PhD Position in Cryogenic and Characterisation of Aerospace Materials

PhD Position in Cryogenic and Dynamic Characterisation of Aerospace Materials

Optical measurements become significantly more challenging at temperatures approaching 20 K. Develop new methods to reveal how aerospace materials deform and become damaged under cryogenic and dynamic loading. Your research will contribute to safer hydrogen-powered aircraft structures.

How do aerospace materials deform and fail at temperatures approaching 20 K (-250 °C)? And how does their behaviour change under dynamic loading? In this PhD project, you will develop experimental and optical measurement methods to answer these questions and support the safe introduction of hydrogen-based aviation technologies. Hydrogen has significant potential as an alternative aviation fuel, but its storage requires substantially more volume than jet fuel and the use of cylindrical tanks.

Integrating these tanks into the aircraft fuselage makes their structural integrity crucial to passenger safety. Yet we still lack a fundamental understanding of how aerospace materials behave at cryogenic temperatures, particularly in contact with hydrogen and across different strain rates.

You will investigate deformation mechanisms, strain localisation and damage from quasi-static to dynamic loading. A central challenge is developing optical testing methods that remain accurate despite the large temperature gradients present in cryogenic experiments. You will explore full-field techniques such as digital image correlation, speckle and grid methods, interferometry, digital holography, structured-light and fringe projection, deflectometry, pattern tracking, high-speed imaging and thermography.

Complementary photonic sensing approaches, such as fibre Bragg grating sensors, may also be considered. Your research will determine which optical measurement techniques can reliably capture deformation and damage under cryogenic conditions, how experimental constraints can be overcome, and how strain rate influences material behaviour. The resulting experimental data will be used to validate numerical models and contribute to certification by analysis of future composite structures.

The project is part of the Dutch Aviation Systems Analysis Lab (DASAL), a collaboration between TU Delft and Royal NLR within the Dutch Luchtvaart in Transitie programme. You will be based in the Optical Metrology for Aerospace (OMA) and Design of Structures research groups within the Aerospace Structures & Materials (ASM) department at TU Delft’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering . OMA is a young, interdisciplinary and international research group focusing on optical instrumentation, interferometry and photonics for optical metrology applications.

You will be supervised by Dr Andrei Anisimov and Dr Saullo Castro. You will publish your findings, present them at conferences and project meetings, and communicate with both scientific and industrial audiences. You may also supervise MSc students, contribute to education and ongoing research, and develop your own research ideas.

• You hold an MSc in optical engineering, photonics, aerospace or mechanical engineering, applied physics, materials science, experimental mechanics, instrumentation, or a related field.
• You have a strong interest in experimental testing, material characterisation and material behaviour under extreme environmental and loading conditions.
• You have hands‑on experience with experimental setups, measurement systems, optical measurement techniques, mechanical testing or laboratory instrumentation.
• Experience with full-field optical methods, image processing, high‑speed imaging, cryogenic testing, composites, numerical modelling or non‑destructive testing is an advantage.
• You can work independently while collaborating effectively with researchers from different disciplines.
• You communicate clearly and are motivated to share your research with scientific, industrial and general audiences.
• You have a good command of English, enabling you to work effectively with academic, industrial and project stakeholders.

The outcomes of this project will be disseminated to the scientific community, industrial stakeholders…