The effect of tunelling on existing rock bolts. As more underground facilities such as rail, road, sewerage and service tunnels are constructed in our major cities, more and more frequently new tunnels have to cross over or run alongside existing tunnels. As the roofs of tunnels are generally supported by rock bolts and lined with shotcrete, the support system can be damaged by the rock movements caused by the excavation of the new tunnel. Little research has been carried out on this problem, an ....The effect of tunelling on existing rock bolts. As more underground facilities such as rail, road, sewerage and service tunnels are constructed in our major cities, more and more frequently new tunnels have to cross over or run alongside existing tunnels. As the roofs of tunnels are generally supported by rock bolts and lined with shotcrete, the support system can be damaged by the rock movements caused by the excavation of the new tunnel. Little research has been carried out on this problem, and so often expensive deviations have to be made to tunnels to avoid going near existing ones. The proposed research will provide numerical tools to allow prediction of loads induced into rock bolts by nearby tunnels, leading to more economical and safer tunnel design.
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Enhanced Analysis of Time Dependent Viscous Behaviour of Soft Clay. Often post construction settlements of structures overlying clayey soils have been observed to be more than those predicted, or the predicted rate of settlement is not correct. The main benefit of this research is providing an accurate but simplified approach, which can be used by practicing engineers to predict the post construction settlement of structures in the design phase of construction projects. The community can conside ....Enhanced Analysis of Time Dependent Viscous Behaviour of Soft Clay. Often post construction settlements of structures overlying clayey soils have been observed to be more than those predicted, or the predicted rate of settlement is not correct. The main benefit of this research is providing an accurate but simplified approach, which can be used by practicing engineers to predict the post construction settlement of structures in the design phase of construction projects. The community can considerably benefit from the findings of this project including safer structures, significant reduction in the future maintenance costs and enhancing the performance of bridges, buildings, roads, railways and dams with less cracks and differential settlement.Read moreRead less
Geotechnical and soil-structure interaction properties of soils in Perth CBD. A new underground railway (City Project) will shortly begin construction in Perth CBD. This construction, and its associated high level of monitoring instrumentation, offers a unique opportunity for an extensive and thorough examination of the mechanical properties of Perths soils. The research results emanating from the proposed combination of field monitoring, laboratory investigation and numerical analysis, will gre ....Geotechnical and soil-structure interaction properties of soils in Perth CBD. A new underground railway (City Project) will shortly begin construction in Perth CBD. This construction, and its associated high level of monitoring instrumentation, offers a unique opportunity for an extensive and thorough examination of the mechanical properties of Perths soils. The research results emanating from the proposed combination of field monitoring, laboratory investigation and numerical analysis, will greatly improve the reliability (and hence cost) of future foundation and basement designs in Perth and elsewhere.Read moreRead less
Stabilization of railway subgrade by lime-flyash slurry injection. The rail network in Australia provides a major transport route for commuters as well as transportation of goods. The subgrade of railway track should provide adequate support for the overlying ballast and capping layers. Hence, a poor subgrade always results in track problems associated with uneven track, fouled ballast, and misalignment of the track. This project will investigate in detail the fundamental mechanisms and key para ....Stabilization of railway subgrade by lime-flyash slurry injection. The rail network in Australia provides a major transport route for commuters as well as transportation of goods. The subgrade of railway track should provide adequate support for the overlying ballast and capping layers. Hence, a poor subgrade always results in track problems associated with uneven track, fouled ballast, and misalignment of the track. This project will investigate in detail the fundamental mechanisms and key parameters involved in the improvement of subgrade soil by injecting lime-flyash slurry. This project will develop an improved design procedure for lime-flyash slurry injection in the field based on experimental and numerical modelling.Read moreRead less
Numerical prediction of train and vehicle induced ground vibrations and their effects on structures. This project will develop an innovative new method based on coupled finite element and scaled boundary finite-element analysis for predicting the ground vibrations induced by road traffic and underground or surface trains. The method will have immediate application in transportation engineering to predict traffic-induced ground vibrations, in geotechnical engineering to design isolation trenches ....Numerical prediction of train and vehicle induced ground vibrations and their effects on structures. This project will develop an innovative new method based on coupled finite element and scaled boundary finite-element analysis for predicting the ground vibrations induced by road traffic and underground or surface trains. The method will have immediate application in transportation engineering to predict traffic-induced ground vibrations, in geotechnical engineering to design isolation trenches and wave barriers to dissipate wave propagation, and in structural engineering to estimate in-structure vibration level and design isolators for sensitive equipment housed within. The technique will involve fundamental advances in the scaled boundary finite-element method, as calculations will be performed in a moving reference frame.Read moreRead less
