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B y aid of Eshelby's theoretical development, and through the use of a direct line integration procedure for the evaluation of the required path-independent integrals. T-stress calculations have been carried out on a number of mixed mode loading configurations. These involved the obliquely cracked SEN specimen, chosen as a test case, and, from the testing point of view, more suitable Arcan specimen and a version of the CTS specimen. Generally excellent agreement was found between the present results and those of previous investigators. However, results obtained under mixed-mode conditions using direct comparison of field quantities showed large discrepancies, suggesting such methods may be hazardous. A study of the T-stress term in conjunction with mixed-mode failure of aluminium 7075-T6 was also conducted. In applying the numerical results on previously reported experimental data, along with complementary experiments performed under vanishing T-stress conditions it was, however, found that the observed geometry and size dependence could not be explained by this additional term.

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AbstfudThe last ten to twenty years have seen a steadily growing awareness across industries of the benefits of proper Asset Management, as well gs the obvious disadvantages of poor management of assets. Tbls awareness is specifically apparent in the Power Industry, with an aging infrastructure and workforce coupled with economic pressures enforced by re-regulation and the current economic downturn. Obviously, an apparent tool for utilities seeking to improving efficiency and effectiveness of asset management strategies is the implementation of IT-systems in support of the operational processes. To Investigate current state of the practice regarding IT systems for Asset Management a survey has been conducted among a number of mid-sized utilities, and the paper presents the preliminary results of this study. The empirical data for the study comes not only from electric utilities, but also from the pulp and paper industry thereby prodding excellent opportunitia for benchmarking and comparison across industries.Interestingly, the preliminary findings show large differences in both chosen strategies for asset management as well as use of IT systems in support of the operational processes. The survey also shows that the utilities have chosen very different strategies for improving their asset management processes. TI I addition, the utilities have very differing priorities when it comes to implementation of IT systems for Asset Management. In short, five specific areas providing opportunity for improvement regarding IT system use have been identified. These are: Asset documentation, Resource Management, Production Management, Workflow management and Maintenance planning toob. Of further interest are the differences between how these areas of improvement are approached among the utilities and pulp and paper industry, respectively.The paper provides, based on the data from the survey, an analysis and discussion on strategies for Asset Management as wen as IT system implementaiion based on the identified Areas of Opportunity. Index Terms--Information systems, Information technology Maintenance, Management decision-making, Power system maintenance, Strategic planning, Systems engineering I. INTRODUCTTON HIS paper provides a summary of a survey regarding use T of Information Technology (IT) in support of Asset This work is supported by the EFFSYS research program, sponsored by STEM, Statens Energimyndighet, ELFORSK and the pulp and paper industry in Sweden represented by SCA Graphics.

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