The main goal of this project is to understand and describe the complex behavior of Advanced High Strength Steels during forming due to tearing and fracture especially starting at the edges. The study will involve state-of-the-art experimental work which includes designing a setup and conducting the tests. On the other hand the experiments will be combined with simulation results in order to understand and predict the behavior of the materials. This involves simulations that reproduce experiments for validation as well as full industrial-scale simulations using developed material models (indicators) for failure prediction.

This project is a collaboration between University of Twente (UT) and industrial partner Tata Steel Europe. You will report on your research during bi-weekly meetings of your research group and regular meetings of the project. You are expected to present your results at international scientific conferences and publish them in academic literature.

In the course of your research you will be encouraged to tutor MSc students who do their final assignment on sub projects pertaining to your research.

You have obtained a MSc. degree in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline with special interest in solid mechanics and materials science. Prior knowledge in nonlinear solid mechanics and computational methods including FEA is essential. As the project requires implementing material models candidates with experience in developing material models and/or programming in Matlab/Fortran are preferred.

We welcome candidates with strong communication skills who like to present their work at conferences and (project) meetings. Fluency in English is required, both spoken and written. You need to provide IELTS test results (minimum score 6.5), TOEFL-iBT (minimum score 90) or Cambridge CAE or CPE.  Some comprehension of the Dutch language and some teaching experience are beneficial.

The PhD project will be executed at the faculty of Engineering Technology under the Mechanics of Solids, Surfaces and Systems (MS3) department, a team of approximately 75 academics and PhD’s which deal with the topics solid mechanics, tribology, production and system engineering. Prof. van den Boogaard holds the chair of Nonlinear Solid Mechanics within MS3 where the research will be carried out under the supervision of Dr. Semih Perdahcıoğlu. For more information on the research at the Nonlinear Solid Mechanics group and the MS3 department, please visit www.utwente.nl/ctw/ms3/. Please upload your application by link below before 31 January 2018.

We offer a 4-year full-time position as a PhD candidate at the University of Twente. The last 2 ½ years of the project will be conducted at the facilities of TATA Steel IJmuiden where collaboration with parallel running projects will be emphasized in order to ensure the synergy in the through process approach.

In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, a PhD salary starts at € 2.222,- gross per month in the first year and extends to a maximum of € 2.840,- gross per month in the fourth year. In addition, the University of Twente offers attractive fringe benefits.

The University of Twente. We stand for life sciences and technology. High tech and human touch. Education and research that matter. New technology which leads change, innovation and progress in society. The University of Twente is the only campus university of the Netherlands; divided over five faculties we provide more than fifty educational programmes. We have a strong focus on personal development and talented researchers are given scope for carrying out groundbreaking research.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Because of our diversity values we do particularly support women to apply.

The Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) is one of the five faculties of the University of Twente. ET combines Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Industrial Design Engineering. Our faculty has approximately 1800 bachelor and master students, 400 employees and 150 PhD candidates. The departments of the faculty cooperatively conduct the educational programmes and participate in interdisciplinary research projects, programmes and the research institutes: MIRA, CTIT, SBE and IGS.