PhD in Simulation of deterioration in different rail materials

Information about the research/the project/the division
The position will be at the Division of Material and Computational Mechanics, Department of Applied Mechanics. In the activities at the division, we focus on the mechanical modeling of structures, components and processes along with the involved materials, thereby providing mechanics-based solutions and virtual solution tools to our engineering challenges. The Division is part of the Department of Applied Mechanics, which with some 170 employees is one of the leading environments in mechanical and vehicle research. The vision of the Department is to develop sustainable technical solutions through the application of mechanical analysis. To this end, the six divisions of the Department conduct world-leading research, usually in close collaboration with national and international universities and industries. We also offer a wide range of mechanics-based courses on undergraduate and graduate level.

Your project will be part of the activities in the Competence Centre CHARMEC - CHAlmers Railway MEChanics. CHARMEC is a national centre of excellence in railway mechanics established in 1995. CHARMEC is supported by Chalmers and the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) and by an Industrial Interests Group comprising ten partners. The long-term CHARMEC research and knowledge bank aims at reducing the railway's costs for production, environment, operation and maintenance while improving safety, reliability and transport quality. Currently, some 25 research projects are carried out within CHARMEC, see www.chalmers.se/charmec.

Major responsibilities
Your major responsibilities as PhD student is to pursue your own doctoral studies. You are expected to develop your own scientific concepts and communicate the results of your research verbally and in writing, both in Swedish and in English. The position generally also includes teaching on Chalmers' undergraduate level or performing other duties corresponding to 20 per cent of working hours.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

You are invited to apply for a PhD student position in the project "Simulation of deterioration in different rail materials". The main objective of the project is to develop a simulation methodology and numerical tools to understand and predict the material behavior of the rail in a real (or close to real) rolling contact fatigue loading situation. Such a loading often results in material deterioration phenomena such as plasticity, wear, crack initiation and propagation. Experiments have been and will be performed in a test-rig at voestalpine Schienen GmbH that mimics the conditions under operational rail-wheel rolling contact situations. An important goal of the project is to develop a simulation methodology that is able to predict the rail material deterioration which is obtained in the test-rig. The project will build on the knowledge from several related CHARMEC projects where material models for pearlitic steel have been developed. Another important goal of the project is to develop physically based material models that can predict cyclic plasticity and fatigue behavior of bainitic steel. Test-rig results will then be used for verification/validation. Your research and modeling activities will contribute to enhanced knowledge in this field. 

Qualifications
To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in a relevant field. A suitable background is a Master of Science (Swedish: civilingenjör) in mechanical engineering, engineering physics or civil engineering with emphasis on solid mechanics and computational methods (e g FEM). The position requires verbal and written communication skills in Swedish and English. If Swedish is not your native language, you should be able to teach in Swedish after two years. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Since communication of research results is a central part of the work, communicative skills in English (oral as well as in writing) are vital. Furthermore, it will also be expected that you can take on responsibility, take own initiatives and work independently when needed. At the same time it is important that you are good at working in teams. This is especially vital since the current project will interact closely with adjacent disciplines and with industrial partners. Finally, you need to be able to disseminate results and knowledge within existing and new networks.This includes academia, industry and society at large.

Application deadline: 2014-06-01

For questions, please contact:
Professor Magnus Ekh
Material and Computational Mechanics
E-mail: magnus.ekh@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31-772 3479

Professor Lennart Josefson
Material and Computational Mechanics
E-mail: lennart.josefson@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31-772 1507





Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.