This study focused on the fatigue and corrosion fatigue of maraging steel 18Ni (250). The 18Ni (250) samples were tested for axial fatigue in air and 3.5% NaCl solution. The effects of loading frequency and stress ratio on the fatigue strength of 18Ni (250) were studied. In air, the loading frequency was 10 Hz, and the stress ratio was 0.5. However, three loading methods were used in the 3.5% NaCl solution: (i) the loading frequency of 1 Hz and stress ratio of 0.5; (ii) the loading frequency of 1 Hz and stress ratio 0.1, and (iii) the loading frequency 5 Hz and stress ratio 0.5. The corrosion fatigue strength of samples in the 3.5% NaCl solution was 63.3% lower than that of the samples in air. The fractures in the samples were observed after the test.

During the BIOMASS-SIBEX Antarctic expedition the distribution of Copepoda in three water layers (0—100, 100—300 and 300—500 m) in the Bransfield Strait and southern Drake Passage was studied. Altogether 46 taxa were recorded (Tabs. 1 and 2); the number of taxa increased with depth. Faunistic differences between the Drake Passage and the Bransfield Strait were observed. In some species the age-related splitting of the populations was registered (Figs. 2, 3 and 4). Young generations occupied usually the upper water layers.

This study proposes a surface profile and roughness measurement system for a fibre-optic interconnect based on optical interferometry. On the principle of Fizeau interferometer, an interference fringe is formed on the fibre end-face of the fibre-optic interconnect, and the fringe pattern is analysed using the Fast Fourier transform method to reconstruct the surface profile. However, as the obtained surface profile contains some amount of tilt, a rule for estimating this tilt value is developed in this paper. The actual fibre end-face surface profile is obtained by subtracting the estimated tilt amount from the surface profile, as calculated by the Fast Fourier transform method, and the corresponding surface roughness can be determined. The proposed system is characterized by non-contact measurement, and the sample is not coated with a reflector during measurement. According to the experimental results, the difference between the roughness measurement result of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and the measurement result of this system is less than 3 nm.