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ORGANISATION/COMPANYUniversité Gustave Eiffel
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RESEARCH FIELDEngineering › Civil engineeringEngineering › Thermal engineering
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RESEARCHER PROFILEFirst Stage Researcher (R1)
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APPLICATION DEADLINE21/03/2022 17:00 - Europe/Brussels
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LOCATIONFrance › Nantes Bouguenais
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TYPE OF CONTRACTTemporary
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JOB STATUSFull-time
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HOURS PER WEEK35
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OFFER STARTING DATE03/10/2022
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EU RESEARCH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMEH2020 / Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND
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REFERENCE NUMBER101034248
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MARIE CURIE GRANT AGREEMENT NUMBER101034248
OFFER DESCRIPTION
The growing energy needs of urban areas have led to the development of innovative solutions for energy production. In Europe, 80% of energy consumption in the residential construction sector is due to space heating and cooling. In the context of climate change, it is crucial to develop renewable, local energy production solutions with low environmental impact and low risk for humans. Among these solutions, shallow geothermal energy has the additional advantage of being non-intermittent. And among the shallow geothermal solutions, one of them, developed since the 1980s, consists in using geostructures (foundations, retaining walls, tunnels, etc.) as heat exchangers.
Heat exchanger tubes are fixed to the reinforcement cages of the geostructures and connected to a heat pump thus allowing the heating and cooling of the premises supported by these geostructures or present nearby. In addition to the advantages of conventional shallow geothermal energy, energy geostructures have almost zero carbon cost, their energy role being added to a mechanical role for which they should have been realised anyway.
However, cyclic thermal loading generates stresses and strains in the geostructure as well as in the surrounding soil, due to thermal expansion. The impact of thermal effects on the mechanical behavior of structures raises some concerns. The lack of design methods has largely hampered the deployment of these solutions for years. While the thermomechanical behavior of energy piles under vertical loading has been extensively studied, many questions remain regarding more complex structures (groups of piles, diaphragm walls, tunnels, metro stations, etc.). In order to envisage a large-scale deployment of the technology, it is essential to remove these scientific barriers.
The complexity of the problem is further increased in the presence of a natural groundwater flow. On the one hand, the latter has the advantage of dissipating thermal anomalies and cities with significant underground flows such as Nantes or Sao Paulo are therefore suitable for energy geostructures. On the other hand, it also generates heat transfers between neighboring geostructures. Understanding the positive or negative aspect of these interactions is an essential aspect for the deployment of technologies at the scale of eco-districts.
In order to answer the questions raised by the thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of energy geostructures, it is proposed here to carry out a research program combining in situ observation, physical modeling and numerical modeling:
- The CG laboratory has developed a strong expertise in the centrifuge study of scale models of geotechnical structures. This type of modeling has the advantages of reduced models (low cost, repeatability, easy instrumentation) while ensuring respect for the similarity of the behaviors observed with the behaviors of full-scale structures. In the case of thermomechanical phenomena, it also has the advantage of considerably reducing the characteristic times of the phenomena observed. Thus, the time scale (for diffusion) of a 1/N small scalled model subjected to a macro gravity flied N time higher the one of the Eart (N×g) is reduced by N square. As the Uni Eiffel centrifuge can go up to 100×g, 1 hour of centrifuge test corresponds to 1 year and 2 month. In this way, centrifuge tests can model several years of cyclic thermal loading.
- In addition to the tests carried out in a centrifuge, the PhD student will carry out an 8-month mobility at the University of Sao Paulo during which he will carry out thermal and mechanical measurements on real geothermal piles, designed to be the foundations of the future building of the CICS (Sustanaible Construction Innovation Center) named « CICS Living Lab » (http://cics.prp.usp.br/cics-living-lab/).
- The comparison of experimental data will make it possible to feed and calibrate a finite element model produced using CESAR-LCPC, a software developed at the University Gustave Eiffel. Once this model has been calibrated, a complex “metro station” type structure will be modeled.
This comprehensive study will be the subject of scientific publications but it will also aim to produce design elements for energy geostructures for the profession.
International Mobility:
A 8-month secondment at University of São Paulo at São Carlos, Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Brazil. For more information, contact the PhD thesis supervisor.
More Information
Benefits
- High-quality doctoral training rewarded by a PhD degree, delivered by Université Gustave Eiffel.
- Access to cutting-edge infrastructures for research & innovation.
- Appointment for a period of 36 months based on a salary of 2 700 € (gross salary per month).
- Job contract under the French labour legislation in force, respecting health and safety, and social security: 35 hours per week contract, 25 days of annual leave per year.
- International mobility will be mandatory.
- An international environment supported by the adherence to the European Charter & Code.
- Access to dedicated CLEAR-Doc trainings with a strong interdisciplinary focus, together with a Career development Plan.
Eligibility criteria
- At the time of the deadline, applicants must be in possession or finalizing their Master’s degree or equivalent/postgraduate degree. At the time of recruitment, applicants must be in possession of their Master’s degree or equivalent/postgraduate degree which would formally entitle to embark on a doctorate.
- At the time of the deadline, applicants must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research career (career breaks excluded) and not yet been awarded a doctoral degree. Career breaks refer to periods of time where the candidate was not active in research, regardless of his/her employment status (sick leave, maternity leave etc). Short stays such as holidays and/or compulsory national service are not taken into account.
- At the time of the deadline, applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the call deadline.
- Applicants must be available to start the programme on schedule (around 1st October 2022).
Selection process
Please refer to the Guide for Applicants available on the CLEAR-Doc website.
Additional comments
- The First step before applying is contacting the PhD supervisor. You will not be able to apply without an acceptation letter from the PhD supervisor.
- Please contact the PhD supervisor for any additional detail on job offer.
- There are no restrictions concerning the age, gender or nationality of the candidates. Applicants with career breaks or variations in the chronological sequence of their career, with mobility experience or with interdisciplinary background or private sector experience are welcome to apply.
- Support service is available during every step of the application process by email: clear-doc@univ-eiffel.fr
Web site for additional job details
Offer Requirements
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REQUIRED EDUCATION LEVELGeosciences: Master Degree or equivalentEngineering: Master Degree or equivalent
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REQUIRED LANGUAGESENGLISH: Good
Skills/Qualifications
- At the time of the deadline, applicants must be in possession or finalizing their Master’s degree or equivalent/postgraduate degree.
- At the time of recruitment, applicants must be in possession of their Master’s degree or equivalent/postgraduate degree which would formally entitle to embark on a doctorate.
Specific Requirements
A 8-month secondment at University of São Paulo at São Carlos, Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Brazil.
EURAXESS offer ID: 718137
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