Electron microscopy and phase transformation Research Fellow
College / Directorate Brunel Centre for Advance Solidification Technology
Full Time / Part Time Full Time
Posted Date 16/02/2021
Closing Date 17/03/2021
Position no: 13045-1
Salary (Grade R1): £33,797 - £40,322 per annum plus £2,166 per annum London Weighting
Full-time, fixed-term for 30 months
Applications from suitably qualified and well motivated individuals are invited for the position of a Research Fellow to work on an EPSRC funded project to develop a new generation of high performance wrought aluminium alloys based on strain enhanced precipitation using thermomechanical processing in the Advanced Metal Casting Centre (AMCC) and Advanced Metal Processing Centre (AMPC), part of BCAST at Brunel University London. In collaboration with Constellium, you will be developing wrought aluminium alloys with ultra-high strength, good ductility, high crashworthiness and high thermal conductivity by maximising the strain enhanced precipitation process.
BCAST is a speciality research centre focusing on solidification related research with an international reputation and is the host of the national centre of excellence in liquid metal engineering (the EPSRC Centre – LiME). BCAST is well equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for both solidification processing and materials characterisation. See http://bcast.brunel.ac.uk for more information. Both the AMCC & AMPC form a new state of the art scale up facility that bridges the gap between fundamental research and full scale industrialisation and is aimed at meeting the short, medium and long term needs of the automotive industry.
This position aims to contribute to the development of the ultra-high strength aluminium alloys through the enhanced understanding of the fundamental science and the precise mechanisms behind the formation of defects in the as-quenched state of a solid solution and precipitation mechanisms including pre-nucleation, and effect of precipitate-dislocation interactions using advanced electron microscopy techniques.
The successful candidate will be able to conduct advanced transmission electron microscopy investigations of the alloys developed to understand the microstructure evolution independently to understand the constituent phases in the microstructures, dislocation and defect structures observed in the microstructures at various stages of processing. You should be able to independently work with advanced transmission electron microscopy techniques including but not limited to High resolution scanning electron microscopy, atomic resolution electron microscopy and associated techniques, FIB microscopy techniques. Candidate should have a good understanding of light metal metallurgy especially aluminium alloy metallurgy, an understanding of precipitation processes in light metals would be advantageous. You also expected to interact with other researchers in BCAST and research engineers from Constellium.
The successful candidate should have a PhD degree in materials science, metallurgy and engineering, physics or another suitable engineering discipline, and should have a sound background in physical metallurgy. Research experience in solidification & thermomechanical processing of metallic materials, skills in microstructural characterisation using advanced electron microscopy techniques and a working knowledge of various sample preparation techniques are essential. In addition, you should have good communication and presentation skills and be a team player.
Informal enquiries should be directed to Prof. Zhongyun Fan (zhongyun.fan@brunel.ac.uk) or Dr Chamini Mendis (chamini.mendis@brunel.ac.uk).
Closing date for receipt of applications is: 17 March 2021.