Vacant PhD topics at the Delft University of Technology

Subject Mean value first principle approach to combustion modelling in

diesel engine for propulsion simulation (re: marine engineering)
Researcher To be decided
Contact Ir. H. Grimmelius, Associate Professor; Section Ship Design, Faculty
of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University
of Technology
Short description For propulsion simulation the use of very detailed modelling of the in-
cylinder processes in the diesel engine is not required. What is required
is an adequate mean value description of the changes of the combustion
and air supply (turbocharger) under various operational conditions. In
the engine model developed in Delft a first principle approach
(Seiliger's thermodynamic description) is used for the in-cylinder
process. This model contains three parameters to describe the shape of
the combustion. Finding, explaining and implementing a relation
between operational conditions and these parameters using a first
principle approach has been attempted but definitely needs further
research and validation

Subject Integrated propulsion and manoeuvring control (re: marine

engineering
Researcher To be decided
Contact Ir. H. Grimmelius, Associate Professor; Section Ship Design, Faculty
of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University
of Technology
Short description For a propulsion and manoeuvring plant the control of the various
actuators (CPP, engine, rudder) is now mostly separated, mainly
because the manufacturers of these components have their own
automation equipment that normally is developed in splendid isolation.
The ship’s officers are supposed to be the integrating factor, with
knowledge of the interaction between the various components, the ship
and the environment. While trying to reduce maintenance, failure risk,
environmental impact, underwater noise, vibrations, fuel consumption
etcetera, during a manoeuvre or under certain operational conditions,
the human operator should be supported by a control systems that takes
part of these consideration from his hand (and head). Research must be
conducted what functionalities are required and how it must be
attributed to several levels of control.

1
Subject Dynamic modelling of electric propulsion plants (re: marine
engineering)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. H. Grimmelius, Associate Professor; Section Ship Design, Faculty
of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University
of Technology
Short description ‘All Electric Ships’ are widely used in the cruise ship industry and the
preferred option for future naval ships for at least two major navies.
The Royal Netherlands Navy is committed to the all electric concept in
their submarines, landing dock platforms and underwater research
vessels. Under the umbrella of the AES platform in recent years the
benefits for other ships types has been investigated. For the initial
design, insight in the dynamic behaviour of the propulsion plant is
beneficial and would allow better definition of the plant and a more
comprehensive evaluation of the design. Existing models are either too
detailed and complex (requiring both detailed knowledge and
specification not yet available in the early design stages), or too simple.
A modular system is envisaged, based on first principle mean value
models of the major components based on the experience of the group
gained with components of more conventional propulsion systems.

Subject Fault prediction in auxiliary systems using simulation models (re:

marine engineering)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. H. Grimmelius, Associate Professor; Section Ship Design, Faculty
of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University
of Technology
Short description In an earlier study the possibility of predicting faulty behaviour with
simulation models was investigated for compression refrigeration
plants. One of the results was a recommendation to try the same
approach on complex systems with simple components, such as an
HVAC or a cooling water system. The two main questions that should
be answered within this research are:
1. Is it possible to reliably predict faulty behaviour of these systems
with simulation models
2. Is there a generic approach possible to fault development in common
components such as pumps, heat exchangers, valves etcetera

2
Subject Modelling and controlling HVAC systems (re: marine engineering
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. H. Grimmelius, Associate Professor; Section Ship Design, Faculty
of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University
of Technology
Short description Heating and air conditioning systems are of vital importance to some
ship types, such as passenger and naval vessels. A start has been made
to develop a comprehensive modular model for these systems, and
prototype models have been developed and demonstrated. The true
modular approach and the faulty behaviour prediction are not yet
completed. With the model, research should be initiated to develop
control strategies for HVAC systems, including automatic
reconfiguration of the system in case of fire or other emergencies.

