Lunar crustal structure from high-res gravity, topography, and seismic data. This project aims to improve our knowledge of the Moon, including its surface processes, interior structure, modification by geological processes and creation and evolution. The Moon preserves the longest and cleanest records of surface geology in the Solar System’s history, unlike the Earth. The lunar crust should exhibit strong heterogeneity in density (both porosity and composition) given its complex history of impac ....Lunar crustal structure from high-res gravity, topography, and seismic data. This project aims to improve our knowledge of the Moon, including its surface processes, interior structure, modification by geological processes and creation and evolution. The Moon preserves the longest and cleanest records of surface geology in the Solar System’s history, unlike the Earth. The lunar crust should exhibit strong heterogeneity in density (both porosity and composition) given its complex history of impact bombardment and volcanism. This project aims to determine radial and lateral heterogeneity in density and porosity within the Moon's crust, by analysing Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory gravity and spacecraft tracking data, Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter topography and in situ Apollo seismological data.Read moreRead less
Accurate position estimation using intensity-modulated optical signals. Accurate information about the position of a person or device is essential in many situations. However, despite extensive worldwide research, there is still no positioning system suitable for many important indoor applications. The widespread introduction of energy efficient white light emitting diodes (LEDs) for indoor lighting provides an unprecedented opportunity to solve this problem by using these LEDs to transmit signa ....Accurate position estimation using intensity-modulated optical signals. Accurate information about the position of a person or device is essential in many situations. However, despite extensive worldwide research, there is still no positioning system suitable for many important indoor applications. The widespread introduction of energy efficient white light emitting diodes (LEDs) for indoor lighting provides an unprecedented opportunity to solve this problem by using these LEDs to transmit signals from which a receiver can calculate its position. However the theory underlying the design and analysis of position estimation using modulated optical signals does not exist. This project aims to develop this fundamental theoretical basis and apply it to create the accurate indoor positioning systems of the future.Read moreRead less
Final frontier in computational modelling of movement. This project aims to create the computational models and methods needed to advance current understanding of musculoskeletal function during movement. Humans must maintain their capacity to move in order to maintain quality-of-life. Predictive modelling is potentially the most powerful approach for understanding musculoskeletal function during movement. Current computational methods are too slow and unreliable to deliver predictive simulation ....Final frontier in computational modelling of movement. This project aims to create the computational models and methods needed to advance current understanding of musculoskeletal function during movement. Humans must maintain their capacity to move in order to maintain quality-of-life. Predictive modelling is potentially the most powerful approach for understanding musculoskeletal function during movement. Current computational methods are too slow and unreliable to deliver predictive simulations of movement using realistic models of muscle and joint anatomy. This project expects to create the next generation of methods and algorithms needed to enable predictive modelling of movement. Predictive simulations will provide new insights into how muscles stabilise and control movements of the spine, pelvis and lower limbs during daily activities such as walking.Read moreRead less
Computational fracture analysis of structures and materials. This project aims to develop a computer simulation technique to address the safety of engineering structures. A novel numerical framework based on the scaled boundary finite element method will be developed to model the fracture process critical to assessing structural integrity. The expected outcomes of this project include an innovative technology for numerical simulation and improved capabilities to generate high-fidelity predictio ....Computational fracture analysis of structures and materials. This project aims to develop a computer simulation technique to address the safety of engineering structures. A novel numerical framework based on the scaled boundary finite element method will be developed to model the fracture process critical to assessing structural integrity. The expected outcomes of this project include an innovative technology for numerical simulation and improved capabilities to generate high-fidelity predictions of structural safety at minimum human efforts. The fully automatic and robust numerical tool developed in this project will help engineers and government authorities to perform safe and cost-effective design and management of engineering structures that are vital to modern economies.Read moreRead less
Progressive collapse resistance of concrete flat plate structures. This project aims to systematically and thoroughly investigate the progressive collapse mechanisms and resistance capacity of concrete flat plate structures. They represent one of the most common construction systems used worldwide in modern days, yet their progressive collapse mechanisms require attention and limited collapse prevention design guidelines are available. The outcomes are expected to broaden and deepen the existing ....Progressive collapse resistance of concrete flat plate structures. This project aims to systematically and thoroughly investigate the progressive collapse mechanisms and resistance capacity of concrete flat plate structures. They represent one of the most common construction systems used worldwide in modern days, yet their progressive collapse mechanisms require attention and limited collapse prevention design guidelines are available. The outcomes are expected to broaden and deepen the existing theoretical framework and knowledge base, prevent injury and loss of life in both new and existing buildings. This is expected ultimately to contribute to the establishment of a set of collapse-resistant design guidelines for further development of relevant Australian and international standards.Read moreRead less
