Precarious housing, housing assistance and wellbeing. Australia’s housing system is undergoing a major transformation, marked by growing precariousness that has now spread across all housing tenures. The wellbeing impacts of this are not well-understood. This project aims to develop a contemporary conceptualisation of housing precariousness as a multidimensional experience that exists in potentially variable ways for renters, owners and the marginally housed. Using mixed methods and cross-countr ....Precarious housing, housing assistance and wellbeing. Australia’s housing system is undergoing a major transformation, marked by growing precariousness that has now spread across all housing tenures. The wellbeing impacts of this are not well-understood. This project aims to develop a contemporary conceptualisation of housing precariousness as a multidimensional experience that exists in potentially variable ways for renters, owners and the marginally housed. Using mixed methods and cross-country analyses, the project expects to produce new evidence on pathways in and out of precariousness, as well as the coping strategies and wellbeing of the precariously housed. This is expected to offer major benefits by informing housing assistance policies that promote the wellbeing of Australians.Read moreRead less
Seismic performance of concrete beam-slab-column systems constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system. When designing for earthquake induced loading it is very important to know the ductility and any other inherent deficiencies in structural systems under lateral deflections. The main purpose of this application is to investigate the seismic performance of an efficient beam-slab-column system constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system, Corcon, which is becoming popula ....Seismic performance of concrete beam-slab-column systems constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system. When designing for earthquake induced loading it is very important to know the ductility and any other inherent deficiencies in structural systems under lateral deflections. The main purpose of this application is to investigate the seismic performance of an efficient beam-slab-column system constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system, Corcon, which is becoming popular in Australia and overseas. The proposed research will ultimately lead to revised design guidelines for these systems, suitable for local and overseas practice where different levels of seismicity occur.
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Behaviour of anchors in post-tensioned high-strength concrete slabs. Recently High-strength concrete(HSC) was introduced to minimise the time required for stressing the tendons in post-tensioned construction(PC), which is the preferred construction method for long span slabs in Australia and overseas. Although HSC is an obvious choice for this application, many failures have been observed in the live and dead end anchors of PC slabs and there is in fact very little understanding of relationships ....Behaviour of anchors in post-tensioned high-strength concrete slabs. Recently High-strength concrete(HSC) was introduced to minimise the time required for stressing the tendons in post-tensioned construction(PC), which is the preferred construction method for long span slabs in Australia and overseas. Although HSC is an obvious choice for this application, many failures have been observed in the live and dead end anchors of PC slabs and there is in fact very little understanding of relationships between specified concrete properties and performance. Through a systematic experimental and theoretical study, the behaviour of anchor regions of these slabs, including the reasons for failure will be investigated.Read moreRead less
Failure Mechanisms of Roof Cladding under Fluctuating Wind Loads. Wind damage to low-rise buildings cause disruption to communities and result in economic losses. Improvements to the most vulnerable part (i.e. roof) will therefore have national benefits and associated economic benefits. Currently, roofing systems used in cyclonic areas are evaluated to DABM in the Northern Territory and to TR440 elsewhere, requiring the same product be tested under two different (and unsatisfactory) specificat ....Failure Mechanisms of Roof Cladding under Fluctuating Wind Loads. Wind damage to low-rise buildings cause disruption to communities and result in economic losses. Improvements to the most vulnerable part (i.e. roof) will therefore have national benefits and associated economic benefits. Currently, roofing systems used in cyclonic areas are evaluated to DABM in the Northern Territory and to TR440 elsewhere, requiring the same product be tested under two different (and unsatisfactory) specifications. This is due to the limited understanding of wind-induced fatigue of cladding. This project will provide the framework for understanding and minimizing cladding fatigue. A realistic single test will also reduce cost and result in better design systems.Read moreRead less
Digital technologies and the private rental sector in Australia. This project aims to show how digital technologies are transforming the private rental sector in Australia. This project expects to generate new knowledge about the growing global reach of digital technologies aimed at private renters, landlords and property managers. The expected outcomes of this project include the production of social scientific knowledge about the potential of digital technologies to be both socially pernicious ....Digital technologies and the private rental sector in Australia. This project aims to show how digital technologies are transforming the private rental sector in Australia. This project expects to generate new knowledge about the growing global reach of digital technologies aimed at private renters, landlords and property managers. The expected outcomes of this project include the production of social scientific knowledge about the potential of digital technologies to be both socially pernicious and socially progressive. This project should provide significant benefits for Australian renters and our tenant advocacy partners who represent them, and to show how digital technologies can be used to create a better housing system.Read moreRead less
