On the 14 -18 of May the Mechanical engineering faculty of BNTU together with the Department of Shipbuilding and Hydraulics hosted partners from Germany within the framework of the project “Smart Propulsion System” (SmartPS)of the European program MARTEC.
The project is dedicated to the improvement of propulsion systems for sea and river vessels, increasing their operation reliability, vibrations reduction and development of condition’s monitoring systems. The project involves universities, research institutions and manufacturing companies from Germany, Poland and Belarus. Under the terms of the program partners from each country coordinate research and share results through their national programs. The project coordinator is the Fraunhofer Institute for structural strength and system reliability (Darmstadt, Germany). From German side companies “REINTJES Gmbh“ – manufacturer of gearboxes and reducers, and ”ContiTech Vibration Control Gmbh” - manufacturer of vibration insulation materials are also involved. On the Polish side, the GdanskTechnicalUniversity and the ship manufacturer “Deltamarin” are involved in the project. Unfortunately, the Polish partners could not arrive in Minsk.
The working meeting for the German guests began with the presentation of the Deputy Vice-rector for Research A. Kalinichenko about the University, the structure of the branch "Research Division" and scientific developments at the BNTU.
During presentations the partners demonstrated the results of their work. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute TorstenBartel and Francesco Infante presented the design of the drive's active vibration protection system, as well as the concept and elements of the “Energy harvesting” system, which provides partial energy storage of the drive's vibrations for feeding the sensors of the status monitoring system. The representative of ”REINTJES Gmbh” Thomas Cruze presented the design of transmissions that provide noise suppression. A very interesting solution is to reduce the vibro-acoustic activity of gears by optimizing the shape of the wheel rim. The innovations offered by “ContiTech Vibration Control Gmbh”, according to Norbert Garbers, are the application of new materials and designs of vibration isolators. Representatives of our University associate Professor of the Department "Theory of mechanisms and machines" A. M. Avsievich and head of the Department "Metal-cutting Machines and Tools" S. S. Dovnar presented the results of modeling the drive of small-draft tugs, operated on the waterways of the Republic of Belarus. Our specialists have carried out modeling of conditions of occurrence of resonances and have defined constructive methods of controlled displacement of natural frequencies in the drive. Also, the German partners were introduced to the capabilities of the modern vibration measuring equipment available in the BNTU.
The project participants had the meeting at the Ministry of transport of the Republic of Belarus on the 15th of May. Head of the Department of sea and river transport Andrei Chernobylets spoke about the structure of water transport in our country, outlined the tasks to improve the efficiency and modernization of the fleet and in particular the expectations of the Ministry of cooperation with scientists BNTU and “SmartPS” project. There was a substantive discussion of ways to improve the technical efficiency of the operated vessels, taking into account the characteristics of the waterways of Belarus. The German colleagues expressed their readiness to contribute to the solution of the outlined tasks within the framework of the current project and to establish in the future a wider mutually beneficial cooperation.
On May 16th, the participants of the meeting visited the Zaslavl artificial lake and got acquainted with the design of ships operated on the waterways of the Republic of Belarus. Also, the visiting associate-professor of the Department "Shipbuilding and hydraulics" BNTU A.Prudnikov introduced colleagues to the local yacht club and spent on a yacht in the water area, told about the history and modern successes of the Belarusian yachtsmen. In his opinion, one of the directions of development of the ship industry in our country is the expansion of the small vessels use in the entertainment, recreation and sports industry.
German colleagues had the opportunity to get acquainted with the life of Minsk, history and culture of Belarus. They were greatly impressed by the visit to the Church-monument and All-Holy Orthodox parish (Kalinovskogo Str.), as well as St. Elisabeth Monastery. All our guests have not been to Belarus and none of the CIS countries before. They warmly responded to their visit and the hospitality of our country.
Author:
associate Professor of " Theory of mechanisms and machines"
Auseevich A. M.
