Job Information
Organisation/Company: Centre Technique Industriel de la Plasturgie et des Composites (CT-IPC)
Department: Research
Research Field: Drying of fibre pulps
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)
Positions: PhD Positions
Country: France
Application Deadline: 1st June 2026
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Horizon Europe
Reference Number: 101227649
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No
ENDURE Call for Doctoral Candidate Applicants
To succeed on the ambitious objectives of the European Growth Model, the European moulded fibre products (MFP) industry must have access to a new generation of innovative, entrepreneurial, highly skilled research-oriented cross-disciplinary engineers with direct research experience in: (i) natural fibre material (NFM) engineering; (ii) product design and production engineering of MFPs; (iii) digital manufacturing technologies and Industry4.0 for MFP industry - the ENDURE Doctoral Network comprising 12 Doctoral Candidates is designed to train this next generation of scientists and engineers.
ENDURE is a new Marie Skłodowska Curie (MSCA) Doctoral Network Programme funded by the European Commission, that brings together 5 universities, 2 RTOs and 8 industry partners for four countries. Find more information at https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101227649
ENDURE seeks to recruit < to be filled > Doctoral Candidates (DCs) on a full-time basis over three years starting in 2026.
The Doctoral Candidatess will be hosted by CT-IPC (https://www.ct-ipc.com/), a beneficiary organisation in the ENDURE network, and will be supported by associated partner organizations INSA Lyon (https://www.insa-lyon.fr/) and LaMCoS laboratory (https://lamcos.insa-lyon.fr/?L=1). ENDURE delivers a unique employability and skills development process for DCs ensuring that they can lead the scientific and technological developments in the European MFP industry.
Host and workplace location – CT-IPC and LaMCoS laboratory on the Oyonnax campus of INSA Lyon
PhD Enrolment: 1st October 2026
Primary Supervisor: Prof Pierre Dumont (INSA Lyon, LaMCoS)
Co-supervisor/mentors: Dr. Thomas Joffre (CT-IPC) and Dr. Florian Martoïa (INSA Lyon, LaMCoS)
Duration and starting date: 36 months, starting as earliest as possible
Project Objectives:
PhD thesis title: Experimental study and modelling of drainage phenomena in paper pulps for their application in injection moulding processes
Background and challenges
The evolution of environmental requirements and the reduction in the use of plastics derived from fossil resources are driving the development of bio-based materials. Paper pulps, consisting mainly of cellulosic fibres, represent a promising alternative for the manufacture of complex moulded parts.
Injection moulding processes, widely used in the polymer industry, are currently being adapted for aqueous fibre suspensions. However, controlling drainage phenomena, i.e., the separation and removal of the liquid phase under the influence of pressure gradients, remains a major scientific concern. Drainage directly influences the consolidation kinetics, the microstructure, the density and the final mechanical properties of the fibrous parts.
Research objectives
In a paper pulp injection process, the flow of the fibrous suspension is accompanied by drainage coupled with complex phenomena: the filtration of fibre pulp suspension, its consolidation in an anisotropic fibre mat, coupled with an evolving permeability. The main objective of the thesis is to characterise, understand and model the drainage mechanisms of paper pulps under conditions representative of injection moulding conditions to optimise the forming process and the properties of the resulting sheets. The aim is to correlate the influence of drainage parameters with the final density, microstructural homogeneity, mechanical properties and defects (porosities, density gradients) of the fibrous mats.
The study will adopt an experimental approach alongside numerical modelling.
1.Rheological and structural characterisation of paper fibre suspensions
- Study of the rheological behaviour of concentrated fibre suspensions to determine the rheological behaviour laws of concentrated fibre suspensions under representative conditions of injection moulding;
- Analysis of the influence of fibre morphology on these phenomena.
2.Experimental study of the drainage of paper fibre suspensions under controlled conditions
- Development of an experimental apparatus simulating injection conditions (pressure, velocity, geometry);
- Measurement of drainage kinetics and pressure profiles;
- Identification of dominant regimes: filtration, consolidation, compression;
- Determination of the parameters influencing the permeability and compressibility of the fibre mat;
- Microstructural characterisation (scanning electron microscopy, original in situ drainage tests using X-ray microtomography).
3.Multiscale modelling
- Development of a coupled flow-drainage model;
- Numerical simulation using finite element methods;
- Parametric analysis and validation of the model by comparison with experimental data.
Industrial application
The expected results are the identification of key parameters governing drainage during injection moulding, and the proposal of a predictive model that can be used to aid in the design of moulds for manufacturing parts via paper pulp injection moulding. This thesis will also contribute to a better understanding of the consolidation properties of compressible bio-based fibre materials.
