Early-age cracking in concrete structures: mechanisms and control. This project aims to generate a comprehensive set of reliable data to examine all key factors governing the risk of early-age cracking in concrete structures, including a novel concept concerning zero-stress temperature. Expected outcomes include improved models for fundamental concrete properties from very early ages and tensile stresses due to restrained deformation accumulated from early stage, as well as guidelines for effect ....Early-age cracking in concrete structures: mechanisms and control. This project aims to generate a comprehensive set of reliable data to examine all key factors governing the risk of early-age cracking in concrete structures, including a novel concept concerning zero-stress temperature. Expected outcomes include improved models for fundamental concrete properties from very early ages and tensile stresses due to restrained deformation accumulated from early stage, as well as guidelines for effective crack control in concrete structures. It is expected these guidelines will enable significant cost savings and a more sustainable construction industry.Read moreRead less
Coupled effects of stress and temperature changes on concrete structures. The coupled effects of stress and temperature changes that concrete structures are commonly subject to are significant and need to be properly accounted for. However, existing engineering models accounting for these effects remain essentially empirical, necessarily limiting their predictive capability. This research aims to examine such coupled effects using an innovative approach combining original physical-based analytic ....Coupled effects of stress and temperature changes on concrete structures. The coupled effects of stress and temperature changes that concrete structures are commonly subject to are significant and need to be properly accounted for. However, existing engineering models accounting for these effects remain essentially empirical, necessarily limiting their predictive capability. This research aims to examine such coupled effects using an innovative approach combining original physical-based analytical study with novel tests and advanced numerical work. Expected outcomes include a robust yet simple engineering model, and guidelines for rational design of structures (incl. concrete spalling in fire) with due account for such coupled effects, thereby enabling to achieve more robust structures at substantial cost saving.Read moreRead less
Next Generation Bridge Monitoring using Novel Synergic Identification. Over 70% of the bridges in Australia are made of prestressed concrete, yet many do not meet the requirements of current Australian Standards. This project aims to provide a cost-effective system for monitoring bridges in real time along with systems that track the prestressing force and rate of damage for ongoing health assessment and necessary repairs. The use of innovative engineering techniques, solving long standing probl ....Next Generation Bridge Monitoring using Novel Synergic Identification. Over 70% of the bridges in Australia are made of prestressed concrete, yet many do not meet the requirements of current Australian Standards. This project aims to provide a cost-effective system for monitoring bridges in real time along with systems that track the prestressing force and rate of damage for ongoing health assessment and necessary repairs. The use of innovative engineering techniques, solving long standing problems of engineers, will enable the safe operation of bridges, which play a primary role in Australia’s national transport system. Improved methodology for turning tired infrastructure into ‘smart bridges’ will be developed and commissioned first in Australia and then applied internationally.Read moreRead less
Bridge performance assessment through advanced sensing and modelling. Bridge performance assessment through advanced sensing and modelling. This project aims to create cyber infrastructure to manage and maintain civil infrastructure, specifically bridges. Current sensor data interpretation approaches are not good at assessing the performance of civil infrastructure or evaluating the reserve capacity; in particular, they do not adequately account for high levels of systematic modelling uncertaint ....Bridge performance assessment through advanced sensing and modelling. Bridge performance assessment through advanced sensing and modelling. This project aims to create cyber infrastructure to manage and maintain civil infrastructure, specifically bridges. Current sensor data interpretation approaches are not good at assessing the performance of civil infrastructure or evaluating the reserve capacity; in particular, they do not adequately account for high levels of systematic modelling uncertainties. This project intends to ease the current scientific data interpretation bottleneck. Expected outcomes are better infrastructure management and maintenance planning, fewer redundant interventions, modified infrastructure and improved future design.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100909
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,000.00
Summary
Innovative Soft-computing for Condition Assessment of Large Infrastructure. Health conditions of large infrastructure, such as bridges, have been difficult to determine due to their large scales, associated incomplete data and high uncertainties in measurement and system identification. This project will develop an innovative condition assessment method based on the advancements in structural dynamics analysis, multi-objective topology and soft-computing techniques, for reliably evaluating the h ....Innovative Soft-computing for Condition Assessment of Large Infrastructure. Health conditions of large infrastructure, such as bridges, have been difficult to determine due to their large scales, associated incomplete data and high uncertainties in measurement and system identification. This project will develop an innovative condition assessment method based on the advancements in structural dynamics analysis, multi-objective topology and soft-computing techniques, for reliably evaluating the health conditions of large infrastructure. The outcomes will enhance the current practices in infrastructure asset management to deliver timely retrofitting and extended life cycle. The development will provide benefits to Australia by enhancing operational efficiency and preventing catastrophic failure of infrastructure.Read moreRead less
