Supersonic Particle Deposition Of Metal Matrix Composite/Aluminium Alloy For Ensuring The Continued Airworthiness Of Damaged Structures. The June 2007 Report to Congress by the US Under Secretary of the Department of Defence (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) estimated the cost of corrosion associated with US DoD systems to be between $10 billion and $20 billion annually. It further stated that the US DoD has focused its life-cycle corrosion research and development efforts on four primary ....Supersonic Particle Deposition Of Metal Matrix Composite/Aluminium Alloy For Ensuring The Continued Airworthiness Of Damaged Structures. The June 2007 Report to Congress by the US Under Secretary of the Department of Defence (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) estimated the cost of corrosion associated with US DoD systems to be between $10 billion and $20 billion annually. It further stated that the US DoD has focused its life-cycle corrosion research and development efforts on four primary areas one of which is repair processes that restore corroded materials to an acceptable level of structural integrity and functionality. This project specifically addresses that topic and as such will have a significant impact on Australia's Defence infrastructure.Read moreRead less
A Multi-Scale Approach To Reliability And Durability Of Engineering Structures And Sensors. The Longford explosion is an example where a major failure was due to a very small defect. It is estimated to have cost Australia in excess of $1.5 Billion. The acquisition costs of aircraft mean that keeping a fleet operational for a year can produce savings of ~$100,000,000.The automotive industry is designing lighter vehicles. GM Australia has realised that ensuring the durability of these new designs ....A Multi-Scale Approach To Reliability And Durability Of Engineering Structures And Sensors. The Longford explosion is an example where a major failure was due to a very small defect. It is estimated to have cost Australia in excess of $1.5 Billion. The acquisition costs of aircraft mean that keeping a fleet operational for a year can produce savings of ~$100,000,000.The automotive industry is designing lighter vehicles. GM Australia has realised that ensuring the durability of these new designs is essential. By our participation in the GM PACE program we ensure that the developments are available to the broader Australian Industry. Indeed, to design durable MEM's structures would give Australia a commercial edge.Read moreRead less
Efficient and Robust Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimisation Method for Large-scale Three-dimensional Topological Design. Structural optimisation is a process of searching for the best shape and topology of an engineering structure which will consume the least amount of material or energy. This project aims to further investigate the Bi-directional Structural Optimisation (BESO) method which has recently been proposed by the applicant's team. New algorithms will be developed to subst ....Efficient and Robust Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimisation Method for Large-scale Three-dimensional Topological Design. Structural optimisation is a process of searching for the best shape and topology of an engineering structure which will consume the least amount of material or energy. This project aims to further investigate the Bi-directional Structural Optimisation (BESO) method which has recently been proposed by the applicant's team. New algorithms will be developed to substantially improve the efficiency and robustness of the BESO method. The expected outcome of the project is a simple and effective optimisation technique that can be used for the conceptual design of a wide range of engineering structures.Read moreRead less
Novel quantitative sizing of inaccessible and hard-to-inspect defects to address the challenges posed by innovations in airframe design. Modern unitised aircraft structures cannot be reliably inspected using traditional techniques. This project will develop new techniques to quantify defects required for this innovation in aircraft component design. This research will improve the through-life support of future metallic and composite aircraft structures and improve air safety.
