Numerical modelling of cracked materials under dynamic loading

About the Project

These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying.

It is common knowledge that all existing structural materials contain various inter- and intra-component cracks and crack-like defects which appear in materials during fabrication or in-service. The presence of structural defects considerably decreases the strength and the reliability of materials.

Under deformation the opposite faces of the existing cracks interact with each other, altering significantly the stress fields near the crack tips. It takes on special significance for the case of high rate deformations as found in impact and high-frequency dynamics, which covers an extremely wide range of situations, where the contact interaction can change the response substantially. Unfortunately, due to the non-linearity of the problem and substantial computational difficulties, even in the simplest case of isotropic homogeneous body, the overwhelming majority of studies neglect the contact interaction of crack faces in spite of its evident significance. In the case of heterogeneous materials, solutions taking the contact interaction into account are non-existent.

This project will start a new direction in fracture mechanics leading to reassessment of the traditional understanding of strength and fracture of cracked materials under loading. It will be an interdisciplinary work focused on fracture mechanics problems for cracked heterogeneous materials under impact and high-frequency harmonic loading. Special attention will be paid to the effect of the crack faces contact interaction.

The overall aim of the project is the reassessment of dynamic stress intensity factors for cracked materials under dynamic loading taking the crack closure into account.

The main objectives are:

1. Development of a robust numerical methodology for tackling the contact problems, including development of the iterative solution algorithms.
2. Extensive parametric analysis of the problem.

Decisions will be based on academic merit. The successful applicant should have, or expect to obtain, a UK Honours Degree at 2.1 (or equivalent) in Engineering, Materials or Applied Mathematics.

Fundamentals of Engineering Materials and Stress Analysis, Numerical Methods

The project is likely to involve a combination of analytical studies and computer modelling including FEM&BEM analysis and MatLab programming, so the appropriate computing skills would be quite beneficial but not compulsory.

Application Procedure:

Formal applications can be completed online: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/pgap/login.php.

You should apply for PhD in Engineering to ensure your application is passed to the correct team for processing.

Please clearly note the name of the lead supervisor and project titleon the application form. If you do not include these details, it may not be considered for the studentship.

Your application must include: A personal statement, an up-to-date copy of your academic CV, and clear copies of your educational certificates and transcripts.

Please note: you do not need to provide a research proposal with this application.

Informal enquiries can be made by contacting Dr O Menshykov at o.menshykov@abdn.ac.uk. If you require any additional assistance in submitting your application or have any queries about the application process, please don't hesitate to contact us at researchadmissions@abdn.ac.uk

Funding Notes

This is a self-funding project open to students worldwide. Our typical start dates for this programme are February or October.

Fees for this programme can be found here Finance and Funding | Study Here | The University of Aberdeen

References

1. Menshykova MV, Menshykov OV, Guz IA, Wuensche M, Zhang Ch. A boundary integral equation methods in the frequency domain for cracks under transient loading, Acta Mechanica, 2016, 227(11): 3305-3314.
2. Menshykova MV, Menshykov OV, Guz IA. An iterative BEM for the dynamic analysis of interface crack contact problems, Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements, 2011, 35: 735-749.
3. Menshykov OV, Menshykova MV, Guz IA. Effect of friction of the crack faces for a linear crack under an oblique harmonic loading, International Journal of Engineering Science, 2008, 46: 438–45