School of Engineering

Location:      Medway campus
Salary:      £27,025 to £32,236
Contract Type:      Fixed Term - 18 Months
Closing Date:      Monday 22 July 2019
Interview Date:      To be confirmed

The School of Engineering is seeking to appoint an enthusiastic, highly-motivated and highly-skilled Research Associate to undertake the EPSRC-funded project: “Designing for the Future: Optimising the structural form of regolith-based monolithic vaults in low-gravity conditions”.

This project will investigate the behaviour of monolithic structures in low-gravity conditions, concluding to an optimal structural design framework for supporting future space exploration. Such structures will act as shielding to protect critical assets (such as robots, fuel tanks and power stations) and future inflatable structures (e.g. living quarters) from extreme conditions (radiation, sandstorms, temperature fluctuations) in an extraterrestrial environment. Linear and nonlinear numerical structural modelling and parametric static and dynamic analyses will identify the optimal design approach for utilising indigenous materials to produce such structures to minimise the weight burden on future manned explorations. The analytical work will be validated by experimental centrifuge tests which can simulate low-gravity conditions at prototype scale.

The post-holder must have a PhD in Structural/Earthquake Engineering, involving significant numerical modelling using FE software, programming skills and a strong understanding of nonlinear structural behaviour and structural dynamics. Research experience in rocking structures and space engineering would be an advantage.

The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

For further details please contact Dr Georgios Kampas (g.kampas@gre.ac.uk).

We aim to be an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.