PhD in Multifunctional Polymer Composites

Are you inspired to push the limits of polymeric materials for lighter and smarter defense platforms? Join us to develop a new generation of 3D-printed composite panels that shield electronics from electromagnetic threats and withstand impact.

Information
We are offering 2 PhD positions within project VALOR, an ambitious, interdisciplinary collaboration between academia, industry and government partners. The project aims to develop a new generation of lightweight composite panels that both shield sensitive electronics from electromagnetic threats and withstand impact events, helping to make defense platforms safer and more resilient.

Naval ships, drones and military vehicles increasingly depend on electronic radar, communication and navigation systems that must be protected against electromagnetic interference and radar detection. Today, this is mostly done with metals, which block practically all wave power with only a thin layer. However, they add weight, corrode, and reflect electromagnetic waves, making platforms easier to detect. Project VALOR tackles this challenge by merging two fields that have so far been developed separately: absorption-based electromagnetic shielding and impact-resistant sandwich structures. By combining 3D-printed architected nanocomposite materials with predictive modelling into one integrated design strategy, the project will construct a design framework for panels that are able to both carry loads and absorb electromagnetic waves, with a performance that can be tailored to specific (defense) applications.

Your role
We are recruiting two PhD candidates who will work as a team throughout the project, i.e. from material screening to design and testing of larger scale panel demonstrators. Both candidates will conduct a combination of experimental and numerical work and collaborate closely with industrial partners within the consortium. More specifically:

• PhD 1 focuses on mechanics and manufacturing: 3D printing nanocomposite lattice materials, fabricating composite facesheets, conducting mechanical tests, constructing and validating mechanical finite element models.
• PhD 2 focuses on electromagnetic testing and design: formulating polymer nanocomposite materials and characterizing their electromagnetic behaviour, designing and testing absorbing architected nanocomposite structures, conducting electromagnetic shielding simulations.

Your team and network
You will join the Processing and Performance of Materials section in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at TU/e. The group has around 20 PhD and post-doctoral researchers working on how processing, structure and properties connect in polymers and polymer-based composite materials. The group is known for its integrated experimental-numerical approach to tailor the performance of these materials. You will have access to state-of-the-art computational facilities and laboratories dedicated to rheology, polymer processing (incl. additive manufacturing) and mechanical testing. You will be supervised by Frederik Van Loock (project leader), Ruth Cardinaels and Tom Engels.