Expertise

The Centre of Vehicles for Sustainable Mobility has been established as a part of the Czech Technical University in Prague (CVUT) using the national budget support in the projects of the Czech Ministry of Education LN00B073 (2000-2004) and – due to the successful results and the innovative project proposal 1M6840770002 (2005-2009). It links relevant research workers and postgraduate students of Faculties of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of CVUT; moreover it has employed researchers from the Technical University of Liberec and from the Motor Vehicle Research Institute, Ltd. TÜV UVMV (the member of TÜV Süddeutschland Group) and the staff from the Brno University of Technology and the Technical University in Ostrava, accompanied by Ricardo Prague, Ltd.

The Centre provides research and development of spark ignition and diesel engines in the field of thermodynamics, aerodynamics, turbocharging, emissions, motor management, engine dynamics and structural strength applied to the design optimisation.

The Centre was successful in some simulation and experimental tasks concerning engine combustion of alternative fuels at limited pollution (especially using natural gas). Another large domain is optimization of turbocharging for large-bore engines, heavy –duty ones and downsized-car ones. It includes the recent technologies of variable turbine geometry with predictive algorithms of control and the use of pressure-wave superchargers. The use of combined simulation by computational fluid dynamics (CFD), 3-D (Star CD, Fluent, Fire) and specific 1-D methods of engine modelling (GT Power, GT Suite) and finite element method (FEM – like ABAQUS, EngDyn) together with multibody dynamics (Simpack, Adams, Madymo, PAM Crash) for these tasks is supported by commercial and in-house developed codes and by experiments using laser optical diagnostics. Results were applied, e.g., in Skoda Auto, a.s., and at some West-European and American manufacturers of cars and tractors. The Centre is an official partner of Gamma Technologies, Inc., the leader in specialized engine simulation software.

The Centre applies the results into turbocharger development in co-operation with the Czech manufacturers of turbochargers (PBS Turbo, Ltd., CZ Strakonice, a.s.) and turbo-compounded concepts of future engines (several projects of Czech Ministry of Trade and Industry).

Further it supplies the R&D results for vehicle transmission design and powertrain optimisation (mechanical, hydraulic, electrical ones), vehicle suspension design (including active Mechatronic Elements and their Control), body aerodynamics and passive safety issues. The Centre is active in engine/vehicle integrated control, especially for engine management (the project of Czech Ministry of Trade and Industry) and active/semiactive car or truck suspension (a German project) combined with ABS and other vehicle controls. The specialists of microelectronics are involved in rapid prototyping of control, hardware development, sensor development and CAN bus management/monitoring (Skoda Auto). The important part of research is an electric powertrain concept, useful for hybrid and fuel-cell powered vehicles.

Participation in EU Projects and International Activities

The CVUT is participating in the following EU projects:

NICE GREEN Heavy Duty Engine InGAS Roads2HyCOM VECOM POWERFUL LESSCCV IMPERIUM FUTURE RADAR GasOn REWARD