A team of experts from BUT, headed by an employee of the AdMaS Center, dr. David Bečkovský, technically participated in the preparation of pilot grant programs for water retention in the city and the prevention of drought.
The conditions of the subsidy, and especially the idea of green roofs and the building of rainwater retention tanks in Brno, discussed with dr. Bečkovský editor of MF Dnes in an article dated 3.6.2019.
On April 10, April 12 and May 28, 2019, an excursion of secondary school students took place at AdMaS, namely the Secondary School of Chemistry in Brno and the Secondary School of Industry and Art in Hodonín. Students were acquainted with the laboratories and key equipments in detail and, among other things, they had the were offered to try to prepare a sample of the asphalt mixture themselves. Judging by the reactions of the students, both excursions were successful.
In the week of May 20-24, 2019, Doc. Héctor Cifuentes Bulte of the University of Sevilla from Spain was a guest of the Institute of Structural Mechanics (STM), FCE BUT, with the support of the Internationalization project and the Institute of Materials Physics of the ASCR, v. I. Primarily, his guides were doc. Stanislav Seitl, prof. Zbyněk Keršner and Ing. Petr Miarka.
Doc. Cifuentes is a prominent expert in describing the behavior of building materials with a focus on scattered reinforced concrete, including fracture-mechanical aspects of their response to both static and dynamic loading (one of his lectors during PhD studies was Professor Bhushan L. Karihaloo, an expert on fracture mechanic of construction concrete) .
The guest was interested in the activities of the Mathematical Modeling research group (MM) with an emphasis on numerical simulations of structural stresses using experimental data and on the functionality of the methodology of complex analysis of building elements based on cement composites. He also appreciated the above-standard experimental possibilities of the AdMaS Center.
The main occupation of doc. Cifuentes was deepening of exclusive international contact, consultations with academic staff of STM / MM and with doctoral and master degree students, consultations on common and planned experiments, preparation of joint publication etc.
At the STM, he presented the attractively prepared presentation of Tensile-Fracture Behavior of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced-Concrete Subject to High Temperatures. In the lecture he discussed in detail the tensile and fracture properties of selected fiber reinforced concrete with very high utility properties, especially the influence of steel scattered reinforcement and thermal action.
On Tuesday, May 14, 2019, with the participation of the Dean of FCE, prof. Ing. Miroslav Bajer, CSc., was held the premises of the AdMaS Research Center the 11th session of the Scientific Board of BIC Brno. The Chairman of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, prof. Ing. Petr Konvalinka, CSc., discussed with the members the news in the support of applied research.
At the beginning of the event, Zdeněk Dufek, Director of the AdMaS Research Center, presented the Center’s research programs to the participants. Currently, the up to date topic is projects focusing on the so-called circular economy, where construction waste is transformed into other raw materials by various forms and is then reused.
The meeting continued with the presentation of RNDr. Petr Pracna, CSc., from the Technology Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, who introduced the construction opportunities in the HORIZONT 2020 program. Then Ing. Karel Kouřil, Ph.D., Member of the Research, Development and Innovation Council, spoke on the Innovation Strategy of the Czech Republic in 2019-2030.
At the end of the board, guests visited the center’s premises and laboratories.
From April, 4 until May, 29 2019 a student of the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) doctoral study program , Ekaterina Karpova (Екатерина Карпова), is working in the Erasmus + program at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Brno University of Technology. As part of her PhD thesis and joint research, Ekaterina is interested in the impact of multi-layered carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the properties of cement mortars and concretes with different types of superplasticizers. In the experimental work, she uses mainly scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and porosimetry (MIP) to elucidate the microstructure of developed materials with different doses of MWCNTs. It also focuses on the effect of suspension, with dispersed MWCNTs, on the resulting physical and mechanical properties of hardened mortars and the type of superplasticizer used on the development and course of hydration heat. Based on the evaluation of these results, the most suitable superplasticizer is selected for further testing.
Head of Development of Advanced Building Materials Research Program, prof. Rostislav Drochytka, and Director of the AdMaS Center, dr. Zdeněk Dufek, visited the M.T.Kalašnikov State Technical University in Izhevsk, Russia in the last week of April. The aim of the trip was to develop cooperation on the development of new electroconductive composites for wide use in the construction industry using various types of secondary raw materials in the form of admixtures into composite materials.
Furthermore, the possibility of opening an international double degree study in doctoral study programs was discussed.
The Director of the Institute of Construction and Architecture, prof. Grigory Pervushin, and Head of the Institute of Geotechnics and Building Materials, prof. Gryigory Yakovlev took part in the meeting.
The AdMaS center’s road laboratory also deals with the use of R-material – a material obtained from an old asphalt road – in the production of new asphalt mixtures in research projects. The student of the 4th year of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Karel Spies, designed and tested a new type of asphalt mixture with a higher R-material content and asphalt content modified with rubber granulate obtained from old crushed tires. He used the AdMaS center test facility for laboratory tests. In April, the proposed asphalt mixture was used to repair potholes at the very busy intersection of Veveří and Pod Kaštany streets, resulting in a mini-test section. It should be noted that a student won with these bachelor thesis the faculty round of Student Scientific and Professional Activities (SVOČ) and advanced to the international round that will take place in Zilina.
Big thanks to Brněnské komunikace, a.s. for allowing the test section to be carried out and the assistance in performing the tests.
On April 25, 2019, students who attended the Conference of Students’ Chambers of Building Faculties (KOSTAF), organized by the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno, visited the AdMaS Center. The visitors were shown the center laboratories and were familiarized with the key equipment of the whole center.
The Institute of Building Economics and Management and the AdMaS Center of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Brno University of Technology held a lecture by the Governor of the Czech National Bank, Ing. Jiří Rusnok, on the Role and Tasks of the Czech National Bank, including current challenges in monetary and macro-prudential policy.
The lecture was held on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, in the hall of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, and was intended mainly for students of the 1st year of the Civil Engineering study program and students of the Civil Engineering Management field, but other students and BUT employees came to hear the Governor.
After the lecture, the Governor went to the AdMaS Center, where the director of the Center, JUDr. Ing. Zdeněk Dufek, Ph.D. and his deputy, Ing. Zdeněk Krejza, Ph.D. informed him about premises and research projects and goals.
On 15.4. 2019, the AdMaS Center welcomed students from the Technical College of Industry and Construction in Decin. The excursion was focused on traffic constructions and tests of materials used for it. In Hall H, the students studied the rail grate and other materials which is used to build the railways . Then they toured the Road Laboratory. The excursion prepared and the students showed around dr. Richard Svoboda, Ing. Pavla Nekulova and Ing. Pavla Sperka.
