PhD Studentship on ‘Volcanic Ash Deposition in Jet Engines’ (abgelaufen)

The ‘volcanic ash vs. jet engines’ research group at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich is currently offering 1 fully-funded doctoral studentship for 3 years on the study of the influence of volcanic ash on jet engines. The position offers a remarkable opportunity to be part of a multi-disciplinary group working at the forefront of geosciences and aircraft material science today in a highly international environment. The world-class Experimental Petrology and Volcanology Laboratory consists of top-quality facilities for volcanic hazard research, and we seek the very best candidate to join our dynamic and growing team.
The position is part of a large research initiative on Volcanic Ash Deposition in Jet Engines (VADJEs) funded by the ‘Freigeist’ Fellowship of the Volkswagen Foundation in Germany and headed by Dr. Wenjia Song. VADJEs aims to transcend the boundaries of different fields, blend concepts from chemical engineering and biometrics and deploy state of the art technologies from coal-combustion technologies, material sciences, and optical physics to provide a basis for the better mitigation of the effect of volcanic ash on jet engines. This project is primarily experimental, and the successful applicant will employ a range of novel experimental and analytical techniques available at Munich. They will also have the chance to gain experience in the communication of scientific research to the public in this high profile field.

PhD Project: Wetting and infiltration of viscous volcanic ash on thermal barrier coatings
Description: The wetting and infiltration dynamics of volcanic ash strongly impacts deposition in hot jet engines. In this project, the doctoral student will experimentally investigate the spreading and penetrating dynamics of viscous volcanic ash on thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). A range of volcanic ash compacts with different initial geochemical compositions will be subjected to quantitative testing of fusion behaviour (Song et al., GRL, 2014, 41, 2326), to determine the relative roles of physical state and chemical composition of volcanic ash, viscosity, heating rate, and microstructure of substrate materials (Air plasma spraying (APS-TBCs) vs. electron-beam physical vapour deposition (EB-PVD TBCs)) in controlling spreading velocity and rate and depth of penetration of volcanic ash on TBCs.
Required skills: This project requires a candidate with a background in petrology and/or geochemistry, and a reasonably strong basis in mathematics and statistics. A basic knowledge of MATLAB or Python (for the purpose of batch analysing images) would be welcome. The candidate also should be a strong team player with good interpersonal skills able to build and sustain effective working relationships while exhibiting sufficient attention to detail in working methods. Our research environment operates mainly in English.
Application: Applications should include a two-page CV, academic transcripts, contact information for 2 referees and a two-page (max) statement explaining how your research experience and academic knowledge relate to the project in general and describing your motivation. Applications should be sent as a single PDF-file to: Prof. Donald Bruce Dingwell dingwell@lmu.de, and Dr. Wenjia Song wenjia.song@lmu.de.
Review of applications has been started and will continue until the position is filled.