Computing transient inflow receptivity with application to high-lift airfoils. Applications of the research will lead to more efficient wind and gas turbines, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions in power generation and air transport. The project will provide high-level research training for a Research Fellow and a PhD student in an emerging area that links fundamental fluid mechanics, optimal control and optimal engineering design. Also the project will foster international collaboration w ....Computing transient inflow receptivity with application to high-lift airfoils. Applications of the research will lead to more efficient wind and gas turbines, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions in power generation and air transport. The project will provide high-level research training for a Research Fellow and a PhD student in an emerging area that links fundamental fluid mechanics, optimal control and optimal engineering design. Also the project will foster international collaboration with partner researchers and organizations in the United Kingdom.Read moreRead less
Remote Delivery and Capture of Payloads using Aerial Deployed Tethers. The capability to rapidly transport payloads to and from remote locations is critical for search and rescue, disaster relief, remote communities, and military operations. Conventional technology is not well suited to this role, hence we propose to develop an intelligent system to manoeuvre a tether, towed from an aircraft, to pick-up or set-down a payload, with zero surface velocity. Because of the complex, nonlinear dynamics ....Remote Delivery and Capture of Payloads using Aerial Deployed Tethers. The capability to rapidly transport payloads to and from remote locations is critical for search and rescue, disaster relief, remote communities, and military operations. Conventional technology is not well suited to this role, hence we propose to develop an intelligent system to manoeuvre a tether, towed from an aircraft, to pick-up or set-down a payload, with zero surface velocity. Because of the complex, nonlinear dynamics of a cable-body system, advanced modelling and nonlinear optimal control will be applied in this task. The resulting world-first system will provide important economic opportunities and demonstrate Australian scientific capacity for novel developing intelligent systems.Read moreRead less
Silencing the screech tone - noise suppression in supersonic jets. The focus of this research is to further develop understanding of the fundamental mechanics of the aeroacoustic phenomenon known as screech. From this deeper understanding a range of tailored control mechanisms are expected to be developed to reduce or eliminate the effects of screech in the engines of high-speed aircraft. The research builds on existing expertise and established experimental facilities. As well as an improved un ....Silencing the screech tone - noise suppression in supersonic jets. The focus of this research is to further develop understanding of the fundamental mechanics of the aeroacoustic phenomenon known as screech. From this deeper understanding a range of tailored control mechanisms are expected to be developed to reduce or eliminate the effects of screech in the engines of high-speed aircraft. The research builds on existing expertise and established experimental facilities. As well as an improved understanding of fundamental mechanism, the expected outcomes of the research are more efficient active and passive flow control devices for the reduction of supersonic jet noise.Read moreRead less
Designing for Safe and Durable Structures. This project creates advanced concepts and tools for the analysis/design of new structures, and structural modifications with safety and durability constraints. It involves the marriage of the alternative finite element techniques, for assessing durability, recent developments in structural optimisations, and advances in parallel processing techniques. This project builds on the applicants recent pioneering work, one of which won the best paper award ....Designing for Safe and Durable Structures. This project creates advanced concepts and tools for the analysis/design of new structures, and structural modifications with safety and durability constraints. It involves the marriage of the alternative finite element techniques, for assessing durability, recent developments in structural optimisations, and advances in parallel processing techniques. This project builds on the applicants recent pioneering work, one of which won the best paper award at the 2nd Australasian Conference on Applied Mechanics. By marrying the skills associated with three internationally recognised key researchers this proposal represents a major advance in the basic understanding of structural optimisation and creates unique research linkages.Read moreRead less
Are some languages better than others? It is important for the Australian community - speaking several hundred different indigenous and immigrant languages across the nation - to realise that each language has approximately (but not precisely) the same overall complexity as every other. One may have intricate word structure, while another has short words but elaborate rules for putting words together to make sentences. And, striding above 'political correctness', many people in Australia will be ....Are some languages better than others? It is important for the Australian community - speaking several hundred different indigenous and immigrant languages across the nation - to realise that each language has approximately (but not precisely) the same overall complexity as every other. One may have intricate word structure, while another has short words but elaborate rules for putting words together to make sentences. And, striding above 'political correctness', many people in Australia will be interested to know whether a certain language is a little more efficient than certain other languages for a particular purpose (for example, commercial business). Read moreRead less
Basic Linguistic Theory. The project is to write the first comprehensive monograph on basic linguistic theory, the theoretical model which underpins almost all grammatical descriptions and most work on typological universals of language (e.g. asking whether all languages have relative clauses, and how these differ between languages). Part 1 will focus on methodology, modes of argumentation and the components of a linguistic description, while Part 2 will profile grammatical categories and const ....Basic Linguistic Theory. The project is to write the first comprehensive monograph on basic linguistic theory, the theoretical model which underpins almost all grammatical descriptions and most work on typological universals of language (e.g. asking whether all languages have relative clauses, and how these differ between languages). Part 1 will focus on methodology, modes of argumentation and the components of a linguistic description, while Part 2 will profile grammatical categories and construction types (such as negation, interrogatives, causatives). This work will constitute both a major contribution to linguistic theory and also a practical manual for pursuing linguistic description and typological generalisations concerning the nature of human language.Read moreRead less