Bridge inspections tell us what condition an asset is in today. They can record cracking, corrosion, section loss, coating deterioration and other signs of damage. But an important question remains: will the same observed condition mean the same future risk under climate change?
This PhD will develop data-driven and uncertainty-informed methods to understand how climate change may affect corrosion deterioration in UK bridge infrastructure. The project will combine civil engineering, climate data, deterioration modelling, uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis to identify which climate-related factors are most important for future corrosion risk.
The project will move beyond simply asking “how much deterioration might occur?” and instead ask: which climate driver is controlling future deterioration risk, and when does that change how engineers should interpret current condition evidence?
The student will investigate climate-related exposure variables such as wetness duration, humidity, temperature, wet-dry cycling and chloride-related coastal exposure. These will be connected to corrosion deterioration in reinforced concrete and steel components using computational modelling, probabilistic methods and data-driven analysis.
Funding Notes
A highly competitive EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award, providing full academic fees, together with a tax-free maintenance grant at the standard UKRI rate of £21,805 for 3.5 years. Training and support will also be provided. This opportunity is open to UK applicants only. All candidates will be placed into the EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award Competition and selection is based on academic merit.
