PhD student position in numerical simulation

The Department of Applied Mechanics is one of the leading environments within Vehicle and Mechanical Engineering research. The six different research divisions conduct world-leading research, usually in close collaboration with national and international industries. Research topics encompass both fundamental and applied research questions. Our goal is to contribute to the development of safe and environmentally friendly products for a sustainable society.

The Department of Applied Mechanics offers a wide range of courses in the undergraduate programmes, in addition to two international Masters programmes in Automotive Engineering and Applied Mechanics. Courses are available within the four graduate schools: Machine and Vehicle Systems, Solid and Structural Mechanics, Thermo and Fluid Dynamic and Internal Combustion Engine Technology. In addition Applied Mechanics provides international continuation courses.

The department has approximately 170 employees.Information about the project
Do you want to work with advanced material and computational mechanics? We are seeking a dedicated and creative PhD student to work on research related to material and computational mechanics; in this project, the research work is focused on numerical simulation of crack growth in rails due to rolling contact.

The project concerns computational fracture and failure mechanics, with application to railways. One of the most important deterioration phenomena in railway operations is surface initiated rolling contact fatigue (RCF), where cracks form on the running surfaces of rails and wheels. To optimize rail and wheel maintenance, management and design, it is crucial to be able to assess crack formation and propagation rates quantitatively. The main goal of the project is to improve the predictive capabilities by developing new numerical tools for simulation of crack growth in rails during cyclic loading. The work concerns modeling, numerical implementation and verification/validation.

The project is a 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. Many of the projects concern different aspects of the wheel-rail contact.

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,at international conferences and in scientific journals. The position generally also includes teaching on Chalmers' undergraduate level or performing other duties corresponding to 20 per cent of working hours.

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

Qualifications
A suitable background is a Master of Science (Swedish: civilingenjör) in mechanical engineering, engineering physics or civil engineering with emphasis on solid mechanics, material mechanics and finite element method. An eligible candidate should have basic programming skills in at least one language, e.g. Matlab/Python/Fortran/C++.

Since communication of knowledge results is a central part of the work, communicative skills in English (oral as well as in writing) is vital. Furthermore, it will also be expected that you can take on responsibility and have the ability to take own initiatives and, when needed, work independently. At the same time, being a successful researcher also involves working with others as well as disseminating the results within existing and new networks, both within academia but also to industry and society, whereby networking skills, team work skills and quality assurance abilities are important.

Knowledge of the Swedish language is desirable but not a requirement. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Finally, additional meriting factors include technical development and research project skills, journal publications and industrial employment or similar experience.

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.

Application deadline: 2013-09-30

For questions, please contact:
Professor Fredrik Larsson
Phone: +46 (0)31 772 1979
Email: fredrik.larsson@chalmers.se




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