PhD Studentship: Thermo-Mechanical Constitutive Modelling of Concrete under Multiaxial Loading

Application deadline: All year round

This 3.5-year PhD studentship is open to Home (UK) applicants. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26; subject to annual uplift), and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year.

We recommend that you apply early as the advert will be removed once the position has been filled.

Concrete under high temperature is rarely subjected to simple uniaxial loading. In reality, structures such as nuclear systems, tunnels, underground transport infrastructure, and composite columns experience combined compression, tension, and shear while simultaneously undergoing severe thermal gradients. Yet most current material models and design approaches are based on simplified stress states and uniform temperature assumptions. This PhD will investigate the thermo-mechanical behaviour of concrete under multiaxial stress at elevated temperatures, with a particular focus on how strength degradation, stiffness loss, damage evolution, and transient creep interact under coupled loading. The project will develop temperature-dependent constitutive models informed by numerical simulation. Machine learning techniques will be integrated to enhance predictive capability, while explainable AI methods will be employed to identify the governing parameters controlling failure surface evolution and to ensure physical interpretability of the results. The research will generate understanding of concrete behaviour under realistic fire conditions and support more reliable performance-based design approaches for critical infrastructure.

The successful candidate will benefit from access to extensive expertise across The University of Manchester in civil engineering, structural engineering, fire engineering, computational modelling, and data-driven analysis. The project will be supported by a strong research environment with experience in concrete behaviour at elevated temperatures, constitutive modelling, and advanced numerical simulation. The supervisory team, Dr Rwayda Al-Hamd, Dr Lee Cunningham, and Professor Yong Wang, also has an established network of national and international collaborators, which will provide opportunities for short- and medium-term research visits and broader academic engagement as part of the PhD. The candidate will be encouraged and supported to publish their findings in leading journals and to present their work at major international conferences.

Applicants should have a 1st or high 2:1 honours degree (or international equivalent) in mathematics, physics, engineering, computer science or other related discipline. Programming skills in any language and knowledge of numerical methods for solving differential equations are highly desirable. Knowledge of heat transfer is advantageous. Applicants are expected to have a proactive attitude towards independent problem-solving and strong written and verbal communication skills.

To apply, please contact the main supervisor, Dr Rwayda Alhamd - rwayda.alhamd@manchester.ac.uk. Please include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.

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