Assessment and Prediction of Particle Breakage under Cyclic Loading. Every year, transport industries spend millions of dollars to maintain existing tracks suffering excessive settlement due to heavy traffic. In railways, differential settlement and track fouling are mostly due to ballast breakage. Frequent maintenance requires large amounts of quarried ballast causing environmental degradation. Simulation of particle breakage subject to cyclic loading is pioneering fundamental research that wi ....Assessment and Prediction of Particle Breakage under Cyclic Loading. Every year, transport industries spend millions of dollars to maintain existing tracks suffering excessive settlement due to heavy traffic. In railways, differential settlement and track fouling are mostly due to ballast breakage. Frequent maintenance requires large amounts of quarried ballast causing environmental degradation. Simulation of particle breakage subject to cyclic loading is pioneering fundamental research that will have significant impact on the design and maintenance of future rail and road networks. A full understanding of the breakage mechanisms of aggregates will lead to innovative techniques in design and construction, including faster trains carrying heavier loads with reduced maintenance costs.Read moreRead less
Stabilisation of erodible and dispersive soils with natural wood processing by-products. Lignosulfonate is a by-product of paper and wood processing industry, which is an environmentally friendly organic compound with an immense potential for stabilising erodible and dispersive soils when mixed in small quantities. This project will deliver practical design guidelines and specifications for sustainable performance of road and rail embankments that are treated with lignosulfonates. Utilisation of ....Stabilisation of erodible and dispersive soils with natural wood processing by-products. Lignosulfonate is a by-product of paper and wood processing industry, which is an environmentally friendly organic compound with an immense potential for stabilising erodible and dispersive soils when mixed in small quantities. This project will deliver practical design guidelines and specifications for sustainable performance of road and rail embankments that are treated with lignosulfonates. Utilisation of lignosulfonates in soil stabilisation is not only cost-effective, but also has the benefit of eliminating a waste disposal problem. The proposed project will improve industrial competitiveness and Australia's export earnings through increased commercialisation and technology transfer in the region.Read moreRead less
High Strength Steel Protection Bollards. Terrorist attacks cost Australians much human grief and millions of dollars. Prevention of an attack is paramount. Passive road bollards are commonly used to stop a vehicle approaching and/or entering security sensitive infrastructure. Thin-walled tubes are used to manufacture such bollards. However there is a lack of knowledge about their behaviour, and in particular high strength alloy steel bollards, when subjected to impact loads. The investigators wi ....High Strength Steel Protection Bollards. Terrorist attacks cost Australians much human grief and millions of dollars. Prevention of an attack is paramount. Passive road bollards are commonly used to stop a vehicle approaching and/or entering security sensitive infrastructure. Thin-walled tubes are used to manufacture such bollards. However there is a lack of knowledge about their behaviour, and in particular high strength alloy steel bollards, when subjected to impact loads. The investigators will apply their extensive knowledge in thin-walled tubular structures to establish the most economical means of designing high strength bollards. This knowledge will be transferred into design standards and Australia's limited defence resources.Read moreRead less
Advancement of Vacuum Pressure Application via Prefabricated Vertical Drains for Stabilising Soft Ground. Coastal Australia is under ever increasing pressure from rapid population growth which requires continual capital investment in civil infrastructure, such as road and rail links and large buildings. Many regions have soft compressible clays that present challenges for infrastructure design and construction. The use of vacuum preloading, together with vertical drains for soft soil stabilisati ....Advancement of Vacuum Pressure Application via Prefabricated Vertical Drains for Stabilising Soft Ground. Coastal Australia is under ever increasing pressure from rapid population growth which requires continual capital investment in civil infrastructure, such as road and rail links and large buildings. Many regions have soft compressible clays that present challenges for infrastructure design and construction. The use of vacuum preloading, together with vertical drains for soft soil stabilisation, can reduce construction and maintenance costs, while the increased soil strength will enhance the stability of infrastructure. This project will deliver design guidelines and specifications of enhanced vacuum consolidation application, as well as improving industrial competitiveness and export earnings through increased technology transfer.Read moreRead less
