A novel grouped anchor concept for floating offshore wind turbines

Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Civil and Architectural Engineering programme. The position is available from 01 January 2025 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:
A novel grouped anchor concept for floating offshore wind turbines

Research area and project description:
We are looking for an excellent PhD candidate in Structural and Geotechnical Engineering to join our innovative research team in Offshore Wind. Your focus will be on the development of models for a novel grouped anchor system that can serve multiple floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). Your research will contribute significantly to reducing the levelized cost of energy for FOWT mooring systems, aiding the green transition.

As part of your work, you will collaborate with a group of experts from Aarhus University, working on the common topic of wind energy, and you will receive input from international experts and industry partners. Further, you will be able to collaborate with a newly started PhD student working with a different topic related to anchoring systems.

In the first phase of the project, your research will focus on the development of high-fidelity models for grouped anchors for multiline restraints of FOWTs. Following a conceptualization phase, fully parameterized, high-fidelity models are developed, considering the influence of installation and the three-dimensional arrangement of anchor components on the static and cyclic response. The models are used to explore grouped anchors and propose designs with optimal performance.

The next phase of the project concerns reduced order integrated analysis of multiple restrained FOWTs. Here, a macro-element will be developed for a grouped anchor. Next, to test the grouped anchor performance in a FOWT array, the macro-element is implemented within a framework for integrated analyses of FOWTs having shared anchors.

Finally, you will be involved in the development of an experimental framework for the conceptual validation of the share grouped anchors.
The results of your work will be shared through publications and conference presentations, contributing to the advancement of geotechnical engineering and offshore wind.

Project description
For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences:
Applicants must have a relevant Master’s degree (120 ECTS) related to Structural, Civil or Geotechnical Engineering. Proficiency with Danish is preferred.

Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Navitas, Inge Lehmanns Gade 10, 8000 Aarhus C.

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:

• Lars Vabbersgaard Andersen, [email protected] (main supervisor)
• Andrea Franza, [email protected] (co-supervisor)

How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application.
Application deadline is 14 November 2024 at 23:59 CET.
Preferred starting date is 1 January 2025.

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide.
Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after the deadline will not be taken into account.
• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.