Design and Process Engineering
· Designing, construction, calculation, technology of manufacturing, technical preparation of manufacturing including assembly and testing,
· Thermal and nuclear power plant devices such as steam and combustion turbines, steam generators, steam power plants and heating plants including nuclear power stations, industrial power engineering and their environmental aspects,
· Water turbines, hydrodynamic and hydrostatic pumps, piping systems, hydroelectric power plants, and pumping stations,
· Machinary and devices for chemical industry, food-stuff industry, and biotechnological treatment lines,
· Construction, modelling and theoretical studies of machines and devices for cutting, forming machines, industrial robots, and manipulators,
· Machine parts and mechanisms, methodology of designing machine elements and working mechanisms of general application with consideration of stochastic qualities of inputs, including the application of special types of machines and devices,
· Cars, vans and lorries, buses, trailers, semi-trailers, and motorcycles,
· Combustion engines for all types of vehicle drives, simulation of combustion engine thermomechanical systems, dynamics of driving gear, engine accessories, ecology,
· Machines and devices for in-plant handling of material and handling between operations, for the mining and transport of building materials, for passenger conveyance in buildings,
· Aerodynamic calculation and designing, flight mechanics, fatigue and durability of aircraft constructions, aeroelasticity of aircraft,
· Quality of machine industry production.

prof. Ing. Václav Píštěk, DrSc.

1. Axial force and pressure pulsations in double-suction pump.

   Significant pulsations arise for pumps with double-suction input when operated below the best efficiency point. The aim of the work will be modeling of these pulsations.

   Tutor: Habán Vladimír, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

2. Cavitation erosion model

   Cavitation, i.e. local inception of vapor bubbles due to low presure, can occur during operation of hydraulic machines. Consequent condensation (collapse) of the bubbles generates strong pressure pulses, which cause erosion of the machine surface. Goal of the PhD study is to create description of the vapor bubble behavior and then predict locations of the erosion and its intensity, i.e. to set up a cavitation erosion model. Model will be mainly based on numerical solution of Rayleigh-Plesset equation, which describes change of the bubble radius in variable pressure field. This topic is very suitable for graduates of the specialized branch Mathematical engineering.

   Tutor: Rudolf Pavel, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

3. Digital image processing used for measurement of fluid phenomena

   Thesis will focus on a digital image processing of video sequences captured during hydraulic phenomena. Watching the cavitation of inlet vortices and similar phenomena, which could be caught with a high-speed camera, will be the main part of the work.

   Tutor: Habán Vladimír, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

4. Disc friction loss in centrifugal pumps and hydraulic turbines

   Disc friction loss presents significant part of the total hydraulic loss, especially in low-specific speed hydraulic machines. Goal of the PhD study will be analytical investigation of the disc friction loss and analysis of the shape of the rotor-stator clearance on the magnitude of the loss. The latter task will be carried out with help of experimental and computational modeling (CFD).

   Tutor: Rudolf Pavel, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

5. Dynamical model of the swirling flow

   Swirling flow is rather common in many industrial applications (hydraulic and combustion turbines, pumps, burners, combustion chambers, etc.), while it is often characterized by instabilities, which induce unwanted pressure pulsations. Experimental research of this phenomenon is very complicated and CFD simulations are extremely time demanding. Goal of the PhD study is to set up so called reduced order model (sometimes also called low order dynamical model), which is able to capture the substantial behavior of the swirling flow at much lower computational cost. PhD thesis will continue in several years of very successful research in this field at V. Kaplan Dept. of Fluid Engineering. Topis is very suitable for graduates of the specialized branch Mathematical engineering (model will be built in Matlab environment).

   Tutor: Rudolf Pavel, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

6. Hydrodynamic interaction of hydraulic turbine structural elements

   Momentum exchange occurs during interaction of flowing fluid with elastic structure. This results in added effects of fluid on the structure in form of added mass, damping and stiffness tensors and external excitation force and torque. Aim of the PhD study is the analysis of these effects with respect to reliability and lifetime of the hydraulic machine.

   Tutor: Pochylý František, prof. Ing., CSc.

7. Optimization of AWSJ (abrasive water suspension jet) for cutting of composite materials

   The objective of the work is to optimize parameters of abrasive water suspension jet for cutting of composite materials with respect to cutting performance and risk of formation of cracks and delamination. The dependence of abrasive particle velocity at the exit of the nozzle on pressure and abrasive concentration and influence of operating parameters of the jet and type of abrasive material on the cutting performance will be determined. Possibility of the use of suitable polymer additives to enhance the cutting ability of AWSJ will also be studied.

   Tutor: Habán Vladimír, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

8. Pressure pulsations induced by rotating stall in fluid machine

   Rotating stall influences dynamics of pumps, turbocirculators and hydraulic and gas turbines operated in off-design conditions. The goal is to determine stability of operation with regard to the delivery system.

   Tutor: Habán Vladimír, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

9. Rotating stall in centrifugal pump

   Rotating stall appears during operation of centrifugal pumps outside of the best effciency point. This phenomenon significantly influences their dynamical properties. Rotating stall in case of reversible pump turbines has adverse effect on stability of the characteristic curve and limits the zone of operation. Conditions leading to rotating stall will be investigated using especially CFD tools.

   Tutor: Rudolf Pavel, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

10. The relationship between the effective output and dissipation function in bladeless pumps and water turbines

    The medical equipment uses disk pump. The force transmitted to the liquid depends on the shear stresses. Their value is significant for the degradation of blood cells. It is therefore necessary to optimize the value of shear stress due to dissipation of mechanical energy. A similar problem is the water turbines where the blades are replaced by the shear forces. The aim of the study is therefore to optimize power imparted to the fluid by shear, given the value of the dissipation function. The project will be supported by specific research of the FME. Experiments will be carried our in the laboratory of the Department of Fluid Engineering V. Kaplan.

    Tutor: Pochylý František, prof. Ing., CSc.

11. The swirl turbine with stochastic blades

    The runner of swirl turbine will be designed for two hydraulic points. One set of blades will be designed for one hydraulic point; the second one will be designed to the second. Mutual interaction these blades systems will be the aim of the design of new type of swirl turbine.

    Tutor: Haluza Miloslav, doc. Ing., CSc.