Overview
Renewable Energy is one of the fastest growing sectors addressing the most important challenges of our age. Offshore renewables, energy distribution, and the environmental impacts of constructing and decommissioning the infrastructure are some one of the most pressing research themes faced by the UK and beyond. The Net Zero Maritime Energy Solutions Centre (N0MES) for Doctoral Training is creating the future specialist workforce needed by our industrial partners through PhD projects finding solutions to real-life industrial needs
About this opportunity
The successful PhD student will be co-supervised and work alongside our external partner Baker Hughes (https://www.bakerhughes.com/).
This PhD project aims to develop, validate and apply a pioneering multi-physics numerical modelling framework to predict the thermo-mechanical performance and failure mechanisms of unbonded offshore flexible pipes in ammonia service. The research addresses critical risks posed by ammonia’s chemical aggressiveness and cryogenic temperatures, which can trigger stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and embrittlement in metallic armour layers—failure modes not covered by existing design codes.
The project’s objectives form a comprehensive research pipeline. It will commence by establishing a foundational material database, leveraging available literature on the temperature-dependent mechanical and SCC behaviour of key pipe materials (e.g., high-strength steel wires, polymers) in ammonia environments. This data will directly inform the development of sophisticated 3D thermo-mechanical finite element models, which will uniquely capture the complex, non-linear interactions of the pipe’s unbonded layers, including inter-layer contact, friction, and thermal effects. The framework will then be advanced by incorporating SCC and fracture mechanics sub-models to simulate the initiation and propagation of environmentally assisted cracking.
A key phase will be the validation and calibration of these integrated models. This will primarily utilise published experimental data, with the scope to potentially design and conduct targeted laboratory tests should specific data gaps be identified. The final, calibrated framework will be deployed to predict performance envelopes and provide robust service-life estimates for pipes under operational and accidental loading scenarios.
The outcomes will deliver predictive design tools, provide material and design optimisation guidance for ammonia-compatible pipes, and reduce industry qualification costs through a validated simulation-based approach, enabling safer offshore ammonia infrastructure.
N0MES offers 4-year PhD studentships for exceptional researchers. With the support of the University of Liverpool (UoL), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and over 30 maritime energy sector partners, N0MES postgraduate researchers will pursue new, engineering-centred, interdisciplinary research