Full-time study

4 years

prof. Ing. Marcela Karmazínová, CSc.

Chairman :
prof. Ing. Marcela Karmazínová, CSc.
Councillor internal :
prof. Ing. Zbyněk Keršner, CSc.
doc. Ing. Lumír Miča, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Ivana Laníková, Ph.D.
prof. Ing. Leonard Hobst, CSc.
prof. Ing. Drahomír Novák, DrSc.
prof. RNDr. Ing. Petr Štěpánek, CSc., dr. h. c.
prof. Dr.techn. Ing. Michal Varaus
doc. Ing. Otto Plášek, Ph.D.
Councillor external :
Ing. Mojmír Nejezchleb
prof. Ing. Stanislav Vejvoda, CSc.

The aim of the doctoral study program Structures and Traffic Structures is to provide excellent graduates with a specialized university degree and scientific training in selected current fields of study, particularly in the field of mechanics of load-bearing building structures, concrete, masonry, composite, metal, wood, geotechnics, building testing and diagnostics of load-bearing building structures as well as in the areas of road construction and railway structures and constructions. The study is focused on complex scientific preparation, methodology of independent scientific work and on the development of knowledge in the field of the theory of load-bearing structures, engineering structures and transport structures, with the basic disciplines presented areas of mechanics of load-bearing structures of engineering and transport structures. . The scientific preparation in this study program is based on mastering the initial theoretical disciplines of the science-based basis and theoretical and scientific disciplines of the relevant focus.
The aim of the study is also the involvement of students in the preparation and solution of national and international scientific research projects, presentation of achieved results at national and international level and their publication in professional and scientific foreign and domestic journals as well as at scientific and professional conferences. During his / her studies, the student gains not only new theoretical knowledge, but also own experience from experimental activities and necessary practical knowledge also thanks to close cooperation with construction practice in the field of designing and designing and realization of load-bearing building structures as well as to a foreign university or research institution, or work placements at another professional workplace.

Graduates of the doctoral study program Structural and Transport Engineering will be prepared for creative activities in the field of science, research, development and innovation, both individually and in teams at national and international level. During his / her doctoral program he / she acquires and acquires deep knowledge of theoretical and professional disciplines, acquires not only new theoretical knowledge but also new own experience and acquires the necessary habits for independent scientific research and creative activities in research and development. in addressing current scientific issues and issues arising from practice requirements. Upon successful completion of the highest level of university studies in the doctoral study program Construction and Traffic Structures, the graduate will be able to deepen the knowledge and level of knowledge in the field and successfully use knowledge and scientific approaches in solving theoretical and practical tasks.
Scientific preparation is focused on the following basic specializations: Mechanics of load-bearing structures; Concrete and masonry structures; Metal, wood and composite structures; Geotechnics; Experimental technology and testing; Roads; Railway structures and constructions. Graduates can be employed mainly in research and development workplaces, in designing organizations, in state administration bodies, and the experience gained during their teaching experience within the doctoral study program can be applied also in education in the academic sphere or in other educational or research institutions. Completion of the doctoral study program is also a necessary precondition for possible further career and professional academic growth of the graduate.

Doctoral degree programs are primarily aimed at graduate employment in science and research, which is, among other things, anchored in the objectives of study, learning outcomes and graduate profile. This implies the employment of graduates especially in organizations, institutions and companies that are engaged in research and development activities. These are mainly research organizations whose main activity is research and development, but also construction practice entities, ie companies, where research and development is one of the part of the whole spectrum of activities in addition to commonly realized activities such as production and implementation. A number of implementing companies are currently creating support for their own research and development as they can strengthen their position, competitiveness and marketability in a highly competitive environment. In this regard, there is a growing demand for younger generation professionals with independent creative scientific work, knowledge and insight into new modern trends not only in their expertise but also in related expertise and activities such as PC modeling, simulation, experimental methods and procedures. Last but not least, the graduate has the opportunity to work in the academic sphere, which involves combining scientific research and educational activities. Graduates can thus find employment especially in research organizations and construction practice companies in the context of related development and innovation activities, in educational institutions, especially in the university sphere, which provides them with the possibility of further personal and career development and professional academic growth. Moreover, experience shows that graduates of doctoral study programs are very successful in organizations of the mentioned types not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad, which is also true for graduates in the field of Construction and Transport Structures. Completion of the doctoral study program gives graduates very good prerequisites for employment in, for example, design organizations or state administration in higher professional and managerial positions.

