PhD Studentship: Closed-Loop Electromagnetic Microstructure Control During Hot Strip Mill Run-Out Table Cooling

Funding Source: Direct Company Funding

Sponsor/ Supporting Company: SMS group

Start Date: 1 October 2026 

Project Overview

WMG, University of Warwick is offering a fully funded 4-year PhD studentship in partnership with SMS Group, a world-leading supplier of metallurgical plant and rolling mill technology.

Project: Closed-Loop Electromagnetic Microstructure Control During Hot Strip Mill Run-Out Table Cooling

The mechanical properties of hot-rolled flat steel are almost entirely determined by the microstructure formed during run-out table (ROT) cooling — yet ROT cooling is currently controlled in an entirely open-loop manner, with no real-time measurement of the microstructure being produced. This PhD will develop and demonstrate, for the first time, a closed-loop EM-based microstructure control system on the WMG pilot run-out table.

The project builds a four-layer signal chain: (1) a composition-parameterised electromagnetic forward model valid across industrial steel grades at 500–950°C; (2) a multi-frequency eddy current sensor validated against real ROT measurements; (3) a real-time physics-constrained state estimator integrating JMAK transformation kinetics with the EM forward model; and (4) a model predictive controller commanding the laminar cooling banks. Closed-loop EM microstructure control has not previously been demonstrated in the open literature.

Funding: This studentship is funded directly by SMS Group and provides a stipend at the standard UK EPSRC rate (currently £19,237 per year) plus full tuition fees. Start date: 1 October 2026.

Eligibility: UK students only. Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a first or upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a closely related discipline.

Supervisors: Dr Frank Zhou and Prof Claire Davies (WMG, University of Warwick).

To apply, please contact the WMG Research Degrees team via the above 'Apply' button.

For informal enquiry please contact Dr Frank Zhou at lei.zhou@warwick.ac.uk.

Funding information

Direct company funding. Stipend at the standard UK EPSRC rate plus full tuition fees.

Stipend

Standard UK EPSRC Stipend (currently £19,237 per year, 2024/25 rate)

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