INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANISM CAUSING SHRINKAGE STRAINS IN CONCRETES MADE WITH SLAG BLENDED CEMENTS. Slag, an industrial by-product, can partially substitute portland cement. High slag contents produce highly durable concretes and help reduce the CO2 emissions due to cement manufacture. Major problem of high slag content is often the high shrinkages resulting in the concrete. This project will systematically study all the factors affect the shrinkage behaviour in slag-blended cement concrete ....INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANISM CAUSING SHRINKAGE STRAINS IN CONCRETES MADE WITH SLAG BLENDED CEMENTS. Slag, an industrial by-product, can partially substitute portland cement. High slag contents produce highly durable concretes and help reduce the CO2 emissions due to cement manufacture. Major problem of high slag content is often the high shrinkages resulting in the concrete. This project will systematically study all the factors affect the shrinkage behaviour in slag-blended cement concretes including the appropriateness of the standard shrinkage measurement method. The other aim is to develop a micro-mechanical model to understand the fundamental mechanism involved. This model will also lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in shrinkage in all concretes.Read moreRead less
Development of Leakage Resistant Well-Cements for Geo-Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Application using Alkali Activated Slag and Geopolymer Cements. The biggest threat facing life now is climate change due to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Extreme weathers are increasing in frequency and intensity, as evidenced by recent bushfires, and it is predicted to get worse unless carbon mitigation strategies are quickly implemented. Geo-sequestration is the technology of capturing and storing of the CO ....Development of Leakage Resistant Well-Cements for Geo-Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Application using Alkali Activated Slag and Geopolymer Cements. The biggest threat facing life now is climate change due to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Extreme weathers are increasing in frequency and intensity, as evidenced by recent bushfires, and it is predicted to get worse unless carbon mitigation strategies are quickly implemented. Geo-sequestration is the technology of capturing and storing of the CO2 deep below ground for long time (>1000 years). It offers the best hope for large reductions of CO2 emissions. However, CO2-brine stored under pressure is acidic and has the risk of leaking in the long term by dissolving the cement used to seal the pipe wells. This project will develop alternative novel cements which are acid resistant and will not allow CO2 to leak through the sealed wells.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100101
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$744,697.00
Summary
New generation facility for impact testing. This project aims to develop a new generation, national-impact testing facility to study the impact response of civil and mechanical structures and components. This project expects to seek simultaneous, realistic impact scenarios with very high velocities, which were previously impossible. This will enhance the capability for innovative research on real-time behaviour of components/systems under high amplitude impacts to augment their protection throug ....New generation facility for impact testing. This project aims to develop a new generation, national-impact testing facility to study the impact response of civil and mechanical structures and components. This project expects to seek simultaneous, realistic impact scenarios with very high velocities, which were previously impossible. This will enhance the capability for innovative research on real-time behaviour of components/systems under high amplitude impacts to augment their protection through advanced materials. This project is essential for research on rational design philosophies and effective retrofitting of high-risk buildings, infrastructure and armoured vehicles. Benefits include the saving of lives and property through new knowledge from credible impact testing.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100181
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$650,000.00
Summary
Strengthening merit-based access and support at the new National Computing Infrastructure petascale supercomputing facility. World-leading high-performance computing is fundamental to Australia's international research success. This facility will provide access to the new National Computational Infrastructure facility by world-leading researchers from six research universities, and sustain ground-breaking work in an increasingly competitive environment.
An innovative light weight composite panel system for high speed modular construction. This project aims to develop an innovative composite panel system using aerated geopolymer and a thin high strength steel casing. The new panel system aims to have a number of significant enhancements compared to traditional panels in terms of load resistance, much lower carbon footprint and life-cycle costs. It aims to offer desirable properties, such as being light-weight, easy to construct, economical, recy ....An innovative light weight composite panel system for high speed modular construction. This project aims to develop an innovative composite panel system using aerated geopolymer and a thin high strength steel casing. The new panel system aims to have a number of significant enhancements compared to traditional panels in terms of load resistance, much lower carbon footprint and life-cycle costs. It aims to offer desirable properties, such as being light-weight, easy to construct, economical, recyclable and reusable. A significant gap in knowledge exists in the material and system behaviour of the aerated geopolymer and its fire performance. It is intended that a comprehensive research program will be carried out to address those challenges and to provide design guidelines to rapidly progress these technologies in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101913
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Free-forming and function-integrated composite structures for future green building construction. The free expression of structure in space is a constant pursuit for architects while being a complex task for engineers. Fibre-reinforced polymer sandwiches provide an ideal way to address this challenge. This project aims to develop a novel free-forming system using such elements and explore their thermal-energy-light multifunctional integration.