Fulfillment of the subjects of the individual study plan, successful completion of the state doctoral examination, foreign experience, relevant creative activity and successful defense of the dissertation.

The rules and conditions for the creation of study plans of study programs carried out at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the BUT define:
Rules of BUT study programs (www.vutbr.cz/uredni-deska/vnitrni-predpisy-a-dokumenty), which according to Article 1, paragraph 1, point:
c) defines the processes of creation, approval and changes of study program proposals before their submission for accreditation to the National Accreditation Office for Higher Education,
d) lays down the formal requirements for study programs and courses,
e) defines the obligations of study program and subject guarantors,
f) defines the standards of study programs at BUT,
g) defines the principles of quality assurance of study programs.
Study and Examination Regulations of the Brno University of Technology (www.vutbr.cz/uredni-deska/international-details-and-documents)
Details of the conditions for study at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the BUT are governed by the Dean's Directive )
The PhD student studies according to an individual study plan, which is elaborated by the supervisor in cooperation with the PhD student. The individual study plan is binding for the doctoral student. It specifies all duties set in accordance with the BUT Study and Examination Regulations that a doctoral student must fulfill in order to successfully complete his / her studies.
During the first three semesters, the doctoral student consists of compulsory, compulsorily elective or at the same time, it is intensively engaged in its own study and analysis of knowledge in the field determined by the topic of the dissertation and continuous publication of the knowledge and results obtained in this way. In the following semesters, the doctoral student focuses more on research and development related to the topic of the dissertation, on the publication of the results of his / her creative work and on his / her own dissertation. By the end of the fifth semester, the doctoral student has passed the state doctoral examination. The doctoral student is also involved in pedagogical activities, which is a part of his scientific preparation.
The individual study plan includes scientific outputs in individual years:
- regular publishing activity (Juniorstav and similar),
- participation in scientific conferences at home and abroad,
- for defense of DZP it is necessary to publish - min. 2x Scopus or 1x WOS with impact factor.

At the Faculty of Civil Engineering, BUT, barrier-free access to all teaching rooms is currently provided. However, students must be physically fit to be qualified as a civil engineer. In practically oriented laboratory teaching, they must be able to operate measuring instruments and similar laboratory equipment independently without endangering themselves or their surroundings.
BUT provides support to students with specific needs, for details see Guideline 11/2017 (www.vutbr.cz/uredni-deska/international-documents-and-documents/-d141841/uplne-zneni-smernice-c-11- 2017-p147550).
In order to promote equal access to higher education, BUT incorporates the Alfons Advisory Center, part of the BUT Institute of Lifelong Learning, to provide guidance and support services to applicants and students with specific educational needs. Specific educational needs include learning disabilities, physical and sensory disabilities, chronic somatic illness, autistic spectrum disorders, impaired communication skills and mental illness (alfons.vutbr.cz/o-nas).
Students are provided with information concerning the accessibility of study programs with respect to the specific needs of the applicant, information about the architectural accessibility of individual faculties and university parts, about accommodation at the BUT dormitory, about the possibilities of adapting the admission procedure and adapting the study itself. Other services of the Center for Students with Special Educational Needs also include interpreting and rewriting services, or assistance services - guiding, spatial orientation, in order to enable these students to demonstrate their skills and knowledge in the same way as other students. This is done through the so-called adaptation of study, ie by appropriate adjustment of the study regime, which cannot be understood as a simplification of the content of study or relief of study obligations.

