Issue 24

Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 24 (2013); ISSN 1971-9883

Preface

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t gives me a great pleasure to present a special issue of Fracture and Structural Integrity devoted to research carried out in the Russian Federation. The history of mechanics and material science has a long tradition in Russia. Mechanics was initiated in 1736 with the work Mechanica sive motus scientia analytice exposita by Leonhard Euler, who worked at that time in the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In the 19 th century, the development of mechanics in Russia was associated with the names of Gabriel Lamé, Benoit Clapeyron, and Mikhail Ostrogradskii, who were appointed professors at the Institute of the Corps of Railroad Engineers in St. Petersburg. The foundations of modern fracture mechanics were laid down by the prominent Russian/Soviet physicist Abram Fedorovich Ioffe. In 1924, Ioffe and Griffiths, two renowned scientists, independently set forth the idea of the influence of surface cracks on the overall strength of materials. The establishment of the National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in 1956 gave strong impetus to the development of mechanics in Russia. The full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Nikolai Muskhalishvilli was the first chairman of this Committee. At present, the Committee brings together people from research and educational organizations and individuals with diverse research interests. One of the objectives of the Committee is to expand and develop relations between Russian and foreign scientists. The Russian National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics expresses the hope that this Issue will be of interest to the Italian scientific community and will provide a stimulus to new personal contacts and to Russian - Italian scientific cooperation. The Issue contains the latest results of experimental and theoretical studies on deformation and fracture, simulation results, and the results of structural investigation of metals and alloys. Some papers review the development of modern concepts of mesomechanics, destruction incubation time theory, and new models of crack mechanics. The Issue is not intended to be an exhaustive overview of all major trends of scientific work in Russia. It presents only a small part of studies performed at scientific centers of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Novosibirsk, Nignii Novgorod and Tomsk. The Issue includes the articles written both by young scientists and experts in fracture mechanics. We hope that the contributions selected for this Issue will help readers to gain a deeper insight into various aspects of fracture mechanics and structural integrity currently developed in Russia, and we wish them profitable reading.

Irina G. Goryacheva Professor, Ph.D, DSc, Academician of RAS President of the Russian National Committee in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics

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