PhD Studentship: Rock Fracture and Fragmentation - Imperial London, UK

PhD Studentship: Rock Fracture and Fragmentation

IMPERIAL COLLEGE, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 15 AUGUST 2011

Background: The Rio Tinto Centre for Advanced Mineral Recovery was founded

in 2008 in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College

London. The Centre is a partnership between Imperial College and Rio Tinto,

one of the world’s largest mining companies, and is aimed at developing safer,

more efficient and environmentally friendly methods of mining - the “mine of the

future”. One of the projects within the centre is Rock Fracture and Fragmentation,

which is aimed at developing computational tools to study the fracture,

fragmentation and flow of rock within underground mines that are being mined

using the block caving method.

Technical Scope: The objective of this project is to undertake and disseminate

research in the computational modelling of rock fracturing and fragmentation

processes. Specifically, the student will develop methods for the validation and

verification of numerical simulation methods for rock fracture and fragmentation,

ranging from physical validation of the fracturing criteria, simulation of gravity

driven fall, and deformation under tension and compression.

Requirements: Applicants should have an undergraduate degree in engineering,

physics, geophysics, applied mathematics, or computer science. Applicants

should also possess the following knowledge and skills:

• Solid mechanics: knowledge of continuum mechanics and fracture mechanics.

• Numerical methods: knowledge of finite element methods and/or discrete

element methods.

• Scientific programming: ability to program in a scientific programming

language such as C/C++, Fortran, Matlab, CUDA.

• Communication: excellent writing and presentation skills.

Other details: This is a 3-year PhD studentship, paying a non-taxable bursary of

£16,000 per year. The student will work under the supervision of Prof. R W

Zimmerman and Dr. A Paluszny, with frequent interaction with Rio Tinto

engineers, and other members of the research staff at the Centre.

Application Procedure: To apply, send a copy of your CV, including academic

transcripts, to Prof. R W Zimmerman, Department of Earth Science and

Engineering, Imperial College London, r.w.zimmerman@imperial.ac.uk. The

closing date for applications is 15 August 2011.

Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based

institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research.