The wind energy market is driven by Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs), 
however, Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) have the potential to outperform 
them. Although VAWTs are considered to have lower aerodynamic efficiencies, recent 
studies show that VAWTs, in array configurations, are much better suited for 
future wind farms by producing significantly more power per square meter.

The fatigue issues and material failures, due to cyclic stresses in the earlier 
VAWTs designs, have been a major problem faced by the wind industry which has 
prevented unlocking the potential of VAWTs for wind energy conversion. Recent 
advances in computational modelling have enabled an in-depth understanding of the 
aerodynamic and fluid-structure interactions of wind turbines. These tools can be 
used to investigate the applications of new structures and innovative blade 
designs to overcome most of the fatigue issues for VAWTs.

The overall aim of this research is to enhance the integration of numerical and 
experimental models with real-condition wind farms data and innovative geometries 
to reveal the potential high performance of VAWTs both individually and in array 
configurations. As a case study, the proposed method will be used to investigate 
and optimise the aerodynamics and structural integrity of an innovative VAWT which 
is designed to withstand strong winds.

The co-supervised PhD student at Northumbria University will be involved in 
computational and experimental modelling and optimisation of wind turbines using 
an in-house code and wind tunnels. Experimental investigations in the industry 
will be used to validate the numerical model aerodynamic performance and 
aeroelastic instabilities predictions.

Students with a strong research interest in Renewable Energy are encouraged to 
apply for the studentship. We are seeking to recruit a highly motivated PhD 
student with a background in any of the followings:

Energy, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Materials Science, 
Environmental Engineering, Aerodynamics, CFD.

Supervisor websites:

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/our-staff/r/mohammad-rahmati/

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/our-staff/d/laurent-dala/

Academic Enquiries
This project is supervised by Dr Mohammad Rahmati. For informal queries, please 
contact mohammad.rahmati@northumbria.ac.uk. For all other enquiries relating to 
eligibility or application process please use the email form below to contact 
Admissions.

Eligibility Requirements:
Academic excellence of the proposed student i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-
UK universities [preference for 1st class honours]); or a Masters (preference for 
Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
Applicants cannot apply for this funding if they are already a PhD holder or if 
currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere.
Home and International students (inc. EU) are welcome to apply. The studentship is 
available to Home and International (including EU) students and includes a full 
stipend at UKRI rates (for 2022/23 full-time study this is £17,668 per year) and 
full tuition fees. Studentships are also available for applicants who wish to 
study on a part-time basis (0.6 FTE, stipend £10,600 per year and full tuition 
fees) in combination with work or personal responsibilities.  

Please note: to be classed as a Home student, candidates must meet the following 
criteria:

Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
have settled status, or
have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or have indefinite leave 
to remain or enter.
If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an 
International student. Applicants will need to be in the UK and fully enrolled 
before stipend payments can commence, and be aware of the following additional 
costs that may be incurred, as these are not covered by the studentship.


For further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form, 
see:

https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/aerodynamic-design-and-aeroelasticity-
analysis-of-vertical-axis-wind-turbine-farms-renu23-ee-mce-rahmati/?p153380

For applications to be considered for an interview, please include a research 
proposal of approximately 1,000 words and the advert reference (advert reference 
(RENU23 /EE/MCE/RAHMATI)).

Deadline for applications: 17th February 2023

Start date of the course: 1st October 2023