ADVANCED CRACK GROWTH DETECTION METHODS FOR CRITICAL PARTS - a career-refresh opportunity for early-career mechanical engineers.
Applications are sought for an engineering role at the University of Nottingham addressing the development of improved methods for crack growth detection methods for critical parts in the aerospace industry. The role is funded as a PhD studentship and should result in the award of a PhD from the University following three years of work. The successful candidate will have a first-class or upper second-class honours degree in mechanical engineering. This role may be especially suited to practising mechanical engineers who graduated since 2010 and who feel they would like to reenergise their career trajectory.
Because this is an “Industrial CASE” studentship, the position is open to UK nationals only and it will attract a stipend of at £18K per annum for three years. The position arises from a very long-standing engineering research relationship between University of Nottingham and Rolls-Royce plc. Nottingham University hosts two of the (~30) University Technology Centres (UTCs) used by the company as the main engines of its engineering research and development. Nottingham’s UTC in gas turbine transmissions systems will host this studentship and the candidate will sit within a community of ~20 PhD students at various stages of their study. There will also be very substantial interaction with partner UTCs at the University of Oxford and Imperial College and the person appointed will have substantial opportunity to spend several short periods working at the company and/or to have significant interaction with an expert technical customer throughout the study.
Cracks are a fact of life in stressed components and all critical components must be designed such that where cracks exist or come to exist, they will not grow so quickly that they endanger the integrity of that component in service. Much is known about fracture mechanics but the portfolio of methods presently available to support the detection of crack shape and extent during testing does not yet provide the level of information required. This study will address that shortcoming and will focus, in the first instance, on methods based on AC potential difference (“ACPD”) measurements using multiple trial frequencies simultaneously to enrich the information content. The PhD will be based in the Gas Turbine Transmission Systems Research Centre. The candidate will also have the opportunity to spend some short periods at Rolls-Royce itself in Derby.
Application is by CV plus a short (maximum one-page) statement and they should be sent to Seamus.Garvey@nottingham.ac.uk before Dec 18, 2017 with the word “iCASE” in the title. Any additional information can be had by sending specific questions to the same Email address.