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Home > Job vacancies
Last updated: 23 January, 2015
One new PhD vacancy on multi-scale modelling
of fatigue damage in composites for Spring 2015
Where ?
The PhD vacancy is available in the "Mechanics
of Materials and Structures"
research group at Ghent University. The offices and laboratories of this group are situated in the south of
Ghent (Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 903, 9052 Zwijnaarde).
Duration ?
The PhD vacancy is a full-time job position for 4 years.
Job description ?
The core idea of this project is to develop a consistent multi-scale modelling framework for fatigue
damage in unidirectionally reinforced composites. Three scales are distinguished:
- the micro-scale, where individual fibre filaments are arranged in a polymer matrix. Fatigue
damage manifests itself by cracks in the polymer matrix, in the fibre/matrix interface or in the fibres
themselves,
- the meso-scale, where a single ply of fibre-reinforced polymer is constrained by adjacent plies
with different fibre orientations, and where inter-layer cracks (= delaminations) can initiate from
closely spaced cracks in the individual plies,
- the macro-scale, where fully developed delaminations can grow further in fatigue, and stiffness
degradation of one ply leads to stress redistribution in the neighbouring plies.
This project will run in close collaboration with the department of "Mechanics of Materials
and Constructions" from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) (http://www.vub.ac.be/MEMC/). At that department, testing procedures
will be developed to generate reliable and consistent baseline data for multi-axial
and variable-amplitude fatigue loading, that can be used as input for and
validation of the
developed multi-scale modelling framework.
The contribution of our research group will focus on the multi-scale modelling and
the computational framework.
The candidate should have a relevant background in
computational mechanics of composites, preferably combined with
experience in multi-scale modelling.
Supervisors ?
The supervisor at Ghent University is Prof. Wim VAN PAEPEGEM.
He has 15 years of experience in mechanics of composites and finite element simulations.
More information on the achievements of the research group can be found
on http://www.composites.ugent.be/.
Who do we look for ?
- you are interested in research and have obtained a Master degree,
- you are interested to interact and collaborate closely with the
industrial partners during the research period,
- you have a Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering,
Computational Mechanics, or similar,
- you are familiar with mechanics of materials and computational techniques,
- former experience with advanced computational mechanics is an advantage,
- mastering the Dutch language is not a prerequisite, but a good knowledge
of English writing and speaking is absolutely required.
What do we offer ?
- you will be working in a dynamic environment. Our group has expanded quite
fast the last
few years and currently, 8 postdoc's and 19 PhD students are working in our group. Besides, 18 PhD
students have successfully obtained their PhD degree in the last five years,
- we have extensive experimental and numerical facilities.
You will have access to several Linux
workstations and a high performance computing cluster to run finite element simulations on 2000+ cores,
- we have good contacts with the regional composite industry and regional universities,
so you will come into contact with industrial applications of composites and related
research in other universities,
- you will get the chance to attend international conferences
(e.g. ECCM, ICCM,...) and to present papers on these conferences. For those who are
interested, an international exchange with another university is possible.
As publications are increasingly important (also for your career afterwards),
you are encouraged to publish your results not only on international conferences,
but also in peer-reviewed international journals,
- you will have a personal laptop and a private workspace. All PhD students and
staff have their office in the same wing of the building. The laboratories are
separate in another wing of the same building,
- if you are just graduated, your net income is about 1850 EUR per month. That is
the amount of money that is deposited on your bank account every month.
If you have a dependent wife and/or children, the salary is raised.
Also seniority can be taken into account if you can show former relevant experience,
- the university offers compensations for public transport (train) and bicycle.
The work location
can be reached easily by public transport (train and tram/bus),
- a hospitalization insurance policy can be concluded,
- there are a lot of sport accommodations and other benefits
(reductions on computer purchase,
internet connection, fitness,...) for university personnel,
- there are specific organizations for the international student community in Gent.
There are ISAG (International Students Association Ghent) and ESN (European Students Network).
They are quite active in organizing all sorts of events
(Student Unions and Societies for international students).
Recently, a "China platform" and "India platform" have been founded for the benefit of Chinese and Indian
students at Ghent University (see
China platform and India Platform).
How to apply ?
- you write a detailed Curriculum Vitae in Dutch or English, containing:
- your personal details (name, address, date of birth, nationality,...)
- your education, subject of master thesis and degrees
- your work experience (previous jobs)
- additional skills (finite element software, programming languages, communication skills, ...)
- mastered languages (Dutch, English, French)
- references (previous projects in the domain, published papers,...)
- you send the C.V. by post or e-mail to the following person:
Prof. Wim VAN PAEPEGEM
Ghent University
Mechanics of Materials and Structures
Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 903
9052 Zwijnaarde
Belgium
Tel.: +32-(0)9-331.04.32
Fax: +32-(0)9-264.58.33
E-mail: Wim.VanPaepegem@UGent.be
Additional information ?
- you can freely download our research brochure. This PDF-document contains a lot of pictures and
impressions of our research activities. You can find it on the webpage
http://www.composites.ugent.be/ftp/brochure_UGent_MMS.pdf
- you can contact Prof. Wim VAN PAEPEGEM for any additional information, either by phone or e-mail
or a personal appointment.
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