Ciência sem Fronteiras (Science Without Borders)
PhD Project Template:
PI name & contact details:
Noel O’Dowd, noel.odowd@ul.ie
Conor McCarthy (conor.mccarthy@ul.ie)
Department
Department of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Biomedical
Engineering
Materials and Surface Science Institute
University of Limerick
Has project been agreed with head (or
nominee) of proposed registration school?
YES
Research Centre / group affiliation:
Research group / centre website:
Materials and Surface Science Institute and Irish Centre for
Composite Materials (IComp)
www.ul.ie/mssi
PI website / link to CV:
http://www.researcherid.com/rid/B-6588-2008
Brief summary of PI research / research group / centre activity (2 or 3 lines max):
The Irish Centre for Composite Materials (IComp) is based at MSSI in UL and is the national
Technology Centre for Composite Materials. It links academics and industry to provide next
generation solutions for composite materials.
Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web):
Computational and experimental investigation of polymeric adhesives: Bonded joints are
commonly used as a replacement for mechanical fasteners such as bolts and rivets to reduce weight
and to eliminate stress concentrations. This project will focus on the physical mechanisms
controlling failure in structural polymeric adhesives used to bond metals and composite materials.
Miniature adhesive test specimens will be designed and tested in-situ in a scanning electron
microscope (SEM). Fracture toughness tests will be carried out under complex mixed mode
(combined tension/shear) loading using. The high resolution SEM will allow the deformation
mechanisms at the micro-scale in the adhesive to be determined in-situ as the specimen is loaded.
In parallel with the experimental study, a finite-element micro-scale analysis will be carried out to
provide insight into the material response. The overall result will be the development of physically
motivated fracture criteria for polymeric adhesives.
Unique selling points of PhD project in UL:
Professor O’Dowd is an expert in computational mechanics and fracture mechanics with over 20
years’ experience in this area. He has worked at the California Institute of Technology and Imperial
College London. Dr Conor McCarthy is an expert in composite materials and bolted/bonded joints.
He leads a 1 million EU project at UL related to the developed of composite materials for
aeronautical applications. UL hosts the Irish Centre for Composite Materials (IComp,
www.ul.ie/icomp) and has excellent facilities for experimental and computational analysis, including
a dedicated high performance computing facility with access to large scale national computing
resources and a dedicated micromechanics characterisation suite, including high resolution SEMs
and nanoindenter. You will work in a stimulating environment with the Materials and Surface
Science Institute (MSSI, www.ul.ie/mssi), a dedicated multidisciplinary research facility at the
University of Limerick, housing over 100 researchers.
Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above:
Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply:
Mechanical, Aeronautical, Materials Engineering
Please indicate whether students can apply for:
Sandwich programme only
Full PhD programme only
Either of the above
x
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Please indicate the specific programme priority area under which the proposed PhD project fits- choose only
one (tick box):
Engineering and other technological areas
x
Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)
Health and Biomedical Sciences
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Oil, Gas and Coal
Renewable Energy
Minerals
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Technology of prevention and remediation of natural disasters
Biodiversity and Bioprospection
Marine Sciences
Creative Industry
New technologies in constructive engineering