An Assessment of the Economic Performance of the EU Baltic Region States

The paper explores how the common economic space, a product of the EU, influenced the economies of the Baltic Sea Region states in 1995-2015. The authors investigate changes in the economic performance of the developed (Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden) and Eastern European countries (Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) during the integration of the latter states into the EU. Performance dynamics is analyzed for eight EU Baltic Sea Region countries. Three Russian Baltic regions constitute a control group. The authors conduct a production-function-based comparative analysis of development dynamics in individual countries to identify distinctive features for each group. Despite a rapid growth of Eastern European economies, the difference between the region’s eastern and western countries remains substantial. Economic convergence between eastern and western EU countries in terms of investment does not lead to convergence in labour efficiency. The capital-labour ratio and the growth rate of labour efficiency in the Russian Baltic are close to the Eastern European average

Enhancement of the transverse non-reciprocal magneto-optical effect

The origin and properties of the transverse non-reciprocal magneto-optical (nMO) effect were studied. The transverse nMO effect occurs in the case when light propagates perpendicularly to the magnetic field. It was demonstrated that light can experience the transverse nMO effect only when it propagates in the vicinity of a boundary between two materials and the optical field at least in one material is evanescent. The transverse nMO effect is pronounced in the cases of surface plasmons and waveguiding modes. The magnitude of the transverse nMO effect is comparable to or greater than the magnitude of the longitudinal nMO effect. In the case of surface plasmons propagating at a boundary between the transition metal and the dielectric it is possible to magnify the transverse nMO effect and the magneto-optical figure-of-merit may increase from a few percents to above 100%. The scalar dispersion relation, which describes the transverse MO effect in cases of waveguide modes and surface plasmons propagating in a multilayer MO slab, was derived

Reducing the thermal inhomogeneity of massive steel slabs in continuous furnaces

A method is proposed for selecting the best displacement parameters for supporting pipes. The influence of lateral displacement of the longitudinal guide pipes in continuous furnaces on the disappearance of the dark spot is studied. © 2013 Allerton Press, Inc

Influence of heat treatment on magnetic properties of Cu-Sn-Co-based materials produced by powder metallurgy

In the foundation of this work is the issue for production of non-magnetic materials with predetermined weak magnetic properties. Preferable solution is to dope these materials with ferromagnetic impurities in low concentrations. One of the efficient ways to obtain such materials is the use of powder metallurgy which gives an opportunity to produce complex powder compositions with variety of components in precisely specified concentrations

Modal testing circuit board assembly of an electronic apparatus by laser vibrometry

The operating capacity and service life of printed circuit boards in various electronic equipment and devices depends on their ability to resist vibroacoustic loads, including vibration and acoustic noises. In this paper, non-contact laser vibrometry has been applied to perform the modal analysis of a circuit board assembly in order to identify its vulnerable spots and to find solutions to protect the assembly from external vibroacoustic loads. A broadband periodic chirp signal was used to excite vibration, which enabled a rapid generation of results. The paper provides data on eigenfrequencies, vibration velocity fields, and vibration displacement profiles. Frequency ranges have been determined in which eigenfrequencies with the highest vibration amplification lie. The obtained data can be used to develop a quality control technique for printed circuit boards and to optimize their construction as early as the design stage

A theoretical model of a wake of a body towed in a stratified fluid at large Reynolds and Froude numbers

International audienceThe objective of the present paper is to develop a theoretical model describing the evolution of a turbulent wake behind a towed sphere in a stably stratified fluid at large Froude and Reynolds numbers. The wake flow is considered as a quasi two-dimensional (2-D) turbulent jet flow whose dynamics is governed by the momentum transfer from the mean flow to a quasi-2-D sinuous mode growing due to hydrodynamic instability. The model employs a quasi-linear approximation to describe this momentum transfer. The model scaling coefficients are defined with the use of available experimental data, and the performance of the model is verified by comparison with the results of a direct numerical simulation of a 2-D turbulent jet flow. The model prediction for the temporal development of the wake axis mean velocity is found to be in good agreement with the experimental data obtained by Spedding (1997)