Are you inspired by sustainable materials and innovative structural design? Are you eager to work on a multidisciplinary project bringing material science and structural engineering together, enhancing bio-based composites to achieve a more sustainable built environment? Then you may be an excellent candidate for this PhD position.
The construction industry is confronted with a formidable challenge: reducing CO2 emissions. A promising avenue of research to tackle this issue is the utilization of bio-based fiber-reinforced polymer composites as an alternative to conventional construction materials. In particular, through the fabrication technique of filament winding, lattice composite structures can achieve high-performance, lightweight solutions that minimize material usage. This project aims to transcend the state-of-the-art by adopting a multidisciplinary approach that integrates material processing, architecture, and structural engineering.
In this position, you will research and develop a bio-based fiber composite structural system for architectural applications enhancing material processing parameters while characterizing its structural performance. The main challenges of this PhD position would include:
- Evaluate bio-based matrix systems for compatibility with flax fibers and optimize the process of filament winding to enhance material quality and consistency.
- Characterize the mechanical properties of the bio-based composite, and develop scalability strategies to transfer small-scale testing results to large-scale designs.
- Demonstrate the feasibility of bio-based composites in architectural applications through the design of a structural system with enhanced fabrication and structural properties.
The position is part of the
TU/e EuroTech PhD Program where PhD candidates will enjoy a unique educational experience, jointly supervised by researchers from TU/e and one of the
EuroTech University Alliance partners. The selected candidate will be based at TU/e, in the newly formed chair of Sustainable Structural Design of the
Unit Structural Engineering and Design at the Department of the
Built Environment. As a requirement of this program, the candidate should spend at least 6 months at the partner university
EPFL, Switzerland, working and collaborating with the
Laboratory for Processing of Advance Composites, under the supervision of Prof. Véronique Michaud, who will also be the second supervisor along the project.