Subject Application of state-of-the-art evaporation models in marine

engineering simulation models (re: marine engineering)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. H. Grimmelius, Associate Professor; Section Ship Design, Faculty
of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University
of Technology
Short description Several simulations models used within marine engineering involve
evaporation and condensation. These range from diesel engines (fuel
evaporation before combustion) to HVAC (condensation and
evaporation of refrigerants in the condenser and evaporator of chillers)
Also the condensation of steam as These are very complex phenomena
that are generally dealt with in a (over) simplistic way (i.e.
equilibrium). Trying to integrate more advanced models based on non-
equilibrium thermodynamics should lead to better models and a better
understanding of the behaviour of the equipment.

Subject Through life reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM)

assessment in shipping
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. H. Grimmelius, Associate Professor; Section Ship Design, Faculty
of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University
of Technology
Short description Reliability engineering as a tool for integrated life cycle management is
used in two ways: to asses quantitative results for plant availability but
also for estimating the probability of unsafe situations (i.e. availability
analysis and safety analysis). In an earlier PhD study already a link was
made between the two by optimising the maintenance effort and the
availability of the ship along lines of equal safety level.
To make such a RAM assessment possible a lot of reliability data is
required. Since many ship owners use an automated maintenance
systems this data could be made available. Based on a proper analysis
of such data the earlier work could be extended.

3
Subject Part load and transient emissions from ships
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. H. Grimmelius, Associate Professor; Section Ship Design, Faculty
of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University
of Technology
Short description Emissions from ships, especially NOx ,SOx and particulates, are
becoming a important issue now there is made good progress in
reducing land based emissions. Especially in congested coastal waters
and ports, emissions from shipping are becoming a major source of air
pollution. Simultaneously, coastal waters and ports are also the area
were ships manoeuvre the most and engines often run at reduced load
and speed. Emissions in part load and during transients are however not
very well known and even less understood. The research should focus
on these phenomena as well explore ways and means of specifying
sailing profiles based on statistical analysis of real time voyages.

4
Subject Quality modelling (re: ship production)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr. ir. U. Nienhuis MBA; section Ship Production, Faculty of
Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of
Technology
Short description An important characteristic of shipbuilding is the nature of its products,
i.e. one-offs or very small series. For the control of the building process
and the research necessary to improve that, this implies that the
“quality” of the product cannot be determined in the traditional,
experimental way. For products that are produced in large quantities the
quality is determined in a prototype, 0-series and also during later
production series. It is determined by comparing actually produced
product parameter values with specified parameter values. Analysis of
the discrepancies is fed back to design of the product and the
production facility.
This approach is not applicable for products which are engineered-to-
order, as usual in utility construction and shipbuilding. But these
industries also have an urgent need for increase in quality (first-time-
right) because the failure costs may rise up to 15% of the total value of
the product according to some indicators.
For the development of models (virtual models, simulation models) of
the (ship)building processes a representation of the quality of the
product is problematic. But it is required for instance to be able to build
simulation models wherein a proper judgement can be made between
the amount of time spent on design and engineering on one hand and
the repercussions on the necessary production efforts at the other hand.
A first scan of literature by a PhD candidate for a simulation model of
engineering processes seems to show that this “quality”-subject is
hardly investigated so far. This is more or less confirmed by fellow
researchers. They limit themselves to assumptions of fault percentages,
amounts of rework and statistical chances for matters going wrong, in
which wrong is a binary value: totally good or totally wrong. However,
for complex systems the reality is much more complicated than this
approach.
Given the importance and the scientific challenge of this problem a full
and thorough literature research is required, followed by some initial
probes into the matter. This should lead to a potentially feasible
approach and a draft project plan.
In co-operation with other institutes a full project plan will be drafted to
accommodate one or two positions for a PhD research.

5
Subject Autonomous robots (re: ship production)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr. ir. U. Nienhuis MBA; section Ship Production, Faculty of
Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of
Technology
Short description In the department Maritime and Transport Technology, section Ship
Production ongoing research and development is devoted to automated ship
production for various parts of the shipbuilding process.

