Applications are invited for a PhD studentship funded by the Graduate School to start in October 2015. The project will be based in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, and the Department of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering at Loughborough University.

Hybrid joining – a combination of bolting/riveting with adhesive joining – can provide significant benefits in aerospace, automotive and energy applications. The drilling of composite laminates to facilitate riveting and bolting leads to various damage modes in composites. Of these damage modes, delamination is the most dangerous since it can result in a significant reduction in stiffness and load-carrying capacity, and its propagation can lead to the catastrophic failure of the structure.

Ultrasonically-assisted drilling (UAD) is a recently-developed technique, in which high-frequency (> 20 kHz) vibration is superimposed onto the movement of a standard drill bit in the axial direction, providing advantages including reduced drilling forces (reduction often in excess of 80%) and improved quality of drilled holes when compared to conventional drilling (CD). UAD also achieves a reduction in entry and exit delamination size, but not in the expected proportion considering the observed reduction of drilling forces. A different mechanical process to that in CD may be driving the delamination in UAD, for example dynamic or thermal effects in addition to thrust and torque loads.

The aim of this project is to achieve a mechanical understanding of the process that drives delamination during UAD and to implement it in an analytical model and numerical tools with predictive ability. These can then be used to enhance UAD to minimise delamination and to predict the performance of hybrid joints with UAD-induced damage.

The studentship is for 3 years and is intended to start in October 2015. The studentship provides a tax-free stipend of £13,863 per annum for the duration of the studentship plus tuition fees at the UK/EU rate.  International (non-EU) students may apply but will need to find the difference in fees between those for a ‘UK/EU’ and ‘international’ student themselves.

Students will normally need to hold, or expect to gain, at least a 2:1 degree (or equivalent) in engineering. A relevant Master’s degree and/or experience in one or more of the following will be an advantage: fibre-reinforced composite laminates, structural or materials testing, structural mechanics, finite element modelling.

General information about the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, and the Department of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering can be found at:http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/mechman/ and http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/aae/.

For informal enquiries about the project, please contact Prof Vadim Silberschmidt (v.silberschmidt<στο>lboro.ac.uk) and/or Dr Christopher Harvey (c.m.harvey<στο>lboro.ac.uk).

To apply, please complete the online application using the following link:https://luis.lboro.ac.uk/web_apx/f?p=100:1.

Interviews will take place in March.

Please quote the following reference when applying: GS15AACME/M4.