Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 STUDY OF SOME APPARENTLY ABNORMAL DEFORMATIONS AND _ TRANSFORMATIONS OF METALS C, CRUSARD AND J. BOUVAIST INTRODUCTION After one of us was suddenly confronted with a case of deformation of a metal specimen without apparent action of an external force*, we considered it our obligation as metallur- gical investigators to attempt systematically to study pheno- mena of this type. Thus we contacted J. P. Girard, who reputedly could produce "abnormal" effects in metals and * Sciences et Avenir, No. 345 (November 1975), 1108. 1 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1
A A aA a a .* Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 other less satisfactory tests, since it would have been in- correct to present too optimistic a selection. In these pre- sentations, and to expand the information on J. P. Girard, we also showed films of various external origins and also of unequal value. French and foreign illusionists observed cer- tain presentations. They helped to firm our opinion on certain points. One of them discovered a sign of fakery on a film which J. P. Girard had obtained for us without telling us that it had been faked. The opinions gathered in the course of all these discussions helped us in the critical study of our docu- ments, and in various checks which we have run since. J. P. Girard agreed to some control experiments, at least one of which is very interesting*. All this was time-consuming, and explains the long delay between our first tests and the ap-~- pearance of the present article. However, we believe that this critical study has gone on long enough, if not too long, and that the time has come to publish the most typical of our experiences. The selection which we present therefore is the result of prolonged screening work. Of 150 test specimens which J. P. Girard deformed or transformed before us or our colleagues, there are only twenty or so for which we might be able posi- tively to affirm the "abnormal" character of the observed effects. In the course of this article, we describe eight of these most typical cases. However, we must point out that, among the tests eliminated, the majority were certainly valid, * Test No. 4 of Table ITI. 3 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 . but we rejected any demonstrations which did not follow a pre- determined mode of operation. Thus our screening process was too severe. Other tests with extensometers will be published later. Our concern for rigor thus eliminated quite remarkable observations on deformations at a distance, deformations of objects or test specimens in the very hands of observers of undoubted integrity, or of objects held in turn by J. P. Girard and by an observer. The tests which we are about to describe were performed under our personal responsibility, with the authorization of Pechiney-Ugine-Kuhlmann. We wish to thank those colleagues who assisted us in the tricky study of this controversial field, particularly J. Rauch, G. Jollant and B. Dubost. We also wish to express our appreciation to Professor J. B. Hasted, professor of physics at Birkbeck College of London University, for kindly having sponsored a test in his laboratory. DESCRIPTION OF THE TESTS Bending of metal test specimens So that J. P. Girard could not surreptitiously bend a test specimen, we often used fairly thick bars of various Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 metals, particularly aluminum and light alloys (bars 250 to 350 mm long and 8 to 17 mm thick), but also copper, mild steel, stainless steel and magnesium. We determined the forces (bending moments) necessary to bend our specimens by measure- ments and calculations. To be able to compare the values of resistance of the specimens to the forces to which they could . have been subjected if fakery involving surreptitious bending had been used, we determined the maximum moment that a man can develop by grasping a bar in both hands and exerting all his force... which does not go unnoticed. For this we used a dynamometric wrench with handles, 400 mm long, which we had numerous persons try. Depending on the individual, the maxi- mum moments varied from 20 to 38 Nem. The median was around 25 Nem. 3. P. Girard developed 26 N-m with a very visible effort. These values were confirmed by direct tests on the bars. We shall discuss one such example below (session of October 27, 1976). : It is out of the question to describe all these tests here, or to present a critical review. For this article, we have chosen the two most typical tests: Session of March 31, 1976, at the Centre Technique de 1'Aluminiun. Investigators: J. Rauch and G. Jollant, with an assistant for video recording. 5 . Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 During this session, in a room close to that in which J. P. Girard was waiting, G. Jollant took a bar of duralumin hardened to AU4G alloy of state T4 (quenched, Matured). The. bar was 250 mm long and 8 mm in diameter. Its fairly high critical bending moment (15 N-m) ruled out the possibility that it could be bent without visible effort. G. Jollant rolled it on a table, confirmed that it did not have any roundness defects, marked it and placed it in a glass tube which he sealed with a stopper. This is the only time that vie were able to arrange that J. P. Girard did not touch a bending-test specimen before it was enclosed in a tube. G. Jollant carried the closed tube to J. Rauch, who gave it immediately to J. P. Girard. From this moment, everything Was filmed. The stopper, or the bar in the tube, or both, were always visible. After having concentrated and having declared that he felt something, J. P. Girard returned the tube, still closed,’ to J. Rauch. J. Rauch opened the tube, removed the bar ~-- which was visibly bent -- and placed it on the table and then on a flat bar, so as to highlight the de- flection, which was thus made very visible. This deflection was 2 mm. Session of October 27, 1976, at Grenoble. Investigators: J. Bouvaist and B. Dubost. 6 ; Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1
