Enhancing the fire and energy ratings of cold-formed steel wall systems. This project intends to develop novel cold-formed light-gauge steel frame (LSF) wall systems with superior fire resistance and energy ratings for use in buildings. LSF systems are increasingly used in homes and offices. The project plans to investigate fundamental thermal, structural and energy performances of LSF walls and their components using experimental and numerical studies. It plans to develop enhanced plasterboards ....Enhancing the fire and energy ratings of cold-formed steel wall systems. This project intends to develop novel cold-formed light-gauge steel frame (LSF) wall systems with superior fire resistance and energy ratings for use in buildings. LSF systems are increasingly used in homes and offices. The project plans to investigate fundamental thermal, structural and energy performances of LSF walls and their components using experimental and numerical studies. It plans to develop enhanced plasterboards, insulations and innovative composite panels using suitable nanomaterials, chemical additives, fillers and phase-change materials and use these with innovative wall configurations to significantly improve the fire and energy performance of LSF walls. The new wall systems may increase occupant comfort and safety, reduce business losses in fires, and lead to low-energy buildings.Read moreRead less
Averting Disaster: New Ways to Assess Bushfire Risk and Building Integrity. This project aims to develop a new method of assessing bushfire risk and building integrity using drone-based advanced technologies and computational fluid dynamics based heat transfer modelling for buildings located in bushfire prone areas. This coupled approach will enable the evaluation of bushfire effects on buildings and provide pre-bushfire condition/risk assessments, and site-specific cost-effective remedial actio ....Averting Disaster: New Ways to Assess Bushfire Risk and Building Integrity. This project aims to develop a new method of assessing bushfire risk and building integrity using drone-based advanced technologies and computational fluid dynamics based heat transfer modelling for buildings located in bushfire prone areas. This coupled approach will enable the evaluation of bushfire effects on buildings and provide pre-bushfire condition/risk assessments, and site-specific cost-effective remedial actions to reduce or eliminate bushfire damage and mitigate the risks pre-bushfire season. The new method will be applied to three selected buildings through which further enhancements and validations can be achieved. This project will showcase how the selected buildings and their components can be made bushfire safe.Read moreRead less
Collapse assessment of reinforced concrete buildings in regions of lower seismicity. This research aims to develop a new displacement based (DB) method for regions of lower seismicity, using 'Displacement Controlled' phenomenon, to assess the risk of collapse and seismic performance of buildings. The project will investigate the system behaviour of buildings in Australia that are laterally supported by lightly reinforced concrete geometric walls, including both torsional and wall floor interacti ....Collapse assessment of reinforced concrete buildings in regions of lower seismicity. This research aims to develop a new displacement based (DB) method for regions of lower seismicity, using 'Displacement Controlled' phenomenon, to assess the risk of collapse and seismic performance of buildings. The project will investigate the system behaviour of buildings in Australia that are laterally supported by lightly reinforced concrete geometric walls, including both torsional and wall floor interaction effects. The new DB method could allow buildings in regions of lower seismicity to be designed for robustness, gravity and wind loading and then checked using displacement principles for seismic compliance, which will dramatically simplify and improve the current seismic design process.Read moreRead less
Coupled service and ultimate behaviour of high strength composite columns. This project aims to improve the coupled service and strength load behaviour of high strength composite columns used in building and bridge infrastructure. Taller and longer buildings and bridges need efficient and safe material. Australian Standards for concrete and steel now allow higher strength materials of 100 and 690 MPa. This project will consider coupled service and strength load issues incorporating time-dependen ....Coupled service and ultimate behaviour of high strength composite columns. This project aims to improve the coupled service and strength load behaviour of high strength composite columns used in building and bridge infrastructure. Taller and longer buildings and bridges need efficient and safe material. Australian Standards for concrete and steel now allow higher strength materials of 100 and 690 MPa. This project will consider coupled service and strength load issues incorporating time-dependent effects and ductility, and extend the range of concrete and steel strengths to 150 and 960 MPa for world-class heavy infrastructure. This project is expected to improve the safety and economy of tall buildings, bridges and large infrastructure.Read moreRead less
Achieving structural morphing via functionalising nonlinear buckling. This project aims to develop a general framework to analyse and design functional components of buildings and structures, where they change shapes (morphing) by buckling. Australian buildings consume 20% of the nation’s total energy production on heating and cooling, and projected population increases are likely to increase energy demands. The shape changes are optimised, e.g. to reduce energy consumption by minimising solar r ....Achieving structural morphing via functionalising nonlinear buckling. This project aims to develop a general framework to analyse and design functional components of buildings and structures, where they change shapes (morphing) by buckling. Australian buildings consume 20% of the nation’s total energy production on heating and cooling, and projected population increases are likely to increase energy demands. The shape changes are optimised, e.g. to reduce energy consumption by minimising solar radiation loads or maximising natural air ventilation. The project expects to develop building technology solutions to reduce Australia's energy consumption, and provide domestic and global market opportunities in the high-tech manufacturing sector.Read moreRead less
Development of design and analysis methods for blast-resistant window structures. More than 80 per cent of casualties in explosion events are caused by glass shards from fractured windows. This project aims to develop design guidelines for blast-resistant windows, develop numerical methods to predict window failure and fragmentation, and investigate the effectiveness of various window-strengthening measures for life and property protection.
