Geopolymer concrete for thin-walled structures in marine environment. This project aims to develop ultra-high performance geopolymer concrete thin-walled structures for the critical infrastructure in the marine environment. It is expected that this project will develop novel design rules for ultra-high performance geopolymer concrete thin-walled structures based on experimental testing, numerical modelling, validation, and simulation. This project is expected to increase the durability of coasta ....Geopolymer concrete for thin-walled structures in marine environment. This project aims to develop ultra-high performance geopolymer concrete thin-walled structures for the critical infrastructure in the marine environment. It is expected that this project will develop novel design rules for ultra-high performance geopolymer concrete thin-walled structures based on experimental testing, numerical modelling, validation, and simulation. This project is expected to increase the durability of coastal infrastructures and significantly reduce the loss of their capacities due to corrosion-induced damage. The development of ultra-high performance geopolymer concrete thin-walled structures is a significant engineering discovery, which is in line with the Australian government 2030 vision for sustainable development.Read moreRead less
Measuring and modelling the mechanical response of soils incorporating recycled tyres. Civil engineers use backfill to refill excavated areas around new structures. They have found recently that rubber chips and shredded rubber make excellent backfill when combined with a small percentage of cement to make ‘rubber soil’. The widespread use of rubber soil therefore offers a tremendous opportunity to make use of a serious waste product to achieve important engineering outcomes. However, too little ....Measuring and modelling the mechanical response of soils incorporating recycled tyres. Civil engineers use backfill to refill excavated areas around new structures. They have found recently that rubber chips and shredded rubber make excellent backfill when combined with a small percentage of cement to make ‘rubber soil’. The widespread use of rubber soil therefore offers a tremendous opportunity to make use of a serious waste product to achieve important engineering outcomes. However, too little is known about the technology. This project will model the behaviour of rubber soil in order to introduce it as an environmentally sustainable, cost-effective and technically sound choice of geomaterial for both standard and non-standard geotechnical structures.Read moreRead less
Hydrogen carbon waste into concrete: AI assisted nanoscience approach. The carbon waste from hydrogen production will be converted into carbon nanosheets on abundant construction materials for the creation of stronger and more durable concrete. Cutting-edge nanoscience-based experiments, as well as sophisticated modelling techniques including machine learning and finite element modelling, will be employed. The findings will drive advances in clean hydrogen production, carbon waste utilisation, c ....Hydrogen carbon waste into concrete: AI assisted nanoscience approach. The carbon waste from hydrogen production will be converted into carbon nanosheets on abundant construction materials for the creation of stronger and more durable concrete. Cutting-edge nanoscience-based experiments, as well as sophisticated modelling techniques including machine learning and finite element modelling, will be employed. The findings will drive advances in clean hydrogen production, carbon waste utilisation, cement hydration, nanotechnology and concrete technology for the next generation of an upskilled workforce and the promotion of a circular economy. This project will be carried out in collaboration with Australian and international renowned experts in computational modelling, nanomaterials and concrete materials.Read moreRead less
Helium recovery from liquefied natural gas waste stream using nanoporous mxene materials. The waste streams from many liquefied natural gas (LNG) industries still contains valuable helium, a possible next mineral to sustain our economic growth. This project aims to efficiently separate helium from methane and nitrogen via the layered two dimensional materials. This project will seek to understand the assembling behaviour of these nano-sized Mxene flakes and their molecular sieving properties. Au ....Helium recovery from liquefied natural gas waste stream using nanoporous mxene materials. The waste streams from many liquefied natural gas (LNG) industries still contains valuable helium, a possible next mineral to sustain our economic growth. This project aims to efficiently separate helium from methane and nitrogen via the layered two dimensional materials. This project will seek to understand the assembling behaviour of these nano-sized Mxene flakes and their molecular sieving properties. Australia is playing a leading role in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and trade. This project expects to further position Australia at the forefront of intellectual leadership in the field of gas processing and material development. This will have significant benefits, such as further improving these LNG projects economics by cost-effectively producing helium as a valuable by-product via advanced porous nano-materials.Read moreRead less
Three-dimensional solar-energy-driven hydrogen generation from ammonia. This project aims to address the challenges of hydrogen generation, transportation and storage by conceptualising a novel three-dimensional, solar-driven system for ammonia splitting on ultralight catalyst materials. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of advanced materials enabled hydrogen technologies through interdisciplinary approaches involving materials science, novel catalysis, and nanotechnology ....Three-dimensional solar-energy-driven hydrogen generation from ammonia. This project aims to address the challenges of hydrogen generation, transportation and storage by conceptualising a novel three-dimensional, solar-driven system for ammonia splitting on ultralight catalyst materials. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of advanced materials enabled hydrogen technologies through interdisciplinary approaches involving materials science, novel catalysis, and nanotechnology. Expected outcomes include new catalyst materials, design strategies, and advanced ammonia splitting technologies. This should provide significant benefits, such as newly created knowledge, technological innovation, research training, contributing to hydrogen economy and net zero for a greener environment.Read moreRead less