This subject is dedicated to research and development of (largely)

autonomous robots capable of tracing required materials, handling &
transport, manipulation & positioning, actual assembly and registration of
work in progress. Different application areas are envisaged including
welding, shipbuilding work, conservation and painting in various
shipbuilding niches such as yacht building and commercial shipbuilding.

Typical steps in the research are:

1. Analysis of shipbuilding process to be robotised;
2. Functional analysis of robot systems;
3. Concept exploration of possible solutions and selection of best
alternatives;
4. Functional design of robot solution including organisational
embedding;
5. Detailed technical design and validation of robot solutions;
6. Analysis of performance by means of virtual manufacturing;
7. Realisation of (part) pilot plant;
8. Monitoring, validation and evaluation;
9. Reporting & publications.

The elements mentioned above offer ample possibilities for PhD research
for MSc graduates in Marine & Mechanical Technology with a strong
affinity to automation, robotisation, ICT and simulation.

6
Subject Application of (portable) ICT for the shipbuilding production process
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr. ir. U. Nienhuis MBA; section Ship Production, Faculty of
Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of
Technology
Short description Monitoring and control of the production process during assembly,
outfitting and commissioning are mainly based on lists, drawings and
oral arrangements. Portable ICT is not used: not for retrieval of
production data on the spot, not to collect or to transfer logistic data,
not to obtain assembly instructions or job orders and not to report
completed activities.
That is a pity for two reasons. In the first place further application of
ICT can save costs and secondly it could contribute to a better insight
in the daily matters as regards productivity, failures, obscurities, etc.
In the Japanese industry there is some limited development on a
wearable PC-system and both in Japan and Germany some little
experiments are done with RFID to locate components.
Reason to investigate whether this subject is feasible for application in
the shipbuilding industry.
Following questions could be relevant for such research:
- what is the productivity in various shipbuilding processes
depending of the circumstances (accessibility, complexity,
labour skill, facilities)
- how can RFID systems be applied in an environment with a lot
of steel, bad climatic circumstances, rough treatment of
components, interfering processes like grinding and
preservation, etc.
- what should be the ergonomic design of a portable and robust
ICT-system for production support to allow a sensible use by
people with limited skill.
- How to realize a formal (automatic) knowledge system which
translates the registered experiences with this portable system
in recommendations for design and engineering on one hand
and for the organization (design for production) on the other
hand.

7
Subject Development of a safety based design methodology for ships (re: ship
design)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. H. Boonstra, Associate Professor; Section Ship Design, Faculty of
Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of
Technology
Short description The design of seagoing vessels is traditionally for a major part
regulated by prescriptive rules and guidelines formulated by national
authorities and classification societies. Broadly speaking the national
authorities are concerned with stability, reserve buoyancy, operational
aspects, crew qualifications, safety of personnel and protection of the
environment whereas the classification societies care for the strength of
the hull, for the machinery and equipment. Requirements of national
authorities are internationally harmonized through the International
Maritime Organization (IMO), in the sense that IMO proposes
requirements, which may be enforced by national authorities. With
classification rules, the harmonization is organized through IACS (the
International Association of Classification Societies). The classification
societies organized within IACS have agreed to mutually accept ships,
which are built under another class within the IACS group.

In recent years there is a strong tendency in the maritime community to

move from prescriptive rules towards formulation of a required safety
level.
There are several reasons for this shift:
• the emergence of new ship types, for which traditional standards
are no longer applicable
• the increase in availability of application tools, computation speed
and of information technology
• the increase in technical knowledge regarding the behaviour of
ships in (extreme) environmental conditions

Within the IMO this has led in recent years to the proposal of using
Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) as a tool for improvement and
rationalization of regulations. For the time being it appears that the
application of FSA is rather time-consuming whereas the level of
accuracy is questionable due to the use of a 'generic ship concept'
instead of a specific situation, as is done in safety analyses for offshore
field developments: the so called Safety Case.

