Dr Andrea Da Ronch
Applications accepted all year round
Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Aircraft in service today were all designed assuming a weak coupling of the different disciplines involved in the aircraft development process (aerodynamics, structures, etc.) leading to relatively rigid aircraft. Future aircraft will have to be flexible since this leads to increased performance and reduced environmental impact. To this goal, the project will underpin the development and introduction of technological advances needed to setup a concurrent design environment to be demonstrated in an industrial-like environment.
The technical objectives of the project are:
1) enhance and extend an integrated aircraft design process building on an existing framework; introduce into the design process a range of disciplinary models of varying fidelity that will allow for an accurate yet rapid engineering design;
2) develop and implement passive and active control technologies that take advantage of wing elasticity in order to reshape the wing for optimal aerodynamic performance and minimal structural loads per flight condition; and limit the peak loads to improve passenger comfort/reduce the load factor, reduce the structural weight and to improve the fatigue resistance.
With the support from the industrial partner, design campaigns will be carried out to redesign today’s aircraft using the current state-of-the-art methods and the methods developed within this project.
The successful candidate will possess an excellent background in mechanical/aerospace engineering, with a strong experience in programming and knowledge in fluid dynamics, structural dynamics and/or optimisation methods. Only EU/UK students will be considered.
The University of Southampton is in the top one per cent of world universities and one of the UK’s top 15 research-intensive universities. The University has an international reputation for research, teaching and enterprise activities. The successful candidate will join one of the UK’s most dynamic centres for engineering and environmental research and education, rated number one in the UK for research power in REF 2014.
If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Dr A Da Ronch, Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics research group, Email: [Email Address Removed], Tel: +44 (0) 2380 59 4787.
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