The chair of Production Technology in the MS3 Department focuses on materials and manufacturing processes for light-weight structural applications. We closely work together with industry to solve today's and tomorrow's problems by improving scientific understanding of the underlying physics and by developing ‘design for manufacturing’ tools. The chair is one of the founders of the ThermoPlastic composites Research Center.

Circular overbraiding is an automated manufacturing process for composite preforms with a high fibre deposition rate, by depositing many fibres at the same time. It is suited for tubular preforms and uses a mandrel that defines the shape of the preform. The preform then goes through an infusion and curing step, optionally followed by removal of the mandrel. The process allows for product features such as holes and flanges without fibre cutting, and is used for composite applications in e.g. road vehicles and aircraft. It is one of the few manufacturing technologies that enable large scale applications of fairly complex continuous fibre composite parts.

The standard braiding process uses biaxial fibres (weft and warp), to which optional axial ‘stem’ yarns can be added. The latter serve to improve the axial stiffness and strength of the resulting product. We are developing CAE tools to predict the fibre orientation distribution on the product, and the resulting mechanical properties of the braid reinforced component. Our efforts have already resulted in a fast geometry based software tool ‘Braidsim’ for this purpose. The tool simplifies fibre-fibre-interactions, which limits the accuracy of our current model predictions.

The new Cobracomp project aims to introduce a new braiding technology with a significantly increased proportion of axial yarns. This automatically increases the fibre-fibre interactions and calls for a novel approach in the process simulations. The objective of the PhD project is to develop such a method, while retaining the current short simulation times making it suitable for engineering design purposes.

• You hold a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering or equivalent;
• You have experimental and/or theoretical skills in polymers or fiber reinforced polymer composites in the field of e.g. material characterization, analysis, manufacturing or mechanical performance.
• You have an affinity with numerical modelling of the mechanical performance and experience with programming languages like Fortran or C++, scripting languages like Python or numerical computing environments like Matlab, ABAQUS and ANSYS.
• You have a strong interest in textile mechanics, combining dedicated experiments with lean and efficient numerical modelling;
• Your writing skills are good and you have good experience in writing technical reports and/or scientific papers;
• You have excellent analytical skills and critical mindset;
• You are a team player with good interpersonal skills;
• You are fluent in English, both spoken and written. (We require a TOEFL > 90 or IELTS > 6.5 score).

More information about this position can be obtained from Prof. Remko Akkerman: r.akkerman@utwente.nl

Please send your application, with a detailed CV and a specific motivation letter, through the link below before March 27th, 2019.

We offer a very challenging position in an inspiring multidisciplinary environment. The university offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues in which internationalization is an important part of the strategic agenda.

• A starting salary of € 2.325,- in the first year and a salary of € 2.972,- in the fourth year gross per month;
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• A solid pension scheme;
• Minimum of 29 leave days in case of full-time employment;
• Professional and personal development programs.

Your main responsibility will be to carry out research, but you may be given the opportunity to acquire some teaching experience. We offer our PhD candidates and postdocs the opportunity to broaden their knowledge by joining international exchange programs, by participating in national and international conferences and workshops, and by visiting other research institutes and universities worldwide.

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: Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Centra and Digital Society Institute.