Volumetric out-of-furnace heat treatment of 3600-M3 decomposers

Specifications require that all the welds in 12-m-diam. decomposers with a capacity of 3600 m³ be subjected to high-temperature tempering before going into service in order to alleviate the stresses from the welding operation. Specialists at the organizations VNIIPTkhimnefteapparatury and VNIImontazhspetsstroi have proposed out-of-furnace volumetric (complete) of the assembled decomposer with the use of special heaters. The use of this heating method has shortened assembly operations while providing the welds with a highquality heat treatment and reducing the stresses overall (including welding stresses, stresses from assembly of the decomposer, etc.) The technology ensures uniform heating of the housing of the decomposer and provides for close control over the process. The experience gained in heat-treating decomposers can also be used in the construction of other containers that come into contact with corrosive media. __________ Translated from Metallurg, No. 3, pp. 61–64, March, 2006.     

Software for decision-making support in blast-furnace operation

Experience shows that the successful introduction of automated information systems at metallurgical enterprises largely depends on the technology and software selected. In the present work, the basic technology and software options available are briefly outlined. The starting point is Agile development, which is based on iterative procedures, the dynamic formation of user requirements, and their implementation through constant dialog within working groups consisting of various specialists (users, analysts, programmers, and testers). Iteration corresponds to relatively brief development times (as a rule, months), after which the user is given the next tested version of the software, with new functional properties. The list of additional functional properties in each new version represents user priorities and is drawn from the overall list of requirements before each iteration begins. In each iteration, the following procedures are completed in sequence: verification of the computational algorithm (with the introduction of new variables, where necessary); functional modeling of the system; improvement of subsystem structure; conceptual modeling of the database; generation of a model of the database; loading of the test data in the database; creation of the functional diagrams in the mathematical library; implementation of the subsystem’s client software; testing and debugging of the software; and the development of reference documentation. The Atlassian JIRA system is used to control individual tasks and monitor their overall realization within the process of collective software development. The Atlassian Bitbucket platform provides remote storage for code storage and control of the software version. On the basis of up-to-date approaches to software development, systems that are functional, reliable, east to use, expandable, and integrable may be created. Such systems are characterized by minimum risk and acceptable cost.     

Web technology in automated information and modeling systems for metallurgical processes

The software in information systems used by engineering personnel at metallurgical enterprises is considered. Such software operates automated workstations, support systems for decision making, information and modeling systems, expert systems, and so on. Typically, the software takes the form of desktop applications written in high-level programming languages (Visual C#, Visual Basic, etc.). The analysis of technological information from the enterprise’s database-management server entails the solution of programming problems, systems of differential equations, and mathematical-physics problems, for example. Such problems are unsolvable by the standard general-purpose programming languages. Therefore, the development of information and modeling systems requires access to outside software, such as Microsoft Excel and MATLAB. Interaction with Microsoft Excel depends on COM Interop technology, which requires the installation of Microsoft Office on each client computer. Interaction with MATLAB requires the preliminary assembly of a library in MATLAB Compiler and its connection to the program. MATLAB Runtime freeware must be installed on the client computer. However, desktop applications using Windows Forms do not meet the requirements of industrial information systems in terms of functionality, accessibility, and cross-platform compatibility. Accordingly, new technologies must be found for the creation of information systems. The best approach is the construction of web applications based on the ASP.NET MVC framework, which permits the transfer of mathematical libraries and modules for interaction with Microsoft Excel and MATLAB from Windows Forms, without modification. The structure of the web application employed in the development of information-system software is described. The web page employed has the following functional regions: the logo and title of the current page, the session-status menu, the function menu, group operations, notifications, and the working area.     

Influence of the Pressure and Composition of the Fuel Mixture on its Ignition by a Subcritical Streamer Discharge

Journal of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics - Based on the data of a physical experiment, the possibility of increasing the efficiency of combustion of fuel in power plants with the use of a...     

Piecewise parabolic negative magnetoresistance of two-dimensional electron gas with triangular antidot lattice

Extraordinary piecewise parabolic behavior of the magnetoresistance has been experimentally detected in the two-dimensional electron gas with a dense triangular lattice of antidots, where commensurability magnetoresistance oscillations are suppressed. The magnetic field range of 0–0.6 T can be divided into three wide regions, in each of which the magnetoresistance is described by parabolic dependences with high accuracy (comparable to the experimental accuracy) and the transition regions between adjacent regions are much narrower than the regions themselves. In the region corresponding to the weakest magnetic fields, the parabolic behavior becomes almost linear. The observed behavior is reproducible as the electron gas density changes, which results in a change in the resistance by more than an order of magnitude. Possible physical mechanisms responsible for the observed behavior, including so-called “memory effects,” are discussed.     

Kaiser Effect in Rock Salt

Using the results of experiments with rock salt samples under various loading regimes as an example, the regularities of the Kaiser effect formation and manifestation in rocks with plastic properties are investigated.     

A reference model for a flowmeter magnetic field for a computing experiment

A reference model is considered for a magnetic field intended for checking programs and algorithms defining the electromagnetic field in an electromagnetic flowmeter measurement channel. __________ Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 4, pp. 39–41, April, 2007.     

Methods of reliability determination and designing of reliability tests of mechanical structures

Brief tests of methods of reliability assessment and designing of tests of mechanical structures, applying static, impact, heat, and vibration loads, including those based on a small volume of tests, are given. The methods are provided with PC software. __________ Translated from Khimicheskoe i Neftegazovoe Mashinostroenie, 42, No. 3, p. 39, March, 2006.