Over the past decade Sino-Russian cooperation in the Arctic has emerged as one of the major topics of the Russia-China negotiations on how to expand their comprehensive strategic partnership and to bring it to a new l...Over the past decade Sino-Russian cooperation in the Arctic has emerged as one of the major topics of the Russia-China negotiations on how to expand their comprehensive strategic partnership and to bring it to a new level. China considers the Arctic region important for its economic interests and desires to be included in the development of the region and its economic potential. For Russia, the Arctic is a future strategic resource base that would replace the old depleting fields and assure Russia’s status as a major worldwide energy supplier. Despite many joint statements on deepening of the Sino-Russian cooperation in the development of the Arctic energy resources, the concrete results of these ambitious plans are few. Some joint projects were dropped, as China and Russia could not agree on the conditions of the deal, others are progressing very slowly and have an uncertain future. In 2017, China has expanded its "Belt and Road Initiative"(BRI) to the Arctic thus elevating the Sino-Russian cooperation in the Artcic to a higher level. How did the relationship between Russia and China evolve in the Arctic and how do Russia and China view and respond to the new Arctic dimension of the BRI? What factors limit the strategic rapprochement between China and Russia in the Arctic?展开更多
Because the UT (ultrasonic testing) flexible probe technology may be an appropriate answer to examine components with uneven surface, AREVA has developed an industrial application of the CEA's (French Atomic Energ...Because the UT (ultrasonic testing) flexible probe technology may be an appropriate answer to examine components with uneven surface, AREVA has developed an industrial application of the CEA's (French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies) flexible phased arrays sensors. As a "first of a kind" project, the challenges faced were significant, including developing a phased array smart probe suitable for industrial use on rather simple but large scale geometries, permitting UT propagation within a constraining media structure and then targeting a qualification according to ENIQ (European Network for Inspection Qualification) methodology. A prototype flexible probe, designed for UT validation, and final flexible linear array probes permitting the UT behavior (as, e.g., detection and sizing from diffraction type echoes) to be maintained on wavy coupling surfaces, have been manufactured. These probes include a profilemeter with optical sensors control and a specifically designed coupling circuit (avoiding probe housing tightness issues). Qualification has been performed using open test blocks, (where known "defects" exist, for procedure qualification), and blind test blocks, (where "defects" are unknown, for qualification of testing personnel). One open test bloc was customized to represent a "real" surface condition, with gaps up to 2.5 mm under the regular rigid probes. AREVAI/BGSI in Germany was selected to lead the project, with assistance in development and manufacturing sub-contracted to "CEA/LIST" laboratory, and the companies "IMASONIC" and "M2M". This paper describes the development of these probes and explains a few features (ENIQ qualification objectives fulfilled, UT data acquired on actual perturbed surface) that made their industrial implementation successful.展开更多
文摘Over the past decade Sino-Russian cooperation in the Arctic has emerged as one of the major topics of the Russia-China negotiations on how to expand their comprehensive strategic partnership and to bring it to a new level. China considers the Arctic region important for its economic interests and desires to be included in the development of the region and its economic potential. For Russia, the Arctic is a future strategic resource base that would replace the old depleting fields and assure Russia’s status as a major worldwide energy supplier. Despite many joint statements on deepening of the Sino-Russian cooperation in the development of the Arctic energy resources, the concrete results of these ambitious plans are few. Some joint projects were dropped, as China and Russia could not agree on the conditions of the deal, others are progressing very slowly and have an uncertain future. In 2017, China has expanded its "Belt and Road Initiative"(BRI) to the Arctic thus elevating the Sino-Russian cooperation in the Artcic to a higher level. How did the relationship between Russia and China evolve in the Arctic and how do Russia and China view and respond to the new Arctic dimension of the BRI? What factors limit the strategic rapprochement between China and Russia in the Arctic?
文摘Because the UT (ultrasonic testing) flexible probe technology may be an appropriate answer to examine components with uneven surface, AREVA has developed an industrial application of the CEA's (French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies) flexible phased arrays sensors. As a "first of a kind" project, the challenges faced were significant, including developing a phased array smart probe suitable for industrial use on rather simple but large scale geometries, permitting UT propagation within a constraining media structure and then targeting a qualification according to ENIQ (European Network for Inspection Qualification) methodology. A prototype flexible probe, designed for UT validation, and final flexible linear array probes permitting the UT behavior (as, e.g., detection and sizing from diffraction type echoes) to be maintained on wavy coupling surfaces, have been manufactured. These probes include a profilemeter with optical sensors control and a specifically designed coupling circuit (avoiding probe housing tightness issues). Qualification has been performed using open test blocks, (where known "defects" exist, for procedure qualification), and blind test blocks, (where "defects" are unknown, for qualification of testing personnel). One open test bloc was customized to represent a "real" surface condition, with gaps up to 2.5 mm under the regular rigid probes. AREVAI/BGSI in Germany was selected to lead the project, with assistance in development and manufacturing sub-contracted to "CEA/LIST" laboratory, and the companies "IMASONIC" and "M2M". This paper describes the development of these probes and explains a few features (ENIQ qualification objectives fulfilled, UT data acquired on actual perturbed surface) that made their industrial implementation successful.