Research Associate/Senior Research Associate - High-Fidelity Composite Aero-Structures Testing & Hyb

CerTest - full title 'Certification for Design - Reshaping the Testing Pyramid' - is £6.9M research investment of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the form of a so-called Programme Grant. CerTest is conducted in a close partnership between academic partners University of Bristol (lead), University of Bath, University of Exeter and the University of Southampton, with strong industrial and stakeholder support by Airbus, Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, GKN Aerospace, CFMS, the National Composites Centre (NNC), the Alan Turing Institute, and with close interaction with the European Aviation Safety Agency. CerTest addresses barriers to validation and certification of composite aerostructures posed by the so-called 'building block approach' (or 'testing pyramid'), which is the backbone of current validation and certification processes. CerTest represents a decisive step towards 'virtual testing' on the structural scale, which aims to reduce development cost and time to market, as well as to enable more structurally efficient and lightweight composite aerostructures that are essential for meeting future fuel and cost efficiency challenges.

The core research challenges in CerTest are strongly multidisciplinary, which are addressed by an interdisciplinary research consortium comprising the academic partner universities. The research is conducted with close collaboration between the universities and with the industrial partners through a team of academics and postdoctoral fellows, supported by a group of PhD and EngD studentships.

For more information about CerTest see: https://certest.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/

To enable fully integrated testing and simulation, the research will include the development and validation of a 'hybrid' testing platform allowing the physical boundary and load conditions experienced in-service to be replicated in a test environment that mimics the actual in-service conditions. To enable real-time numerical simulations to be integrated with the testing, reduced order simulation tools will be implemented with the control algorithms.

This role will require a combination of technical and scientific skills, and the ideal candidate should hold a PhD in Engineering (Mechanical, Aeronautical or Civil) or Physics (or closely related discipline), and have experience and a proven track record covering a range of topics including mechanics of composite materials and structures, advanced experimental mechanics and imaging, and computational mechanics and statistical methods.

This post is being offered on a full-time basis, with funding for up to 3 years, starting as soon as possible after 1 October 2019.

We welcome applications from all members of our community and are particularly encouraging those from diverse groups, such as members of the LGBT+ and BAME communities, to join us.