Arturs Kalnins: An Expert in the Fatigue of Metals

Born in Riga, Latvia, Kalnins emigrated to the United States in 1951. He was a professor at Lehigh for more than 39 years, until his retirement in 2004. Previously, he was on the faculty of the Yale School of Engineering, from 1960 to 1964.

Kalnins developed computer programs to analyze shells of revolution that include metal plasticity, free vibration, buckling and creep. He served as a consultant to companies in the United States and abroad. He also was active on the international lecture circuit, giving presentations in Mexico, Austria and Brazil. He was a member of a review group that independently evaluated the repair and return to service of the steam generators at the Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear power plant.

A member and fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Kalnins received the society’s Pressure Vessels and Piping (PVP) Medal, a top honor, at its 2008 PVP Conference. He was recognized for “significant contributions to the field of pressure vessel and piping technology, particularly for advancing the state of the art in the development of new design curves for torispherical heads and primary stress limits on the basis of plasticity, and for other significant breakthroughs in the field.”

Kalnins earned B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering mechanics from the University of Michigan. He wrote or co-wrote more than 120 research papers and a book.

He was married to Dzintra (Skerbele) Kalnins. They would have celebrated 64 years of marriage in September 2020. He is also survived by his son, Arturs T. Kalnins, and wife, Michele Williams of Iowa City, Iowa; granddaughters, Sarah and Anna Kalnins; and a nephew and nieces in Latvia.