Prof. Frýba Dies

Prof. Frýba was born 30th May 1929 in Studenec (northern Bohemia). He came from the family of a secondary school teacher. After secondary school, in 1948, he began his studies at the Czech Technical University in Prague – Faculty of Civil Engineering. He graduated with distinction in 1953.

After graduating from university, and working for a short time at the University of Railway Transportation, he was admitted at the Research Institute of Transportation in Prague for a position of PhD. study. Under the guidance of Professor Vladimir Koloušek, he concentrated on Dynamics of structures in the period 1954-1957. After finishing his PhD. studies, he devoted himself continuously to dynamic problems related particularly to railway operation. He was involved in the investigation of the dynamic effects due to moving rail vehicles on the railway superstructure and particularly on bridges. His research report “The impact of flat wheels on an infinitely long beam on elastic subsoil" was recognized in 1959 as his “Doctor of Sciences” thesis (DrSc). In 1964, he became an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Civil Engineering (Czech Technical University in Prague) presenting the thesis "Oscillation of a beam subject to a moving system with two degrees of freedom". In 1993 he was appointed Professor in the discipline of Mechanics at the same faculty.

From 1957 to 1984 he worked as a senior researcher at the Research Institute of Railway Transport in Prague, where he headed the department of bridges. In 1984 he was appointed senior scientist at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Prague – Department of Dynamics and Stochastic Mechanics. In 1990 he completed a three-month study stay at the University of Tokyo in Japan. He has presented lectures at numerous international scientific conferences in Europe, USA and Japan.

In the years 1967-1979 he served as a member, and later as chairman of the expert committee of the Research and Test Institute of the International Union of Railways (Utrecht). He coordinated European research in fields such as railway bridge dynamics, braking and accelerating forces on bridges, the interaction between continuous welded railway tracks and bridges, the statistical distribution of stress in bridges with regard to fatigue, etc.

Prof. Frýba developed the theory of bridge vibration under a stochastic type of loading. He studied the stationary and non-stationary vibration of bridges under random moving loads, checked the spectrum of loads and the spectrum of stresses in bridges, and he developed a stochastic model of the railway superstructure on elastic subsoil. He successfully investigated the dynamic effects of moving vehicles on railway bridges, theoretically and experimentally, up to speeds of 500 km/h (though international cooperation). Results of his work have appeared in national and international standards (Eurocode).

Prof. Frýba was a member of the board of the Czech Society of Mechanics, and its chairman for four terms (1991 – 2007), President of the European Association for Construction Dynamics (EASD) from 1996 – 1999, member of the Engineering Academy of the Czech Republic (since 1996) and member of the editorial board of the Journal of Sound and Vibration (since 2004). He served on committees for the defense of PhD. and DSc. theses. He was chairman of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (1990-1995), and chairman of the Standardization Committee of the Railway Substructure (Ministry of Transportation). He was also a member of the Czech committee of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM).

Professor Frýba has been awarded numerous medals and prizes from Czech and international scientific societies for his scientific activities. He has published 234 papers in international and domestic journals. He is the author of a number of technical guides on engineering practice and six internationally reputed monographs. Among other well known and widely cited books:
Frýba, L.: Vibration of Solids and Structures under Moving Loads, Noordhoff International Publishing, Groningen, 1st edition - 1972, 2nd edition – 1999.
Frýba, L.: Dynamics of Railway Bridges, Thomas Telford, London, 1996.

In conclusion, let us recall that within the person of Professor Frýba was hidden not only an outstanding scientist of international renown, but also a man with a broad interest in culture and social events. All his life he loved winter sports, to which he was actively devoted up until the age of 85. He was an attentive and loving husband for 63 years. However, God has decided, and our grief is perhaps only relieved by remembering that there is no death where there was a life filled with fruitful work and a rich heritage left for the next generation.

Prof.Ing. Miroš Pirner, DrSc. Ing. Jiří Náprstek, DrSc.