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
Enhanced Prediction of Landfill Gas Emissions Through Geosynthetic Systems. Landfill gas represents an opportunity for electricity generation and carbon abatement: it need not be managed solely for environmental, health or safety risk reasons. However, our ability to predict gas collection and fugitive emissions from landfills capped with geosynthetics liners, in consideration of the myriad of factors that control these processes, is imperfect. Building on recent advances in unsaturated soil mec ....Enhanced Prediction of Landfill Gas Emissions Through Geosynthetic Systems. Landfill gas represents an opportunity for electricity generation and carbon abatement: it need not be managed solely for environmental, health or safety risk reasons. However, our ability to predict gas collection and fugitive emissions from landfills capped with geosynthetics liners, in consideration of the myriad of factors that control these processes, is imperfect. Building on recent advances in unsaturated soil mechanics, this project aims to conduct cutting-edge experimental and theoretical research to develop an experimentally-validated theory of gas migration through geosynthetics systems that is expected to lead to major improvement in performance and provide integrated design tools which are much needed but not currently availableRead moreRead less
Improved predictions of greenhouse gas transfers in landfill composite liner covers containing geomembrane defects. The Australian Greenhouse Office indicated that methane accounted for 85 per cent of the waste sector's annual greenhouse emissions in 2008, and stressed the need to undertake a range of activities to reduce these emissions. Models and theories derived from this project will address specifically the above issue leading to enhanced economic benefits.
Landfill gas leakages in geosynthetic lining systems: closing missing gaps. This project aims to resolve the shortfall in the fundamental understanding of the coupling between gas flow and geosynthetic liner systems by developing practical and new modelling techniques. The project expects to underpin the development of an experimentally validated theory to predict gas leakage rates through geosynthetics composite liner systems. Expected outcomes of the project are the establishment of a new conc ....Landfill gas leakages in geosynthetic lining systems: closing missing gaps. This project aims to resolve the shortfall in the fundamental understanding of the coupling between gas flow and geosynthetic liner systems by developing practical and new modelling techniques. The project expects to underpin the development of an experimentally validated theory to predict gas leakage rates through geosynthetics composite liner systems. Expected outcomes of the project are the establishment of a new conceptual framework and improved integrated design tools for the mitigation of gas escape through geosynthetics liner systems. These outcomes are expected to benefit the waste industry by providing the necessary scientific advances to enable a better estimate of gas emissions from landfills.Read moreRead less
Megadrought likelihood and its water resource impacts in Australia. This interdisciplinary project plans to assemble a world-class team of hydrologists, climate scientists and water managers to investigate the history and future risk of decadal to multidecadal droughts (megadroughts). Despite Australia’s vulnerability to water scarcity, the likelihood of persistent megadroughts has not been assessed in Australia. This has resulted in inadequate capacity to prepare for and adapt to megadrought un ....Megadrought likelihood and its water resource impacts in Australia. This interdisciplinary project plans to assemble a world-class team of hydrologists, climate scientists and water managers to investigate the history and future risk of decadal to multidecadal droughts (megadroughts). Despite Australia’s vulnerability to water scarcity, the likelihood of persistent megadroughts has not been assessed in Australia. This has resulted in inadequate capacity to prepare for and adapt to megadrought under future climate change. For the first time, palaeoclimate reconstructions and climate change projections will be used to constrain future hydroclimatic variability, advancing the decision-making capacity of Australian water resource managers.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
ARC Centre for Functional Nanomaterials. The Centre will consist of leading researchers from four Australian universities, four CSIRO divisions, and two US research centres. The vision is to position Australia as a world leader in nanomaterials science and technology. The Centre will involve nanoscale science for building functional nanostructures of materials at the molecular level. It aims to develop new methods and techniques for self-assembling and characterizing nanomaterials with tailorabl ....ARC Centre for Functional Nanomaterials. The Centre will consist of leading researchers from four Australian universities, four CSIRO divisions, and two US research centres. The vision is to position Australia as a world leader in nanomaterials science and technology. The Centre will involve nanoscale science for building functional nanostructures of materials at the molecular level. It aims to develop new methods and techniques for self-assembling and characterizing nanomaterials with tailorable properties. The outcomes will include leading-edge science, the development of human capital, and intellectual property in new materials and products for applications in clean energy, environmental, and health care industries.Read moreRead less
Linking microstructural evolutions across the scales of granular failure. This project expects to transform the understanding of granular materials and their behaviour by establishing explicit links between the macroscopic responses of the materials and their evolving microstructural properties. This should lead to revolutionary constitutive models for granular materials that possess true mechanisms of evolving grain-scale structures. The proliferation of these new models should allow developmen ....Linking microstructural evolutions across the scales of granular failure. This project expects to transform the understanding of granular materials and their behaviour by establishing explicit links between the macroscopic responses of the materials and their evolving microstructural properties. This should lead to revolutionary constitutive models for granular materials that possess true mechanisms of evolving grain-scale structures. The proliferation of these new models should allow development of reliable predictive computational tools for the modelling and assessment of field-scale failure involving granular materials, enhancing the capability to assess the integrity and stability of earth structures, and benefitting the Australian economy, environment and public safety.Read moreRead less
Internal soil erosion: from grain-scale insights to large-scale predictions. This project aims to further the understanding of internal soil erosion across different spatial and temporal scales. Internal soil erosion is the most frequent cause of failures of water retaining structures. An approach combining advanced X-ray techniques with particle based methods will be developed to observe, analyse and link different material properties and external conditions governing the erosion process. This ....Internal soil erosion: from grain-scale insights to large-scale predictions. This project aims to further the understanding of internal soil erosion across different spatial and temporal scales. Internal soil erosion is the most frequent cause of failures of water retaining structures. An approach combining advanced X-ray techniques with particle based methods will be developed to observe, analyse and link different material properties and external conditions governing the erosion process. This will lead to better criteria for soil erosion and numerical tools for field scale failure analysis and risk assessments. The expected outcomes of this project include enhanced capability to assess the integrity and stability of earth structures and better design criteria against erosion.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing millennial-scale streamflow variability to assess near-future risks to water-generated renewable energy. Hydroelectric power is a key component of Australia's national renewable energy policy. The project will combine Hydro Tasmania's water supply and distribution network with historical reconstructions of streamflow variability to conduct stress tests of future water supplies and hydroelectric generating capacity for the Australian power grid.