The present situation i.e. the assessment of safety in shipping with

prescriptive, 'old fashioned' rules is not satisfying. The experience with
FSA as proposed by IMO shows limitations. The application, for each
individual ship, of a full size Safety Case, as required for offshore field
developments, seems too costly and too time-consuming.
This proposal comprises the development of engineering tools that
avoid these shortcomings and enable naval architects to evaluate safety
aspects of ships in a probabilistic way, using up-to date technical
knowledge.

Work plan
8
The work plan encompasses the development of tools, to be used by
naval architects, for the assessment of ships in severe environmental
conditions. The method provides data, in a probabilistic way, on
aspects as immersion, stability, accelerations, certain sea loads,
(operational aspects?). The tools will be based on existing analytical
codes and codes that are presently under development (such as non-
linear motion assessment). The general structure of the method follows
the Qualified Risk Assessment (QRA) procedure, i.e. system definition,
hazard identification, risk assessment, risk control option assessment,
cost benefit analysis. Part of work is related to adapting and
streamlining existing analytical codes and the search for and
establishment of accurate statistical data.

Scientific aspects
The work will rationalize and quantify safety-related aspects in marine
design. Never before have different aspects of safety in marine design
brought in relation with each other in a rational manner. When 'design'
is defined as the integration of scientific knowledge, and as such an 'art'
on scientific level, the work is a leap forward in providing a more
scientific basis for a number of aspects in marine design. It

Expected results
The work will result in a prototype tool for ship design, encompassing
probabilistic methods, in particular for safety and economical aspects.
With the tool safety is addressed in an explicit and quantified way,
leading to more rational design choices than in case of using present-
day prescriptive regulations. Implementation day-to-day design practice
will enhance the acceptance of new ship types and new developments
in marine technology.

9
Subject Safety Assessment in Ship Design
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. H. Boonstra, Associate Professor; section Ship Design, Faculty of
Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of
Technology
Short description Traditionally, design methods in marine technology have a strong
deterministic and procedural approach, regulated by prescriptive rules and
guidelines. Safety consequences however, should preferably be evaluated
during the conceptual phase of a design, based on an accepted safety level.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) advocates the application of
Formal Safety Assessment as a tool for rule development. This initiative
although an improvement with respect to the past suffers from shortcomings
due to its generic nature and resources required. Safety aspects of marine
transport systems should be evaluated in a probabilistic manner, combined
with the application of up-to-date technical and scientific knowledge. As ICT
applications facilitate new design concepts and self-reliance of crew and
passengers is emphasized, the maritime community is moving towards
requirements for accepted safety levels. Similar developments are present in
other transport modalities, in the design of petrochemical plants and in large-
scale civil projects, where probabilistic aspects are incorporated in design
procedures.
The main research issue of the project focuses on the development of a vessel
design methodology of a combined probabilistic and deterministic nature. The
methodology is based on existing maritime codes and practices and provides
the integration of integral safety and scientific knowledge in the design of
maritime objects.
Research questions are:
- which performance indicators are required and what quantified data have
to be applied to integrate safety in all phases of the design process.
- how can safety be integrated in a probabilistic and deterministic way in the
design methodology and subsequent assessment procedures
- how can this methodology be implemented in the design tradition in the
marine community in view of international harmonization requirements.
-
The general structure of the method follows the Quantitative Risk Analysis
procedure, i.e. system definition, hazard identification, risk assessment, risk
control option assessment and cost-benefit analysis. In addition, integration
of scientific knowledge in the marine design process is pursued. Part of the
work is related to adapting and streamlining existing analytical tools and
codes and the search for and establishment of accurate statistical data.
The work will result in a prototype tool for ship design, encompassing
probabilistic methods, in particular for safety and economical aspects. The
tool addresses safety explicitly and quantified, leading to a rational design
approach rather than a prescriptive and regulatory approach. Implementation
will enhance the acceptance of new ship types and new developments in
marine technology.

