Key Information
Academic Supervisors: Prof S Brown and Prof N Lavery
Industry Supervisor: Mr I Gibson
Expected Interview Date: July 2021
Background / Overview
The greatest structures, cars, machines, and commercial products require hot-rolled steel of perfect quality. Tata Steel Strip Products UK produces this steel in Port Talbot through the Hot Strip Mill where efficient computational modelling combines with process knowledge to produce excellent quality steel. Example applications of this product include car bodies for Jaguar Land Rover, structural tubes for the Wembley arch, The Shard in London and steel packaging i.e. cans for Heinz Baked Beans.
Temperature control in the hot-rolling mill is critical to producing steel with the perfect mechanical properties. The Coilbox in the Port Talbot Hot Strip Mill is an unusual process step which ensures a homogeneous temperature profile at entry to the finishing mill and shortens the required length of the installation.
Offline modelling of temperature in hot rolling is essential for both product and process development. This modelling is more sophisticated than online models but takes longer to run than is acceptable for real-time control. Tata Steel R&D has developed an in-house model for hot-rolling simulation, TiTAN, which combines finite element simulation with a well-developed GUI and sophisticated material models. However, as the Coilbox in Port Talbot is unique in Tata Steel Europe, it is not yet part of the model.
Project Aims
This project will involve developing a module for the Coilbox in Tata Steel’s hot-rolling simulation software, TiTAN. The student will work with this software, designing and writing the code for this implementation to fit with the existing code structure. This work includes cleaning of large industrial data sets, and an optimisation process should be employed to tune the model. The result will be a module accurately modelling Port Talbot Hot Strip Mill’s Coilbox, facilitating development of new products through improved understanding of microstructure in three dimensions.
Experience in coding in an object-orientated language, and a good understanding of heat transfer fundamentals would be advantageous.
Company Website
Tata Steel in Europe (tatasteeleurope.com)
Eligibility
We welcome applications from candidates with an honours degree in a relevant discipline (minimum level 2:1), or a combination of degree and equivalent experience to the same level.
Normally, we would expect candidates to have met the University’s English Language requirements (e.g. IELTS 6.5 overall with 5.5+ in each component) by point of application.
Full eligibility can be found at https://www.materials-academy.co.uk/eligibility
Funding
Fees at UK/EU rate, and Stipend £12500, both for the period of one year.
For full details on funding eligibility, please refer to the Materials and Manufacturing Academy (M2A) Website.
Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is not open to ‘International’ candidates.
Closing Date: 16th July 2021
Start Date: October 2021
Applications and informal enquiries about this studentship should be directed by email to: M2A@swansea.ac.uk