Source “PhD scholarship in Uncertainty Quantification of Wind Farm Flow Models“
The Department of Wind Energy at the Technical University of Denmark, DTU Wind Energy, is seeking a PhD Student for the Aeroelastic Design Section (AED). Our competences are aero-servo-elasticity (coupling between structural dynamics, aerodynamics and control), aerodynamics, CFD and aero acoustics. We focus on the development of models for the design, analysis and improvement of wind farms and wind turbines and the validation of these models in full scale tests or wind tunnel experiments.
Responsibililties and tasks
Wind farm flow models are subjects to different uncertainty sources which for design of cost effective wind farms are important to model and quantify. These uncertainties include both physical and epistemic (model, statistical and measurement) uncertainties.
The following strategies to verify and validate and quantify uncertainty of Annual Energy Production and Damage Equivalent Fatigue Loads of wind farms will be investigated during the PhD time span:
Inputs uncertainty elicitation and propagation through the model chain
Model parameters uncertainty quantification and propagation (e.g. for Annual Energy Production and Fatigue Loads Evaluation)
Combined statistical uncertainties of long term fatigue evaluations and Annual Energy Production
Model inadequacy estimation (Estimating the error of models with respects to the inputs)
Models selection (which model according to the input region)
Models averaging (How to combine results of different models in order to obtain a more robust estimate)
Multi-fidelity wake modeling (When to switch to models of higher degrees of fidelity, Recalibrating and estimating the model inadequacy with respect to chain of model fidelity)
The work done during the PhD study will support different national and international research projects targeted at wind farm design such as IEA-WakeBench, EU-FP7 EERA-DTOC, DSF COMWIND, TOPFARM2 and future similar research projects.
Qualifications
Candidates should have:
A master’s degree in engineering or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to the master’s degree in engineering
A strong background in wind energy and/or in probabilistic methods
A strong experience in programming language (e.g. Python, Matlab, Fortran, C/C++) and in linux environment
Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English
Optional:
Experience running models on large computer clusters
Experience running wind farm flow/wake models
Experience running Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models
Approval and Enrolment
The scholarships for the PhD degree are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes of DTU. For information about the general requirements for enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see the DTU PhD Guide.
Assessment
The assessment of the applicants will be made by: Pierre-Elouan Réthoré, John Dalsgaard Sørensen, and Anand Natarajan from DTU Wind Energy.
We offer
We offer an interesting and challenging job in an international environment focusing on education, research, public-sector consultancy and innovation, which contribute to enhancing the economy and improving social welfare. We strive for academic excellence, collegial respect and freedom tempered by responsibility. The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) is a leading technical university in northern Europe and benchmarks with the best universities in the world.
Salary and appointment terms
The salary and appointment terms are consistent with the current rules for PhD degree students. The period of employment is 3 years.
Supervisor team
Main supervisor: Pierre-Elouan Réthoré, Senior Researcher, DTU Wind Energy
Co-supervisor: John Dalsgaard Sørensen, Professor, DTU Wind Energy and Aalborg University
Co-supervisor: Anand Natarajan, Senior Researcher, DTU Wind Energy
Further information
Further information may be obtained from Pierre-Elouan Réthoré, pire@dtu.dk, tel: +45 21331293. Please do not send applications to this e-mail address, instead apply online as described below.
You can read more about DTU Wind Energy on vindenergi.dtu.dk.
Application
We must have your online application by 5 November 2013. Applications must be submitted as one pdf file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link “Apply online,” fill in the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one pdf file. The file must include:
A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
Curriculum vitae
Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma
Excel sheet with translation of grades to the Danish grading system (see guidelines and excel spreadsheet here)
Candidates may apply prior to obtaining their master’s degree, but cannot begin before having received it.
All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.
DTU Wind Energy has more than 230 staff members, including 150 academic staff members and nearly approximately 50 PhD students. DTU Wind Energy has a considerable degree of Innovation and cooperation with companies and sector associations within the wind industry in Denmark and abroad. The Aeroelastic Design Section is a dynamic group of close to 35 people with a wide range of academic and technical backgrounds. We work in close cooperation with the rest of our department.
DTU is a technical university providing internationally leading research, education, innovation and public service. Our staff of 5,000 advance science and technology to create innovative solutions that meet the demands of society; and our 9,000 students are educated to address the technological challenges of the future. DTU is an independent academic university collaborating globally with business, industry, government, and public agencies.