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to the establishment of a steel and foundry industry. Carbon from the coal also led to the establishment of an alumina reduction industry. Poland also has deposits of copper and zinc ores, and these have formed the basis of the nonferrous metal industry.
Research and steels is carried out principally at the Institute for Ferrous Metallurgy in Gliwice, which works closely with steel mills in incorporating new developments into commercial practice, and the Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Krakow. The former is the research institute for the Polish steel industry and directs its attention to improved methods in the refining and production of steel. Efforts include the preparations of iron ore for refining, blast furnace operations, vacuum melting and treatment, continuous casting, and metal working. The academy in Krakow, by contract, concentrates its efforts on the physical metallurgy of steels and the development of improved steels. Dr. A. Krupkowski of this academy of an outstanding metal thermodynamicist and, with Dr. W. Truszkowski, has done excellent basic research on mechanical metallurgy. High-quality research in foundry technology is done at the Foundry Research Institute in Katowice. This institute ranks among the leaders in the Eastern European countries in foundry research. Recent efforts have included the study of various molding sands, foundry mechanization, and the development of improved casting alloys.
The Institute of Ferrous Metals in Gliwice has done extensive research on the refining of nonferrous metals and on the physical metallurgy of nonferrous metals. Excellent research on powder metallurgy has been done at the institute by Dr. W. Rutkowski, whose recent efforts have been in conjunction with the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Krakow on the dispersion strengthening of uranium with uranium oxide.
The corrosion of metals is studied at several facilities, but the most outstanding research on this subject has emanated from the Institute of Physical Chemistry in Warsaw. Dr. M. Smialowski has done extensive research on stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen stress cracking. He is a world-renowned expert in these two important technical areas and has lectured extensively throughout the United States. His wide, Dr. Z. Szklarska-Smialowska, also at this facility, has done excellent basic research on the corrosion of steels. She is known world-wide for her research on the pitting corrosion of stainless steels.
Excellent research on fracture mechanics, damage criteria, and fatigue has been done at the Institute for Fundamental Technical Problems (IPPT) in Warsaw. These efforts have been directed toward gaining a better understanding of failure criteria for metal components under various service conditions. This is an area of technology that involves both the metallurgists and the mechanical stress analysts. As part of this overall program, Dr. S. Pileski has done extensive basic research on dislocation movements and pile-ups during the fatigue loading of aluminum.
A modest amount of fundamental research is conducted at the technical universities. This effort has included the study of stacking faults, magnetic domains in thin films, high silicon electrical steels, and research on the oxidation of metals.
Research on welding is well covered at the Central Institute for Welding Technology in Gliwice. Relatively little research on nuclear metallurgy is conducted. Relatively little research on gas turbine superalloys, titanium, or refractory metals is undertaken in Poland; nickel, cobalt, and titanium are not produced in Poland. The research effort is geared generally to the metals produced that are of importance to the nation's economy. Finally, virtually all research efforts are carried on in government laboratories or technical universities; practically no research is done in plant laboratories.
b. Physics and mathematics
Physics research in Poland, which has been growing significantly during the past few years, generally covers a limited number of subbranches that the Poles feel are important to their national economy. Nearly 50% of their physics research effort is devoted to solid state properties and materials development and improvement. Polish interest in magnetohydrodynamics, plasma physics, and laser technology has grown significantly during the past few years to the point where it absorbs about 14% of their basic physics effort and has become strongly interrelated. The trend toward nuclear sciences has leveled off and is diminishing substantially, with the exception of nuclear engineering. This is shown by the combined effort in both high- and low-energy nuclear research, falling slightly below 14% of the Polish effort. The Poles do have access to the experimental facilities of the Soviet Joint Institute for Nuclear Research at Dubna. The remaining effort in physics research, nearly equally divided, consists of: vacuum technology, gravitation and relativity, acoustics and shock vibration, and molecular and atomic structures.
Solid-state physics research during the past 3 or 4 years has been experiencing a tremendous growth at the various PAN institutes, institutes and laboratories of the schools of higher learning and technical universities, and the various academies of Poland. The
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200070028-8
