Graduation Assignment: Development of a rock cutting test setup

To stay ahead of the industry, we are developing tomorrow’s technology today, transforming bold ideas into state-of-the-art solutions to meet the market’s ever changing needs. Do you trust your own vision and have the courage to pursue it? Then join the thinkers, leaders and visionaries at Allseas!

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated student to join our highly skilled, multidisciplinary Innovations Department in Delft, the Netherlands. In this role, you will develop a basis of design for a test setup in order to develop rock cutting models for dredging and mining in different water depth conditions. This challenging graduation assignment offers the chance to gain invaluable hands-on experience while working alongside some of the brightest minds in the industry.

Your role

The assignment

Dredging and mining in deep waters are emerging fields in the offshore industry. However, before the feasibility of such mining and dredging projects can be fully evaluated, several fundamental challenges must be overcome, including gaining a better understanding of the dynamics of rock cutting under hydrostatic pressure. Wear and tear to the excavation equipment (trencher) and the amount of energy required for trenching the rock are the primary factors affecting the overall involved costs.

The main goal of this assignment is to develop a basis of design for a test setup to conduct laboratory-scale (linear) rock cutting experiments for both shallow and deep water. Such setup is required in order to understand the cutting process and failure mechanism under deep water conditions.. The lab experiments will improve understanding of the rock cutting process and important associated operational factors, and eventually lead to developing cutting models for different water depth conditions.

As part of this assignment, you will study the current state of knowledge of rock cutting, and all related boundary conditions, specifications and requirements. Existing and new concepts should be assessed in due consideration with the Geotechnical Unit within Allseas’ Innovations Department, after which a final concept will be chosen for further (detailed) engineering.

What we expect from you

What we expect from you

We are looking for a student with a strong background in mechanical engineering and an affinity for offshore applications and soil/rock mechanics.

Further requirements:

• BSc degree
• MSc student in Mechanical, Civil or Offshore Engineering
• Good command of English

What we offer you

Interested?

This graduation assignment has a minimum duration of 9 months and can be started immediately. For further information, please contact recruitment (recruitment@allseas.com) at Allseas Engineering B.V.: +31 15 268 1800.

In our application procedure, you can read what to expect when you apply for a job at Allseas.