PhD in Wave energy transport through composite and built-up structures

Vibroacoustic analysis is important for minimising noise pollution, structural fatigue, and to meet customer expectations of a brand. Predicting the vibrational energy distribution throughout complex built-up structures, such as cars, trains or aircraft is highly challenging. For large structures the problem becomes multi-scale, since the wavelengths will be short in comparison with the overall structure size, yet the structure will often contain fine details on the scale of the wavelength such as spot welds, rib-like stiffeners or inhomogeneities within a composite material. Such features often appear in a regular and repeated fashion, and hence characterising the wave dynamics within a periodic medium is an important step towards understanding the vibrational behaviour.

The aim of this project is to develop a library of energy transmission/ reflection models. Simple test cases will be considered initially, and both analytic and asymptotic solution methods will be investigated. Finite element techniques will be employed when analytic methods are no longer feasible in complex geometric or higher dimensional settings. Interesting wave phenomena including cloaking, stop-bands of periodic media and the acoustic black hole effect will be considered. The propagation characteristics of different wave-types will then be implemented into a novel high frequency energy propagation method called dynamical energy analysis, making it possible to compute the vibrational response of complex built-up structures at high-frequencies.

Entrants must have a first/undergraduate Honours degree, with an Upper Second Class or a First Class grade, in Mathematics, Physics, Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline. Entrants with a Lower Second Class grade at first degree must also have a postgraduate Masters Degree at Merit.