Demonstrating the feasibility of designing sustainable buildings using evolutionary systems. The design approach proposed in this research will result in two key areas of national benefit. First, the research will enable Australian built environment design professions to become more competitive in both domestic and international markets. There is a growing demand for environmentally-friendly buildings and the proposed design approach will enable Australian firms to be at the cutting edge of sust ....Demonstrating the feasibility of designing sustainable buildings using evolutionary systems. The design approach proposed in this research will result in two key areas of national benefit. First, the research will enable Australian built environment design professions to become more competitive in both domestic and international markets. There is a growing demand for environmentally-friendly buildings and the proposed design approach will enable Australian firms to be at the cutting edge of sustainable design. Second, the research will enable the Australian built environment to become more sustainable. The proposed approach will enable buildings to be designed that perform well, that are cost effective and that minimise their environmental impact. Read moreRead less
Behaviour of anchors in post-tensioned high-strength concrete slabs. Recently High-strength concrete(HSC) was introduced to minimise the time required for stressing the tendons in post-tensioned construction(PC), which is the preferred construction method for long span slabs in Australia and overseas. Although HSC is an obvious choice for this application, many failures have been observed in the live and dead end anchors of PC slabs and there is in fact very little understanding of relationships ....Behaviour of anchors in post-tensioned high-strength concrete slabs. Recently High-strength concrete(HSC) was introduced to minimise the time required for stressing the tendons in post-tensioned construction(PC), which is the preferred construction method for long span slabs in Australia and overseas. Although HSC is an obvious choice for this application, many failures have been observed in the live and dead end anchors of PC slabs and there is in fact very little understanding of relationships between specified concrete properties and performance. Through a systematic experimental and theoretical study, the behaviour of anchor regions of these slabs, including the reasons for failure will be investigated.Read moreRead less
Seismic performance of concrete beam-slab-column systems constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system. When designing for earthquake induced loading it is very important to know the ductility and any other inherent deficiencies in structural systems under lateral deflections. The main purpose of this application is to investigate the seismic performance of an efficient beam-slab-column system constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system, Corcon, which is becoming popula ....Seismic performance of concrete beam-slab-column systems constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system. When designing for earthquake induced loading it is very important to know the ductility and any other inherent deficiencies in structural systems under lateral deflections. The main purpose of this application is to investigate the seismic performance of an efficient beam-slab-column system constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system, Corcon, which is becoming popular in Australia and overseas. The proposed research will ultimately lead to revised design guidelines for these systems, suitable for local and overseas practice where different levels of seismicity occur.
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Failure Mechanisms of Roof Cladding under Fluctuating Wind Loads. Wind damage to low-rise buildings cause disruption to communities and result in economic losses. Improvements to the most vulnerable part (i.e. roof) will therefore have national benefits and associated economic benefits. Currently, roofing systems used in cyclonic areas are evaluated to DABM in the Northern Territory and to TR440 elsewhere, requiring the same product be tested under two different (and unsatisfactory) specificat ....Failure Mechanisms of Roof Cladding under Fluctuating Wind Loads. Wind damage to low-rise buildings cause disruption to communities and result in economic losses. Improvements to the most vulnerable part (i.e. roof) will therefore have national benefits and associated economic benefits. Currently, roofing systems used in cyclonic areas are evaluated to DABM in the Northern Territory and to TR440 elsewhere, requiring the same product be tested under two different (and unsatisfactory) specifications. This is due to the limited understanding of wind-induced fatigue of cladding. This project will provide the framework for understanding and minimizing cladding fatigue. A realistic single test will also reduce cost and result in better design systems.Read moreRead less