Aleksey Lykov is one of the outstanding Soviet thermophysicists who de alt with the fundamental problems of heat and mass transfer. Even during his lifetime, he received recognition in domestic and foreign scientific circles. His works served as the basis for the development of the heat engineering industry and became classic textbooks for the training of engineering personnel in the Soviet era. He entered world science thanks to the "Lykov effect" - the phenomenon of thermal diffusion of moisture in capillary-porous materials.
Childhood and youth
Aleksey Vasilyevich Lykov was born on September 7, 1910 in Kostroma. The future scientist spent his childhood in the village of Bolshie Soli (now Nekrasovskoye). The strong-willed nature of his parents became the basis for his upbringing, which was in accordance with Orthodox merchant traditions. On Sundays, the family visited the temple, at dinner everyone gathered at the table and discussed the latest news, and in the evening there were music and sports activities (cycling and playing croquet).
His childhood coincided with difficult times in the history of Russia - the NEP and the building of socialism, political repressions and "purges". At any moment, the family couldarrest or destroy for "non-proletarian" origin.
Even at an early age, Alexei Lykov was distinguished by good abilities. He studied at home, and then externally passed the course at the Kostroma school and received a certificate.
Parents
Vasily Ivanovich Lykov, father of Alexei Vasilyevich, was a large breeder in the Kostroma province. The grandfather of the future scientist created from scratch the production of starch and molasses, which became the main source of income for the family. During the years of repression at the beginning of the 20th century. Vasily Ivanovich was arrested. But since he was a good specialist in this industry, he was released on the condition that he would work for the Soviet government.
In 1934 Alexei Lykov's father was killed by "class enemies". Perhaps the rest of the family was spared from the massacre by the fact that the murderer's legal case was widely covered in the press. Subsequently, A. V. Lykov always wrote in official documents that his father worked as a technologist, and his mother worked as a teacher in public schools. He was afraid that his merchant origin would be exposed, and the road to science would be closed forever.
Alexey Lykov's mother, Anna Feodorovna, was orphaned early. At the age of 9, she was assigned to the Mariinsky shelter in Kostroma, where she received a good education. After the death of her husband, she was given a lifetime pension from the leadership of the starch and syrup factory. For this, the director of the enterprise was removed from his post and severely reprimanded him. Party workers also suffered due to the loss of "class vigilance"district.
Studying at the institute
At the age of sixteen, Alexei Lykov submitted documents for admission to the Pedagogical Institute in Yaroslavl, but was refused. Then, with the help of a fake birth certificate, he made a second attempt, which was successful. After 3 years, he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of this educational institution.
At the age of 20, he began working at the All-Union Thermal Engineering Institute (VTI), receiving the position of an engineer-physicist. At the same time, he was a postgraduate student at the Institute of Physics of Moscow State University.
In 1930, A. V. Lykov also began teaching at the Energy Workers' Faculty in Yaroslavl.
First studies
Work on the kinetic processes of drying was started by a scientist in the drying laboratory of VTI. In 1931, he published the first inventor's certificate for the invention, and a year later - the main provisions of the theory about the change in the evaporation surface and the shrinkage of the material during drying. This work brought him fame both in Russia and abroad.
The first experiments were carried out on filter paper discs. Lykov investigated the fields of moisture content during their convective drying. As a result, break points were identified on the curves reflecting the moisture content in the material. The scientist concluded that evaporation occurs throughout the entire thickness of the material, and not just on its surface. He was the first to propose temperature curves for the analysis of the kinetic processes of drying.
As a postgraduate student at Moscow State University from 1932 to 1935, Alexei Lykov worked onthermodynamics of porous materials. During these years, he created a fundamentally new method for calculating thermophysical characteristics, and then described a new phenomenon of thermal diffusion - the transfer of moisture under the influence of a temperature gradient in capillary bodies.
PhD thesis
In 1936, a successful defense of his Ph. D. thesis took place. Its main provisions submitted for discussion were the following:
- moisture during drying moves not only along the moisture gradient, but also along the temperature gradient;
- thermal diffusion in porous bodies proceeds mainly in the form of molecular motion of steam, the reason for this is the different speed of molecules in warm and cold areas of the material;
- due to changes in capillary pressure, moisture moves from more heated layers to less heated ones;
- there is a trapped air effect that pushes fluid in the above direction.
Alexey Lykov also introduced a thermogradient coefficient characterizing the magnitude of the moisture content drop depending on the temperature gradient. The significance of this work was similar to that of the discovery of the Soret effect (thermal diffusion in gases and solutions). The phenomenon of thermal moisture conduction is named after its discoverer. The opening of this process was highlighted at a meeting of the Royal Society of London.
Based on this phenomenon, scientists substantiated the cracking of materials during their drying, and also introduced a criterion for crack formation. Thanks to the developedtechniques made it possible to obtain industrial materials of higher quality.
Severe illness
A month after this significant event, the doctors made a terrible diagnosis - Lykov's right lung and part of the larynx were almost completely affected. Tuberculosis developed, and conservative treatment did not help. He was scheduled for surgery. Being chained to a hospital bed, A. V. Lykov worked on monographs on the dynamics of the processes of drying, thermal conductivity and diffusion.
After his recovery, he continued his research activities and in 1939 he defended his thesis for the title of Doctor of Technical Sciences. Since 1940, the scientist has become a professor at MPEI.
Achievements and awards
The scientist's contemporaries noted that his ideas were non-standard, and many physical processes were interpreted by him in his own way, from a completely new point of view. A. V. Lykov deserved recognition during his lifetime. He was awarded several government awards, including the Stalin Prize of the II degree and the Prize to them. I. I. Polzunova, Order of Lenin and the Red Banner of Labor and others.
In 1956, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus elected him an academician, and a year later he was awarded the title of "Honored Worker of Science and Technology".
Lykov organized international forums and all-Union conferences on heat engineering, in which hundreds of eminent scientists from all countries took part. He received awards from the scientific communities of Poland, Czechoslovakia, France.
Proceedings
For his long and fruitful career, Aleksey Vasilyevich Lykov published more than 200 scientific articles and 18 books (“Theory of Drying”, “Heat and Mass Transfer”, “Theory of Thermal Conduction” and others). His work has gone through many reprints and is still used in engineering education.
Besides works on the phenomenon of heat and mass transfer, the scientist was engaged in solving related problems: the development of new methods of analytical and numerical solution, micropolar media, rheology, media with memory of various types, anisotropy of thermal conductivity, nonlinear thermomechanics.
Teaching activities
A. V. Lykov conducted not only scientific work, but was also a teacher. He created the department of thermophysics at the Belarusian State University, which to this day trains highly qualified specialists. For 40 years, the scientist lectured at several educational institutions, he prepared about 130 candidates and 27 doctors of science.
He developed his students in a democratic and creative spirit, entrusting young researchers with difficult tasks. The scientist constantly reminded them that it is necessary to be critical of the concepts underlying any theory, and listen to any new, even crazy, at first glance, technical ideas and solutions.
At the initiative of the scientist in 1958, the "Engineering and Physical Journal" was created. A. V. Lykov was its permanent editor throughout his life. A year later he was appointededitor from the Soviet Union in the technical publication "International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer", dedicated to the problems of thermophysics.
Alexey Vasilyevich died on June 28, 1974 in Moscow, and his body was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery.
