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
Limit and shakedown analyses allowing for geometric effects and physical instability. The accurate safety assessment of structures is a fundamental requirement for their safe and cost effective design and management. In this respect, understanding the implications of geometric effects and physical instability on the failure behaviour of structures is a vital and challenging one. This project aims at achieving this by developing innovative approaches in which the classical, so-called, limit and s ....Limit and shakedown analyses allowing for geometric effects and physical instability. The accurate safety assessment of structures is a fundamental requirement for their safe and cost effective design and management. In this respect, understanding the implications of geometric effects and physical instability on the failure behaviour of structures is a vital and challenging one. This project aims at achieving this by developing innovative approaches in which the classical, so-called, limit and shakedown, analyses are extended to incorporate these effects. The project will result in a significant advance in Australia's capability for enhanced diagnosis of its aging infrastructure and potentially also, through this newly developed computational ability, for the rapid transition of new materials to emerging technologies.Read moreRead less
Utilising the benefits of high performance steels (HPS) and infill materials for critical infrastructure protection (CIP) against extreme loads. This project will provide an improved understanding of the behaviour of structural elements subjected to impact and blast loads. The structural engineering community will benefit from the state of the art knowledge whilst the general community will benefit from the increased safety of critical infrastructure which will provide greater security against ....Utilising the benefits of high performance steels (HPS) and infill materials for critical infrastructure protection (CIP) against extreme loads. This project will provide an improved understanding of the behaviour of structural elements subjected to impact and blast loads. The structural engineering community will benefit from the state of the art knowledge whilst the general community will benefit from the increased safety of critical infrastructure which will provide greater security against physical and financial losses. This project extends on work conducted by the first Chief and Partner Investigator in a completed ARC Discovery Project. It is also directly related to research being carried out by the Second Chief Investigator as part of the ARC, Research Network for a Secure Australia.Read moreRead less
Efficient reinforced concrete design using linear elastic finite element analysis. It is expected that this project will bring about changes in the design practice for reinforced concrete structures, particularly those of complex geometry, which will enhance the competitiveness of the Australian design community. Through reduction of the overuse of concrete often present in current conservative design procedures for such structures, the project will lead to a reduction in the impact of reinforce ....Efficient reinforced concrete design using linear elastic finite element analysis. It is expected that this project will bring about changes in the design practice for reinforced concrete structures, particularly those of complex geometry, which will enhance the competitiveness of the Australian design community. Through reduction of the overuse of concrete often present in current conservative design procedures for such structures, the project will lead to a reduction in the impact of reinforced concrete construction on the environment and contribute to sustainable engineering practise.Read moreRead less
Numerical Modelling of Strain Localization in Reinforced Concrete and Its Application to Prediction of Crack Spacing and Crack Width. Cracking of concrete has a major influence on structural performance. Prediction of crack spacing and crack widths is essential for serviceability considerations of reinforced concrete. The available formulas to evaluate crack widths are approximate and give a wide scatter of predicted values. The project aims to provide a new numerical methodology that will (fina ....Numerical Modelling of Strain Localization in Reinforced Concrete and Its Application to Prediction of Crack Spacing and Crack Width. Cracking of concrete has a major influence on structural performance. Prediction of crack spacing and crack widths is essential for serviceability considerations of reinforced concrete. The available formulas to evaluate crack widths are approximate and give a wide scatter of predicted values. The project aims to provide a new numerical methodology that will (finally) predict crack spacing correctly. The expected outcomes include a numerical analysis model and a set of algorithms to predict crack widths. This will markedly improve the understanding of the mechanism of crack spacing and provide a better prediction of crack spacing and crack widths.Read moreRead less
Unified theory for the behaviour and design of composite steel-concrete beams subjected to generalised loading and support conditions. Steel framed construction for bridges, buildings and stadia is considered to provide a more elegant form of construction which often results in a minimum weight solution and can be linked with reconstructability and sustainability. This project, which provides for an improved understanding of steel framed construction, will result in the community being provided ....Unified theory for the behaviour and design of composite steel-concrete beams subjected to generalised loading and support conditions. Steel framed construction for bridges, buildings and stadia is considered to provide a more elegant form of construction which often results in a minimum weight solution and can be linked with reconstructability and sustainability. This project, which provides for an improved understanding of steel framed construction, will result in the community being provided with more efficient structural forms. From a technical perspective a greater understanding of steel framed construction will provide the structural engineering community with greater choice in their design process. This will often allow for the most effective solution in terms of aesthetics, constructability, cost and sustainability.Read moreRead less
