PhD Scholarship in Composite Sandwich Bridge (Switzerland)

Company	Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Workplace	EPFL Lausanne, (www.epfl.ch) Switzerland- School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Composite Construction Laboratory (www.cclab.ch)
Description	The work will encompass the design and modeling of a composite sandwich bridge deck. The selection of the appropriate materials, the development of the structural concept, the slab design, the processing, as well as the detailing, are parts of the project. The work will be directed by the Composite Construction Laboratory in collaboration with 3A Composites ( www.3acomposites.com ). The CCLab has wide experience in the field of structural engineering with composite materials. Since 1999, CCLab has participated in numerous research programs in this area and has produced a significant number of publications relating to composite materials and structures. Subjects of particular interest and expertise include the examination of the static and fatigue behavior of structural adhesive joints at room and elevated temperatures, the investigation of the behavior of composite materials at high temperatures, the development of multifunctional sandwich structures for building applications, the investigation of the behavior of lightweight GFRP composites for bridge applications, and the development of theoretical models for the lifetime prediction of composite materials and structures under complex loading patterns. 3A Composites is a Swiss company owned by Schweiter Technologies. 3A Composites is a global group of companies manufacturing and commercializing Aluminum Composites Material (ACM) for Architectural and Corporate Identity (CID) markets, structural core materials for sandwich constructions in marine, road, rail, air transportation and wind energy generation, structural lightweight components for automotive, transport and industry applications, light weight plastic sheet materials, foam boards and Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) for Display & Graphic Arts markets.
Education	Desired student knowledge/interests should lie in mechanics of composite materials and structures and/or materials science. Knowledge of FE methods and/or computer programming would be desirable. Only the applications of outstanding candidates will be considered.
Entrance upon	1st June 2011
Contact address	Prof. Dr. Thomas Keller Composite Construction Laboratory Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Bâtiment BP, Station 16 CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Email/web	thomas.keller@epfl.ch, http://www.cclab.ch