PhD position: Degradation and lubrication of stern tube seals

The Department Mechanics of Solids, Surfaces & Systems (MS3), part of the faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) is currently seeking a PhD student in the area of sealing and the tribological behaviour of stern tube seals, which are elastomeric seals used in seagoing vessels. The two main functions of these seals are preventing water ingress into the stern tube and minimizing lubricant spillage. When lubricant is spilled into the ocean, environmental consequences are amplified since a small quantity of oil can contaminate a large amount of water. Understanding the fundamental degradation mechanisms of the rubber seal material and analyzing and modelling the functional behavior is essential to improve maintenance strategies for vessels, to develop new seal compounds and to make well-founded lifetime predictions.

Aspects such as leakage, friction and hydrodynamic film formation in the shaft-seal contact are not well understood as the pressurized stern tube seal is a far more sophisticated seal than a standard lip seal. Also, the functional behaviour is strongly interlinked with degradation mechanisms causing a continuous change in the properties of the seal material over the lifetime.

The research will be done in the Surface Engineering and Maintenance group of the MS3 department, where we work on a wide range of topics related to damage mechanisms and lifetime prediction. Many degradation mechanisms involve multiple physical domains, like interacting thermal, mechanical and chemical effects. We analyze and model complex degradation phenomena which are foundational for maintenance. Improvement of lifetime and maintenance is important, ultimately to make our society more sustainable.

For this project, we are looking for a PhD candidate with relevant expertise. The candidate will plan and execute his/her research towards the project goal.

The candidate will reports during progress meetings of our research group and with the project partners. The candidate is encouraged to present his/her results at international scientific conferences and is expected to publish in academic literature. You are part of a team of two PhD students, where one PhD student is focusing on degradation mechanisms at Imperial College in London and you on developing validated models related to lubrication and sealing aspects at the University of Twente. The industrial partner will be actively involved in the project by performing analysis and experiments on full scale stern tube seals.

The university offers a very stimulating scientific environment and a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues in which internationalization is an important aspect of the strategic agenda.