Determination of unsaturated soil properties using cone penetrometer data. Unsaturated soils account for almost 40 percent of earth's land surface. Over 70 percent of Australia's land surface consists of unsaturated soils. The research proposed aims at providing a methodology for a realistic characterisation of unsaturated soils in the field. The developments in this research will be immediately applicable to many engineering problems of national interest including dams, embankments, foundatio ....Determination of unsaturated soil properties using cone penetrometer data. Unsaturated soils account for almost 40 percent of earth's land surface. Over 70 percent of Australia's land surface consists of unsaturated soils. The research proposed aims at providing a methodology for a realistic characterisation of unsaturated soils in the field. The developments in this research will be immediately applicable to many engineering problems of national interest including dams, embankments, foundations, highways and airfields. The work will also benefit Australia and the Australian research community through the development of a new expertise within Australia, which is likely to receive wide spread attention in both scientific and engineering communities.
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A fully coupled elasto-plastic model for dynamic analysis of unsaturated soils. This research is concerned with an important and, as yet, unresearched class of problems in geomechanics dealing with dynamic analysis of unsaturated soils. The work is of significance as it will contribute to the progress of soil mechanics as a science, advancing it from the study of unsaturated soils to that of real soils, which are invariably unsaturated. The project should lead to cost savings in many geotechnica ....A fully coupled elasto-plastic model for dynamic analysis of unsaturated soils. This research is concerned with an important and, as yet, unresearched class of problems in geomechanics dealing with dynamic analysis of unsaturated soils. The work is of significance as it will contribute to the progress of soil mechanics as a science, advancing it from the study of unsaturated soils to that of real soils, which are invariably unsaturated. The project should lead to cost savings in many geotechnical engineering practices as it will provide a better understanding of the response of unsaturated soils to dynamic loading and provide a greater confidence in the prediction of the preformance of earth-structures.Read moreRead less
Experimental Investigation and Constitutive Modelling of Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Coupling Effects in Unsaturated Porous Media. The research proposed in this project will benefit the Australian community through provision of a methodology for a more realistic and fully coupled modelling of flow and deformation in unsaturated porous media subject to thermal loading. The developments proposed in this research will be immediately applicable to many engineering problems of national interest, includin ....Experimental Investigation and Constitutive Modelling of Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Coupling Effects in Unsaturated Porous Media. The research proposed in this project will benefit the Australian community through provision of a methodology for a more realistic and fully coupled modelling of flow and deformation in unsaturated porous media subject to thermal loading. The developments proposed in this research will be immediately applicable to many engineering problems of national interest, including storage of nuclear wastes, removal of contaminants using air sparging, steam drive/steam flooding, and in situ combustion. The work will also benefit Australia and the Australian research community through the development of a new expertise within Australia, which will have a high potential for export to other countries.
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CO2 sequestration in deformable, chemically interactive, double porosity media. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) level is emerging as one of the most serious issues affecting humanity. Models, theories and relationships derived from this research will have a direct and immediate impact on the design, construction, maintenance, management and risk assessment of sequestration systems in Australia and overseas, and will assist Australia and Australian community to meet its target reducti ....CO2 sequestration in deformable, chemically interactive, double porosity media. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) level is emerging as one of the most serious issues affecting humanity. Models, theories and relationships derived from this research will have a direct and immediate impact on the design, construction, maintenance, management and risk assessment of sequestration systems in Australia and overseas, and will assist Australia and Australian community to meet its target reductions in CO2 emission. The work will also benefit Australia and the Australian research community through the development of a new expertise in Australia, which will have a significant potential for export to other countries.Read moreRead less
The micro-thermo-mechanics of sand crushing in geotechnical collapse problems. Oil and gas exploration is a major industry in Australia. Collapse problems in the soil to which structures such as oil rigs are anchored are a major challenge, involving issues of safety, longevity and maintenance. Research on this topic has been devoted to non-crushable sands, but Australia's offshore seabed is rich in breakable calcareous sediments. We will create a novel theory and visualisation techniques that wi ....The micro-thermo-mechanics of sand crushing in geotechnical collapse problems. Oil and gas exploration is a major industry in Australia. Collapse problems in the soil to which structures such as oil rigs are anchored are a major challenge, involving issues of safety, longevity and maintenance. Research on this topic has been devoted to non-crushable sands, but Australia's offshore seabed is rich in breakable calcareous sediments. We will create a novel theory and visualisation techniques that will allow us to gain a deep understanding of sand crushing and will be a major step towards minimising the occurrence of catastrophic failures in the offshore oil and gas industry. Read moreRead less
