Call for Application: Bachelor’s Thesis or Master’s Thesis
Topic of the Thesis:
Whether in medical technology, battery technology or automotive engineering, plastics are sometimes in permanent contact with media in many applications. The influence of these media has a significant effect on the mechanical properties of the plastics used and causes environmental stress cracking (ESC). ESC is one of the main causes of premature failure of the plastics used in their applications. This results in the need for a systematic analysis of the ESC risks of different plastic/media combinations.
To achieve this, the “Quantitative Structure Property Relationship” (QSPR) approach is used. The potential ESC risk is determined on the basis of the molecular structure of the medium and polymer. As the number of potential plastic/media combinations is vast, we are introducing system-describing characteristic values. In the next step, databases are created and structured in such a way that they can be used to classify the ESC risk of as yet unknown combinations with the help of various artificial intelligence methods.
© IKVObjective:
The aim of this work is to investigate different plastic/media combinations and classify them according to their ESC risk. To this end, a suitable sample geometry will first be developed, which will then be used in subsequent media influence tests.
Your Tasks:
| You will work on the following tasks for a Bachelor's thesis: | For a Master's thesis, you will work on the following tasks: |
| Development and production of suitable test specimens | investigation of the influence of different specimen geometries and pretreatments |
| Implementation of standardized media influence tests | Development and application of automated image processing methods |
| Development of criteria for the classification of stress cracking behavior | quantification of the damage pattern by ESC |
Your Profile:
- Technical or scientific degree (e.g. mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, materials science, environmental engineering…)
- Creativity and willingness to learn
- Independent, structured and team-oriented way of working
If you are interested in writing your thesis at IKV and in this exciting task, we look forward to hearing from you. The exact scope of the content and the schedule will be individually coordinated with you so that the work is optimally suited to your interests and previous knowledge.