KTH in Stockholm is the largest and oldest technical university in Sweden. No less than one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education capacity at university level is provided by KTH. Education and research spans from natural sciences to all branches of engineering and includes architecture, industrial management and urban planning. There are a total of just over 15,000 first and second level students and more than 1,600 doctoral students. KTH has almost 4,300 employees.

The School of Engineering Sciences carries out a wide range of research at the international front line, from fundamental disciplines such as physics and mathematics, to engineering mechanics with applications such as aeronautics and vehicle engineering. We also offer University degree programs in Engineering Physics, Vehicle Engineering, 'Engineering and Education', and 'Open Entrance', as well as a number of International Masters Programmes.

Introducing lightweight materials as structural members in e.g. vehicles enable reduced energy consumption during operation. But how do you integrate and join novel light weight design solutions into current metallic structures and manufacturing processes without reducing the overall structural stiffness, noise and vibration properties and at the same time maintain/decrease its manufacturing cost and environmental impact?

These are some of the questions we aim to answer within the Lightweight Structure research group where we now are looking for a motivated and talented PhD student to join our team.

Project Description – Joining of composite to metals

Lightweight and multimaterial technology (e.g. carbon fibre composites) offers significant opportunities for enhancement of product performance in terms of strength, stiffness and crashworthiness, combined with weight reduction and space saving. Its use still lags far behind steel in the production of trucks, buses, rail and commercial marine applications. One main technical challenge in introducing new multi-material systems is the joining techniques. Efficient hybrid joints rely on suitable material processing, design methods and quality control. These concepts need to fulfill stringent requirements of structural performance, safety and environment protection. In order to enable component recycling it is important to consider the possibility of component disassembly. Several industries have identified hybrid joints of metal to fibre composites as especially interesting to achieve significant weight reduction of the product.

Your task will be to characterize the material properties for specific material and joint systems, design and evaluate different structurally efficient concepts and conduct multidisciplinary optimization (considering costs, environmental impact and mechanical properties). Your research results will be used to design and manufacture real vehicle components together with our industrial partners. The project involves both theoretical and experimental tasks as well as cooperation with other scientific disciplines.

Qualifications

The potential candidate must have a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Vehicle Engineering, Engineering Physics or a corresponding degree. Basic knowledge in solid mechanics and materials is required and a specialization in solids and structures, mechanics and/or composite materials is an asset. The candidate should be highly motivated for doing scientific research and should have well developed analytical and problem solving skills as well as an interest and curiosity for different types of mechanical constructions. Hands-on experience from manufacturing with composite materials and/or metal structures is an asset.

Employment

A PhD assistantship at KTH can extend to up to five (5) years, with about 80% of the time devoted to research and 20% to teaching duties. The salary is set according to the standard agreements for PhD student employment at KTH.

Application

The application must include following documents:

1. Compulsory cover sheet, see  mojo.flyg.kth.se/lws/Other/CoversheetPhD-LWS.doc

2. CV (maximum 2 pages) including education and relevant academic/work experience

3. Cover letter (maximum 1 page)

4. Official record of transcripts and copy of degree certificate

Above described documents should be attached as word or pdf files.

Applications should be emailed to  ihallon@kth.se . Please indicate reference number S-2012-0239 in the e-mail subject.

Deadline for application is 2012-03-12
Employer's reference: S-2012-0239

Contact

Magnus Burman, researcher
Phone: 070 549 64 50
E-mail:  mburman@kth.se .

Trade Union representative

Lars Abrahamsson, SACO
Phone: +46 8 790 7058
E-mail:  lars.abrahamsson@ee.kth.se