Optimisation of Building Structures Considering Wind Loading. Wind loading is a dominant factor that should be carefully considered and resourcefully exploited in the design of building structures. The ever-taller buildings proposed around the world have presented a major challenge and opportunity in the pursuit of new techniques and materials. The proposed research will improve the competitiveness and productivity of the Australian building design industry by establishing a cutting-edge compute ....Optimisation of Building Structures Considering Wind Loading. Wind loading is a dominant factor that should be carefully considered and resourcefully exploited in the design of building structures. The ever-taller buildings proposed around the world have presented a major challenge and opportunity in the pursuit of new techniques and materials. The proposed research will improve the competitiveness and productivity of the Australian building design industry by establishing a cutting-edge computer-automated design tool for creating innovative building systems that can resist wind loading effectively and efficiently. The developed technology will result in significant enhancement of the performance and safety of buildings, and substantial reduction of construction materials and costs.Read moreRead less
Topological Optimization of Load-carrying Structural Systems with Repetitive Geometrical Patterns. Periodic structures are increasingly used in the design of the structural systems or sub-systems of buildings, bridges, aircraft, motor vehicles etc. The duplication of identical or similar modules significantly reduces the production cost and greatly simplifies the assembly process. In many cases periodic structures are also selected for their distinctive aesthetic appeal. The proposed research wi ....Topological Optimization of Load-carrying Structural Systems with Repetitive Geometrical Patterns. Periodic structures are increasingly used in the design of the structural systems or sub-systems of buildings, bridges, aircraft, motor vehicles etc. The duplication of identical or similar modules significantly reduces the production cost and greatly simplifies the assembly process. In many cases periodic structures are also selected for their distinctive aesthetic appeal. The proposed research will develop advanced techniques for the optimal design of such structures. The new design tool will enable Australian engineers and architects to create innovative and efficient structural systems for a wide range of applications and to become involved in high profile international projects. Read moreRead less
Transforming tobacco policy to deliver societal benefits. This project aims to develop new regulatory options for tobacco to minimise the legal market while avoiding the adverse societal and economic impacts of transferring consumer demand to illegal tobacco products. It addresses a significant current concern about a growing illegal tobacco market and seeks to improve understanding of the impact of tobacco control policies on the illegal market, and the societal impacts. The project also seeks ....Transforming tobacco policy to deliver societal benefits. This project aims to develop new regulatory options for tobacco to minimise the legal market while avoiding the adverse societal and economic impacts of transferring consumer demand to illegal tobacco products. It addresses a significant current concern about a growing illegal tobacco market and seeks to improve understanding of the impact of tobacco control policies on the illegal market, and the societal impacts. The project also seeks to draw insights from illicit drug policy to understand potential consequences of greater restrictions on the legal tobacco market. The expected outcomes include an enhanced monitoring system for illicit tobacco and policy recommendations to achieve government goals of reducing smoking rates.Read moreRead less
Investigate control of in-situ termite and decay protection and control using microwave technologies. Australia has a very substantial investment in timber structures for example 11,000 km of timber bridges, railway sleepers, power poles and dwellings. Timber losses each year due to fungal, termite and other insect degradation, is very significant. The use of organochlorine compounds for ground poisoning and remedial treatment has been discontinued due to environmental, health and safety concern ....Investigate control of in-situ termite and decay protection and control using microwave technologies. Australia has a very substantial investment in timber structures for example 11,000 km of timber bridges, railway sleepers, power poles and dwellings. Timber losses each year due to fungal, termite and other insect degradation, is very significant. The use of organochlorine compounds for ground poisoning and remedial treatment has been discontinued due to environmental, health and safety concerns. Less toxic chemicals are less effective, require more regular inspection and don't address fundamental concerns associated with environment issues. This project will provide the community a cheap automated alarm system indicating when remedial treatment is required and a non-chemical technology for sterilising infected structures.Read moreRead less
From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance re ....From entitlement to experiment: The new governance of welfare to work. This project aims to model and explain the governance dynamics of welfare to work in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Australia regularly undertakes major governance reforms in providing welfare to the unemployed and other groups in need. In this dynamic environment, welfare agencies are struggling to deliver benefits to the most disadvantaged people. Services must balance the need to meet central performance requirements against the desire to help clients. The project aims to create a new framework for understanding how policy instruments and design experiments can improve services for those who are in need.Read moreRead less