Project outline
This PhD project takes on one of the most fascinating challenges in modern aerospace engineering: understanding how turbulent airflows create noise and vibration when they interact with aircraft surfaces. These turbulent pressure fluctuations are key to designing the next generation aircraft, ship and other transport systems.
Project Partners
Working with leading researchers at the University of Bristol and ONERA, the French Aerospace Lab, you will combine advanced experimental techniques, numerical simulations, and machine learning to study turbulent flow behaviour and its impact on noise generation. The outcome of this research will support the design of quieter, more efficient, and environmentally responsible aerospace and marine transport systems.
Further project information
The interaction between turbulent airflows and solid surfaces lies at the heart of many challenges in aerospace and mechanical engineering. When air moves over an aircraft wing, or fuselage, it generates small but strong pressure fluctuations that can cause noise and vibration. These effects become increasingly important as new aircraft designs aim for higher efficiency, lighter structures, and lower environmental impact.
In this exciting PhD, you will explore how these flow-induced pressure fluctuations develop and how they can be better predicted. You will join an international research collaboration between the University of Bristol and the French Aerospace Lab (ONERA), bringing together world-leading expertise in aeroacoustics, fluid dynamics, and machine learning. Through a combination of advanced experimental techniques, numeral simulations, and artificial intelligence (AI), you will explore how turbulent flows generate pressure fluctuations and develop new predictive tools for noise and vibration.
The project provides access to state-of-the-art boundary layer wind tunnel facilities at the University of Bristol and offers the opportunity to work within a large, collaborative research community. You will benefit from collaboration with ONERA, one of Europe’s top aerospace research organisations, and gain valuable experience working alongside several other industry and academic partners.
This is an exciting opportunity to be part of world-class research that supports the development of innovative aircraft configurations, wide-body transport systems, and marine technologies. The work you do will contribute directly to creating smarter, quieter, and more sustainable designs for the future of global transportation.
Subject Areas
- Fluid Dynamics
- Turbulence
- Aeroacoustics
- Experimental Methods
- Machine Learning
Required qualifications/skills
Essential
- A minimum of a 2:1 undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics or Mathematics or a related discipline
Student
Commencing in October 2026