Next-Generation CFD modelling of High-Pressure Turbine cooling

We are recruiting new Doctoral Researchers to our EPSRC funded Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) PhD studentships starting 1 October 2025. Applications are invited for the project: Next-Generation CFD modelling of High-Pressure Turbine cooling.

Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) of approximately £21,237, including inner London weighting, plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of 42 months (3.5 years).

You should be eligible for home (UK) tuition fees - there are a very limited number (no more than two) studentships available to overseas applicants, including EU nationals, who meet the academic entry criteria including English Language proficiency.

You will join the internationally recognised researchers in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Mechanical Engineering research and PhD programmes | Brunel University London

The Project

You will work within a vibrant, multi-disciplinary team in the Aerospace Research Centre within the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. There will be opportunities to engage with internationally leading academics and industrial partners such as Rolls-Royce.

Within aircraft jet engines, high-pressure turbine (HPT) blades are exposed to combustion gases. The continual trend of increasing turbine inlet temperatures leads to higher efficiency and lower emissions, yet gas temperatures far exceed metal melting points, requiring complex internal and external cooling strategies. Adequate performance prediction of HPT cooling design is thus critical, to ensure real-life performance and expected maintenance schedules are met. To predict true surface temperatures, heat transfer within both the blade material and the external gas stream must be modelled together. Within this ambitious project, next-generation Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers using Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) and associated numerical methods and AI, will be used with High Performance Computing (HPC) to improve understanding of key flow physics and inform future HPT design.

Please contact Dr James Tyacke (james.tyacke@brunel.ac.uk) for an informal discussion about the studentships.

Eligibility

Applicants will have or be expected to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree in an engineering, computer science, design, mathematics, physics or a similar discipline. A Postgraduate Masters degree is not required but may be an advantage.

Skills and experience

Applicants will be required to demonstrate their ability to identify fundamental flow features and model these using suitable CFD methods. Experience in Fortran/C/C++/Python/Matlab is an advantage but not essential. You should be highly motivated, able to work independently as well as collaborate with others and have effective written/oral communication skills.

How to apply

There are two stages of the application:

1. Applicants must submit the pre-application form online by 4pm on Friday, 17 January 2025.

2 . If you are shortlisted for the interview, you will be asked to email the following documentation in a single PDF file to cedps-studentships@brunel.ac.uk within 72hrs.

Your up-to-date CV;
Your undergraduate degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) first or upper-second class honours degree essential;
Your postgraduate master's degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) if applicable;
Your valid English Language qualification of IELTS 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each section) or equivalent, if applicable; this must be valid up to 31 October 2025.
Contact details for TWO referees, one of which can be an academic member of staff in the College.

Applicants should therefore ensure that they have all of this information in case they are shortlisted.

Interviews will take place on 13 and 14 February 2025.

For shortlisted international/EU applicants’ interviews will be via Microsoft Teams and for UK applicants’ interviews will be in person at Brunel University of London campus.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

James Tyacke - As Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering, I am primarily interested in Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of complex flows including Urban Air Mobility Vehicles (Air Taxis), Jet Aeroacoustics, Turbomachinery, Electronics Cooling and Geothermal Energy. Multi-fidelity modelling underpins these areas, both in terms of turbulence modelling and geometry representation. Modern High Performance Computing (HPC) architectures are also being leveraged for both simulation and analysis of large data sets (Big Data), revealing unsteady flow physics. Further interests include increasing CFD automation, including mesh generation and optimisation, solution analysis and feedback into knowledge-based systems using Machine Learning and AI. I am Director (numerical methods) of the Brunel Aerospace Research Centre (ARC). With a vibrant multi-disciplinary research culture, the ARC solves todays pressing aerospace challenges. We pride ourselves in supporting diverse researchers at all career stages and working with the largest and smallest industries. Please get in touch to see how the ARC can meet your needs. An EPSRC funded Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) PhD studentship is currently avilable for Next-Generation CFD modelling of High-Pressure Turbine cooling. For Chinese applicants, Brunel also has 20 PhD scholarships available. Please get in touch to discuss potential projects. A range of self-funded projects are also possible, focusing on multi-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Example projects: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/PhD-Topics DLA (previously DTP) funding details: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/PhD-Studentships/Studentship?id=a2efbe35-b0b9-46a7-b284-3fd40ff05174 Research degree funding: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/Research-degree-funding External funding: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-fees-and-funding/other-funding

Related Research Group(s)

Aerospace Research Centre - The Aerospace Research Centre integrates aerodynamics, aeroacoustics and aerostructures to tackle emerging areas in 21st-century aerospace industries with far-reaching impacts.