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.
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
NUMERICAL MODELLING OF LOCAL SCOUR BELOW OFFSHORE PIPELINES. This research will develop a numerical model for time-dependent local scour below offshore pipelines subject to steady currents and waves. No such model is currently available in the offshore oil and gas industry and the research community. Instead, design engineers have to use simple empirical formulae to estimate the scour potential in complex environmental conditions. This may result in unsafe or over conservative designs. Therefore ....NUMERICAL MODELLING OF LOCAL SCOUR BELOW OFFSHORE PIPELINES. This research will develop a numerical model for time-dependent local scour below offshore pipelines subject to steady currents and waves. No such model is currently available in the offshore oil and gas industry and the research community. Instead, design engineers have to use simple empirical formulae to estimate the scour potential in complex environmental conditions. This may result in unsafe or over conservative designs. Therefore the model developed in this project will have direct impact on the stability design of offshore pipelines. The design will be safer and more reliable, and improved design may lead to a reduced cost.Read moreRead less
Turning pile foundations into sources of renewable energy: addressing remaining geotechnical challenges. Heat exchanger pile foundations are increasingly used for space heating and cooling of buildings to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and increase their energy efficiency. This project will remove the uncertainty of their geotechnical design and will provide a springboard for the use of other buried geostructures for energy harvesting.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100428
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Effect of natural seabed on hydrodynamics around cylindrical structures. This project aims to investigate the flow around a circular cylinder, placed near a plane boundary, as a fundamental fluid phenomenon and for applications of designing subsea pipelines. The proposed work will be carried out using a combined approach of physical model testing and numerical study. The effect of the plane boundary on flow transition from 2D to 3D, from sub-critical to critical turbulence regime will be examine ....Effect of natural seabed on hydrodynamics around cylindrical structures. This project aims to investigate the flow around a circular cylinder, placed near a plane boundary, as a fundamental fluid phenomenon and for applications of designing subsea pipelines. The proposed work will be carried out using a combined approach of physical model testing and numerical study. The effect of the plane boundary on flow transition from 2D to 3D, from sub-critical to critical turbulence regime will be examined. The project aims to derive a comprehensive set of force coefficients to predict hydrodynamic forces on pipelines that will improve the design of subsea pipelines. This project could provide significant benefits for the Australian subsea oil and gas industry.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.
Energy dissipation and vibration-assisted self-healing in structures with topological interlocking. High dissipation of impact and vibration energy, vibration-assisted self-healing, high tolerance to block failure and an ease of assembly/disassembly make topological interlocking structures ideal for safety barriers, protective shields and floating structures. The theory of these phenomena will open a way for more efficient protection of infrastructure against both natural and human perpetrated i ....Energy dissipation and vibration-assisted self-healing in structures with topological interlocking. High dissipation of impact and vibration energy, vibration-assisted self-healing, high tolerance to block failure and an ease of assembly/disassembly make topological interlocking structures ideal for safety barriers, protective shields and floating structures. The theory of these phenomena will open a way for more efficient protection of infrastructure against both natural and human perpetrated impacts and for developing new methodology in constructing mobile marine bases. This constitutes the main benefit of the project. Furthermore, understanding the resonance structure of travelling waves will improve methods of non-destructive monitoring by back analysing spectral signatures of the waves.Read moreRead less
On-Bottom Stability of Large Diameter Submarine Pipelines. Offshore oil and gas extraction contributes approximately $17 billion annually to Australian economy. As the extraction activities increase, the length of pipelines being installed in Australian waters increases exponentially. The typical cost of a large diameter pipeline on the North West Shelf (NWS) of Australia is approximately $4.5 million/km. On-bottom stabilisation measures account for approximately 30% of the total cost. It is exp ....On-Bottom Stability of Large Diameter Submarine Pipelines. Offshore oil and gas extraction contributes approximately $17 billion annually to Australian economy. As the extraction activities increase, the length of pipelines being installed in Australian waters increases exponentially. The typical cost of a large diameter pipeline on the North West Shelf (NWS) of Australia is approximately $4.5 million/km. On-bottom stabilisation measures account for approximately 30% of the total cost. It is expected that the outcomes of this project will enable significant cost savings for the new projects currently being developed such as Pluto, Browse, Sunrise and Greater Gorgon, and will provide the scientific evidence that will underpin the life extension reviews of existing trunklines.Read moreRead less