The doctoral study program Construction and Traffic Structures is a follow-up to the follow-up Master's study program Civil Engineering, in particular the study field Construction and Traffic Structures, respectively. as well as other fields of study and nursing master's degree programs. After accreditation of the follow-up master's study program Civil Engineering - Structures and Traffic Constructions for this program.

1. Load-bearing structural members and components made of GFRP composites

   The dissertation topic is focused on the research of built-up members made of GFRP composite materials connected by mechanical fasteners. Structures composed of GFRP members are increasingly being applied in technological structures, industry or transport infrastructure, generally in highly corrosive aggressive environments. Currently, there are no valid European design codes for the design of GFRP structures. Due to the material properties of pultruded GFRP members (anisotropy of the material), structural connections and details are designed using mechanical fasteners (bolts), sometimes with inserted steel plates or weldments. Often built-up members consisting of a pair of U-profiles are structurally advantageous. The focus of the dissertation thesis will be on the investigation of the actual behaviour (stiffness, load-bearing capacity) of built-up members with mechanical fasteners. The aim of the thesis will be to determine the effective cross-sectional characteristics of built-up members depending on the type of mechanical fasteners, their spacing and dimmensions. Based on these cross-sectional characteristics it will be possible to determine the design load-bearing capacity in bending, flexural buckling and lateral-torsional buckling.

   Tutor: Pešek Ondřej, Ing., Ph.D.

2. The Development of Non-Destructive Testing Methods for the Diagnosis of Timber Structures

   In the context of present-day demands, the contemporary building industry has been increasingly returning to classic structural materials, such as timber, both in its tradition form, and in the form of glued sandwich elements. The level and possibilities of the contemporary NDT for the diagnosis of timber structures do not correspond to the pace of the develpoment. The topic should focus on the experimental determination of the optimum combination of the existing methods and the development of new methods of the non-destructive testing of timber structure elements.

   Tutor: Anton Ondřej, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

2. round (applications submitted from 18.10.2024 to 13.12.2024)

1. Application of Artificial Intelligence Methods for Solving Civil Engineering Problems

   The topic is focused on the application of artificial intelligence methods such as artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, etc. for solving problems in the field of design and assessment of structures, such as optimization of materials and structures, damage detection, reliability of structures, etc.

   Tutor: Lehký David, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

2. Application of Composite Materials in Concrete Structures Exposed to High Temperatures

   Design of concrete structures reinforced with glass fibre composite materials, the effect of elevated and extreme (fire) temperatures on the structure; design of local details and monitoring - realisation of experimental activities and theoretical analyses in connection with R&D projects.

   Tutor: Girgle František, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

3. Computational Model of the Response of a Structural Building Element under Dynamic Loading, Including Damage Modelling

   The topic follows on from the GAČR project submitted to panel P105 (Computational model of elastic, viscous and plastic deformation including damage in engineering dynamics). The doctoral student will propose a correctly justified unified model for the combined dynamic loading of a building element, taking into account mainly the local situation in the area of contact, based on an energetic and kinematic approach, up to the development of the necessary numerical methods and algorithms dedicated to advanced calculations.

   Tutor: Kozák Vladislav, doc. Ing., CSc.

4. Computational Optimization in Civil Engineering

   Computational optimization plays a key role in civil engineering, namely for the identification of material parameters including damage detection, or for the design of engineering structures under dynamic loadings. The student will pay attention to the derivation and development of an approach, suppressing disadvantages of both classical differential and heuristic methods, up to its software implementation, including its validation for a specific problem. The exploitation of results in the proposed project of the Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR), panel P 105 (Computational model of elastic, viscous and plastic deformation including damage in engineering dynamics), is assumed.

   Tutor: Vala Jiří, prof. Ing., CSc.