Unified nondeterministic dynamic safety assessment of softening structures. This project aims to develop a high-performance tool for the dynamic safety assessment of softening structures. The assessment of structures that exhibit softening, either at constitutive level or structural level, is essential for design and rehabilitation purposes, especially when the inevitable uncertainties in the system parameters need to be accounted for. This project aims to develop an advanced and unified framewo ....Unified nondeterministic dynamic safety assessment of softening structures. This project aims to develop a high-performance tool for the dynamic safety assessment of softening structures. The assessment of structures that exhibit softening, either at constitutive level or structural level, is essential for design and rehabilitation purposes, especially when the inevitable uncertainties in the system parameters need to be accounted for. This project aims to develop an advanced and unified framework that can model both stochastic and nonstochastic processes for these purposes. An advanced mixed finite element model underpins this framework, and both formulation and solution algorithms are based on mathematical programming formalism. The developed computational tool would be able to perform pure stochastic, pure nonstochastic, hybrid uncertain analyses and dynamic reliability assessment of structures.Read moreRead less
Three-dimensional contact and fracture analysis for safety assessment of structures. This project aims to address the safety assessment of engineering structures considering interfaces and cracks, which are nearly always the weakest parts of a structure system. Novel numerical approaches to model the contact of interfaces and crack faces and to simulate crack propagation under variable loads will be established based on the scaled boundary polytope elements and mathematical programming. It is an ....Three-dimensional contact and fracture analysis for safety assessment of structures. This project aims to address the safety assessment of engineering structures considering interfaces and cracks, which are nearly always the weakest parts of a structure system. Novel numerical approaches to model the contact of interfaces and crack faces and to simulate crack propagation under variable loads will be established based on the scaled boundary polytope elements and mathematical programming. It is anticipated that the developed numerical simulation tool will be robust and fully automatic. The intended outcome of this project is an innovative technology for numerical simulation and a rational predictive tool useful for cost-effective and timely planning, design and management of engineering structures.Read moreRead less
Stochastic geometrically nonlinear elasto-plastic buckling and behaviour of curved grid-like structures. It is vital to assess the safety of large spatially curved-complex structures for design and rehabilitation purposes when the inevitable uncertainties in structural parameters and loads are addressed. This project aims to develop an advanced stochastic framework for three-dimensional nonlinear elasto-plastic behaviour and buckling analysis of curved grid-like structures. A rational and powerf ....Stochastic geometrically nonlinear elasto-plastic buckling and behaviour of curved grid-like structures. It is vital to assess the safety of large spatially curved-complex structures for design and rehabilitation purposes when the inevitable uncertainties in structural parameters and loads are addressed. This project aims to develop an advanced stochastic framework for three-dimensional nonlinear elasto-plastic behaviour and buckling analysis of curved grid-like structures. A rational and powerful stochastic nonlinear elasto-plastic finite element model will be proposed to account for the random high-order geometric nonlinearity and material elasto-plasticity. Novel formulations and effective algorithms will also be devised for stochastic nonlinear analytical analysis. An efficient tool will be developed for reliability assessment of the class of structures.Read moreRead less
Scaled boundary finite-element approach for safety assessment of plates and shells under monotonic and shakedown loadings. This project develops an advanced numerical tool for the safety assessment of plate and shell structures under practical loading regimes. This tool permits timely decision making and is of vital assistance to engineers and government authorities on safe and cost-effective management of infrastructure asset.
Scaled boundary framework for adaptive and multiscale structural analysis. This project aims to establish an innovative numerical framework for the computer simulation of systems of engineering structures subject to dynamic loadings. Scaled boundary polytope elements and an octree algorithm for mesh generation are proposed for adaptive nonlinear dynamic analysis at multiscales. It is anticipated that the numerical modelling and simulation will be performed automatically from the material meso-st ....Scaled boundary framework for adaptive and multiscale structural analysis. This project aims to establish an innovative numerical framework for the computer simulation of systems of engineering structures subject to dynamic loadings. Scaled boundary polytope elements and an octree algorithm for mesh generation are proposed for adaptive nonlinear dynamic analysis at multiscales. It is anticipated that the numerical modelling and simulation will be performed automatically from the material meso-structures to achieve reliable predictions at minimum human and computational efforts. The intended outcome of this project is an innovative technology for numerical simulation and a rational predictive tool useful for the planning, design and management of engineering structures, and for the virtual testing of materials.Read moreRead less