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- PhD position - Next-generation aluminium alloys for 3D-printing affordable satellites
Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D-printing is leading a paradigm change across several industries. However, the alloys used today for AM are inherited from conventional manufacturing. Constellium is developing Al alloys that exploit the metallurgical conditions of AM, whereas the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) is developing AM process chains for cost-efficient satellite components.
The goal of the PhD project will be to unravel the correlations between alloy composition, 3D microstructure, processing, satellite component geometry and performance. You will join the Nano-Imaging ID16A team at the ESRF. The ID16A instrument is a world-leading X-ray microscopy facility for 3D imaging at the nanoscale of the morphology and the elemental composition of materials.
You will contribute to the development of X-ray nano-tomography methodologies and apply them to the characterization of different AM alloys and processing conditions. You will apply image analysis tools using artificial intelligence methods for the quantification of the microstructural parameters. Samples and components will be produced and mechanically tested at Constellium and DLR. The cross-disciplinary approach will contribute to development of AM optimized alloys, processing conditions and component geometries.
Further information may be obtained from Peter Cloetens (tel.: +33 (0)4 76 88 26 50, email: cloetens@esrf.eu) and from Guillermo Requena (+49 (0) 2203 601-4418, email: Guillermo.Requena@dlr.de).
More details about the application procedure on www.innovaxn.eu/for-students/documents/
The successful candidate will be enrolled in the doctoral school of RWTH-Aachen University and based full-time at the ESRF (Grenoble, France), other than a three-month secondment at Constellium Technology Center (Voreppe, France). Additional visits totaling no more than 3 months will be made to the German Aerospace Centre (DLR, Cologne, Germany) when needed. Furthermore, a varied pedagogical training programme will be offered to the successful candidate throughout the 3-year PhD project.
More details on the InnovaXN programme on www.innovaxn.eu
InnovaXN is a Horizon 2020 MSCA COFUND programme providing an opportunity for 40 industrial companies to work with 40 PhD students, performing advanced research and exploiting the unique characterisation techniques of the ESRF and ILL. Through collaborations with industry, innovation will be the central theme of the programme. This will provide a unique cross academic-industry science setting, secondment opportunities and society-relevant research, training the future key researchers able to tackle major research and societal challenges.