Structure–phase state of the surface layers in rails subjected to differential hardening

A layer-by-layer analysis of the structures, the phase compositions, and the defect substructures of differentially hardened rails has been carried by optical and transmission electron microscopy. It is found that the material volume of the rail head fillet is cooled faster than the volume located along the central axis.     

On the nonuniformity of a capillary flow

It is established that the capillary rise of a liquid has an oscillatory character, in contrast to the commonly accepted opinion that a vertical capillary is filled at a monotonically varying velocity. The value of the tangential shear stress arising in an ascending liquid is evaluated for ethyl alcohol and distilled water.     

Experimental Electronuclear Setup at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics

The purpose and current construction status, at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, of an experimental electronuclear setup, combining a pulsed proton linear accelerator (36 MeV, 0.5 mA) and a subcritical blanket thermal-power assembly 100 kW, are discussed. The main equipment is already available or is being built in industry. The setup can be used to investigate the dynamics of the interaction of a linac–driver and a subcritical reactor and problems concerning the accelerator–driver and the target–blanket assembly. The proton beams and neutron fluxes will be used for applied purposes. In the future it will be possible to increase substantially the current and energy of the proton beam.     

Rehabilitation of the radioactively contaminated objects and territory of the Russian Science Center Kurchatov Institute

This article is devoted to work done in 2002–2006 as part of the unified project Reabilitatsiya to rehabilitate radiation hazardous objects and sections of the radioactively contaminated territory of the Russian Science Center Kurchatov Institute. The main objects of the rehabilitation work were old storage sites built for radioactive wastes on the territory of the Institute when military and civilian nuclear technologies were under development. The structural features of the storage sites, including the volumes and characteristics of the wastes stored, are presented. The salient aspects of the disposal sites, taken into account during the rehabilitation work, are discussed. The organization of the rehabilitation operations and the sequence in which they are performed, the special features of the technical design solutions used, the technological methods, and ways for conducting the work are described. __________ Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 102, No. 5, pp. 300–306, May, 2007.     

Nonadditivity of Properties and the Possibility of Formation of Ensembles of Incommensurate Structures in the GaSe–Ga2Se3 System

The GaSe–Ga₂Se₃ system is studied by x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. The results demonstrate that the nonadditivity of heat capacity observed near the eutectic composition after quenching is similar to the nonadditivity of properties in misfit layer compounds, which contain incommensurate structural components. The origin of this similarity is discussed in terms of the self-organization of interacting incommensurate elements in the melt and the formation of unstable suprastructural ensembles.     

Tunneling spectroscopy of palladium-barium emitters

The surface of a palladium-barium cathode was studied using scanning probe microscopy techniques. Data from the tunneling spectroscopy showed the pattern of the electron work function distribution over a microscopic region on the emitter surface. This pattern is compared to the distribution of various phases in the palladium-barium alloy employed.     

New high-efficiency low-waste technology at the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant for operating metallurgical equipment with the use of Kompaks® monitoring systems

Introduction of the BER? KOMPAKS® automated system at the Vyksa Metallurgical Plant to safely and efficiently manage the operation of the plant’s equipment has allowed the facility to begin operating that equipment based on real-time evaluations of its actual physical condition. Introduction of the new system has also allowed better coordination of repair-scheduling with ongoing production operations, significantly improved the reliability and readiness of the equipment for operation at 100% capacity, completely eliminated the human factor from the process of monitoring the condition of equipment, and made it possible to check the quality and timeliness of equipment maintenance and repair work so as to ensure safe, efficient operation of the entire production complex.     

Turbulent flow of a chemically reactive gas suspension in a channel with a blow

The influence of the chemical reactions occurring in the gas phase of a gas suspension flowing in a channel with penetrable walls and the combustion of the condensed-impurity particles in this flow on its gasdynamic structure has been investigated. It is shown that the order of the system of equations defining a flow of a chemically reactive gas suspension with a homogeneous exothermic reaction proceeding at a definite rate and a heterogeneous combustion of the condensed-phase particles can be decreased if certain assumptions are mode. The distributions of the parameters of the gas and dispersed phases were calculated as functions of the rate of blow and the sizes of the particles. __________ Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 80, No. 4, pp. 91–98, July–August, 2007.     

Metal fusion by laser radiation action in an oxidizing medium

Results are presented from a calculation of fusion of a massive zirconium plate under the action of laser radiation with consideration of simultaneous surface oxidation.Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 11–14, July, 1991.