Earthquake protection of masonry buildings using fibre reinforced polymer strengthening. The importance of this research is highlighted, both nationally and internationally, by the work of the insurance industry which reported that the economic risk posed by a moderate earthquake in any of the capital cities in Australia is of the order of billions of dollars (Blong, 1993). For example, a 'design magnitude' earthquake in Sydney is predicted to cause, just in domestic construction, over $10 bill ....Earthquake protection of masonry buildings using fibre reinforced polymer strengthening. The importance of this research is highlighted, both nationally and internationally, by the work of the insurance industry which reported that the economic risk posed by a moderate earthquake in any of the capital cities in Australia is of the order of billions of dollars (Blong, 1993). For example, a 'design magnitude' earthquake in Sydney is predicted to cause, just in domestic construction, over $10 billion damage and more than 5000 deaths. Most of this damage would be associated with unreinforced masonry construction such as low-rise apartment buildings. The damage bill for the entire built environment (with business interruption costs) could easily be an order of magnitude greater.Read moreRead less
The Airport Metropolis: Managing the Interfaces. The project aims to develop coordinated and equitable decision-making to ensure that airport-urban development balances economic, social and environmental issues and produces a sustainable regional (and national) competitive advantage that is both secure and resilient. The project will develop modelling technologies for the innovative management of data to ensure efficient and resilient infrastructure coordination. The outputs will enable an open ....The Airport Metropolis: Managing the Interfaces. The project aims to develop coordinated and equitable decision-making to ensure that airport-urban development balances economic, social and environmental issues and produces a sustainable regional (and national) competitive advantage that is both secure and resilient. The project will develop modelling technologies for the innovative management of data to ensure efficient and resilient infrastructure coordination. The outputs will enable an open planning process whereby all stakeholders are able to provide informed input into decision-making. Strategic decision-making, based on increased certainty about future airport and regional planning and development will improve conditions for growth in a range of industries.Read moreRead less
Continuous non-invasive assessment of the physical condition of water distribution systems. Water distribution systems represent the single most important part of a society's infrastructure yet there are no comprehensive methods for detecting or assessing their physical condition. A suite of techniques (including those adapted from radar and sonar) for pro-active condition assessment will be developed in this research. The objective is to add significant intelligent and sophisticated numerical m ....Continuous non-invasive assessment of the physical condition of water distribution systems. Water distribution systems represent the single most important part of a society's infrastructure yet there are no comprehensive methods for detecting or assessing their physical condition. A suite of techniques (including those adapted from radar and sonar) for pro-active condition assessment will be developed in this research. The objective is to add significant intelligent and sophisticated numerical modelling capability to enable the non-invasive analysis of the transient pressure data, and to enable real-world application. This research will enable the continuous assessment of the physical condition of the entire water distribution system from an operations room resulting in significant savings.Read moreRead less
Influence of Spatial Variability on the Design and Performance of Pile Foundations. Currently, no model is available that incorporates the spatial variability of soil properties into the design and analysis of pile foundations. Furthermore, only basic rules-of-thumb are available to assist in determining the scope of appropriate site investigations for piles, and limited data are available for the LRFD of piles. The new and unique finite element model, site investigation guidelines and load re ....Influence of Spatial Variability on the Design and Performance of Pile Foundations. Currently, no model is available that incorporates the spatial variability of soil properties into the design and analysis of pile foundations. Furthermore, only basic rules-of-thumb are available to assist in determining the scope of appropriate site investigations for piles, and limited data are available for the LRFD of piles. The new and unique finite element model, site investigation guidelines and load resistance factors will reduce the over-design and uncertainty associated with pile design, which will lead to more reliable pile foundations and reduced construction cost overruns and delays. Conservatively, it is estimated that this research will result in savings in excess of $10 million per year, in Australia alone.Read moreRead less
Reducing the Risk of Foundation Failures by Improving the Effectiveness of Geotechnical Investigations. Inadequate geotechnical site investigation is the major factor in construction overruns and delays. In some instances failure may occur. Alternatively, such investigation may result in over-designed foundations. This research will examine these issues through sites, based on numerical simulations of variable soil conditions and investigations. Case studies will be used to verify the modelling. ....Reducing the Risk of Foundation Failures by Improving the Effectiveness of Geotechnical Investigations. Inadequate geotechnical site investigation is the major factor in construction overruns and delays. In some instances failure may occur. Alternatively, such investigation may result in over-designed foundations. This research will examine these issues through sites, based on numerical simulations of variable soil conditions and investigations. Case studies will be used to verify the modelling. A practical framework for planning and implementing geotechnical investigations, based on the variability of the soil profile will be developed. A key aspect of this framework is that, for the first time, site investigations will be linked to risk of foundation failure and cost of overdesign.Read moreRead less