Understanding vibratory piles in sand: installation and lateral response. This project aims to address uncertainties in the design of vibro-driven piles. This promising alternative to impact-driven piles offers faster installation and requires no noise mitigation. The project expects to generate new knowledge of the effect of the installation process in sand on in-service pile response by integrating findings from innovative experiments and numerical modelling. This is particularly important for ....Understanding vibratory piles in sand: installation and lateral response. This project aims to address uncertainties in the design of vibro-driven piles. This promising alternative to impact-driven piles offers faster installation and requires no noise mitigation. The project expects to generate new knowledge of the effect of the installation process in sand on in-service pile response by integrating findings from innovative experiments and numerical modelling. This is particularly important for highly sensitive structures such as offshore wind turbines, which provide a rapidly increasing share of global energy supply. Expected outcomes include practical recommendations for vibro-piles in sand. This should provide sizeable benefits by unlocking vibro-piles as a viable method to reduce offshore wind farm costs.Read moreRead less
Solutions for rapid penetration into sand for offshore energy installations. This project aims to develop a fundamental understanding of the response of saturated sand in seabeds during rapid penetration by offshore site investigation tools and foundation construction. The research is using innovative physical and advanced numerical modelling techniques to quantify the significant increase in sand resistance caused by rapid penetration, enabling reliable design and reducing risk of material fail ....Solutions for rapid penetration into sand for offshore energy installations. This project aims to develop a fundamental understanding of the response of saturated sand in seabeds during rapid penetration by offshore site investigation tools and foundation construction. The research is using innovative physical and advanced numerical modelling techniques to quantify the significant increase in sand resistance caused by rapid penetration, enabling reliable design and reducing risk of material failure associated with the high impact forces. Expected outcomes of the project include a conceptual framework and scientific-based design tool to predict the geotechnical performance of offshore installations. The research will provide the necessary scientific advances to install, moor and service offshore wind and wave energy devices more economically and efficiently.Read moreRead less
Reducing geotechnical design conservatism to secure floating wind energy. The next frontier for offshore wind energy is moving further out to sea to avail of stronger and more consistent wind speeds. In these water depths, wind turbines are installed on floaters tethered to anchors in the seabed. Geotechnical design of anchors is inherently conservative, having been shaped by technical and economic considerations of oil and gas facilities. The offshore wind energy industry cannot afford to adopt ....Reducing geotechnical design conservatism to secure floating wind energy. The next frontier for offshore wind energy is moving further out to sea to avail of stronger and more consistent wind speeds. In these water depths, wind turbines are installed on floaters tethered to anchors in the seabed. Geotechnical design of anchors is inherently conservative, having been shaped by technical and economic considerations of oil and gas facilities. The offshore wind energy industry cannot afford to adopt such conservatism if floating wind is to become commercially viable. This project will, through numerical developments, geotechnical centrifuge modelling and field testing, develop the science that will lead to a reliability-based geotechnical design approach to make floating offshore wind energy economic and viable.Read moreRead less
Better predictions of spray flames. This project aims to predict spray flames using experimental and computational modelling of the combustion near burning droplets in spray flames. Spray flames are the dominant source of energy for the transportation sector, and are expected to remain so well into the future. Limited understanding of combustion processes surrounding the burning of the droplets restricts further technological development. This project is expected to enable progress in design too ....Better predictions of spray flames. This project aims to predict spray flames using experimental and computational modelling of the combustion near burning droplets in spray flames. Spray flames are the dominant source of energy for the transportation sector, and are expected to remain so well into the future. Limited understanding of combustion processes surrounding the burning of the droplets restricts further technological development. This project is expected to enable progress in design tools for spray flame combustors operating on liquid fuels, including bio-fuels. The result will be lower pollutant emissions and lower the cost of design of new engines.Read moreRead less
Predicting the foundation performance of offshore jack-up drilling rigs in intermediate soils. The research outcomes will be a major step forward in creating safer operations of mobile platforms in our challenging seabed conditions. The new models and guidelines will assist engineers in the efficient expansion of our offshore oil and gas industry, with significant increased investment projected over the next five years.