The development of the scientific school of computer modeling and integrated forming technologies at the National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” (NTU “KhPI”) is inextricably linked with the development of the Department of Computer Modeling and Integrated Forming Technologies and those individuals who headed at different times.
The first mention of the speciality, which reproduces the essence of the department at the National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” is associated with the founding of NTU “KhPI” in 1885, and its professor Peter Matviyovych Mukhachev, who later was rector of NTU “KhPI” during 1905–1915, he began to manage the work of students and annually graduate 2-3 engineers in blacksmithing. At that time, there were no departments in the modern sense, but there were departments where students studied. The training of blacksmiths was carried out at the mechanical department. Already in the first set of 1885 there were 2 students in blacksmithing, who made the first graduation in 1890.
The department, as an independent unit, was founded in 1929 by its first head Ilya Yosypovych Feldman. The first stage of development of the scientific school was connected with the search for promising areas and the formation of research work at the department. During this period, under his leadership, exploration work was carried out in various directions: research of technological processes of forging and forming, rolling and pressing, research and improvement of designs of steam-air stamping hammers, presses, heating devices, etc.
From 1959 to 1975 the department was headed by Samuil Moiseevich Khmara. He created a powerful branch research laboratory “Carbide dies” at the department, which employed about 50 full-time researchers and engineers, part-time teachers and undergraduate students and became its research supervisor. This laboratory performed a full cycle of research and development work, production of prototypes of hard-alloy dies, testing their stability and wide introduction into production. This allowed to create new designs of high-strength hard-alloy dies and to introduce them at the industrial enterprises where production of the tool, machine-building and electrotechnical products was concentrated.
From 1975 to 1985 the department was headed by Vladimir Porfirievich Smolyaninov. He paid a lot of attention to educational and methodical work and education of students. He made a great contribution to the development of methods for the use of analog machines in the metal forming.
From 1985 to 2006 the department was headed by Vitaly Alekseevich Evstratov. He began research in a new direction “Optimization of technological processes of cold extrusion and dies”. A branch laboratory of cold extrusion was created at the department, in which the problem of stability of dies for cold extrusion was systematically solved, fundamentally new extrusion processes and constructions of highly resistant dies for their implementation were created. With the Evstratov’s arrival a new direction was developed – automated design of extrusion processes and designs of high-strength dies for extrusion and one of the first in NTU “KhPI” versions of CAD dies for cold extrusion was created. He also paid much attention to the psychological, pedagogical and organizational principles of improving the quality of training in technical institutions of higher education.
From 2006 to 2018 the department was headed by Yuri Alexandrovich Plesnetsov. With his arrival, work was developed in the field of plastic deformation of metals, improvement and scientific substantiation of theoretical aspects of one of the most important for the machine-building complex technological processes of bent profiles production. The obtained results allowed us to organize the production of fundamentally new types of metal products with special service properties: high hardness profiles, with anti-slip elements, protective and decorative coatings. Plesnetsov performed a lot of work on the design of equipment for the manufacture of bent profiles.
Since 2018, the department is headed by Vitalii Leonidovych Chukhlib. Scientific work is carried out to determine a set of rational parameters of the forging process with a combination of upsetting and broaching operations and variation of the direction of deformation by theoretical and experimental study of metal deformation with initial uneven properties, which allows us to obtain products from carbon steels, special and titanium alloys material costs. The conducted researches of forging pieces allowed us to develop technological processes of forging which provided increase of the received production quality using the special mode of deformation.
The Department of Computer Modeling and Integrated Forming Technologies has been hosting the International Scientific and Technical Conference “Resource Conservation and Energy Efficiency of Forming Processes and Equipment in Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy” since 2009.
Department of Computer Modeling and Integrated Forming Technologies (from left to right): Associate Professor Yurchenko Oleksandr Anatoliyovych, Associate Professor Gubsky Serhiy Oleksandrovych, Senior Laboratory Assistant Yermolenko Svitlana Volodymyrivna, Associate Professor Ashkelyanets Anton Volodymyrovych, Associate Professor Okuny Anton Oleksandrovych, Professor Kuzmenko Victor Ivanovich, engineer Zharova Olga Vladimirovna, programming engineer Kutetsky Yaroslav Valentinovich, academic training master Konev Anatoly Ivanovich, head of the laboratory Bosy Victor Pavlovich
One of the classrooms of the Department of Computer Modeling and Integrated Forming Technologies
Class of computer modeling of the Department of Computer Modeling and Integrated Forming Technologies
Laboratory of the Department of Computer Modeling and Integrated Forming Technologies
Nowadays the department actively uses modern information technologies for computer process modeling. Thanks to the fruitful cooperation with Micas Simulation Ltd (Oxford, Great Britain), its director Mykola Viktorovych Biba, the department was provided with a licensed software product QFORM free of charge, which allows modeling a variety of integrated technology processes.
In 2019, the department celebrated the 90th anniversary of its founding as a separate unit within the structure of the National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” (although the first set of blacksmith students took place in the year of foundation of NTU “KhPI” in 1885, but in those years graduation of students took place without division into departments). On the occasion of this event, a symbolic memorial sign was set near the central entrance to the U1 educational building (where the department is located). It symbolizes a person’s desire to realize his dream, as evidenced by the inscription on it “Become the Blacksmith of Your Dream.”
Memorial sign at the main entrance of the U1 educational building NTU “KhPI”, installed in 2019 in honor of the 90th anniversary of the Department of Computer Modeling and Integrated Forming Technologies
The department has come a long way over the years of its existence, but the future is still ahead in the hands of entrants and students – the blacksmiths of their dreams with us – the teachers of our native department!