Research Fellow in Propulsion Systems Design

Role Description

The Centre for Propulsion Engineering within FEAS is looking to expand its internationally renowned activities with the recruitment of a Research Fellow in Propulsion Systems Design.

About the Role

The design of the powerplant nacelle and exhaust system can have a considerable impact on the engine/airframe integration and the overall fuel burn. It is important to have design methods that enable analysis of these components within the design cycle time frames. Within that context, the research post will further develop and apply existing methods, previously developed at Cranfield, for nacelle and exhaust system design.

The research focus of the post will potentially be on the exhaust system design and the evaluation of the coupled powerplant and airframe configurations. The installation of the powerplant with the airframe can have a notable impact on both systems and affect the in-flight fuel burn. The research within this post will develop computational models of the coupled system which will be used to evaluate the cruise and off-design performance. At off-design conditions such as descent, the powerplant operation can be influenced by the proximity to the airframe. This is not a well understood area and part of the research will be to synthesise the data from various engine and aircraft models to enable an evaluation of the coupled system. In this context, this post will also focus on developing the exhaust design tool to enable off-design performance to be evaluated more easily as part of the preliminary design.

The research focus of post may also be on the nacelle design tool development. The research will explore technologies such as low drag laminar flow nacelles, nacelle drag sensitivity to manufacturing tolerances, as well as low order based models to enable rapid preliminary assessments. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the structural design of the powerplant, and the mechanical integration with the airframe, will be important aspects for a new product. In this context, a key element is expected to be the influence of the aerodynamic forces and moments on the powerplant and how they are affected by operating conditions and design choices. Part of the research within this post will be to refine the computational methods to ensure that the structural models use high-fidelity aerodynamic data to compute the aerodynamic loads and inform the overall system design.

About You

You will hold a PhD (or close to completion) in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or related subject with a record of publishing in high-quality journals.

Good skills in applied Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods and proven experience of leading research activities are required. Knowledge of aerospace aerodynamics, compressible flow, as well as engineering programming is essential. Experience in aerospace CFD aerodynamics, optimisation methods, high performance computing, and engineering software development are also of interest. Proven track record of publishing high-quality journals is required for the Research Fellow position.

Ability to communicate clearly at a technical level and capability of clearly summarizing objectives and achievements for briefing colleagues and project partners is also essential. Candidates are expected to be confident independent researchers, educated at a PhD level, with good communication and presentation skills as well as the ability to write reports and journal papers to a high standard.

Due to the nature of this role, you will be required to obtain UK Security Clearance (BPSS).

About Us

As a specialist postgraduate university, Cranfield’s world-class expertise, large-scale facilities and unrivalled industry partnerships are creating leaders in technology and management globally. Learn more about Cranfield and our unique impact .

The Centre for Propulsion and Thermal Power Engineering is around 80 staff strong (including visiting academics) and one of the largest research and education activities within the University. The activity spans across land, off-shore, marine, air and space power and propulsion applications. Our activity is characterised by a close integration of taught and short course education and research and includes the internationally recognised Thermal Power and Propulsion MSc course. The activities within the Centre encompass a very wide range of topics including gas turbine performance modelling, propulsion aerodynamics, icing, combustion, computational fluid dynamics, advanced instrumentation, turbomachinery and thermal management. The Centre is also host to the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre for Aero Systems Design, Integration & Performance, testimony of the Centre’s global visibility and extensive links with industry.

More details on the Centre are available here:

Further details on the icing test facilities are available here:

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