Fundamental theoretical investigation of the chemomechanical properties of clays. Australia faces significant environmental challenges, one of the most important being soil degradation. The aim of this project is to develop new and state-of-the art mathematical models describing the behaviour of clays in soils. This proposal addresses five fundamental problems in clay soil behaviour that have so far remained unanswered. The primary outcomes of this project will be new theoretical insights into t ....Fundamental theoretical investigation of the chemomechanical properties of clays. Australia faces significant environmental challenges, one of the most important being soil degradation. The aim of this project is to develop new and state-of-the art mathematical models describing the behaviour of clays in soils. This proposal addresses five fundamental problems in clay soil behaviour that have so far remained unanswered. The primary outcomes of this project will be new theoretical insights into the chemomechanical properties of clay soils, so providing the understanding required to intelligently engineer and manage our natural and built environments.Read moreRead less
Theoretically derived calibration of the neutron moisture meter. The moisture content of soils is of key importance in a wide range of situations including agriculture, engineering and land and water management. The measurement of soil moisture contents in the field is problematic, and even commonly used methods like the neutron probe give results of limited accuracy. This research will enable calibration curves for the neutron probe to be determined theoretically, thereby improving the accuracy ....Theoretically derived calibration of the neutron moisture meter. The moisture content of soils is of key importance in a wide range of situations including agriculture, engineering and land and water management. The measurement of soil moisture contents in the field is problematic, and even commonly used methods like the neutron probe give results of limited accuracy. This research will enable calibration curves for the neutron probe to be determined theoretically, thereby improving the accuracy of moisture content measurements and enhancing its usefulness to industry and research.Read moreRead less
Towards efficient development of geothermal resources in Australia: an improved simulation package for fluid flow in fractured geothermal reservoirs. Australia possesses vast deep earth geothermal resources, which are cheap, clean, reliable, sustainable and renewable. By supporting the development of geothermal resources, the fundamental research project will greatly contribute to many Australian social and economic priorities: providing immediate mitigation of climate change and greenhouse gas ....Towards efficient development of geothermal resources in Australia: an improved simulation package for fluid flow in fractured geothermal reservoirs. Australia possesses vast deep earth geothermal resources, which are cheap, clean, reliable, sustainable and renewable. By supporting the development of geothermal resources, the fundamental research project will greatly contribute to many Australian social and economic priorities: providing immediate mitigation of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions; reducing dependence on external sources of fuels and oil price uncertainty; meeting the country's growing energy needs; therefore, supporting an Environmentally Sustainable Australia. Moreover, the project enhances Australian research recognition in the fields of fractured and geothermal simulation. It also provides high level education for five research students.Read moreRead less
Assessing reservoir performance for carbon storage in saline aquifers. This project aims to develop a multiscale framework of site characterisation for carbon storage in deep saline aquifers and calculate measures of injectivity, storage capacity and containment. Carbon capture and storage could reduce carbon emissions within two decades. Carbon dioxide emissions are the most important drivers of climate change, with detrimental effects on humans and their environment, including water security, ....Assessing reservoir performance for carbon storage in saline aquifers. This project aims to develop a multiscale framework of site characterisation for carbon storage in deep saline aquifers and calculate measures of injectivity, storage capacity and containment. Carbon capture and storage could reduce carbon emissions within two decades. Carbon dioxide emissions are the most important drivers of climate change, with detrimental effects on humans and their environment, including water security, agriculture, coastal communities, and infrastructure. This project will improve assessment of reservoir performance for carbon storage in saline aquifers, and help reduce carbon emissions.Read moreRead less
Shear heating in granular materials: micromechanics of thermal conduction and production. Oil, gas and geothermal exploration are amongst the major energy industries in Australia and must be optimised to enable efficient production. These processes are dominated by the transfer of heat through granular soil media. Past research was based on continuum heat-flow solutions, but these problems are governed by distinct networks of particle-particle contacts and interparticle pore-fluids. Heat-flow so ....Shear heating in granular materials: micromechanics of thermal conduction and production. Oil, gas and geothermal exploration are amongst the major energy industries in Australia and must be optimised to enable efficient production. These processes are dominated by the transfer of heat through granular soil media. Past research was based on continuum heat-flow solutions, but these problems are governed by distinct networks of particle-particle contacts and interparticle pore-fluids. Heat-flow solutions depend on effective terms of thermal conduction, production and convection, but these change with loading. A systematic study must therefore be accomplished to formulate the micromechanics of the effective thermal properties, such that continuum solutions are refined to optimise energy exploration.Read moreRead less