Vladimir Vasilyevich Karpov

30 April, 2024 marks the 85th anniversary of DSc in Engineering, Professor, Honored Worker of Higher Education Vladimir Vasilyevich Karpov.

Vladimir Vasilievich graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Saratov State University named after N.G. Chernyshevsky, in 1963, having received the specialty “Mathematics” and the specialization “Programmer”.

He began his career in the same year at Central Design Bureau 474 in the city of Leningrad as a software engineer. From then until 2000, computer programming became his favorite thing. He compiled programs for first-generation computers, when the program was written in the codes of each computer, for second-generation computers, and for third-generation computers, when operating systems already existed and programs were developed in algorithmic languages.

His work experience is 60 years, of which 58 years he has been teaching. Vladimir Vasilievich held positions from assistant to head of department (in the departments of higher mathematics, strength of materials and computational mathematics at different universities).

In 1975 he defended his candidate’s thesis in the specialty “Structural Mechanics”, and in 1988 – his doctorate in the specialty “Mechanics of Deformable Solids”.

Vladimir Vasilyevich joined LISI (now SPbGASU) in 1977 as an associate professor at the department of higher mathematics. He gave lectures, conducted practical classes with students throughout the course of higher mathematics (three semesters), published textbooks, and was the chairman of the subject commission in mathematics for entrance exams. For eight years he was the dean of the correspondence general technical faculty.

During his work as a dean, the percentage of students’ academic performance increased significantly. Firstly, due to the more accurate work of the dean’s office. Cooperation agreements were also concluded with leading construction organizations (“GlavLeningradStroy”, “GlavZapStroy”). These organizations employees were offered accelerated training programs, and part-time students who came for term exams were housed into the dormitories of these organizations. The number of students coming for the exams has increased significantly, they began to publish more educational and methodological literature for correspondence students, and much more. All this together served to improve the quality of the faculty’s work.

Vladimir Vasilyevich was directly involved in the organization of the Department of Computational Mathematics at LISI (1987) and, in fact, for the first time served as the head of the department for organizing the educational process, since the official head of the department did not conduct classes in the academic disciplines of the department and did not know the specifics of the work of the Department of Computational Mathematics. Subsequently, the Department of Computational Mathematics was renamed the Department of Applied Mathematics and Informatics and became graduating for students in the specialty “Applied Mathematics".

In 1988, after defending his doctoral dissertation, Vladimir Vasilyevich was invited to head the department of strength of materials at the Leningrad Technological Institute of the Refrigeration Industry.

Vladimir Vasilievich returned to SPbGASU in 1991 as a professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. As a result of his work, he developed several academic disciplines and wrote textbooks for students of the specialties “Applied Mathematics” and “Industrial and Civil Engineering”. Each year he was the supervisor of graduation projects for several graduates of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. For graduate students of all specialties of the university, Vladimir Vasilyevich gave lectures on the topic “Mathematical models of construction problems and numerical methods for their study,” which then formed the basis of the textbook.

For several years, Vladimir Vasilyevich headed a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science as part of the program “Development of the scientific potential of higher education.” He attracted students to participate in the grant work, since education and science are closely related to each other. Having gained research skills, some of these students went on for PhD studies. At one time, only his students, candidates of science, worked at the department of applied mathematics and computer science.

The range of scientific interests of Vladimir Vasilievich includes deformation models and methods for studying the stability of shell structures containing irregularities in thickness. He developed mathematical models for the deformation of shells of stepwise variable thickness, having ribs, adjustments and cutouts, which take into account that the contact of the ribs with the casing occurs along the strip, the ribs at intersection are rigidly fixed to each other, geometric nonlinearity, transverse shears, shear and torsional stiffness of the ribs, and the shell material is considered isotropic. A mathematical substantiation of the developed models was carried out. Using a computational experiment, it was proven that taking into account the shear and torsional stiffness of the ribs has a significant impact on the value of the critical buckling load of shells reinforced with stiffening ribs.