a a RR Tr SSPE SS SSS Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 Here we describe the test performed on the largest bar. This was a bar of 17 mm diameter and 300 mm length, consisting of AU2 alloy (with 2.05% Cu) in the T4 state (quenched in cold water and matured for one year). This bar had been provided with marks engraved in, the body. The positions of small “characteristic defects had been observed. It had been trans- ported to the experimental station in a vehicle other than that which brought J. P.. Girard, and it was the only one of its kind in the experimental lot. This bar had previously been subjected to bending tests by very strong men, and only one 300-pound individual had been able to produce a small but significant deformation of this bar, after coating his hands with magnesia (deflection of 0.6 mm, corresponding to an applied moment of 38 N-m). The bending plane had then been marked by scratches at the two ends. Later tests had permitted us to verify that an average Man could not increase this deformation, even by using a support at the center of the bar and bringing his entire weight (140 pounds) to bear on the two ends. During the test, the Lwo investigators were seated on opposite sides of J. P. Girard, approximately three feet from him. Jd. P. Girard worked in shirt sleeves, with the sleeves rolled up and unbuttoned. He produced four deformations of this bar in succession, by holding one end in his right hand and gently stroking the free part with his left hand (defor- mations (1 and 2), or by holding his left hand 5 cm above the 7 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1
I i | Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 specimen (deformations 3 and 4). After each deformation, one observer recorded the profile of the specimen, while the other remained close to J. P. Girard. The two largest deformations (3 and 4) could be followed visually. They both occurred downwards over an interval of 10 to 20 seconds. After each deformation, it was verified that no heating was detectable by manually touching the bar, and that the deformations pro- duced effortlessly by J. P. Girard were all in the same plane (at an angle of 34° relative to the initial bending plane men- tioned above), marked by the scratches indicated above. These scratches also permitted the observers at each instant .to verify that the same bar was always in view. Immediately after the experiment, the specimens were locked in a briefcase and taken to the laboratory. We now describe the laboratory examinations: First of all we verified in the laboratory that all the marks, scratches and defects initially present on the bar were present on the bar returned from the experiment, thus permit- ting us to affirm unequivocally that there had been no substi- tution of the specimen. Figure 1 shows a photograph of the bar after the experiment. : The following examinations were aimed at characterizing, in non-destructive fashion, the modifications introduced into the bar, and more particularly into section A, which corre- sponds to the maximum curvature. We noted: Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1
.? Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 FIG. lL Photograp: of the AU2 bar of 17 mm diameter after bending. Scale in centimeters. - a significant increase in hardness of the two fibers located in the bending plane, attaining a maximum of 11 points Vickers (i.e. 27%) in section A, which corresponds to the maximum curvature. The length of the zone where the hardness was greater than the initial hardness is ca. 120 mm (60 mm on both sides of section A). - in section A, and perpendicular to the bending plane, the hardness measured at the circumference is maximum in the bending plane, and varies linearly with height relative to the neutral line, as in the case of simple bending. To determine the moment which would have to be applied by mechanical bending of the bar to obtain the observed permanent deformation, we subjected a reference bar identical to the 9 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1
er a ne eee ee ee . Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 _’ EXPERIMENT AUr-Te | . , P= ten (19) | Applied . moment . L = 300m R, = 63 la R, = 162 4h 7s Mp = 30 Ie _.. Calibration curve Arye 268 % Deformations 75 70 Is 62a] JPG. in Strongest men t__| Average men I using two-handed force Residual deformation at half length + — + > 200 29 | (7) FIG. 2 Diagram of deformation as a function of applied moment for a reference bar identical to that of Figure l. test bar to mechanical bending with a distance of 200 mm be- tween fixed supports. The variation of residual deformation measured as a function of applied moment is shown in Figure 2. We can thus deduce that, to obtain the deformation observed for the bar bent by J. P. Girard (deformation = 13.5 mm), a moment M of ca. 75 N-m would have to he applied. This is two and one half times the critical moment Mc = 30 N-m, and twice Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1 the moment exerted by the strongest man we tested. The total deformation energy can be calculated as ll J. The preceding results permit us completely to rule out the hypothesis of surreptitious deformations of muscular origin which would have escaped the notice of the observers. More- over, the fact that "normal" consolidation of the deformed zone was observed permits us to rule out the surreptitious use of thermal or chemical means which had locally diminished the mechanical strength of the alloy. Finally, the group of observations made during and after the experiment on the duralumin bar deformed by J. P. Girard in the experiment of October 27, 1976, permits us to conclude: ~ that the successive deformations achieved were not, and could not have been produced by application of the normal mus- cular force of the subject; - that the final deformation obtained is comparable at all points to what would be obtained by applying a point force of 1500 N to the center of the bar resting on two supports. Tests on stainless steel in closed tubes Materials and operating conditions During a session at the Centre Technique de 1'Aluminium on March 25, 1976, martensitic transformations, with or without deformation, of test specimens were observed in front of three ll Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500160001-1