PhD Studentship: High-Fidelity Simulation and Data-Driven Modelling for Urban Air Vehicle (UAV) Noise

Join us in shaping the future of quiet and sustainable urban air mobility!
Are you passionate about aerodynamics, computational fluid dynamics and modern data-driven methods? Do you want to contribute to cutting-edge research that will potentially revolutionize the design of urban air vehicles (UAV) for lower noise emissions?

Applications are invited for a 3.5-year UK PhD studentship for the project titled “High-Fidelity Simulation and Data-Driven Modelling of UAV Noise” in the research group of Dr Zhong-Nan Wang at the University of Birmingham. The research of Dr Wang’s group is focused on developing and employing high-fidelity CFD and data-driven approaches for aerodynamics and aeroacoustics.

The PhD project is expected to start in September 2025. The successful applicant will receive an annual tax-free stipend of £15,514 per year and payment of home tuition fee up to 3.5 years. 

The successful applicant will be able to work within a vibrant and multidisciplinary aerospace team under the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham and also have opportunities to engage with the researchers at other academic institutions, e.g. Cambridge and Bristol, and industries, such as Airbus, via established collaboration.

Project details:

Noise pollution is a growing environmental issue and becomes the second-largest environmental cause of health problems in Europe, just after air pollution. As the volume of air traffic keeps growing at 4.3% annually, aviation noise is of great concern to society. Thus, noise is now an important factor in certificating urban air vehicles (UAV) for future transport system.

The noise of DEP is caused by multiple levels of interactions between propeller and airframe as well as among propellers themselves. It is prohibitively expensive to simulate the whole configuration with high-fidelity methods, such as large-eddy simulation and mesh-resolved geometry. In this project, we will develop a cost-effective method to predict those interactions and the generated acoustics, leveraging the hierarchical turbulence and geometry modelling strategy [], where high-fidelity simulation can only be used zonally in the region of interest to capture the key noise sources. The time-accurate simulation data will be used to infer the noise source model with data assimilation, aiming to unravel the noise generation mechanisms and further enabling fast and accurate noise prediction. In addition to advancing our prediction and understanding of UAV noise, this research will directly contribute to the exciting future of air mobility in urban areas without detrimental impact on community noise.

Requirements:

The candidate will have a 1st class undergraduate or Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science or a related discipline. You should be highly motivated, and would be able to work independently as well as collaborate with other group members with effective written/oral communication skills. Knowledge of fluid mechanics or CFD is essential. Experience in programming (Fortran/C++/Python) would be desirable.

How to apply:

The application must be made through the university’s online application system. Please provide a cover letter summarizing your research interests and suitability for the position, the contacts of two referees and a curriculum vitae. Please send a copy directly to Dr Zhong-Nan Wang (z.n.wang@bham.ac.uk). 

References:
[1] Z.-N. Wang and P. G. Tucker, “Hierarchical turbulence and geometry modelling: A Case Study for Fan Stage Flows”, 2023, AIAA Journal, 61(7): 2824-2839. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.J062495
[2] Online Application System of Postgraduate Study at the University of Birmingham (https://sits.bham.ac.uk/lpages/EPS024.htm)

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