Department of Fundamentals of Machinery Design - RMT6 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering 

Scientific field

Engineering and Technical Sciences

Scientific discipline

Mechanical engineering

Priority Research Area of the Silesian University of Technology

POB3 – Materials of the future

Scientific achievements:

• Assessment of the criticality of the self-heating effect with fatigue of polymer composites and the non-destructive testing method based on this effect: The self-heating effect occurring in polymer composites during cyclic loads as a result of mechanical energy dissipation significantly accelerates the degradation of these materials. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the failure mechanisms occurring in these conditions and to determine the critical temperature of self-heating, understood as a material property (assuming typical loading parameters). As a result of the interdisciplinary research, it was possible to estimate such a temperature, which allows it to be taken into account both in the design of structural elements and their further safe operation. Based on the results of these works, it was possible to develop a new method of non-destructive testing – vibrothermography based on the self-heating effect, and to patent it. The method is particularly useful in test conditions, when direct access to the tested element for thermal stimulation is not possible. Such excitation is replaced by a mechanical excitation with the use of a multi-resonance signal containing components corresponding to the selected natural frequencies of the tested element. Research in this area has been or is being conducted in cooperation with universities in Germany and France.
• Development of a methodology for identifying damage in structural elements with the use of eigenmodes of vibrations and advanced methods of signal processing: As part of the research, a methodology of identifying damage using the eigenmodes of the examined structures was developed, obtained as a result of modal analysis and non-destructive shearographic tests, and advanced methods of signal processing (wavelet transforms, time-frequency distributions and others). Thanks to the use of the above-mentioned methods of signal processing, it became possible to identify small damage, undetectable directly on the basis of the results of experimental tests. The methodology is based on various wavelet transforms and time-frequency distributions and has been verified for various homogeneous and heterogeneous materials (including layered, sandwich and other composites) and with various types of damage (cracks, cavities, internal voids, delaminations, impact damage and other). Additionally, in cooperation with the employees of the Department, hybrid methods have been developed, using optimization algorithms applied to the processing methods and enabling additional increase in the sensitivity of the methodology to the identified damage. Research in this area has been or is being conducted in cooperation with universities in Portugal and Latvia. As a result of the conducted works, it was possible to achieve detection of damage, which cause local changes in stiffness at the site of damage, at the level of approx. 5%. As a result of comparing the developed methodology with other methods of non-destructive testing, its high efficiency has been demonstrated.
• Development of electrically conductive organic composites based on conductive polymers for lightning protection and electromagnetic interference in flying units: As a result of research and R&D works, composites were developed based on an optimized mixture of conductive polymers (polyaniline, polypyrrole, polythiophene) and dielectric polymers, and carbon fabrics, which allowed obtaining composites with good mechanical properties and, at the same time, good conductive properties (conductivity at the level of semiconductors). As part of the research, numerous numerical simulations were carried out, allowing to determine the optimal composition of the composite, as well as its mechanical and electrical response to lightning discharges. As part of the experimental tests, the composite was manufactured in the form of a set of samples, which was then subjected to simulated lightning discharges as part of high-current tests carried out in the laboratory of a partner unit. As a result of the research, the effectiveness of the developed solutions was confirmed, in particular, a significant reduction in the degree of damage to the tested structures under the influence of simulated lightning strikes in relation to typical structural composites without conductive polymer fillers. The developed solution has been patented. Similar materials were developed in cooperation with a company that produces the so-called drones, where conductive composites have been used to protect against electromagnetic interference in the radio frequency band. Drone motor covers were made of the developed composites, which allowed for the elimination of electromagnetic interference from this source. The conducted research is highly interdisciplinary, and the research team brings together specialists from various fields of engineering (chemistry, mechanics, electrical engineering) from national universities as well as from Portugal and Ukraine.

