About the Project
Heat exchangers are used widely throughout the automotive, marine and aerospace sectors and are traditionally designed as an assembly of fins and tubes. Modern additive manufacturing (AM) processes can enable complex internal cooling passages to be manufactured with relative ease, allowing the development of radically new designs for the next generation of heat exchangers by manipulating internal shapes and topologies. Effectively designing and manufacturing these metamaterial structures for multi-fuctional criteria, including sufficient resistance to thermo-mechanical loading and failure, requires appropriate materials characterisation and the development and use of constitutive models and fatigue criteria that capture the microstructure and defect distributions within AM parts. Fatigue studies of AM materials and metamaterial structures are still in a relatively immature state due to the wide range of processing variables, and the resultant defect distributions and residual stress states that can be produced.
This PhD project will evaluate the fatigue performance of relevant materials under typical loading and thermal cycles produced by the service environment. This will include the development of appropriate constitutive models and fatigue lifing approaches, and working in collaboration with other researchers to apply these in the design optimisation process. The effects of additive manufacturing processes on subsequent materials properties within the metamaterial structures will be a particular focus. This will require novel experimental characterisation of relevant structures under complex fatigue conditions, and determination of appropriate constitutive models that reflect microstructural changes. The effect of environment (e.g. salt deposits and moisture) on initiation and growth will also be evaluated to incorporate these effects in materials models used in subsequent lifing predictions. The goals will be to: (1) Establish an appropriate micromechanical basis for fatigue lifing within an integrated design and optimisation approach. (2) Deliver appropriate AM materials models for fatigue lifing. (3) Identify AM materials optimisation routes for fatigue resistance within the design approach.
Candidates should have a bachelor’s or master’s degree, normally with at least class 2(i) or equivalent, in a relevant subject of engineering, physical science or applied mathematical discipline (e.g. engineering, physics, materials science, or applied mathematics). Practical experience and/or a strong interest in materials science, additive manufacturing, and mechanics is essential.
The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work directly with Vestas in Denmark, gaining industrial experience during placements as part of their studies.
If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Prof Philippa Reed, Materials Group, Email: [Email Address Removed], Tel: +44 (0) 2380 593763 or Dr. Andrew Hamilton, Materials Group, Email: [Email Address Removed], Tel: +44 (0) 2380 598697.
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