Kuznetsov, Vladimir

Born Apr. 30 (May 12), 1887, in Miass, present-day Cheliabinsk Oblast; died Oct. 13, 1963, in Tomsk. Soviet physicist; academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1958; corresponding member, 1946). Hero of Socialist Labor (1957) and Honored Scientist of the RSFSR (1934). Member of the CPSU since 1945. Graduated from the University of St. Petersburg in 1910. Worked at higher educational institutions in Tomsk beginning in 1911 and at the University of Tomsk beginning in 1917 (he became a professor in 1920). In 1929 he became director of the Siberian Institute of Physics and Engineering, which was founded on his initiative.

Kuznetsov studied the properties of solids and the phenomena observed in them during technological processing. He conducted research on surface energy, the hardness and other properties of crystals, internal friction in solids, plasticity and strength of metallic single crystals and polycrystals, crystallization and recrystallization mechanisms, and external friction and wear of metals and alloys, as well as on the cutting of metals. He developed the foundations for the physical theory of cutting and was the first to present theoretical proof, as well as experimental confirmation, of the possibility of high-speed cutting of metal. He was awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1942), three Orders of Lenin, and medals.