Advanced analysis of composite steel-concrete frames for multi-storey buildings under extreme loading. The benefits derived from advanced analysis include the ability to identify the exact collapse load of a structure, which is often far higher than that of an individual element. This is of immense importance when analysing a structure under extreme loading. Applications of advanced analysis in the past have ignored the higher order effects of flexural-torsional buckling, local buckling and par ....Advanced analysis of composite steel-concrete frames for multi-storey buildings under extreme loading. The benefits derived from advanced analysis include the ability to identify the exact collapse load of a structure, which is often far higher than that of an individual element. This is of immense importance when analysing a structure under extreme loading. Applications of advanced analysis in the past have ignored the higher order effects of flexural-torsional buckling, local buckling and partial interaction. This project aims to include these effects and will include both an experimental and theoretical investigation. The expected outcomes will include an improved understanding of the behaviour of composite frames and eventual implementation of advanced analysis in design.Read moreRead less
Quantification of the influence of bacteria and elevated nutrient levels on the corrosion of structural steels in seawaters. Much of Australia's steel infrastructure is along the coastline and prone to high levels of corrosion. Recent evidence suggests that marine corrosion is greater under the influence of bacteria and nutrients contained in water pollution. This is examined in detail in the project. It is of economic and environmental significance since a wide range of physical infrastructure ....Quantification of the influence of bacteria and elevated nutrient levels on the corrosion of structural steels in seawaters. Much of Australia's steel infrastructure is along the coastline and prone to high levels of corrosion. Recent evidence suggests that marine corrosion is greater under the influence of bacteria and nutrients contained in water pollution. This is examined in detail in the project. It is of economic and environmental significance since a wide range of physical infrastructure may be involved, including tanks, pipelines, offshore platforms, ships, coastal structures, bridges and hazardous material containers. These structures are required to have long lifetimes and hence improved understanding of the deterioration mechanisms is essential for developing better corrosion protection, management and paint coatings. Read moreRead less
Analysis and behaviour of members curved spatially in-plane. This project aims to study the fundamental behaviour of structural members that are curved in a plane oriented arbitrarily in space, which will benefit greatly the rational design of contemporary bridges and buildings. It builds on previously funded ARC research by the team and will augment extensively the numerical models developed. These models will be calibrated with a unique set of experiments that will encompass novel loading, bo ....Analysis and behaviour of members curved spatially in-plane. This project aims to study the fundamental behaviour of structural members that are curved in a plane oriented arbitrarily in space, which will benefit greatly the rational design of contemporary bridges and buildings. It builds on previously funded ARC research by the team and will augment extensively the numerical models developed. These models will be calibrated with a unique set of experiments that will encompass novel loading, boundary conditions and structural forms. The outcomes of this project will include accurate design methods of immense benefit to practising structural engineers dealing with the design of curved bridges and arches in particular.Read moreRead less
Interval nonlinear analysis of spatially curved structures with material and geometric uncertainties. Understanding the implications of uncertainties on the nonlinear behaviour of curved structures that are sensitive to property variations helps the accurate safety assessment and design of curved structures in Australia. The innovative interval approach will be applied specifically to the important class of curved structures, the efficient and reliable construction of which promises great advant ....Interval nonlinear analysis of spatially curved structures with material and geometric uncertainties. Understanding the implications of uncertainties on the nonlinear behaviour of curved structures that are sensitive to property variations helps the accurate safety assessment and design of curved structures in Australia. The innovative interval approach will be applied specifically to the important class of curved structures, the efficient and reliable construction of which promises great advantages for the Australian construction industry. The project will lead to novel outcomes that will keep Australian research at the forefront of the discipline for many years, and so maintaining its internationally recognised outstanding reputation in the research of curved structures and nonlinear structural mechanics. Read moreRead less