СТРУКТУРА

Structure

The law-governed and stable connection and interrelation of parts and elements of a system or a whole. A precise definition of Structure in mathematics and mathematical logic is based on the concept of isomorphism. The category of Structure is closely bound up with the categories of law, form, necessity, etc. It remains immutable despite the continued alteration of its parts and the whole itself, and changes only when the whole undergoes a qualitative leap.

On the other hand, all the elements of the whole are essentially dependent on its Structure, and have a qualitatively distinct role to play depending on the mode and system of their concatenation and organization. Thus, graphite and diamond differ from each other in the different arrangement of their atoms of carbon. Much more importance is now attached to the concept of Structure in science, as mathematics, physics, and biology have come up against the fact that their objects of study are integral.

In particular, there is a method of studying the structure of an object before the study of its elements and parts. It has transpired that three dialectically connected and dialectically cognizable types of structure can be brought out in any organic whole. The first step in cognition is to determine the mechanical Structure of the whole, which shows how it is divided into parts. The discovery of the fact that the "part is equal to the whole" (Hegel) and is the source of the whole points to the very fact of organic integrity. The complete cognition of the whole means a cognition of its organic Structure as the realization of the whole complexity of relationships between the parts of the whole. In this connection, there has been a sharp rise in the importance of studying the epistemological aspects of the Structure concept.

Structure has a specific place in linguistics (the so-called structuralism—the study of language as a system of signs) and in psychology (the concept of the integrity or structural nature of the psyche, which is especially characteristic of Gestalt psychology).

Структура

Металла, строение металла (сплава). С. можно наблюдать невооруженным глазом или при небольших увеличениях (см. Макроструктура), чтобы установить присутствие и распределение по объёму изделия раковин, пор, неметаллических включений и т.п. дефектов металлов, а также расположение и форму крупных зёрен (рис.). С помощью светового и электронного микроскопов изучают микроструктуру, характеризуемую размерами, формой и взаимным расположением кристаллитов (зёрен) разных фаз, а также их относительным количеством (см. Структурная составляющая). Ещё более тонкие детали строения металла, определяемые расположением дислокаций и их скоплений, а также субграниц внутри зёрен (см. Субструктура), наблюдают с помощью электронной и рентгеновской дифракционной микроскопии. Иногда под С. понимают строение кристаллической решётки металла или фаз сплава. См. также Металлография.

Макроструктура кованой стальной заклепки. Волокна видны вследствие неоднородного распределения примесей в металле. Натуральная величина.