. V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute, Academy of Sciences of Belarus,” Minsk, Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 5, pp. 707–715, September–October, 1996     

Optimal tuning of the discriminator of the spectrometer channel in a mossbauer experiment

We consider here the choice of optimal tuning of the spectrometer recording channel discriminator in a Mossbauer experiment in transmission configuration. It is established that the width of the discriminator “window” should be one and a half times the widths of the recorded resonance γ-radiation peak at its half-height. The position of the center of the discriminator window should then correspond to the position of the maximum of the resonance γ-radiation peak. Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 4, pp. 56–58, April, 1996.     

Effect of stresses on the electrochemical corrosion of steel in aqueous media

We investigate the effect of mechanical stresses on the rate of corrosion of 40Kh steel in aqueous media. The dependence of the rate of corrosion of the steel in the pH range 2–14 is corroborated. Karpenko Physicomechanical Institute, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, L'viv; Franko L'viv State University, L'viv. Translated from Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhnika Materialiv, Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 113–115, November–December, 1996.     

Measurement of particle velocity in a two-phase jet by double-exposure speckle photography

Double-exposure speckle photography was used to measure the instantaneous particle velocity field in an intense high-velocity two-phase jet. Scientific Academic Complex “A. V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute, Academy of Sciences of elarus,” Minsk, Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 69, No. 2, pp. 224–229, March–April, 1996.