PhD vacancy (4 years) on multi-scale fatigue damage modelling of unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites

The core idea of this fundamental research project is to develop a consistent multi-scale modelling framework for fatigue damage in unidirectionally reinforced composites. Three scales are distinguished: (i) 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, (ii) 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, (iii) 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.

The initiation and propagation of individual fatigue cracks at all three scales will be modelled by cohesive zone or similar methods, where a traction-separation response for the mode I and mode II fracture of the crack is prescribed under fatigue loading. The results from the lower-scale models are then used to identify the material constants in the higher-scale models, resulting in a sequential or hierarchical multi-scale modelling framework.

Testing procedures are needed 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. This work will be done by another PhD student at the Free University of Brussels (VUB), so the PhD vacancy in Ghent University is focused on the numerical simulation methodologies, not on the experimental testing work.

What do we offer ?

• you will be working in a dynamic environment. Our group has expanded quite fast the last few years and currently, 10 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 cost for the PhD study itself is very limited. Our education system is very different from for example the system in the United Kingdom. When you start your PhD study, you pay a once-only tuition fee of 290 EUR, and the rest of your study is free of charge,
• 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).

To submit your application, please click on the "APPLY" button. Applications must be in Dutch or English, and contain the following:

• 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,...)

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 www.composites.ugent.be/ftp/brochure_UGent_MMS.pdf

Only candidates with a Master degree should apply. The candidate should have a very strong background in computational mechanics of materials, preferably combined with knowledge in composite materials and fatigue.

Who do we look for ?

• you are interested in research and have obtained a Master and/or PhD degree,
• you are interested to interact and collaborate closely with the industrial partners during the research period,
• you have an education 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.