Effectiveness of prefabricated vertical band drains (PVD) in the stabilisation os soft clays. Stabilisation of structures in low-lying coastal Australia is affected by excessive settlement, low bearing capacity, and high lateral displacement of soft clays upon loading. The use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVD) prior to main construction can ensure pre-compression of soft clays by rapid pore water pressure dissipation, thereby increasing the soil strength and minimising its post construction ....Effectiveness of prefabricated vertical band drains (PVD) in the stabilisation os soft clays. Stabilisation of structures in low-lying coastal Australia is affected by excessive settlement, low bearing capacity, and high lateral displacement of soft clays upon loading. The use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVD) prior to main construction can ensure pre-compression of soft clays by rapid pore water pressure dissipation, thereby increasing the soil strength and minimising its post construction deformation. The main goal is to fully understand the stabilising mechanisms of PVD in soft clay, and to minimise the unfavourable effects of soil disturbances (smear) during installation. Extensive laboratory and field studies plus computer modelling will result in innovative design concepts and enhanced construction practices.Read moreRead less
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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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0228900
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$603,000.00
Summary
Testing facility for heavily loaded bridge and barrier systems. Government and industry are increasing truck masses from current single articulated 42.5 tonne trucks to 160 tonne multi-bogie trucks. This will provide Australia with over $1 billion of potential benefits and an efficient and competitive transport industry. To capture these benefits and further progress Australia's economy, considerable collaborative research on a number of fronts must be carried out investigating how bridges and b ....Testing facility for heavily loaded bridge and barrier systems. Government and industry are increasing truck masses from current single articulated 42.5 tonne trucks to 160 tonne multi-bogie trucks. This will provide Australia with over $1 billion of potential benefits and an efficient and competitive transport industry. To capture these benefits and further progress Australia's economy, considerable collaborative research on a number of fronts must be carried out investigating how bridges and barriers can perform safely when subjected to very heavy traffic and impact loads under laboratory and typical service conditions. This application seeks funds for establishing a unique hi-tech testing facility in Australia vital for advancing such infrastructure technology.Read moreRead less
Laboratory and Theoretical Investigation of Soft Clay Behaviour under Cyclic Loading Stabilised by Prefabricated Vertical Drains. Coastal Australia is under increasing pressure from rapid population growth that requires continual capital investment in civil infrastructure such as road and rail links, ports and buildings. Many regions have soft compressible clays that present challenges for infrastructure design and construction. The use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) in stabilising soil ....Laboratory and Theoretical Investigation of Soft Clay Behaviour under Cyclic Loading Stabilised by Prefabricated Vertical Drains. Coastal Australia is under increasing pressure from rapid population growth that requires continual capital investment in civil infrastructure such as road and rail links, ports and buildings. Many regions have soft compressible clays that present challenges for infrastructure design and construction. The use of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) in stabilising soil can reduce construction and maintenance costs, and increased soil strength will enhance the performance of infrastructure. In this project, the soil behaviour under cyclic loads stabilised by PVDs will be thoroughly investigated. Extensive laboratory testing will result in more efficient design and construction on soft soils, including roads, railways and airport runways.Read moreRead less
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
Development of a Multi Threat Risk Assessment Model for Critical Infrastructure Using Scripted Agent Computer Technology. Current risk assessment paradigms are not suited to the control of catastrophic events such as terrorism. An advanced approach to risk assessment will be developed in this project for rare high impact events such as bomb blasts, where critical infrastructure is threatened. A new software platform based on scripted agent modelling will be constructed that will allow for state ....Development of a Multi Threat Risk Assessment Model for Critical Infrastructure Using Scripted Agent Computer Technology. Current risk assessment paradigms are not suited to the control of catastrophic events such as terrorism. An advanced approach to risk assessment will be developed in this project for rare high impact events such as bomb blasts, where critical infrastructure is threatened. A new software platform based on scripted agent modelling will be constructed that will allow for state of the art models to be used as agents providing a dynamic risk evaluation and necessary information for actions to infrastructure owners and emergency responders as a threat develops. Both the developed scripted agent and the risk assessment technologies can be applied to other technologies and complex risks, such as waste disposal and biotechnology.Read moreRead less