DTU, The Technical University of Denmark, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (DTU Construct) invites candidates with excellent qualifications for two positions as Postdoc in the field of Advanced Experimental Mechanics for Composite Structures. The period of employment is 2 years. The Postdocs will be associated with the Lightweight Structures group at the Section for Structural Engineering and Mechanics, one of ten sections in the department.
The Lightweight Structures group consists of around 10 persons and is focused on research, education and innovation within primarily polymer based fiber reinforced composite structures within a broad spectrum of applications ranging from aircrafts, ships, offshore structures, vehicles and energy applications – including wind and wave energy.
Currently the group is involved in several National, European and International research cooperation networks and projects focused on advanced testing of composite structures and components. The research activities are ranging from developing new fracture mechanical characterization test standards and intermediate-scale element test approaches with the aircraft industry, as well as advanced hybrid simulation testing of large wave energy systems, which are not possible to test prior to commissioning offshore. All testing activities are underpinned by the world-leading test facilities for mechanical testing of structures and materials available in DTU Structural Lab (a lab unit under CASMaT – www.casmat.dtu.dk).
The research and the postdoc positions are co-funded by the Danish Ministry of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Airbus, but in close cooperation with The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), NSE Composites, Wavepiston A/S and a number of other US and European partners within both the aircraft and wave energy industries.
The Lightweight Structures group has over 20 years of experience, developing both advanced fracture mechanical computational analysis methods as well as test methods to address the criticality of damages in composite and sandwich structures in relation to damage tolerance and structural damage assessment. The candidates will be extending this work and participate in on-going and coming research and development activities within this research field, but with focus on advanced experimental mechanics.
Responsibilities and qualifications
The Postdocs will be responsible for specific research tasks within experimental mechanics of composite structures in aircrafts and wave energy systems.
The research activities will initially include the following areas within both the aircraft and wave energy project activties:
- Advanced experimental analysis and evaluation of composite and sandwich structures, involving eg. hybrid simulation testing, multi-axial strong floor test setups and state-of-art monitoring techniques.
- Development and design of new structural and element test setups and methodologies based on both existing load frames as well as strong floor and wall facilities in DTU Structural Lab.
- Development of new composite based structural elements in wave energy generating systems in close cooperation with industry partners.
- Generation of extensive data sets for validations of numerical models in close cooperation with other members of the Lightweight Structures group and external partners, developing those models.
- Participate and contribute to the transition of academia developed test methods and methodologies towards industry application, through applied implementation activities and associated projects.
- Contribute to the development of new volumes within the CMH-17 organization and network (https://www.cmh17.org).
Application procedure
To apply, please read the full job advertisement, by clicking the ‘Apply’ button.