Seismic analysis of cracking and deformations in concrete gravity dams. This project aims to establish a rational predictive capability for the responses of concrete gravity dams subject to extreme design earthquakes. This will include the development of innovative numerical methods for effective modelling of crack propagation and closure, large slips on crack faces and weak interfaces, dam-reservoir interaction, dam-foundation interaction and automatic mesh generation. The expected outcomes of ....Seismic analysis of cracking and deformations in concrete gravity dams. This project aims to establish a rational predictive capability for the responses of concrete gravity dams subject to extreme design earthquakes. This will include the development of innovative numerical methods for effective modelling of crack propagation and closure, large slips on crack faces and weak interfaces, dam-reservoir interaction, dam-foundation interaction and automatic mesh generation. The expected outcomes of the project will be a significantly improved prediction tool. It is also anticipated that the project will result in improvements in dam and public safety, and more efficient use of funds for dam safety upgrades and management.Read moreRead less
Non-contact Integrity Assessment of Façade Panels of High-rise Buildings. Disintegration of the external façade (with tiles, plates, etc.) of high-rise buildings presents a great challenge and a threat to community. This project develops fundamental knowledge and algorithms that underpin the deployment of a new technique for fast and automated quantitative integrity assessment of façade units of high-rise buildings, integrating mechanisms of directional acoustic waves, vibro-acoustics of façade ....Non-contact Integrity Assessment of Façade Panels of High-rise Buildings. Disintegration of the external façade (with tiles, plates, etc.) of high-rise buildings presents a great challenge and a threat to community. This project develops fundamental knowledge and algorithms that underpin the deployment of a new technique for fast and automated quantitative integrity assessment of façade units of high-rise buildings, integrating mechanisms of directional acoustic waves, vibro-acoustics of façade tiles or panels, laser sensing technology, deep learning algorithms and drone technology. Outcomes of this project are critical for implementing the new technology for enhanced safety to community and the development of new procedures for driving down maintenance costs of the external façade of high-rise buildings.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH180100010
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,918,357.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Smart Next Generation Transport Pavements. The ARC Research Hub for Smart Next Generation Transport Pavements aims to make road, airport and dockyard pavements smart, low cost, long-lasting, safe, green and adaptable to future transport demands. Australia’s road network, upon which the nation depends for its economic and social prosperity, is at risk due to increases in passenger and freight load degradation of the road network, and material and expertise scarcity. The Hub w ....ARC Research Hub for Smart Next Generation Transport Pavements. The ARC Research Hub for Smart Next Generation Transport Pavements aims to make road, airport and dockyard pavements smart, low cost, long-lasting, safe, green and adaptable to future transport demands. Australia’s road network, upon which the nation depends for its economic and social prosperity, is at risk due to increases in passenger and freight load degradation of the road network, and material and expertise scarcity. The Hub will deliver new materials and modelling, smart construction, and rehabilitation systems required for future demands, while enhancing road safety and reducing environmental impact.
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A novel physical-digital approach for the assessing a large critical asset. This project aims to deliver an artificial intelligence-enabled decision-making tool to maintain and manage the floating covers of vast lagoons that treat raw sewage. The cover harvests the biogas released from the anaerobic digestion of sewage for electric power generation that exceeds the plant’s requirement. The approach involves an innovative thermographic technique and exploits transfer learning to adapt neural netw ....A novel physical-digital approach for the assessing a large critical asset. This project aims to deliver an artificial intelligence-enabled decision-making tool to maintain and manage the floating covers of vast lagoons that treat raw sewage. The cover harvests the biogas released from the anaerobic digestion of sewage for electric power generation that exceeds the plant’s requirement. The approach involves an innovative thermographic technique and exploits transfer learning to adapt neural networks trained on lab-scale and synthetic data to field implementation. The outcome is a machine learning framework to optimise biogas harvesting and renewable energy generation, and to avoid structural failure, that is capable of continuous improvement to take into account improved data and/or modelling capabilities.Read moreRead less
Asset Intelligence: Maximising Operational Effectiveness for Digital Era . The primary aim of this project is to develop an innovative lifecycle semantic–based decision making approach through asset intelligence so as to maximize the operational effectiveness maintenance, repair and rehabilitation planning of infrastructure assets, such as concrete pavement. The research intends to address an important gap by providing logical formalisms and real-time capability to life-cycle asset information t ....Asset Intelligence: Maximising Operational Effectiveness for Digital Era . The primary aim of this project is to develop an innovative lifecycle semantic–based decision making approach through asset intelligence so as to maximize the operational effectiveness maintenance, repair and rehabilitation planning of infrastructure assets, such as concrete pavement. The research intends to address an important gap by providing logical formalisms and real-time capability to life-cycle asset information through computational intelligence. The expected outcome will be an intelligent asset management platform that provides structured and semantically enriched lifecycle asset information for optimised solutions to help reduce the cost, time and effort in asset information storage and retrieval, and decision-making. Read moreRead less