Research interests

• fatigue and failure of composite materials
• non-destructive testing
• electrically conductive composites
• wavelet analysis
• fractal geometry

The course of a scientific career

• DSc (habilitation) – Machine Design and Operation, Silesian University of Technology – 2015
• PhD – Mechanics, Silesian University of Technology – 2012
• MSc – Mechanics and Machine Design, Silesian University of Technology – 2008
• BSc – Mechanics and Machine Design, Bialystok University of Technology – 2006

Membership in scientific associations:

• Polish Association of Technical Diagnostics (since 2015)
• Polish Society of Composite Materials (since 2012)
• European Society for Composite Materials (since 2010)

Membership in scientific journals:

• Journal of KONBiN (Air Force Institute of Technology, since 2024)
• Shock and Vibration (Hindawi, since 2021)
• Mechanics of Composite Materials (Springer, since 2021)
• Journal of Composites Sciences (MDPI, since 2020)
• Diagnostyka (Polish Association of Technical Diagnostics, since 2016)

Prizes and awards:

• Collective award of II degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for scientific achievements (2024)
• Individual award of II degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for scientific achievements (2023)
• Distinguished graduate of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology (2023)
• Excellence award for the best scientific article by the Professional Organization in Modern Manufacturing Technologies, ModTech, Iasi, Romania (2023)
• Title of the Silver Engineer in the plebiscite of the Technical Review magazine (2023)
• Individual award of II degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for scientific achievements (2022)
• Bronze medal for long service (2021)
• Individual award of III degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for scientific achievements (2020)
• Collective award of III degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for organizational activities (2019)
• Collective award of II degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for scientific achievements (2018)
• Laureate of the “Popularizer of Science 2017” contest organized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland and Polish Press Agency (2018)
• Scholarship of the Minister of Science and Higher Education of Poland for outstanding young scientists (2018)
• Polityka Scientific Award in technical sciences (2017)
• Individual award of III degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for scientific achievements (2016)
• Collective award of III degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for teaching achievements (2016)
• Collective award of I degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for scientific achievements (2015)
• Third award in the popular scientific contest INTER by the Foundation for Polish Science (2015)
• Stipend of the FIAT concern for the best PhD thesis (2013)
• Stipend of the Foundation for Polish Science in the programme „START” for talented young researchers (2013)
• Collective award of I degree of the Rector of Silesian University of Technology for teaching activities (2012)
• Distinction of the Council of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology for the outstanding PhD thesis (2012)
• Stipend of the Foundation for Polish Science in the programme „START” for talented young researchers (2012)
• Distinction in a contest of the journal “Forum Akademickie” for popular-scientific paper “Complicated and simple. Young scientists on their own research” (2012)
• Distinction in a contest of the journal “Forum Akademickie” for popular-scientific paper “Complicated and simple. Young scientists on their own research” (2010)
• Stipend of the FIAT concern for the best MSc thesis (2009)
• Distinction of the Council of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology for the outstanding MSc thesis (2008)

Scientific and industrial internships:

• School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China (1 month – 2025)
• Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Košice, Slovakia (1 month – 2024)
• Research Institute in Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France (1 month – 2021)
• Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal (6 months – 2020/2021)
• Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal (2 weeks each – 2018, 2020)
• Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal (4 short visits – 2013/2014)
• Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany (1 month – 2012)
• Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany (3 weeks -2009)

Teaching activities:

• Mechanics Design and Maintenance of Aircraft Structures – lecture
• Non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring – lecture

Topics of bachelor’s / master’s theses supervised in the last five years:

• D-Sight image simulator of damaged aircraft components
• Automation of identification of cracks in aircraft components using the magneto-optical imaging method
• Assessment of corrosion detection in aircraft components based on numerical simulation of deformations
• Optimization of the design of the composite rim and its fatigue verification
• Modeling the electromechanical properties of conducting composites for lightning strike protection of aircraft structures
• Wavelet-based damage localization in structural elements based on shearographic testing
• Evaluation of influence of stabilizers material on dynamic properties of electrodynamic shaker
• Durability analysis of the Gliwice Radiostation transmission tower
• Analysis of damage increment in composite structures under multiple impact loading
• Analysis of non-destructive testing methods of composite aircraft elements

Topics of the supervised doctoral theses:

• Bridge health monitoring using automated FE model updating, signal processing, and machine learning
• Nodal integration in radial basis function-based meshfree methods for static and dynamic analysis of arbitrary curved shells made of advanced materials
• Design of anti-icing/de-icing systems for aircraft applications using modern numerical simulation tools
• Thermomechanical fatigue life assessment of polymer-matrix composites under temperature control and different loading regimes
• Sensor integration, data fusion and information management for industrial monitoring systems

Organizational activities / other duties:

• Member of the Polish Young Academy, Polish Academy of Sciences (2022-2026), vice chair (since 2023)
• Member of the Committee of Mechanics, Polish Academy of Sciences (2024-2028)
• Member of the Council of Substantive Experts of the Science Popularization Center of the Silesian University of Technology (since 2017)