organized by the Géza Pattantyús-Ábrahám Doctoral School of Mechanical Sciences in the framework of TÁMOP-4.2.2/B-10/1-2010-0009
May 25, 2012
1. A brief description of the Géza Pattantyús-Ábrahám Doctoral School of Mechanical Sciences
The doctoral school was established in 1994. The school integrates the research activities pursued in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The scientific activities in the school are conducted in four main groups and 12 particular area covering the diversity of mechanical sciences.
I. Materials and Manufacturing Science and Engineering a. Manufacturing
b. Material Science and Engineering c. Polimer Engineering
II. Design and Analysis of Mechanical Structures d. Applied Mechanics
e. Design of Machines and Agricultural Machines f. Industrial Product Design
III. Mechatronics g. Optics
h. Mechanical Engineering Informatics i. Mechatronics and Control
IV. Energetics and Process Engineering j. Energetics
k. Fluid Mechanics
l. Building Service and Process Engineering
Since 1994 more than 200 students have successfully defended their PhD theses and have been awarded with the degree. Actually in Doctoral School the number of founding members is 16, the number of supervisors is 41 and the number of members is 92. The average number of PhD students is between 70 and 80.
2. Research and development projects supported by TÁMOP-4.2.2/B-10/1-2010-0009
The 5 research projects supported by the TÁMOP were organized considering the scientific structure of the Doctoral School, the most successful actual topics were selected that may attract the most talented students and PhD students.
2.1 New materials and their processing technologies
The scope of the research is the development of new materials and their processing technologies, focusing mainly on bio-compatible and nano structural materials, and injection molding, welding and micro-machining technologies. As standard techniques
cannot always be used to investigate newly developed materials, there is a need for new testing methods, including the use of super computers and parallel processing techniques to exploit simulation possibilities.
As a result of material development, fiber reinforced and nano reinforced polymer composites with superior mechanical properties are expected, such as biopolymers for medical use, intelligent (shape memory or self-healing) polymers, conducting polymers, etc. Regarding the metallic composites, innovation is focusing on the improvement of the processability of iron based powder metallurgy materials. Technology development is expected to yield optimal processing parameters and the improvement of simulation softwares. These results could lead us to new application areas, mainly in the medical and transport industries..
2.2 Researches for vehicle industry
During the present period we have elaborated a new finite element model which provides opportunity to analyze the connection between a railway wheel-rail connection under the starting process. With the help of the worked out model the pressure distribution, the displacements and the strains can be examined between the connecting elements under pure rolling conditions. The extension of the sticking and sliding zones in the contact area can be analyzed with the elaborated model. A modified model has been created too, which provides opportunity to examine the pressure distribution, the displacements and the strains between the railway wheel-rail connection when (1-2%) partial slip occurs and the contact area can be divided into a smaller sticking zone and a larger sliding zone.
2.3 Investigations in dynamics
The primary goal of the recent research project was the experimental and numerical analysis of nonlinear dynamical contact problems that are related to cutting. The most important practical task in the framework of this topic is the determination of the cutting force characteristic and the parameter domains of stable milling or turning. As the first step of the research work, a numerical code was compiled for the calculation of the modal parameters of machine tools. The implemented software was tested via experimental modal analysis. Two numerical methods were elaborated for the stability analysis of milling – both were verified by the performed experiments. The examination of the digital stabilization of the cutting process was also started by a supervised student. Based on the achieved results, the efficiency of the cutting process can be increased significantly.
2.4 Etho-robotics
The aim of ETHO-ROBOT proposal is to place the relation of human and computing system on a new, ethologically inspired base.
So far, when designing computing systems mainly ergonomic and psychological aspects were taken into consideration to form the human-system relationship. Since computing devices perform an inferior role to their human user, we consider that a more successful human-system relationship could be set up if the communication and interaction between them were based on ethological aspects. The aim of this proposal is to work out this paradigm shift, considering philosophical, epistemological, mathematical and implementation aspects.
ETHO-ROBOT project takes the abstract ethological model of the 20,000 year old human-dog relationship as the base of the human- computing system interaction. The mathematical description of the dog’s attachment behaviour towards its owner is an essential aspect of setting up the ethological communication model.
People feel often attached to their articles for personal use (phone, car, etc.). Turning this - currently unilateral attachment - into a bilateral relationship can bring not only obvious marketing advantages but also would open new prospects. For example in eldercare, which is getting an increasing role in today's aging societies. We consider that the new paradigm could open new perspectives in remote care and diagnostics as elderly people could easier accept the engineering solutions offered by the ethological approach.
In the proposal related ethical matters are clarified as well. ETHO-ROBOT project aims to answer questions of basic research that can serve as basis of the methodology of the new paradigm:
• To analyse issues of system theory: observability of the model based on ethological tests and to make recommendation for ethologists in order to let engineers design the best ethomodel.
• To choose the most suitable instruments of mathematics and system theory to implement the ethomodel based on abstract ethological models.
• To design the connection of the system peripheries and the „ethomodel”.
• To build an adaptive “ethomodel” with learning abilities and to elaborate the mathematical background of adaptivity and learning.
• To answer engineering and implementation questions in some concrete application.
In the project three senior researchers from distinct disciplines (Ethology, Fuzzy, Robot and Control Theory) would take part. The research would be carried out in the frame of Japanese-Hungarian international cooperation. In the project different age-groups, from students upto senior researchers would participate.
2.5 Basic Research on thermo mechanics and fluid mechanics
The research program covers a huge range of investigations. There are projects only of analytical or numerical activities, like simulation and detection of vortex fields with Large Eddy Simulation or CFD simulation of flows around buildings, in fans, air pollution propagation in cities, etc. Thermal processes are studied with coupled flow and thermal simulations, like the flow in heat exchanger.
Another kind of investigation needs both experimental and numerical work. One example is the flow in cyclone, which is filled with Bingham-plastic fluid. The numerical simulation in open surface cyclone is already for Newtonian fluid non-trivial; therefore numerical results can be applied for Bingham-plastic fluid only with experimental control. In the experiments the velocity field is measured with LDA technique and are compared with numerical results.