General information
Offer title : M/F postdoctoral fellowship on Phase Transitions of Iron and Tin under dynamic compression (H/F)
Reference : UMR8006-MARHAR-001
Number of position : 1
Workplace : PARIS 13
Date of publication : 17 June 2025
Type of Contract : Researcher in FTC
Contract Period : 24 months
Expected date of employment : 1 September 2025
Proportion of work : Full Time
Remuneration : From 3000€ ish per month (health insurance and additional charges to be removed) depending of the carrier
Desired level of education : Doctorate
Experience required : 1 to 4 years
Section(s) CN : 09 - Material and structural engineering, solid mechanics, biomechanics, acoustics
Missions
Polymorphic transformations of iron and tin have been widely studied for many decades, under both quasi-static and dynamic compression, over broad ranges of compression rates. Despite such extensive research work, large discrepancies on the phase boundaries remain to be explained, and key questions remain open on the mechanisms governing the transitions, their kinetics, and even the very nature of some of the phases in presence. The influences of the initial microstructure (inclusions, crystal orientations, grain boundaries…) and loading parameters (stress triaxiality, strain rate…) are not completely elucidated either.
Activities
The postdoctoral position will start with an updated review of the state of the art (a choice can be made between iron and tin depending on the background and personal interests of the candidate). Then, numerical simulations of some selected experiments reported in the literature will be performed with a hydrocode available in the federation. The multiphase equations of state and constitutive laws implemented in this code will be tested and improved to reproduce a variety of existing results. In parallel, new experiments of laser-driven compression will be designed to complement the data and answer some of the questions mentioned above. Finally, some of these experiments will be performed in large scale facilities (HERA, LULI2000, SACLA, EuXFEL).
Skills
The candidate must hold a PhD in one of the disciplines below
- Shock physics
- Phase transitions in solid materials
- Materials science
Experience with one of the techniques below will also be appreciated
- X-ray diffraction
- Velocity measurements in shock experiments
- Hydrodynamic or thermomechanical simulations
Work Context
The ChocoDyn federation brings together about a hundred researchers from 19 French
laboratories studying dynamic compression of materials over a wide range of pressures (a few bars to several Mbars), load durations (ns to ms), and loading rates (about 103s-1 to 107s-1).
One objective is to address societal challenges related to the durability of materials under severe conditions of high pressure, high temperature, and extreme deformation rates. The scope also includes fundamental questions of geophysical interest such as hypervelocity impacts or phase transformations in highly dynamic conditions. This last point is the subject of the present post-doctoral position.
This position is proposed by the work package of phase transitions under dynamic loading and will be performed in collaboration of the PPRIME (Poitiers) IPR (Rennes), PIMM (PARIS) and CEA (Bruyère le châtel) Laboratories.
Regular meetings will be organized within the research group working more specifically on phase transitions in the federation. The post-doc will also be fully involved in the broader activity of the Chocodyn community (summer schools, events, workshops…).
The position is located in a sector under the protection of scientific and technical potential (PPST), and therefore requires, in accordance with the regulations, that your arrival is authorized by the competent authority of the MESR.
Constraints and risks
none
Additional Information
none