Concrete Enriched with Carbon Nanotubes for Advanced Future Construction. This project aims to develop an advanced construction material based on enrichment of concrete with carbon nanotubes (CNT). Concrete, the most consumed construction material globally, is brittle and needs embedded steel reinforcement. Concrete enriched with CNT, one of the strongest known fibres, may partially replace conventional bulky and heavier steel reinforcement thereby creating economies (e.g. thinner section sizes) ....Concrete Enriched with Carbon Nanotubes for Advanced Future Construction. This project aims to develop an advanced construction material based on enrichment of concrete with carbon nanotubes (CNT). Concrete, the most consumed construction material globally, is brittle and needs embedded steel reinforcement. Concrete enriched with CNT, one of the strongest known fibres, may partially replace conventional bulky and heavier steel reinforcement thereby creating economies (e.g. thinner section sizes), and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by expending less steel and cement for construction. This project extends earlier research by the research team and aims to transform cement-CNT pastes into construction-scale concrete by resolving uncertainties associated with scaling.Read moreRead less
Functionally Graded Ultra High Perfomance Concete Structure under Flexure. This project aims to develop a novel multilayer functionally graded concrete structure that is a mixture of normal strength concrete and ultra high performance concrete with the mixing ratio varying in a layer-wise manner, offering a highly cost-effective structural design solution with significantly improved safety and durability over conventional concrete structures. The expected outcomes include the innovative design, ....Functionally Graded Ultra High Perfomance Concete Structure under Flexure. This project aims to develop a novel multilayer functionally graded concrete structure that is a mixture of normal strength concrete and ultra high performance concrete with the mixing ratio varying in a layer-wise manner, offering a highly cost-effective structural design solution with significantly improved safety and durability over conventional concrete structures. The expected outcomes include the innovative design, experimental data on the static and dynamic structural behaviour, development of reliable simulation techniques and optimal design procedures for the proposed structure with greatly reduced material costs. The project will have huge benefits to Australian civil engineering industry and national economy.
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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100646
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,000.00
Summary
Active rheology control of fresh concrete using responsive additives. This project aims to investigate innovative techniques for Active Rheology Control (ARC) of concretes using responsive additives interacting with externally applied electromagnetic or temperature signals. ARC is a new concept which will revolutionise concrete pumping by overcoming limitations such as frequent pipe blockages. ARC will also be useful to solve the major barrier faced by 3D concrete printing (3DCP) from becoming a ....Active rheology control of fresh concrete using responsive additives. This project aims to investigate innovative techniques for Active Rheology Control (ARC) of concretes using responsive additives interacting with externally applied electromagnetic or temperature signals. ARC is a new concept which will revolutionise concrete pumping by overcoming limitations such as frequent pipe blockages. ARC will also be useful to solve the major barrier faced by 3D concrete printing (3DCP) from becoming a practical way of construction. 3DCP is an emerging idea for construction but a major barrier is that concrete needs to flow during pumping and extrusion but become stiff soon after placement. This project will explore ARC for achieving the “flow-on-demand” desired by both concrete pumping and 3DCP applications.Read moreRead less
Buckling of Functionally Graded Multilayer Graphene Nanocomposites. This project aims to contribute to the development of novel lightweight structural members made of graphene nanocomposites with greatly enhanced resistance to abrupt or progressive buckling failure. Abrupt or progressive buckling failure under excessive compressive loads is a common and often catastrophic problem in engineering structures. The project intends to develop a functionally graded multilayer graphene nanocomposite str ....Buckling of Functionally Graded Multilayer Graphene Nanocomposites. This project aims to contribute to the development of novel lightweight structural members made of graphene nanocomposites with greatly enhanced resistance to abrupt or progressive buckling failure. Abrupt or progressive buckling failure under excessive compressive loads is a common and often catastrophic problem in engineering structures. The project intends to develop a functionally graded multilayer graphene nanocomposite structure and to conduct a combined theoretical, numerical and experimental investigation into its buckling and postbuckling behaviours, taking into account the effect of initial imperfection. The project aims to advance the knowledge base of the mechanical behaviour of lightweight nanocomposite structures with improved structural reliability.Read moreRead less