PhD Studentship Available to start September 2015

The introduction of arc welding in the automotive, oil and gas, and nuclear sectors, among others, has led to a drive in research concerned with the quality assurance of those processes. The system to be developed will allow its users to track the welding process, enabling them to identify the presence of a defect as soon as it is produced. This could reduce the need for the post-weld NDT, weld removal and re-welding in case of the presence of a defect, increasing the overall process productivity by 25-75%.

A multi-sensor system capable of monitoring arc welding operations will be produced within this project. The system will be capable of detecting defect types, position and severity, but also capable of predicting the weld quality. The student will primarily focus on the development of a camera-based vision system and software capable of analysing the shape and movements of the weld pool.

This project will be carried out as part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Embedded Intelligence and is co-sponsored by National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC).

Embedded Intelligence is characterised as the ability of a product, process or service to reflect on its own operational performance, usage load, or in relation to the end-user or environment in terms of satisfactory experience. This self-reflection is facilitated by information collected by sensors and processed locally or remotely to derive insight. These aspects must be considered from the design stage such as to enhance product lifetime and performance, increase quality of process or service delivery, or ensure customer satisfaction and market acceptance.

This Centre, in collaboration with NSIRC, offers an attractive package, including a tax free stipend of up to £17k pa (equivalent £24k tax free), in addition to full University PhD registration fees for British and EU candidates. Due to UKBA Visa regulations applications from overseas students cannot be accepted for this position.  Additionally, there is a generous personal development budget of £10,000for the specific training needs of the successful candidate.

The Centre offers a unique 4-year Ph.D. programme, drawing on expertise in postgraduate teaching and research supervision in the fields of sensors, system design, embedded software and systems, manufacturing systems, novel manufacturing processing, applications engineering and systems services. The PhD candidate will be supported by the state-of-the-art facilities at NSIRC andLoughborough University.

A high calibre candidate with first or upper second class (2:1) degree in mechanical, Electrical/Electronics or Civil/Structural Engineering, Material Science, Metallurgy or Physics. Candidates with suitable work experience and strong capacity in numerical modelling and experimental skills are particularly welcome to apply.

Further information can be obtained from Dr Donna Palmer, e-mail: cdt-ei<στο>lboro.ac.uk

For more information about The National Structural Integrity Research Centre, visit www.nsirc.co.uk

Please direct general enquiries to: enquiries<στο>nsirc.co.uk

The deadline for applications is 31^st March 2015.

Please quote Ref No.: 2015CDTEI_NSIRC3 on your application. Apply here