Project Overview
This is a fully funded PhD studentship that offers a unique opportunity to influence the design of battery electric vehicles using state-of-the-art ultra-high strength steels. The successful candidate will investigate how the manufacturing technique used to make a component can affect its design for crash performance. The successful student will work at WMG’s state-of-the-art Forming and High-Speed Testing labs in close partnership with Tata Steel UK (https://www.tatasteeleurope.com), who are located on the University of Warwick’s Business Park.
The market share for electric vehicles in the UK is expected to grow to 20% by 2026 as battery prices are expected to fall by 60%. Battery packs are highly engineered products. They are required to be light to maximise the battery’s charge capacity but strong enough to transmit bending and twisting loads during vehicle operation and prevent damage to the battery cells during a crash.
This project aims to model the effect of manufacturing processes on side crash performance because manufacturing processes can alter (either beneficially or detrimentally) its properties such as its yield strength, elongation and thickness. The outcome will be a validated model that can be used to design crash components. The research will consider but is not constrained by:
1. Building an understanding of current state-of-the-art of battery pack design
2. Identify material models that can be used for describing manufacturing and crash
3. Generate a low-cost design tool for designers
4. Validate the model for a battery pack suitable for 500km range
The ideal candidate will have a strong academic background in one or more of the following areas: experimental design, modelling/simulation, manufacturing, design for crash.
Essential and desirable criteria
Candidates should have a minimum of an upper second (2.1) honours degree (or equivalent) in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Science or related disciplines. A good command of English is essential for the position
Funding and Eligibility
Funding of £18,009 per annum is available for UK/EU applicants for 4 years.
To be eligible for this project the successful applicant should have indefinite leave to remain in the UK and have been ordinarily resident here for 3 years prior to the project start-date, apart from occasional or temporary absences. Additional details of these criteria are available on the EPSRC website.
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