Nature's mechanisms for leaching and remobilising metals. This project aims to understand the chemical and physical processes that govern reactive transport and metal scavenging in rocky environments. Much of Australia's mineral wealth is the result of the interaction of warm fluids with rocks deep in the Earth over geological timescales. The formation of ore deposits is governed by the physical chemistry of mineral dissolution and crystallisation, and by fluid flow through porous rocks and frac ....Nature's mechanisms for leaching and remobilising metals. This project aims to understand the chemical and physical processes that govern reactive transport and metal scavenging in rocky environments. Much of Australia's mineral wealth is the result of the interaction of warm fluids with rocks deep in the Earth over geological timescales. The formation of ore deposits is governed by the physical chemistry of mineral dissolution and crystallisation, and by fluid flow through porous rocks and fractures. This project integrates innovation in geology, chemistry, and mineral engineering, and will deliver mineral-scale reaction models that will increase efficiency of in-situ mining and leaching technologies. Knowledge generated can be applied to improve mineral exploration, mining, and processing, contributing to unlocking billions of dollars’ worth of resources tied up in low grade, mineralogically complex ores.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.
Fluid-induced creation and decay of porosity and permeability in minerals. This project aims to investigate the role of hydrothermal fluids in the creation and decay of porosity and permeability in minerals. By developing new experimental techniques and undertaking experimental studies mimicking natural conditions, this project expects to generate knowledge of the fundamental relationships between fluid-mineral reactions, pore creation and decay, pore geometry and connectivity, and the mechanism ....Fluid-induced creation and decay of porosity and permeability in minerals. This project aims to investigate the role of hydrothermal fluids in the creation and decay of porosity and permeability in minerals. By developing new experimental techniques and undertaking experimental studies mimicking natural conditions, this project expects to generate knowledge of the fundamental relationships between fluid-mineral reactions, pore creation and decay, pore geometry and connectivity, and the mechanism for the formation of fluid inclusions. This should provide significant benefits such as a deeper understanding of the hydrothermal fluids flowing through tight rocks in the Earth’s crust to form orebodies, and provide a scientific basis to underpin the development of greener technologies for recovering natural resources.Read moreRead less
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
Smart self-propelled nanoreactors for catalytic environmental remediation. This project aims to develop nanomaterial design and technology to enable the applications of nanotechnology for environmental remediation. Various nanomotors with different asymmetric structures will be fabricated and tested for catalytic and photocatalytic degradation of aqueous pollutants. The physicochemical properties, motion behaviour and catalytic performance will be comprehensively investigated. The outcomes of th ....Smart self-propelled nanoreactors for catalytic environmental remediation. This project aims to develop nanomaterial design and technology to enable the applications of nanotechnology for environmental remediation. Various nanomotors with different asymmetric structures will be fabricated and tested for catalytic and photocatalytic degradation of aqueous pollutants. The physicochemical properties, motion behaviour and catalytic performance will be comprehensively investigated. The outcomes of the project will underpin the development of green technologies for sustainable energy conversion and water treatment. This will provide significant benefits, putting Australia in a leading position in the sustainable development of nanotechnology for sustainable energy supply and transformation as well as environmental and biomedical applications.Read moreRead less
Development of Novel Metaconcrete to Resist Impulsive Loads. This project aims to develop innovative metaconcrete for structural protection by utilising the concept of phononic crystals and metamaterials which has been recently developed by physicists. Traditional construction materials are used in new structural forms to mitigate dynamic loading effects by exploiting the unique characteristics of the proposed metaconcrete. Theoretical, numerical and experimental methods will be used to derive t ....Development of Novel Metaconcrete to Resist Impulsive Loads. This project aims to develop innovative metaconcrete for structural protection by utilising the concept of phononic crystals and metamaterials which has been recently developed by physicists. Traditional construction materials are used in new structural forms to mitigate dynamic loading effects by exploiting the unique characteristics of the proposed metaconcrete. Theoretical, numerical and experimental methods will be used to derive the best performing metaconcrete and verify its static and dynamic load resistant capacities. The expected outcomes of the project will lead to innovative extreme-loading resistant designs and provide significant benefit to the Australian construction industry, general public and economy.Read moreRead less