5. Deformation Properties and Effect of the Horizontally Prestressed Masonry

   Study and determination of the deformation properties in case of the horizontally prestressed masonry within its effect. The measuring on the real masonry structures with numerical modelling of the problem.

   Tutor: Klusáček Ladislav, doc. Ing., CSc.

6. Design of Steel Joints Using Advanced Numerical Modelling

   The topic is focused on numerical modelling of basic structural details of load-bearing structures, especially of joints. The standardisation of the calculation of structural details using FEM will be included in the currently forthcoming standard EN 1993-1-14 Eurocode 3 - Design of steel structures - Part 1-14: Design assisted by finite element analysis. Stress concentrations realistically occur in the connections of steel structures and the elastic FEA calculation leads to a very conservative design compared to traditional standard procedures. In the design numerical model, the elastic-plastic behaviour of the material is usually adopted and the assessment of the individual parts of the details is limited by a limiting plastic strain of 5% for all types of structures. The aim of the dissertation is to analyse in detail the influence and safety of the limiting plastic strain for shell numerical models of a selected type of steel joints (e.g. thin-walled members or high-strength steel members) and to recommend parameters for numerical design models.

   The student will build on the supervisor's ongoing research and be involved in the Laboratory of Numerical Structural Design project sponsored by IDEA StatiCa, s.r.o.

   Tutor: Vild Martin, Ing., Ph.D.

7. Determination of Concrete Properties in a Structure Using the Ultrasonic Method

   Objective determination of concrete properties is essential for the design of existing and newly built reinforced concrete structures. Only a limited number of methods are available for testing concrete directly in the structure. The ultrasonic method is completely non-destructive and allows the determination of a wide range of concrete properties - uniformity, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, structural disturbances. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

   Tutor: Cikrle Petr, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

8. Diagnostics and Design of Additional Structural Measures to Secure Existing Building Structures

   Topic focused on existing reinforced concrete and masonry structures. Review of the current state of the art of realistic diagnostic methods for identification of material and structural condition. Possibilities of current Eurocodes for structural design for the assessment of existing structures. Review of systems for rehabilitation and retrofitting. The main objective is to elaborate the methodology of procedures for the assessment of the damaged structure, the selection of the appropriate retrofit system in order to achieve reliable mechanical resistance, conducting calculations to determine the dimensions of the proposed structural measure.

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

9. Influence of Rheology on Slope Stability

   The aim of the work is to design, implement in software based on the finite element method and validate a new soil material model capturing the influence of viscoelasticity/plasticity on slope behavior.

   Tutor: Trcala Miroslav, doc. Mgr. Ing., Ph.D.

10. Nonlinear and Time-Dependent Material Models

    The student will develop, test and validate a new algorithms focused on the combination of viscoelasticity with viscoplasticity, including damage, both for slow (quasi-static) processes and for fast (dynamic) processes in concrete or wooden structures.

    Tutor: Trcala Miroslav, doc. Mgr. Ing., Ph.D.

11. Shrinkage, Creep, and Crack Development of Concrete Materials

    The topic is focused on experimental research on shrinkage, creep, and crack formation in concrete of a specific composition, or manufacturing technology, e.g., cement-free binders, fine-grained materials, members made by 3D printing technology, etc. The main goal is to identify the main factors influencing the above-mentioned processes and to obtain data for the specification of material models used in numerical simulations. 

    Tutor: Kucharczyková Barbara, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

12. Simulation of Behavioral Models of People's Movement in a Virtual Reality Environment

    The goal of the work is to find methods of displaying realistic movement of people as a result of simulation in a highly realistic environment. The doctoral student will learn to work with advanced behavioral models of the movement of people and at the same time with the basic tools for creating a highly realistic virtual environment (Unity, Unreal Engine, Twinnotion, etc.) and will focus on researching methods of connecting them into a functional tool.

    Tutor: Apeltauer Tomáš, doc. Mgr., Ph.D.

