Dr G Appleby-Thomas, Dr J D Painter
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Applications from EU candidates are invited for a iCase sponsored PhD studentship in the Survivability and Advanced Materials (SAM) group / Centre for Defence Engineering at Cranfield University’s Shrivenham campus, in the field of armour optimisation. The Centre is heavily research active with a good publication record in key engineering / physical sciences journals and the student, as a core member of the growing team would be expected to contribute to this academic environment.
Ceramic materials provide a mass efficient (high strength, low density) solution for applications ranging from body armour through to vehicles and rotary-wing aircraft. However, such materials – while strong in compression – are very weak in tension. Consequently, performance can be enhanced via appropriate support / design and resultant control of stress / shock wave propagation through such armour materials post-impact. Recent developments in Additive Manufacture (AM) / 3D printing of ceramics also hold out significant potential to further optimise ceramic armour systems.
It is envisaged that the student will employ compressed gas-guns hosted within the SAM group to build on previous in-house research which has suggested that the construct of ceramic armour is key to both performance and (potentially) multi-hit capability [1]. Both forwards and reverse-ballistic experiments, backed by basic hydrocode models and employing diagnostics ranging from high-speed cameras through to multi-channel flash X-ray, will be undertaken to investigate ceramic armour performance.
Modification of lay-up and geometry of armour will be interrogated using both ceramic and other armour materials as-required. Further, the project will interrogate the potential of AM manufacture of ceramics not only from a scientific perspective, but also from an industrial perspective, with a core focus on whether AM techniques could be combined with other more conventional techniques to achieve economies of scale for real-world components.
[1] G. Appleby-Thomas, A. Hameed, D. Wood, J. Rowley, K. Jaansalu. (2016). On the ballistic response of rapidly-prototyped alumina, Proc. – 29th Int. Symp. on Ballistics, Vol. 2, 2296-2306.
Applications should be completed via the University’s online application process and should include a CV as well as the names and addresses of two referees – by the 10th of June 2019
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