10
Subject Economic analysis of maritime innovation: tools, empirical analysis
and lessons for the future
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr. E. van Voorde; Section Ship Design, Faculty of Mechanical,
Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology
Short description • Review of maritime innovation from a technical point of view,
for a period that starts before the first oil shock (i.e. before
1973)
• Building a framework to make an economic analysis of
maritime investments (both infrastructure and equipment)
• What about the future: direction of expected innovation (based
on basic characteristics)
• Empirical analysis: economic analysis of innovative issues
• Generalisation and conclusion

Subject Optimisation of handling equipment in seaports. An economic

analysis
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr. E. van Voorde; Section Ship Design, Faculty of Mechanical,
Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology
Short description • Analysing handling equipment in seaports (from a technical
point of view)
• Cost modelling (both the investment and the operational side)
• Handling within the logistics chain
• Optimisation issues (proposing changes and estimating the
consequences)
• Generalisation and conclusions

Subject Optimisation of handling equipment in seaports. An economic

analysis
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr. E. van Voorde; Section Ship Design, Faculty of Mechanical,
Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology
Short description • Analysing handling equipment in seaports (from a technical
point of view)
• Cost modelling (both the investment and the operational side)
• Handling within the logistics chain
• Optimisation issues (proposing changes and estimating the
consequences)
• Generalisation and conclusions

11
Subject Hydro-elastic analysis of finite element analysis procedure of a ship
hull
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. G. Hommel, Associate Professor, Section Ship Structures, Faculty of
Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of
Technology
Short description Hydro-elastic analysis with regard to:
The development of a finite element analysis procedure of a ship hull
including the resulting hull pressures and inertia forces due to
prescribed ship motions. These forces and pressures result from ship
motion analysis based on diffraction programs. The calculated response
allows determining of the fatigue behaviour. (Together with Ship
Hydrodynamicss; Interaction of water pressure and deformation.
(Together with Ship Hydrodynamics)

Subject Adhesives in maritime structures

Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. G. Hommel, Associate Professor, Section Ship Structures, Faculty of
Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of
Technology Ir. G. Hommel, Associate Professor, Section Ship
Structures
Short description Application of adhesive bonding in maritime structures. Together with
TU Delft’s Adhesion Institute.

Subject Welding of aluminium (re: ship structures)

Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Ir. G. Hommel, Associate Professor, Section Ship Structures, Faculty of
Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of
Technology Ir. G. Hommel, Associate Professor, Section Ship
Structures
Short description Welding of aluminium: possibilities, fatigue aspects. Together with
Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering.

12
Subject Fatigue and crack resistance of cement treated materials (re: road
engineering)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr.ir. A.A.A. Molenaar; Section Road & Railway Engineering,
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of
Technology
Short description Cement is used very often as a binder for stabilising bases and sub-
bases for pavement structures. Cement treated materials however are
prone to shrinkage and fatigue cracking and for that reason knowledge
about the crack and fatigue resistance of such materials is important.
Testing the fatigue resistance of cement treated materials however is
cumbersome because of the brittle nature of the material and the
variation in characteristics. Because of that a fatigue test on a cement
treated material can easily range between a few minutes and a couple of
weeks. All this implies that there is a need for a procedure that allows
estimating the fatigue resistance of these materials in a simple way.
Such procedures have been developed for asphalt mixtures where it has
been shown that the slope (n) of the fatigue relation (log N = k1 – n log
ε ) strongly depends on the slope (m) of the relationship between
loading time and resilient modulus (log E* = a – m log t). Furthermore
it has been shown for asphalt mixtures that the intercept value of the
fatigue relation (k1) depends on the tensile strength, the fracture energy,
m, the shape of the load signal and the geometry of the specimen. It is
believed that similar relationships could be developed for cement
treated materials. Influence factors to be involved are cement type and
amount of cement, water/cement ratio, type of material to be stabilised.
As part of this project, the influence of e.g. moisture and freeze – thaw
cycles on the fatigue and cracking resistance of cement treated
materials should be analyzed as well.

