PhD Studentship (EPSRC FIBE3 CDT) with National Highways - Extreme Weather Implications for Concrete Behaviour

This is a four-year (1+3 MRes/PhD) studentship funded through the Cambridge EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment: Unlocking Net Zero (FIBE3 CDT). Further details can be found at https://www.net-zero-fibe-cdt.eng.cam.ac.uk/

The project is funded in collaboration with National Highways.  National Highways is the UK government company which plans, designs, builds, operates and maintains England's motorways and major A-roads, known as the strategic road network.

Due to geological abundance of its constituents, and its strength and resilience, concrete is used widely across National Highway's strategic road network in both ancillary and primary structures. However, conventional ordinary Portland cement concrete is carbon intensive so any new construction must have embodied carbon reduction at the fore and, wherever possible, the lifetime of existing infrastructure must be extended. In parallel, external weather demands on concrete during placement, and in service, are escalating due to climate change. This project therefore has elements of both concrete climate change mitigation, and adaptation.  One particular area of uncertainty is whether lower carbon concretes may exhibit greater sensitivity to harsher early age curing conditions leading to detrimental longer-term chemical or microstructural effects, and thus an undesirable reduction in quality.  Acceleration of concrete exposure conditions in practice will also be investigated to consider the effects on concrete of more extreme temperatures and repeated wetting and extended drying not previously seen in modern history.

The project objectives include: to exploit advanced digital measurement techniques in tandem with concrete characterisation experiments under controlled and/or accelerated exposure conditions e.g. temperature, humidity, carbonation; to investigate macro-scale and micro-scale models for prediction (AI tools will be used as appropriate) to infer correlation and for physics-informed modelling; to conduct evidence-based analyses of trade-offs between quality and embodied carbon.

The new knowledge derived through the project will frame guidance on acceptable weather conditions during placement and enable pre-emptive prediction of any detrimental effects due to more severe in-service exposure conditions to thereby future-proof both new and existing infrastructure.

For project-specific enquiries please e-mail Professor Janet Lees: jml1010@cam.ac.uk.  For general enquiries, please email cdtcivil-courseadmin@eng.cam.ac.uk.

Applicants should have (or expect to obtain by the start date) at least a high 2.1 degree and preferably a 1st class degree. The degree should be in engineering, sciences or a relevant discipline, and will preferably be at a Master's level. Previous expertise in concrete materials is desirable.

Fully-funded studentships (fees and maintenance) are only available for eligible home students in the first instance. A limited number of international students can be considered for funding at a later stage in the recruitment process.

Further details about eligibility and funding can be found at:

https://www.ukri.org/councils/esrc/career-and-skills-development/funding-for-postgraduate-training/eligibility-for-studentship-funding/   https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/finance/fees

https://www.cambridgetrust.org/scholarships/

Applications should be made online via the University of Cambridge Applicant Portal (via the ‘Apply’ button above), stating project title and supervisor's name. Please note there is a £20 application fee.

Early applications are strongly encouraged as an offer may be made before the stated deadline.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

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