Born Jan. 24 (Feb. 5), 1890, in Vladimir; died Apr. 25, 1944, in Leningrad. Soviet scientist in the field of strength theory; corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (AN SSSR; 1939).
After graduating from the St. Petersburg Railway Engineers’ Institute in 1916, Beliaev taught at a number of higher educational institutions. In 1924 he became a professor. Beginning in 1939 he worked in the Institute of Mechanics of the AN SSSR.
Beliaev was the first to propose a solution for the important engineering problem of stability in prismatic bars subjected to variable longitudinal forces. He was one of the first in the USSR to work on the theory of plastic strains and its application to studies of the phenomena of creep and relaxation in metals at high temperatures. As a result of his research on rail steel (1924–40), new specifications were developed for manufacturing rails. In 1927, Beliaev proposed new procedures for sampling and inspecting the composition of concrete. These procedures have been used widely. Beliaev participated in the development of fundamental methods for the dynamic testing of bridges.