PhD Scholarship : Research Opportunity at the University of Limeric

PhD Scholarship
Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
Research Opportunity at the University of Limerick in the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering

A PhD scholarship is available to study the effect of a residual stress field on the fracture behaviour of engineering steels operating under high temperature conditions. The scholarship is funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).

The objective of this research is to obtain an understanding of residual stress effects on structural integrity from a fracture mechanics and life assessment perspective. Although recent progress has been made in the area of low temperature assessment of components containing residual stress (when elastic-plastic behaviour dominates) methods are lacking to assess behaviour at high temperature when creep behaviour dominates. The work will examine a fracture mechanics-based approach, including analytical estimates of residual stress effects on crack initiation and growth. In addition, numerical (finite-element) analysis of cracked components and specially designed experimental tests will be carried out.

The successful candidate will be registered at the university of Limerick (UL) and the research will be carried out in collaboration with the mechanics of materials group at Imperial College London and the neutron scattering centre at HMI, Berlin (where measurements of residual stress are carried out using neutron diffraction techniques).

The project requires a candidate who is experienced in computational mechanics and has an interest in experimental techniques in engineering. The candidate should have, or be expecting, at least an upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline. The student should be open-minded, creative and goal orientated.

The research scholarships are worth approximately €16,500 per annum (tax free), and also cover university fees for EU residents only, due to funding restrictions. The project will initially commence as Masters by Research or MPhil with a transfer to PhD after an appropriate period of time. Interested applicants should send a full CV in PDF or WORD format to noel.odowd@ul.ie including the words ‘PhD Studentship Fracture’ in the subject line.

Closing date is June 30, 2008.