13. Strain Localization in Data Driven Constitutive Modeling

    Student will study data-driven constitutive model build as neural networks from data obtain by computational homogenization of heterogeneous materials. The problem to solve is regularization of energy dissipation in such models and limiting spurious mesh dependence under strain localization.

    Tutor: Eliáš Jan, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

14. Structural Members, Parts and Details Made of Steel and Wood-Based Materials

    The dissertation focuses on the issues of real behavior, reliability, modeling, optimization, and design methods of structural details for load-bearing elements and parts made of steel and wood-based materials.

    Tutor: Šmak Milan, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

15. The Potential of Using Basalt Fibres as Dispersed Reinforcement in Concrete

    The topic is focused on experimental research in the field of fibre concrete and composite reinforcement for concrete. The main goal is to assess the potential of utilization dispersion and rod reinforcement based on fused basalt as an alternative to steel, glass or polymer fibres and steel or composite rod reinforcement based on glass fibres. As part of the topic, cooperation with a company dealing with the application of basalt reinforcement in practice is expected.

    Tutor: Kucharczyková Barbara, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

16. Utilizing Numerical Methods and AI to Reduce the Scatter of Component Method in Steel Joint Design

    Traditional design methods are relatively simple, with a small number of input parameters, making them easy for human understanding and manual calculations. Therefore, they will still be irreplaceable. On the other hand, it has been shown that by using a large number of experiments and validated numerical simulations, the variance of the load resistance estimation can be significantly reduced using formulas determined by machine learning [1].

    The aim of this dissertation is to determine the load resistance of selected components of steel joints using equations determined by machine learning. The first stage is the collection of suitable experimental data or conducting the student’s own experiments, followed by the development of numerical simulations and their validation. Subsequently, suitable variable parameters are determined, and a large database of numerical simulations is created. The next step is training the neural network and reliability analysis—determining the safety coefficient [2].

    [1] Müller, A., Taras, A., Kraus, M.A. Scientific Machine and Deep Learning Investigations of the Local Buckling Behaviour of Hollow Sections, CE/Papers, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1002/cepa.1848

    [2] Spiegler, J. et al., Standardization of safety assessment procedures across brittle to ductile failure modes (SAFEBRICTILE) – Final report, Publications Office, European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, 2017, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/76892

    Tutor: Barnat Jan, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

17. Virtual Element Method Applied to Mechanics and Heat Conduction

    Student will focus on developement and applications of virtual element method. The method allows to use polygonal or polyhedral finite elements with arbitrary shape and number of nodes. The study will start with elastic behavior and later continue with inelastic material response. This topic is offered in collaboration with Institute of mathematics, we expect advanced mathematical knowledge of the applicants.

    Tutor: Eliáš Jan, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

1. round (applications submitted from 03.04.2024 to 31.07.2024)

1. Analysis of measured data by traditional and non-traditioanal tools via Matlab or Excel

   The basic description of test material or construction is the measurement. The important part is the correct evaluation of the obtained data. When evaluating large volumes of data, it is also advisable to use less traditional methods. Measurements may contain long time data. The basic description takes place in the time domain of the band. Important information can also be obtained in the frequency or time-frequency domain. The aim is to process some procedures in Matlab and/or VBA Excel.

   Tutor: Pazdera Luboš, prof. Ing., CSc.

2. Modeling of Fatigue of Concrete and Reinforced Concrete under Cyclic Loading

   Analysical and mainly numerical modeling of fatigue degradation with focus on statistical aspects, loading rate and temperature

   Tutor: Vořechovský Miroslav, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

3. Numerical Methods in Uncertainty and Reliability Analyses

   Development of simulation and appximation methods for numerical analyses of problems featuring random variables. The bottom line is the development of advanced Monte Carlo strategies.

   Tutor: Vořechovský Miroslav, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

4. Statistical Strength of Fibrous and Heterogeneous Composites

   Analytical and numerical models of strength under spatially variable material properties

   Tutor: Vořechovský Miroslav, prof. Ing., Ph.D.