PhD Opportunity – High-Impact CFD for Earthquake-Resilient Hydropower
Title: Investigating Earthquake-Induced Pressure Transients in Hydropower Tunnels
In one of the most seismically active countries in the world, New Zealand’s hydropower infrastructure faces a unique challenge: earthquake-triggered pressure surges in penstocks and pressure tunnels. These surges—like water hammer on a massive scale—can threaten the structural integrity of entire power stations.
This fully funded PhD puts Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) front and centre. You’ll use advanced CFD simulation to reveal exactly how seismic waves drive fluid–structure interactions inside these high-pressure conduits — work that has never been done at this scale in New Zealand.
Re-GenerateNZ is a Christchurch-based engineering consultancy specialising in hydro-generation. They deliver complete solutions across New Zealand’s hydropower industry — from design to on-site commissioning — and are known for their expertise in asset integrity, hydrodynamics, and complex lifting systems.
Their CFD specialists have decades of experience applying tools such as ANSYS Fluent and OpenFOAM to problems involving multiphase flow, transient simulations, and coupled fluid–structure interaction. Re-GenerateNZ’s work includes critical upgrades to major hydropower assets, and as a PhD candidate, you will be embedded within their engineering team, gaining access to real commercial projects and confidential data rarely available in academia.
The CFD Mission
- Build ultra-high-fidelity CFD models in ANSYS Fluent and OpenFOAM to simulate realistic earthquake scenarios in hydropower systems.
- Validate simulations against real engineering data and refine them until they can directly guide design decisions.
- Translate results into industry-ready design guidelines, improving the seismic resilience of hydropower assets across New Zealand.
Why This CFD Project Stands Out
- Push CFD beyond steady-state or simplified flows — this is transient, multiphase, and fluid–solid coupled modelling in a real-world, high-stakes setting.
- Immediate industry impact — your simulations will inform active hydropower projects and national engineering codes.
- Collaborate with seasoned CFD engineers who have delivered solutions for complex industrial problems across the energy sector.
- Work directly on confidential hydropower projects with national significance.
Ideal Candidate
A mechanical engineering graduate with a strong interest in fluid mechanics, numerical simulation, and mathematics. CFD or coding experience is an advantage.
You’ll graduate with:
- Advanced CFD expertise in transient, multiphase, and coupled simulations.
- Hands-on industry collaboration experience.
- A skill set that opens doors in renewable energy, consulting engineering, research, and beyond.
- A direct contribution to safeguarding New Zealand’s clean energy future.
Supervisors
First Supervisor: Sid Becker
Second Supervisor: Pedro Lee
Key qualifications and skills
- Bachelor’s (Hons) or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Fluid Mechanics, or a closely related discipline.
- Strong foundation in fluid mechanics and hydraulics, especially unsteady/transient flow.
- Familiarity with computational modelling and numerical simulation methods.
Does the project come with funding
UC Connect Doctoral Scholarship - stipend and tuition fees are covered
How to apply
Applications must be made through the UC Scholarships portal here: University of Canterbury Scholarship Portal - UC Connect - ReGenerate NZ Ltd (Re-Generate)
Final date for receiving applications
30 September 2025
Keywords
Engineering; Fluid dynamics; Computational; numerical; Civil Engineering; mechanical engineering; hydro power; CFD; Computational Fluid Dynamics
