Student (f/m/x) - Simulation of the material behaviour of fiber composites

What to expect:

In our department Structural Mechanics, dedicated scientists are developing new simulation tools and test methods for analysing lightweight structures made of fibre composites. We are currently working on exciting research projects involving the evaluation and development of aircraft components, hydrogen tanks, rotor blades for wind turbines, aerospace structures and rolling stock components. These applications place high demands on the fatigue strength of fibre composites and the predictive capability of simulation tools. Many current prediction models for the fatigue life of fibre-reinforced polymers require a large amount for calibration experiments or are severely limited in their range of applications hindering their industrial use.

Therefore, you are taking a detailed look at this issue: You are researching the material behaviour at the micro level and contribute to the advancement of micro-scale numerical models. You are part of an interdisciplinary team, collaborating closely with scientific colleagues within the department.

Your tasks:

• Literature review on constitutive material models for polymers (rate-dependency, plasticity)
• Implementation of a constitutive material model as a user subroutine (UMAT) for ABAQUS
• Testing and verification of the model implementation using selected test examples
• Calibration of the material model with prepared, existing test data
• Perform Finite Element simulations to predict material behavior under different loading conditions
• Validation of the model by comparing simulation results with experimental data
• Evaluation, discussion and documentation of methods and results in a scientific report (e.g. bachelor, master, or student thesis)

Your profile:

• Ongoing bachelor's, master's or diploma studies in the field of Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Material Science, Computational Engineering or similar
• Fundamental knowledge and interest in fibre-reinforced composites
• Good knowledge in the field of applied mechanics and fundamental understanding of the concepts of continuum mechanics and material models
• Initial experience with Finite Element Programmes such as ABAQUS, ANSYS, NASTRAN
• Very good knowledge in programming (e.g. Python, FORTRAN) and good knowledge of MS Office
• Good knowledge of German and English, both written and spoken
• Analytical mindset and a proactive and independent way of working