PhD Research Project: The application of Meshless analysis methods as an alternative to FEA and CFD

The School of Metallurgy and Materials is seeking a high calibre candidate for a fully funded EPSRC ICASE PhD studentship in materials modelling.

The PhD is sponsored by Rolls-Royce plc and will be supervised through the Partnership for Research in Simulation of Manufacturing and Materials PRISM2 modelling group within the School of Metallurgy and Materials. PRISM2 is a research centre, at the University of Birmingham, with expertise in the modelling of materials, manufacturing and design for high technology applications in the aerospace and power generation sectors. The project will focus on developing state-of-the-art modelling tools and capabilities to simulate the response of materials during manufacture.

Process modelling is a proven technology for improving the fundamental understanding of how components behave during manufacture, from material microstructure to bulk distortion & residual stress. Traditional numerical analysis techniques such as Finite Element Analysis FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can be applied to a wide range of manufacturing process simulation problems. However, the commercially available tools for implementing these techniques have some limitations including mesh distortion for very large strains, free surface fluid flows, granular flows, and solid body impact.

The project will assess meshless analysis techniques such as Diffuse Element Methods (DEM) that offer an alternative approach to the simulation of processes such as complex geometry linear friction welds, powder flow in additive layer manufacture (ALM), or shot peening which are not currently practical with traditional tools. The student will require a good understanding of numerical methods and the ability to apply these to industrial processes.