Computer simulation of self-piercing riveting process for joining automotive structures.

We are recruiting new Doctoral Researchers to our EPSRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) PhD studentships starting 1 October 2023. Applications are invited for the project Computer simulation of self-piercing riveting process for joining automotive structures.

Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) of approximately £19,668, including inner London weighting, plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of 42 months (3.5 years).

You should be eligible for home (UK) tuition fees there are a very limited number (no more than three) of studentships available to overseas applicants, including EU nationals, who meet the academic entry criteria including English Language proficiency.

You will join the internationally recognised researchers in the Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST)

The Project

This exciting research project is focused on the current additive manufacturing technologies in development and application use powder material or wire as feedstock material, which is expensive and involves multiple production steps. This project aims to study the feasibility of additive manufacturing directly using liquid metal as feedstock material, focusing on the establishment of the process setup, program development and the quality of the components formed by the process.

Please contact Dr Yan Huang at yan.huang@brunel.ac.uk for an informal discussion about the studentships.

Eligibility

Applicants will have or be expected to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree in an Engineering, Computer Science, Design, Mathematics, Physics. Masters degree is not required but may be an advantage.

Skills and Experience

Applicants will be required to demonstrate their ability to undertake modelling and simulation under various experimental conditions and in diverse settings, in an interdisciplinary team involving both academic and industrial environments. Experience in research project in mechanical and/or physical metallurgy, particularly related to aluminium alloys and steels; materials characterization including mechanical testing and optical and electron microscopy.

You should be highly motivated, able to work independently as well as in a team, collaborate with others and have good communication skills.

How to apply

There are two stages of the application:

1.Applicants must submit the pre-application form via the following link https://brunel.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/epsrc-dtp-23-24-pre-application-form-brunel-university-lon-3 by 16.00 on Friday 26th May 2023.

2.If you are shortlisted for the interview, you will be asked to email the following documentation in a single PDF file to cedps-studentships@brunel.ac.uk within 24hrs.

Your up-to-date CV;
Your Undergraduate degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) essential;
Your Postgraduate Masters degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) if applicable;
Your valid English Language qualification of IELTS 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each section) or equivalent, if applicable;
Contact details for TWO referees, one of which can be an academic member of staff in the College.

Applicants should therefor ensure that they have all of this information in case they are shortlisted.

Interviews will take place in June 2023.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Yan Huang - Dr Huang leads metallic biomaterials research at Brunel, working on both traditional permanent titanium implants and novel biodegradable magnesium medical devices for orthopaedic cardiovascular applications. He recently won three research grants in biomaterials research from the Royal society, EPSRC and European Commission (EC). Dr Huang is a founding member and co-investigator of the EPSRC Future Liquid Metal Engineering (LiME) HUB where he leads the activities on process development and light alloy processing involving both solidification and plastic deformation. He has extensive experience in process innovation for combined solidification and thermomechanical processing (semisolid forming, twin roll casting, and integrated cast-forming), solid state joining, severe plastic deformation for light alloys and light metal matrix composites. He has long term interests in the characterization of microstructure and texture evolution during thermomechanical processing and fundamental issues of strengthening, plastic deformation and grain boundary migration. Teaching: 1)ME3608 Propulsion Systems, Aircraft Structures and Materials, Airworthiness and Stability and Control; 2) ME5537/ME5307 Advanced racing vehicle dynamics IC engines, materials and manufacturing; 3) MACE research method workshops for post graduate students; 4) BCAST training courses.

Related Research Group(s)

Design and Manufacturing - Developing products, services and manufacturing processes that will deliver economically and environmentally sustainable solutions, based on design principles derived from an understanding of human capabilities and limitations.

Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST) - BCAST is an academic research centre focusing on both fundamental and applied research on solidification of metallic materials.