PhD Scholarship in High Precision Finishing and on Machine Balancing of High-Speed Miniature AM Impellers

The Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering  of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) has an open PhD position on the topic of “High precision post processing of high speed and high-performance miniature AM impellers”. The position is for 3 years. 

The position is funded in the context of the EuroTech strategic network and a collaboration between DTU and EPFL in Switzerland. The PhD student will be working in the framework of the ongoing collaboration between DTU Construct, the Laboratory of Applied Mechanical Design at EPFL, and the Industrial partner FANUC Europe GmbH. This position offers unique opportunities with respect to high level research, training, and innovation within manufacturing engineering, in an exciting combination of academic and industrial environments. 

The selected candidate will receive strong guidance from academic supervisors as well as from industrial experts from FANUC Europe GmbH. The company produces machine tools and factory automation solutions. Short working periods are expected at both EPFL (Lausanne) and FANUC Europe GmbH (Stuttgart).  

It is expected that the selected candidate will start in the position in April/May 2024. 

Responsibilities and qualifications

The PhD project will focus on the development of the manufacturing solutions for miniature impellers where the form generating process is an additive manufacturing process. The purpose is to achieve a finished product in a single part post processing machine including dynamic balancing, without any additional manufacturing steps. The PhD student will develop solutions based on material removal processes (micro milling and micro polishing) for high precision post processing of low stiffness elements such as turbine blades, addressing the challenges related to the management of tool and workpiece compliance. The task will require development of a Digital Twin of the part/process/system suitable for application in efficient production lines and including automated identification of material removal regions for on-machine dynamic balancing, experimental validation of the models’ performance through extensive testing and complete part characterization using high resolution measurement techniques. 

The position includes both theoretical and experimental work and carries project as well as academic responsibilities. The scientific work conducted must be positioned relative to current literature and published in conference and journal articles.  

Candidates are required to have an excellent academic background and must have a strong knowledge of production engineering technologies and manufacturing systems for additive and subtractive manufacturing. Good knowledge of process monitoring, manufacturing metrology, FEA, CAD/CAM and programming tools such as Matlab is highly desirable. The candidate should have good analytical skills as well as good communication skills in English. 

You must have a two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree. 

Application procedure 

To apply, please read the full job advertisement, by clicking the 'Apply' button above.