PHD STUDENT IN CIVIL ENGINEERING/ SCHOLARSHIP

Background

Empa is the interdisciplinary research and services institution for material sciences and technology development of the ETH Domain. Empa's research and development activities are oriented to meeting the requirements of industry and the needs of our society, and link together applications-oriented research and the practical implementation of new ideas, science and industry, and science and society.Thanks to its years of experience in the field, Empa is able to offer its industrial partners solutions tailored to meet their specific needs. This encourages companies to think and act in innovative ways and at the same time helps to improve the quality of life for all of us. Safety, reliability and sustainability of materials and systems - these are the watchwords which form a common thread running through all Empa activities. In this respect the institution plays a key role in the Swiss educational, research and innovation scene.

Main goals

Together with your supervisors at Empa and EPFL you will work on the project "Updated braking forces for the assessment of road bridges". The main goals of the project are:

- the development of a new simulation model describing the response of bridges to braking vehicles that considers the stochastic character of
  traffic flow, realistic braking processes and the dynamic response of a road bridge,
- a systematic analysis of the influence of physical parameters (braking force, bridge length, natural frequency, damping, ductility etc.) on the
  dynamic response of a road bridge,
- the implementation of simplified load models of braking forces being suitable for the design and maintenance of road bridges.

The work will be carried out mainly at Empa Dübendorf under the supervision of Dr. Glauco Feltrin. The PhD degree will be granted from EPFL. The supervisor of the PhD thesis is Prof. Katrin Beyer. The planned project duration is three years.

Eligibility

You have a Master's Degree in civil engineering and excellent background knowledge in mathematics, physics and computer science. Good knowledge in bridge design and structural dynamics are of great advantage. You are proficient in spoken and written English.

Salary

The salary will be based on the contract decided between the PhD student and the research facility and it will be based on the Swiss salary scheme for PhD students.

Deadline: open

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