Post-Doctoral Fellow in Experimental Mechanics of Composite Pipe Adhesive Joints

The Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, invites applications for Postdoctoral fellow in Mechanical Engineering at the Mechanics of Composites for Energy and Mobility Lab. (MCEM, https://composites.kaust.edu.sa).

Field of study:

Adhesive joints stand out as one of the most commonly utilized methods for joining pipelines, owing to theiraffordability and straightforward application process. Their widespread adoption is largely attributed to the simplicity and cost-effectiveness they offer compared to other joining techniques. With adhesive joints, the assembly of pipelines becomes a streamlined process, requiring minimal specialized equipment or labor-intensive procedures Despite these advantages, the quality control of such joints is still a challenging operation, which causes a lake of confidence and, in some cases, limitations in their applications. Adhesive joints pose a significant challenge in ensuring the integrity of Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) pipelines networks,

often emerging as a primary source of failure.

The project aims to contribute to this global effort by studying the effect of different defects inside the adhesive bonded joints on the integrity of the joints.

The project will be organized around 3 main activities:

• Extensive literature survey of standards, technical reports and papers to identify the different defects in the composite pipes adhesive bonded joints.

• Study the effect of critical defects on the mechanical integrity of the adhesive bonded joints.

• Build a mockup with the critical defects.

The work will be developed in the context of an industrial consortium “ENERCOMP”, which is a joint consortium between KAUST and Aramco to serve the development of the energy sector.