It is also shown that taking into account transverse shears has a significant effect on the value of the critical buckling load for ribbed shells, but for shells of constant thickness this effect is not observed. It is shown that on the lateral surface of the ribs (and on the boundaries of the cuts, respectively), when solving the equilibrium equations or variational problem, the free edge condition is automatically satisfied. For shells weakened by cutouts, this means that the area occupied by the shell is simply connected (the stiffness of the shell at the cutout locations is taken equal to zero), and it is not necessary to use the finite element method to study such shells. This greatly simplifies the process of studying such shells. To carry out these studies, Vladimir Vasilyevich developed several computer programs.

In addition to mathematical models and programs, he developed several methods for a comprehensive study of shell structures:

• the method of constructive anisotropy, which allows, for shells reinforced by frequently spaced ribs or weakened by frequently spaced cutouts, to solve the problem as for shells of constant thickness with reduced rigidity;
• a method of sequentially increasing ribs, which makes it possible to find corrections to the found stress-strain state of the shell as the stiffness of the ribs increases, while solving a linear problem;
• the method of successively changing curvature, where the idea outlined above was also used;
• variational-parametric method, when to study the stability of shells and select rational rigidity parameters, methods of sequential loading, sequential increase in ribs and sequential changes in curvature are consistently used;
• method of variational limiting transformations for shells with irregularities (edges, cuts, breaks in the middle surface), where actions with discontinuous functions are strictly mathematically justified.

Modifications of V.V. Petrov’s method of sequential loading have been developed, increasing the accuracy of calculating critical loads for buckling of shells.

For all these methods, Vladimir Vasilievich developed software that was used to conduct computational experiments. In addition, he studied the thermoelasticity of ribbed shells, the stability of shells taking into account various material properties (elasticity, plasticity, creep), the stability of isotropic shells under dynamic loading, and nonlinear free vibrations of shells (both reinforced by ribs and weakened by cutouts).

Based on the education received (university training in the specialty “Mathematics” and specialization in computer programming) and the nature of scientific activity (development of mathematical models of deformation of shell structures, algorithms for their study and software for conducting computational experiments), it can be stated that Vladimir Vasilievich is a classical specialist in applied mathematics.

Since 1989, Vladimir Vasilyevich took part in the work of dissertation councils at the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute with a specialty in “Mechanics of Deformable Solids”, at the Leningrad Institute of Railway Engineers and the Saratov Polytechnic Institute with a specialty in “Structural Mechanics”, at SPbGASU (first in the specialty “ Mathematical modeling, numerical methods and software packages”, and then in the specialty “Structural Mechanics”). Many times he was an opponent in candidate and doctoral dissertations.

Since 2005, Vladimir Vasilyevich has been a member of the editorial board of the International Journal for Computational Civil and Structural Engineering; he also takes part in the examination of articles sent for publication in the journal “Bulletin of Saratov University. New series. Series: Mathematics. Mechanics. Computer science". He repeatedly served on the organizing committees of international scientific conferences.

Over many years of scientific research, Vladimir Vasilyevich published more than 300 scientific and educational works, including 21 publications in the form of monographs and textbooks for students. He trained 21 candidates of science and 3 doctors of science (the fourth doctoral student, A. A. Semenov, defended his doctoral dissertation on 16 April this year). Currently, P. A. Bakusov is preparing to defend his PhD thesis. The rest of his students are working on their dissertations.

The scientific school on nonlinear problems of stiffened shells, headed by Vladimir Vasilievich, is included in the register of leading scientific schools in St Petersburg (2013).

Both in the pedagogical and scientific fields of activity, Vladimir Vasilyevich is distinguished by high professionalism, a constant desire for improvement, for accumulation of knowledge and transferring the accumulated experience to the new generation. He instills fundamentality in education and scientific research in his students, and this fundamentality is manifested in their work.

Judging by his pedagogical and scientific activities, we can confidently assume that Vladimir Vasilyevich is an example of high professional service to his Fatherland in the field of education and upbringing of the younger generation. This is a real mentor and teacher for young teachers and researchers.

Currently, Vladimir Vasilyevich continues his activities as a visiting professor at the SPbGASU Department of Information Systems and Technologies, supervises the scientific work of students, publishes scientific articles and textbooks for students for the benefit of the St Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, which has become his home, where he has worked for 45 years.