13
Subject Design method for reflective cracking in pavements (re: road
engineering)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr.ir. A.A.A. Molenaar; Section Road & Railway Engineering,
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of
Technology
Short description Pavements with a cement treated base suffer from reflective cracking.
Reflective cracking is cracking that has initiated in the cement treated
base due to shrinkage and fatigue which is propagating through the
asphalt layers placed on top of the base. Next to that edge load
conditions develop near the crack which can cause further cracking to
develop. Because of the reduced load carrying capacity of cracked
pavements and because water will penetrate the crack, rapid
deterioration of the pavement near the crack can take place. It will be
clear that reflective cracking is a major cause for maintenance and for
that reason a design method that takes into account the effects of
thermal shrinkage and traffic loads on the development of reflective
cracking is needed. Reflective cracking in pavements can be analysed
using principles of fracture mechanics together with finite element
analyses. In spite of the fact that today’s computer technology allows to
make complex calculations in a very short time, finite element
techniques are still considered to be a tool for researchers than a tool
for practice. The goal of the project therefore is to develop a user
friendly design methodology to analyse reflective cracking. The
methodology should be based on a large number of finite element runs
on different types of structures. The results of these analyses should
then be treated with Artificial Neural Network Techniques in order to
obtain a methodology which can easily be used by practice.

14
Subject Durability of porous asphalt concrete (re: road engineering)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr.ir. A.A.A. Molenaar; Section Road & Railway Engineering,
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of
Technology
Short description Porous asphalt concrete is widely applied because of its ability to
reduce traffic noise. The problem with such layers however is the high
void content (> 20%) which makes such layers vulnerable for the
influences of traffic and climate. It appears that adhesive cracking
(failure in the aggregate-bitumen interface) is one of the main causes
for early failure of porous asphalt concrete. Although a lot of practical
knowledge is available on the adhesion between aggregates and
bituminous mortars, the topic has not yet been studied from a
fundamental point of view. This is necessary in order to understand the
driving mechanisms and in order to be able to develop materials with
improved characteristics. The analysis of the adhesion phenomenon is
complicated by the fact that aging due to oxygen, temperature and uv
radiation changes the adhesive characteristics significantly during the
lifetime of the pavement. Furthermore moisture can have a significant
influence resulting in stripping of the bituminous binder from the
aggregates. All these aspects have to be taken into account in the
research project.

Subject Self healing of asphalt mixes (re: road engineering)

Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr.ir. A.A.A. Molenaar; Section Road & Railway Engineering,
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of
Technology
Short description Bituminous materials have to some extent a self healing capacity. This
capacity however decreases sharply when the material gets aged.
Several chemical and biological treatments however could improve the
healing capacity of asphalt mixes after e.g. the bituminous mortar has
hardened to a certain extent or when a certain amount of micro damage
has developed. This research topic, which involves a lot of physics and
chemistry, could result in products by which the lifetime of asphalt
pavements can be increased significantly.

15
Subject Intelligent asphalt pavements (re : road engineering)
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr.ir. A.A.A. Molenaar; Section Road & Railway Engineering,
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of
Technology
Short description Currently pavement maintenance is decided on the visual condition and
the bending stiffness of the pavement. The current problem with these
measurements however is that are done by foot, or using a slow moving
vehicle. It is clear that such types of measurements should be avoided
when traffic volumes are high; in such cases a much more intelligent
way of damage assessment is needed. Damage is mostly a result of the
detrimental effects of traffic and climate but initial flaws can be built in
during the construction process and might be present from the very
beginning causing premature maintenance. For that reason it is very
useful if the presence of those initial flaws can be monitored as soon as
possible. It is a well known fact however that the initiation of micro
damage can be monitored by means of ultra sound measurements.
Furthermore infra red techniques have shown to be useful in
monitoring potential weak spots. Nevertheless there is still a lot of
room for the development of new measurement techniques (like
measurement of background radioactivity) installment of chips
measuring temperature, stresses and moisture conditions, mixing in of
special products like fibres which allow the damage progression to be
measured using e.g. electromagnetic techniques etc. This topic should
be related to the development of such intelligent techniques.

