Postdoctoral Research Associate in Shear Strength of Ceramics, ORNL
Job Description
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is hiring a Postdoctoral Research Associate to quantify the shear strength of ceramics as a function of temperature. The call is open until filled.
At a glance
- Post: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Shear Strength of Ceramics
- Where: Ceramics and Ceramic Composites Group, Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
- Requisition ID: 16887
- Closing date: none given. ORNL reviews applications as they arrive, so the post is open until filled
- Pay: the advertisement states no figure
Read the official ORNL advertisement before you apply.
The work
Measuring the shear yield strength of a brittle ceramic is genuinely difficult, because the material usually fractures before it yields. ORNL has developed methods that get at it indirectly, and this post uses and refines them.
The named techniques are estimating shear strength from the brittle-to-ductile transition, hot hardness testing, spherical indentation, and other methods still pending. The duties include hot hardness testing with postmortem examination, spherical indentation with postmortem examination, and estimating critical values from those results.
Alongside the experiments, you would develop and refine finite element and numerical models that describe shear strength response against temperature, and work towards reconciling the different experimentally measured responses with one another. That reconciliation is the real scientific goal: several methods that disagree are not yet a measurement.
What you need
- A PhD in materials science, mechanical engineering or a related field
- Mechanical testing of brittle materials, ideally including indentation
- Finite element or numerical modelling of material response
- Read the official advertisement for the full qualifications
Pay and conditions
ORNL publishes no salary figure on this advertisement. It is a US Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory with more than 7,000 staff, and postdoctoral appointments there are normally fixed-term with the possibility of renewal. Ask about the term and the pay band at interview.
How to apply
Apply through the ORNL job page using the Apply button, quoting requisition 16887. The advertisement gives no closing date, so apply early. Most ORNL positions require the right to work in the United States, and some roles touching nuclear or export-controlled work carry citizenship conditions. Read the posting’s own wording before you spend time on an application from outside the US.
Browse more research jobs on ResearchJobs.in, or search our Find a supervisor page.
Hiring institution: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Official advertisement: jobs.ornl.gov
How to prepare for this application
- Experiment and model are both required here. This post needs someone who can do indentation and then model it.
- Postmortem examination is in the duties. Microscopy of what failed, and why, is half the evidence.
- Quote the requisition ID, 16887. ORNL tracks applications by it.
- Check the work-authorisation line on the posting. It is the usual reason an overseas application stalls at a national laboratory.
About Oak Ridge National Laboratory
ORNL is the largest US Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with a legacy going back to the 1940s and more than 7,000 staff. It runs national user facilities including the Spallation Neutron Source and the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, and works across computing, materials, chemistry, nuclear science, biology and energy.