The behaviour and design of composite columns coupling the benefits of high strength steel and high strength concrete for large scale infrastructure. This project will involve the development of a novel structural column system which will be more efficient, robust and require less maintenance than current systems. The outcomes will involve improved design methodologies which will enable large scale infrastructure to be enhanced and will involve the use of materials which improve sustainability.
New Systems for High Rise Steel Structures in Rising Factory Construction. This project will develop new and innovative ways of constructing steel structures using the rising factory concept. The rising factory is a 10 storey enclosure where the final high-rise building is safely constructed within a watertight envelope which rises as the building progresses. The project will perform the necessary research to make possible high-rise steel structural systems consisting of hot-rolled (heavy gauge ....New Systems for High Rise Steel Structures in Rising Factory Construction. This project will develop new and innovative ways of constructing steel structures using the rising factory concept. The rising factory is a 10 storey enclosure where the final high-rise building is safely constructed within a watertight envelope which rises as the building progresses. The project will perform the necessary research to make possible high-rise steel structural systems consisting of hot-rolled (heavy gauge) and cold-formed (light gauge) steel structural members and connections which can be used in the rising factory. The main benefits of the rising factory are the waterproof construction environment and the substantially increased safety as a result of no external cranes.
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Retrofitted brick masonry buildings - are they reliable over the long term? The aim of this project is to investigate the long-term reliability of a new earthquake strengthening technique for brick buildings. The technique involves the use of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) strips as reinforcement for brick walls and has been shown to give substantial instantaneous strength increases. However, no research has been undertaken to ensure that the improved strength is sustained over the remaining lif ....Retrofitted brick masonry buildings - are they reliable over the long term? The aim of this project is to investigate the long-term reliability of a new earthquake strengthening technique for brick buildings. The technique involves the use of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) strips as reinforcement for brick walls and has been shown to give substantial instantaneous strength increases. However, no research has been undertaken to ensure that the improved strength is sustained over the remaining life of the building. The only related research involves reinforced concrete which suggests that a reduction of at least 33 per cent could be expected. Hence, this project will quantify the long-term strength of FRP reinforced brickwork to enable engineers to safely apply this new cost-effective retrofit technique.Read moreRead less
Development of Novel Metaconcrete to Resist Impulsive Loads. This project aims to develop innovative metaconcrete for structural protection by utilising the concept of phononic crystals and metamaterials which has been recently developed by physicists. Traditional construction materials are used in new structural forms to mitigate dynamic loading effects by exploiting the unique characteristics of the proposed metaconcrete. Theoretical, numerical and experimental methods will be used to derive t ....Development of Novel Metaconcrete to Resist Impulsive Loads. This project aims to develop innovative metaconcrete for structural protection by utilising the concept of phononic crystals and metamaterials which has been recently developed by physicists. Traditional construction materials are used in new structural forms to mitigate dynamic loading effects by exploiting the unique characteristics of the proposed metaconcrete. Theoretical, numerical and experimental methods will be used to derive the best performing metaconcrete and verify its static and dynamic load resistant capacities. The expected outcomes of the project will lead to innovative extreme-loading resistant designs and provide significant benefit to the Australian construction industry, general public and economy.Read moreRead less