Time-dependent dynamic, creep and shrinkage response of curved structural members. This project concerns curved structural members, such as bridge beams, that are subjected to dynamic excitation and to concrete shrinkage and creep. Hitherto, unified formulations for the structural behaviour of these members have not been properly developed. The proposal seeks to build on a previous ARC DP of the investigator that produces significant results for static loading, by developing a sophisticated meth ....Time-dependent dynamic, creep and shrinkage response of curved structural members. This project concerns curved structural members, such as bridge beams, that are subjected to dynamic excitation and to concrete shrinkage and creep. Hitherto, unified formulations for the structural behaviour of these members have not been properly developed. The proposal seeks to build on a previous ARC DP of the investigator that produces significant results for static loading, by developing a sophisticated methodology to handle non-static dynamic loading and for shrinkage and creep. It will develop advanced mathematical tools to enable the safe and efficient design of a multiplicity of structures that is of benefit to on and offshore Australian technology.Read moreRead less
Development of sophisticated structural design guidelines for the new building product known as Rapidwall. Rapidwall is an Australian made new composite building product made from formulated gypsum plaster and glass-fibre. This is a high-tech building product that has huge potential to be developed into a dominant building material in the future. It is economic, labor effective, eco-friendly, structural sound and fire, thermal resistant and has many advantages over the existing building material ....Development of sophisticated structural design guidelines for the new building product known as Rapidwall. Rapidwall is an Australian made new composite building product made from formulated gypsum plaster and glass-fibre. This is a high-tech building product that has huge potential to be developed into a dominant building material in the future. It is economic, labor effective, eco-friendly, structural sound and fire, thermal resistant and has many advantages over the existing building materials, such as concrete, steel and masonry. The lack of a technical design guidelines has fundamentally obstructed it from expanding its market share both in Australia and overseas. This proposal aims at developing a structural design manual for the new product.Read moreRead less
Geotechnical characterisation of compacted ground based on passive ambient noise techniques. The proposed research will provide our local construction and mining industries with a much needed fast and low cost technology for geotechnical investigation of very large sites which is currently not available. The project will help steer Australia to the forefront of ambient noise research for geotechnical site investigation, in the characterisation of unsaturated compacted soil and in the determinati ....Geotechnical characterisation of compacted ground based on passive ambient noise techniques. The proposed research will provide our local construction and mining industries with a much needed fast and low cost technology for geotechnical investigation of very large sites which is currently not available. The project will help steer Australia to the forefront of ambient noise research for geotechnical site investigation, in the characterisation of unsaturated compacted soil and in the determination of dynamic site characteristics which are required for seismic risk assessment. Two postgraduate students will benefit from this research by receiving research training at the highest level and it will also pave the way for exporting the technology developed overseas, particularly to our near neighbours in Asia and the Pacific. Read moreRead less
Improvement of the performance of water-sensitive geomaterials using hydrophobic additives. Geo-structures such as road and railway bases suffer from water induced damage because they readily interact with the atmosphere and shallow water tables. Under traffic loading, damage to geo-structures occurs as cracking, rutting and roughness, when the strength and stiffness of the geomaterials are compromised by on-going moisture variations. Substantial cost savings to the community can be made if ef ....Improvement of the performance of water-sensitive geomaterials using hydrophobic additives. Geo-structures such as road and railway bases suffer from water induced damage because they readily interact with the atmosphere and shallow water tables. Under traffic loading, damage to geo-structures occurs as cracking, rutting and roughness, when the strength and stiffness of the geomaterials are compromised by on-going moisture variations. Substantial cost savings to the community can be made if effective methods can be found to minimise such damage. This project proposes to study a novel technique, in which blends of hydrophobic polymer additives are used to increase the stability of geomaterials subjected to varying moisture levels and traffic loading.Read moreRead less
Behaviour of Tunnels in Sedimentary Rocks of the Sydney Basin. The aim of this project is to gain understanding of ground behaviour around tunnels in the Sydney region, how the ground interacts with fibre reinforced shotcrete tunnel linings, and how changes in material performance affect risk to users and the reliability of the tunnel structures. These aims will be met by a combination of field and laboratory experiments and theoretical modelling. The outcome will be a rational and reliable de ....Behaviour of Tunnels in Sedimentary Rocks of the Sydney Basin. The aim of this project is to gain understanding of ground behaviour around tunnels in the Sydney region, how the ground interacts with fibre reinforced shotcrete tunnel linings, and how changes in material performance affect risk to users and the reliability of the tunnel structures. These aims will be met by a combination of field and laboratory experiments and theoretical modelling. The outcome will be a rational and reliable design method for shotcrete lined tunnels in the Sydney basin.Read moreRead less