Paul Croce Paris (August 7, 1930 - January 15, 2017) was an American academic, engineering consultant and researcher in the field of

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

and

fatigue Fatigue is a state of tiredness (which is not sleepiness), exhaustion or loss of energy. It is a signs and symptoms, symptom of any of various diseases; it is not a disease in itself. Fatigue (in the medical sense) is sometimes associated wit ...

. He was known particularly for introducing

fracture mechanics Fracture mechanics is the field of mechanics concerned with the study of the propagation of cracks in materials. It uses methods of analytical solid mechanics to calculate the driving force on a crack and those of experimental solid mechanics t ...

methods to the aviation industry, and for the empirical

Paris' law Paris' law (also known as the Paris–Erdogan equation) is a crack growth equation that gives the rate of growth of a fatigue (material), fatigue crack. The stress intensity factor K characterises the load around a crack tip and the rate of crac ...

relating crack growth rate to the amplitude of the

stress intensity factor In fracture mechanics, the stress intensity factor () is used to predict the Stress (mechanics), stress state ("stress intensity") near the tip of a Fracture, crack or Notch (engineering), notch caused by a remote load or residual stresses. It i ...

Career

Paris was trained in applied mechanics at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

. He was a faculty associate at

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

in the summer of 1955, where he investigated the

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

fatigue (material) In materials science, fatigue is the initiation and propagation of cracks in a material due to cyclic loading. Once a fatigue crack has initiated, it grows a small amount with each loading cycle, typically producing striations on some parts of ...

failure. His first paper on

was famously rejected by top journals. Paris joined the

McKelvey School of Engineering The James McKelvey School of Engineering is a part of Washington University in St. Louis. Founded in 1854, the engineering school is a research institution occupying seven buildings on Washington University's Danforth Campus. Research emphasi ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

in 1976. In 2009 he became a professor emeritus and continued to teach.

Awards

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from

Paris Nanterre University Paris Nanterre University (), formerly University of Paris West, Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It is one of the most pres ...

* 2003

Crichlow Trust Prize Crichlow or Critchlow is a surname, and may refer to: * Cherrie Ann Crichlow-Cockburn, Trinidad and Tobago politician * Ernest Crichlow (1914–2005), African-American artist * Frank Crichlow (1932–2010), British activist * Herbie Crichlow (bor ...

by the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

* 2009 George Irwin Gold Medal by the International Congress on Fracture at Ottawa, Canada * 2016

August Wöhler August Wöhler (22 June 1819 – 21 March 1914) was a German railway engineer, best remembered for his systematic investigations of metal fatigue. Life Born in the town of Soltau, Hanover, the son of local teacher Georg Heinrich Wöhler, he show ...

Medal by the

European Structural Integrity Society The European Society for Structural Integrity (ESIS) is an international non-profit engineering scientific society. Its purpose is to create and expand knowledge about all aspects of structural integrity and the dissemination of that knowledge. ...

(ESIS)

References

External links

Parks CollegeEulogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paris, Paul C. 1930 births 2017 deaths Lehigh University alumni Washington University in St. Louis faculty Engineers from New York City Academics from New York City 21st-century American engineers 20th-century American engineers