Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354894
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Innovative risk analysis, assessment, rehabilitation and strengthening of aging critical civil infrastructure. Much essential civil engineering infrastructure such as bridges, buildings, dams, pipelines and pavements was commissioned many decades ago, and sustaining the integrity of this infrastructure in developed nations as it ages is now considered to be a major challenge to the engineering and scientific community. Australia is not spared by the ramifications of its aging civil assets, and ....Innovative risk analysis, assessment, rehabilitation and strengthening of aging critical civil infrastructure. Much essential civil engineering infrastructure such as bridges, buildings, dams, pipelines and pavements was commissioned many decades ago, and sustaining the integrity of this infrastructure in developed nations as it ages is now considered to be a major challenge to the engineering and scientific community. Australia is not spared by the ramifications of its aging civil assets, and identification and rectification procedures that are often ad-hoc now represent a sizeable proportion of the GDP. This Research Network draws together the leading Australian research groups in engineering and applied mechanics in a coordinated program to address this most important cost to the community.Read moreRead less
Characterisation of granular base and sub-base pavement materials under cyclic loading. Pavement construction is a high cost item in road construction. Until very recently, pavements were designed based on empirical rules and restrictive material prescriptions. With the introduction of rational mechanistic pavement design methodology, it has become necessary to reliably characterise the behaviour of road foundation materials under cyclic loading. This project is focused on the characterisati ....Characterisation of granular base and sub-base pavement materials under cyclic loading. Pavement construction is a high cost item in road construction. Until very recently, pavements were designed based on empirical rules and restrictive material prescriptions. With the introduction of rational mechanistic pavement design methodology, it has become necessary to reliably characterise the behaviour of road foundation materials under cyclic loading. This project is focused on the characterisation of unbound granular base and sub-base materials. Since these are geo-materials, geotechnical concepts such as the influence of stress path will be used. This project will lead to better roads at lower cost, and significant leap in know-how in pavement design and material specification.Read moreRead less
Modelling and simulation of complex granular flows. Granular flows are of crucial importance in a wide range of problems related to civil infrastructure. These include landslides and similar catastrophic events, often leading to loss of life and property. The project aims to develop new methods for accurate prediction of such events thus allowing for the formulation of efficient mitigation strategies.
Transforming decision making for rockfall hazard assessment. The aim is to transform conventional approaches to rockfall hazard prediction and mitigation. The management of risks posed by rockfall in Australia currently comes at significant cost and is suboptimal; predicted environmental changes are likely to worsen these hazards. Rockfall mechanics, remote sensing, and data-driven modelling will be combined with advanced visual technologies to deliver a novel, rapid, and reliable augmented real ....Transforming decision making for rockfall hazard assessment. The aim is to transform conventional approaches to rockfall hazard prediction and mitigation. The management of risks posed by rockfall in Australia currently comes at significant cost and is suboptimal; predicted environmental changes are likely to worsen these hazards. Rockfall mechanics, remote sensing, and data-driven modelling will be combined with advanced visual technologies to deliver a novel, rapid, and reliable augmented reality based rockfall hazard assessment tool. The outcomes are expected to streamline prediction, assessment, and mitigation – supporting practitioners and governments to proactively assess triggering conditions, evaluate risk, and apply robust solutions to improve safety, with substantial economic savings.Read moreRead less
Laboratory and Theoretical Investigation of Soft Clay Behaviour under Cyclic Loading Stabilised by Prefabricated Vertical Drains. Coastal Australia is under increasing pressure from rapid population growth that requires continual capital investment in civil infrastructure such as road and rail links, ports and buildings. Many regions have soft compressible clays that present challenges for infrastructure design and construction. The use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) in stabilising soil ....Laboratory and Theoretical Investigation of Soft Clay Behaviour under Cyclic Loading Stabilised by Prefabricated Vertical Drains. Coastal Australia is under increasing pressure from rapid population growth that requires continual capital investment in civil infrastructure such as road and rail links, ports and buildings. Many regions have soft compressible clays that present challenges for infrastructure design and construction. The use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) in stabilising soil can reduce construction and maintenance costs, and increased soil strength will enhance the performance of infrastructure. In this project, the soil behaviour under cyclic loads stabilised by PVDs will be thoroughly investigated. Extensive laboratory testing will result in more efficient design and construction on soft soils, including roads, railways and airport runways.Read moreRead less
Clogging of Permeable Reactive Barrier when treating Acidic Groundwater. Proper understanding of soil-water interaction is vital for sustainable development of floodplains, and to halt acid mine drainage caused by the oxidation of pyritic soil. Permeable reactive barriers (PRB) offer a cost-effective solution to neutralize acidified groundwater. The project aims to quantify the clogging potential of PRB’s granular medium by coupling geotechnical fundamentals with integrated hydro-bio-geochemical ....Clogging of Permeable Reactive Barrier when treating Acidic Groundwater. Proper understanding of soil-water interaction is vital for sustainable development of floodplains, and to halt acid mine drainage caused by the oxidation of pyritic soil. Permeable reactive barriers (PRB) offer a cost-effective solution to neutralize acidified groundwater. The project aims to quantify the clogging potential of PRB’s granular medium by coupling geotechnical fundamentals with integrated hydro-bio-geochemical processes. Time-dependent clogging will be evaluated through geotechnical laboratory & field testing. Expected outcomes are enhanced PRB design methods and sound geotechnical field monitoring to provide significant industry benefits, such as mine-site rehabilitation, increased productivity and infrastructure longevity.Read moreRead less
Variational multiscale modelling of granular materials. Granular materials play an important role in a wide-range of problems related to physical infrastructure. These include landslides and similar catastrophic events often leading to loss of life and property. This project will aim to develop new methods for adequate simulation of granular flows to allow formulation of efficient risk mitigation strategies.
Efficient geotechnical risk management of rock cliffs . Extreme events will significantly impact the severity of Australian rock cliff hazards in the coming years affecting infrastructure and public safety along major corridors and popular paths. Accurate prediction of their effect is crucial to analyse the associated rockfall risks and design mitigation measures. The project aims to provide a novel approach for the quantification of the rockfall risk by combining proximity remote sensing soluti ....Efficient geotechnical risk management of rock cliffs . Extreme events will significantly impact the severity of Australian rock cliff hazards in the coming years affecting infrastructure and public safety along major corridors and popular paths. Accurate prediction of their effect is crucial to analyse the associated rockfall risks and design mitigation measures. The project aims to provide a novel approach for the quantification of the rockfall risk by combining proximity remote sensing solutions, probabilistic models and quantitative risk analysis. The primary benefits lie in the ability to optimize protection reliability and costs and to deliver a rigorous method to support practitioners, government and emergency agencies to manage the risk, improve safety and properly allocate resources.Read moreRead less
Long term stabilisation of expansive soils by polymer addition. Expansive soils can cause serious damage to infrastructure. The project aims to study the feasibility of reducing the long term swelling potential of expansive soils by polymer addition. The project involves advanced experimental testing to identify suitable candidates amongst different polymers and to test their long term performance.
Local scour below offshore pipelines on calcareous sediments. This project will improve predictions of erosion around subsea structures in calcareous sediment, allowing potential pipeline self-burial. This will reduce the considerable costs currently spent on pipeline stabilisation and increase the viability of Australia's offshore resources and the competitiveness of the Australian oil and gas industry.