School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment
Position Type: Full-time, Fixed term position for 3 years
Location: Hassall Street, Parramatta Campus
Eligibility: Western Sydney University Internal Applicants Only.
To be eligible to apply for this position you must be employed by Western Sydney University on an ongoing, fixed term or casual basis at the time of this advertisement.
All ongoing and fixed term employees seeking to apply for this position as a secondment must have completed a minimum of 12 months’ full-time continuous service to be eligible to apply for this role, as per Part D of the Recruitment and Selection Policy.
In accordance with section 45.4 of the Academic Staff Agreement 2022, Casual academic staff are eligible to apply for appointment if they have been employed at Western Sydney University as a casual employee for at least two teaching sessions in the last 24 months.
About the role
The Dean of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Distinguished Professor Brian G. Falzon, holds the Chair of Composite Materials and Aerospace Structures. Having recently joined Western Sydney University, Prof Falzon is establishing an Advanced Composites Research Group within his School, continuing and building upon a body of work undertaken at similar groups he established at previous academic institutions.
A Postdoctoral Research Fellow is currently being sought who will pursue research, and proposal development, in Advanced Aerospace Composite Materials and Structures, and support Prof Falzon in the establishment and expansion of this research group. The appointee will also be expected to assist in the supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate students, and contribute to teaching, if required.
The appointee will be expected to:
Primary Project Details
The increased prevalence of the use of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) material, in the latest generation of passenger aircraft and road vehicles, has necessitated a closer examination of the crashworthiness of these structures. In addition, the emergence of hydrogen-powered vehicles, equipped with FRP pressure vessels that carry hydrogen at up to 700 bar pressure, necessitates the reliable assessment of their performance in crash and other off-design ‘event-based’ scenarios.
The Research Fellow will build upon the extensive work that has already been accomplished by Prof Falzon’s research groups, to further develop a multiscale finite-element modelling capability to accurately capture the energy absorption of composite structures.
The concept of a ‘crush stress’ in a finite element model using 2D shell elements, will be expanded and adopted within a computational multiscale framework where laminate coupon tests, required to extract crush stresses for various geometries and layups, are simulated using a high-fidelity damage model developed by Prof Falzon. Further research and development are required to (i) establish a reliable modelling strategy to capture crush initiation in coupons with specific trigger geometries; (ii) accurately model the response of plies crushed in a direction not aligned with the principal fibre direction; (iii) capture the response of the crushing of 2D/3D woven FRPs which exhibits a more complex response than unidirectional (UD) plies; and (iv) explore strain rate – material property relationships.
This capability will be used to aid the design of energy-absorbing CFRP structures and will be validated using a set of manufactured energy-absorbing composite sub-assembly representative structures and other test results available in the literature.
In parallel to the computation work, the Research Fellow, assisted by PhD students, will explore experimental approaches for the acquisition of interlaminar and intralaminar dynamic fracture toughness values required for the computational analysis.
Skills and Experiences
The ideal candidate will hold a doctoral qualification in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline, have demonstrated expertise in the finite element modelling of FRP composite structures and possess an advanced understanding of the fracture and damage mechanics of these materials, experience in developing user subroutines in ABAQUS and proficiency in FORTRAN coding are essential. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of delivering high-quality research, evidenced by publications in Q1 journals, excellent oral and written communication skills, along with strong interpersonal abilities, are required to work effectively within our team. Additionally, you will have the capacity to contribute to the supervision of Honours and HDR students and have experience in conducting material and structural testing.
Applicants should be aware that this role will be based at Hassall Street, Parramatta Campus, however as Western Sydney University is a multi-campus university travel to other campuses may be required when operational needs arise.
If you are passionate about advancing research in this field and thrive in a collaborative environment, we encourage you to apply ensuring you carefully address each of the questions in your application. Please review the position description for further information.
Remuneration Package: Academic Level A $106,765 to $128,989 p.a. (comprising Salary of $90,218 to $108,997 p.a., plus Superannuation and Leave Loading)
Position Enquiries: Please contact Brian Falzon, Dean, School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment via email at B.Falzon@westernsydney.edu.au
Recruitment Enquiries: Specific enquiries or issues with your application may be directed to the Recruitment Team at recruitmentpartnerships@westernsydney.edu.au
Closing Date: 8:30 pm on Friday 20 September 2024
Working Rights in Australia - Eligibility: You must provide evidence of your fulltime working rights in Australia for the full term of the appointment at time of application.
Note: Only those applications submitted via the WSU online recruitment system will be accepted.
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Western Sydney University is committed to diversity and social inclusion. Applications from people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; equity target groups including women, people with disabilities, people who identify as LGBTIQ, and people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent are encouraged.
If you require assistance in using the System, please email recruitmentpartnerships@westernsydney.edu.au or phone the Recruitment Helpline on (02) 9852 5422. Please note, we do not accept applications for roles to the recruitmentpartnerships@westernsydney.edu.au email.