Subject Nano modifications of bitumen (re: road engineering)

Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Prof. dr.ir. A.A.A. Molenaar; Section Road & Railway Engineering,
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of
Technology
Short description It is a well known fact that modification of polymers by means of nano
clay results in a significant improvement of the mechanical
characteristics of polymers. Since bitumen is a polymer structure,
although a very complex and disorganised one, modification of bitumen
by means of nano clay can also result in a significant improvement of
the characteristics of the bitumen. As mentioned before, bitumen is a
very complex polymer and the effect of the nano clay modification will
be dependent on the type of bitumen as well as the type of modification.
Probably some other materials need to be added to obtain the required
improvement. In this research topic the principles of the bitumen – nano
clay modification should be investigated, as well as the additional
treatments that might have to be taken in order to let the modification to
be effective. Furthermore the mechanical characteristics of the modified
and reference bitumen need to be investigated as well as their resistance
to aging.

16
Subject X-Ray CT Quantification of Microstructural Damage Development in
Asphalt Concrete
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Dr.ir. A. Scarpas / Dr. ir. X. Liu
Section of Structural Mechanics, Faculty of Civil Engineering and
Geosciences, Delft University of Technology
Short description Asphalt is a complex multi-phase material comprising mineral aggregate,
bitumen and air. Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) is produced by mixing graded
aggregates with bitumen at an elevated temperature and compacting the
mixture using a static or vibratory roller. The level of compaction is
controlled by compacting to a target density or air void content. The
mechanical behaviour of the compacted asphalt depends strongly on the
internal distribution of aggregates and air voids.
The aim of this project is the utilization of X-Ray CT techniques to provide
three dimensional internal images of an asphalt specimen revealing thus the
internal structure and evolution of microstructure in the specimen under
monotonic and repeated loading conditions. On the basis of the
measurements, the micro-fabric tensor of the material will be related to the
observed internal damage of the specimen. In the project, special computer
software shall be developed capable of producing appropriate finite element
meshes for micromechanical finite element simulations. Good knowledge of
mechanics and Fortran programming skills are necessary.

Subject Chemo-Mechanics of Bituminous Materials

Researcher Two researchers are sought
Supervision in The Dr.ir. A. Scarpas / Dr. ir. X. Liu
Netherlands Section of Structural Mechanics, Faculty of Civil Engineering and
Geosciences, Delft University of Technology
Short description Chemo-Mechanics is a rapidly developing field which attempts to interpret
the mechanical response of engineering materials on the basis of their
physio-chemical characteristics.
In the Group of Mechanics of Structural Systems, at the Section of
Structural Mechanics of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences
of TU-Delft, a research project has been initiated focusing on the Chemo-
Mechanics of bituminous materials.
The topic combines analytical and experimental physio-chemical techniques
with fundamental mechanics principles and modern computational
procedures for the development of constitutive laws for bituminous
materials.
In the framework of this project, two PhD candidates are sought. They
should have a Masters degree in either Chemistry or Chemical Engineering
with emphasis on molecular thermo-dynamics and/or interfacial chemistry.
Both candidates are expected to spend periods of time in the USA.

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Subject Dynamic port planning under competition
Researcher To be decided
Contact DUT Dr. Ir. R.J. Verhaeghe, Associate Professor; Section Transport and
Planning, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of
Technology
Short description Containerization has caused a revolution in design and operation of freight
transportation modes and cargo handling facilities. Ports, as important
nodes in an extensive network of transport facilities, have to make strategic
decisions in the face of a strongly growing market and volatile demand. The
volume of containerized transport is expected to double in the next 10 years.
The aim of the research is to provide the port authority with an approach
and tool to optimize its decision making. This requires research into a
dynamic investment modeling for the port node, which needs to integrate
information on congestion in relation to physical characteristics of the port,
scale effects, competition, self-financing, the flow of freight in an
international multi-modal network, and the wide uncertainty in the projected
(market dependent) demand for port service.

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