PhD position in Numerical Modeling of Thermo-Mechanical Effects for High-Performance Mechatronics

A PhD position is available at the chair of Precision Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering Technology of the University of Twente.

In high-tech domains such as semicon, healthcare, and space, performance is increasingly limited by thermally induced deformations. While passive and active compensation methods exist, thermal effects must be addressed during early-stage design. This calls for advanced modeling techniques that capture thermo-elastic interactions with high fidelity. In this PhD, you will help develop these next-generation tools.

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to strengthen our research. Your research will focus on the development of numerical simulation techniques based on finite element and multibody dynamics formulations. Your tasks involve developing new elements tailored to the multi-physical effects seen in high-performance mechatronics systems, focussing on the inclusion of thermal aspects. You can leverage a large body of existing research and software for the efficient simulation of complex geometrically nonlinear mechanical elastic structures. Other aspects of the research include a numerical framework for the sensitivity analysis to facilitate design optimization and experimental system identification.