PhD Candidates in Advanced Arc and Friction Stir Welding Processes for Recycled Aluminium Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Norway

This PhD position is part of SFI FAST (Future Aluminium Structures), a national research centre led by NTNU with close collaboration from SINTEF and industrial partners across the aluminium value chain. The project sits in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and focuses on welding and joining research for recycled aluminium, with the candidate embedded in a broader environment that combines academic research, industrial collaboration, and long-term innovation in aluminium manufacturing.

The research addresses a key challenge for circular aluminium production: how impurities from recycled aluminium affect weldability, microstructure, and performance. The project will examine how these impurity levels influence weld defects and service behaviour in aluminium alloys, including cracking, pore formation, heat-affected zone softening, and corrosion-related degradation. The successful candidate will investigate these effects through advanced arc welding and friction stir welding processes, develop new methodologies where conventional techniques are not sufficient, and improve welding procedures based on metallurgical characteristics and process-performance relationships.

The work is closely connected to SFI FAST’s broader mission to build the scientific and technological foundation for large-scale use of post-consumer scrap aluminium in high-value structural and safety-critical products. Within this centre, the PhD candidate will contribute to a research agenda that integrates materials science, manufacturing processes, and performance evaluation. The project also connects to the development of the FAST Virtual Lab, which combines experimental data, physics-based models, and data-driven approaches to support aluminium design and manufacturing decisions.

In the day-to-day research, the candidate will work on thermodynamic modelling of solidification and precipitation, development of weldability tests, and advanced characterisation of welded samples using techniques such as laser confocal microscopy, in-situ mechanical testing, SEM, FIB, and EBSD. The role includes publishing high-level research, presenting at conferences, and working closely with industrial and academic partners. The candidate will also take part in the joint PhD environment at FAST and contribute to mentoring and supervising MSc students.

The position is supervised by Professor Vahid Hosseini and forms part of NTNU’s international research environment in Trondheim. The centre will educate multiple PhD and postdoctoral researchers, and this appointment is among the first to start in FAST.