Higher Degree by Research Application Portal

These three PhD scholarships support the development of engineering guidance for bonded composite repairs to steel structures, with a focus on offshore and fire-sensitive applications. Although composite repairs are well established in aerospace, they remain underused in structural engineering due to concerns about fire resistance, long-term durability, and risk perception.

This work contributes to overcoming these limitations by addressing:

• Durability, including resistance to corrosion, fatigue, and environmental exposure over time.

• Fire performance, ensuring repairs provide structural capacity under fire loading, do not intensify fire risks (e.g., through combustion or toxic smoke), and do not compromise containment or fire-critical systems.

• Design approaches, covering full section replacement, reinstatement of lost material, and load-path-specific repair configurations.

• Industry confidence, through risk-based comparison with hot work repairs or deferred maintenance strategies.

The candidates will contribute to both experimental and modelling streams, supporting fire and aging tests, numerical design modelling, and input into guidance documents aligned with ISO, AS, or NORSOK frameworks.

Preferred background:

Applicants should hold a degree in structural engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science, aerospace engineering, or a closely related field. The ideal candidates will have:

• A solid understanding of structural mechanics and materials behaviour

• Exposure to composite materials and/or adhesive bonding

• Interest in durability assessment and long-term performance modelling

• Familiarity with structural fire engineering or material response to elevated temperatures

• Experience with finite element analysis (e.g. Abaqus, ANSYS, or similar)

• Strong analytical skills in data handling, simulation, or reliability-based design

• Willingness to engage in experimental lab work, including fire testing and specimen preparation

• A proactive approach to interdisciplinary research and collaboration with industry

Applications are submitted via the UWA HDR Admissions Portal:  https://researchdegrees.uwa.edu.au/. For assistance with the UWA application contact applications-grs@uwa.edu.au.

A/Prof Farhad Aslani

farhad.aslani@uwa.edu.au

https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/farhad-aslani