Blast resistance of flexural ultra-high performance concrete members. Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) has high material strengths, high material deformation and high toughness, making it an ideal material for resisting blast effects. Since there are great differences between the mechanical properties of UHPC and conventional concrete, traditional guidelines need to be significantly adapted to accommodate UHPC. This project will facilitate the development of design procedures for reinforce ....Blast resistance of flexural ultra-high performance concrete members. Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) has high material strengths, high material deformation and high toughness, making it an ideal material for resisting blast effects. Since there are great differences between the mechanical properties of UHPC and conventional concrete, traditional guidelines need to be significantly adapted to accommodate UHPC. This project will facilitate the development of design procedures for reinforced UHPC members. It will enable design engineers to take advantage of the desirable properties of UHPC for anti-terrorism. The application of this project will lead to saving lives, reducing the extent of injury and minimizing social and economic disruption.Read moreRead less
Fibre reinforced polymer retrofitting of reinforced concrete flexural members. A cost-effective and durable technique for retrofitting reinforced concrete beams and slabs is to adhesively bond new advanced fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites to their surfaces. The potential plating market in Australia for bridges is $350 million, however, the technique can also be applied to strengthening other structures such as buildings. Tests have shown that FRP plates or sheets can debond prematurely, ....Fibre reinforced polymer retrofitting of reinforced concrete flexural members. A cost-effective and durable technique for retrofitting reinforced concrete beams and slabs is to adhesively bond new advanced fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites to their surfaces. The potential plating market in Australia for bridges is $350 million, however, the technique can also be applied to strengthening other structures such as buildings. Tests have shown that FRP plates or sheets can debond prematurely, which at present severely limits the application. The aim of this research project is to quantify the debonding mechanisms, strengths and ductilities of adhesively bonded FRP plated beams to provide design rules that can be used in practice.Read moreRead less
Dynamic vulnerability of urban road networks. Road transport networks are vital to the economic and social health of our society. Poorly performing networks lead to significant costs and adverse environmental and health impacts. This project will develop methods and tools to predict the effects of network failure through incident-related congestion at bottlenecks (e.g. congestion from accidents, vehicle breakdowns, road works, lane blockages and road closures) and to suggest remedial action plan ....Dynamic vulnerability of urban road networks. Road transport networks are vital to the economic and social health of our society. Poorly performing networks lead to significant costs and adverse environmental and health impacts. This project will develop methods and tools to predict the effects of network failure through incident-related congestion at bottlenecks (e.g. congestion from accidents, vehicle breakdowns, road works, lane blockages and road closures) and to suggest remedial action plans in the case of bottleneck formation. Incident related congestion is responsible for more than 50% of the ($9.4B p.a.) cost of congestion in Australia's major cities.Read moreRead less
An integrated model for the assessment of urban sustainability. The redevelopment and improvement of outdated urban infrastructure and the establishment of new infrastructure to meet needs of a growing population and increased services is a challenge faced by urban planners and developers in most Australian cities. This research will develop a systems-based framework within which combinations of models and tools will be evaluated for inclusion in an integrated assessment tool. The tool will ena ....An integrated model for the assessment of urban sustainability. The redevelopment and improvement of outdated urban infrastructure and the establishment of new infrastructure to meet needs of a growing population and increased services is a challenge faced by urban planners and developers in most Australian cities. This research will develop a systems-based framework within which combinations of models and tools will be evaluated for inclusion in an integrated assessment tool. The tool will enable us to address urban growth and its inter-relationship with infrastructure systems and services, including transport, energy, water, affordable housing, education and other land-use issues in relation to a case study of urban development. Read moreRead less
Development of sophisticated structural design guidelines for the new building product known as Rapidwall. Rapidwall is an Australian made new composite building product made from formulated gypsum plaster and glass-fibre. This is a high-tech building product that has huge potential to be developed into a dominant building material in the future. It is economic, labor effective, eco-friendly, structural sound and fire, thermal resistant and has many advantages over the existing building material ....Development of sophisticated structural design guidelines for the new building product known as Rapidwall. Rapidwall is an Australian made new composite building product made from formulated gypsum plaster and glass-fibre. This is a high-tech building product that has huge potential to be developed into a dominant building material in the future. It is economic, labor effective, eco-friendly, structural sound and fire, thermal resistant and has many advantages over the existing building materials, such as concrete, steel and masonry. The lack of a technical design guidelines has fundamentally obstructed it from expanding its market share both in Australia and overseas. This proposal aims at developing a structural design manual for the new product.Read moreRead less