Modelling and Optimisation of Belt Conveyor Systems. Belt conveyors are the arteries of Australia's heavy industries. Their efficiency and cost are critical to the productivity of our major export markets. A current trend in this area is the introduction of high-speed and long distance conveying. This has placed tremendous pressure on the current design standards which are in drastic need of re-evaluation. This project will address these deficiencies and build a strong foundation for future conv ....Modelling and Optimisation of Belt Conveyor Systems. Belt conveyors are the arteries of Australia's heavy industries. Their efficiency and cost are critical to the productivity of our major export markets. A current trend in this area is the introduction of high-speed and long distance conveying. This has placed tremendous pressure on the current design standards which are in drastic need of re-evaluation. This project will address these deficiencies and build a strong foundation for future conveyor design. This will be achieved by developing rigorous mechanical models for conveyor mechanics and the application of state-of-the-art optimisation methods based on Darwinian natural selection. This will lead to significant improvements in the efficiency and running costs of belt conveyor systems.Read moreRead less
Passive Control of Dust Emissions from Belt Conveyor Systems. Belt conveyor systems are employed extensively to transport bulk materials in a great many industries, particularly those associated with mining and mineral processing. Belt conveyor installations are becoming longer and belt speeds significantly faster, resulting in increased dust emissions. An estimated 16 billion litres of water per annum is used by the Australian Black Coal Industry alone on dust suppression. This project will dev ....Passive Control of Dust Emissions from Belt Conveyor Systems. Belt conveyor systems are employed extensively to transport bulk materials in a great many industries, particularly those associated with mining and mineral processing. Belt conveyor installations are becoming longer and belt speeds significantly faster, resulting in increased dust emissions. An estimated 16 billion litres of water per annum is used by the Australian Black Coal Industry alone on dust suppression. This project will develop passive dust control technology, requiring no external energy or suppressants. This will be achieved through the development of numerical methods verified by rigorous experimental work. This will lead to significant cost savings, improved employee health and safety and reduced environmental impact.Read moreRead less
Analytical, Numerical and Testing Procedures for Improved Design and Performance of Bulk Solids Systems. Mining and minerals production is Australia's most important export industry. Despite the global financial crisis, the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resources Economics (Australian Commodities, December Quarter 2008) has forecast that earnings from Australia's energy and minerals exports will increase by 37% during 2008-09 to A$160 billion. Bulk materials handling operations constitute ....Analytical, Numerical and Testing Procedures for Improved Design and Performance of Bulk Solids Systems. Mining and minerals production is Australia's most important export industry. Despite the global financial crisis, the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resources Economics (Australian Commodities, December Quarter 2008) has forecast that earnings from Australia's energy and minerals exports will increase by 37% during 2008-09 to A$160 billion. Bulk materials handling operations constitute a major component of the minerals production and transportation costs. Through the research conducted in this project, greater efficiencies with reduced operating costs will be achieved while, at the same time, meeting the stringent environmental controls in accordance with the National priority goal of 'An Environmentally Sustainable Australia'.Read moreRead less
Geomechanics of multiple seam mining interactions. This project will address a highly significant and timely problem that has arisen in the coal mining industry. Through the application of scientific principles and advanced methods of engineering analysis, this research will develop practical guidelines that in turn will provide the means for rational planning of multi-seam mining operations.
The micro-thermo-mechanics of sand crushing in geotechnical collapse problems. Oil and gas exploration is a major industry in Australia. Collapse problems in the soil to which structures such as oil rigs are anchored are a major challenge, involving issues of safety, longevity and maintenance. Research on this topic has been devoted to non-crushable sands, but Australia's offshore seabed is rich in breakable calcareous sediments. We will create a novel theory and visualisation techniques that wi ....The micro-thermo-mechanics of sand crushing in geotechnical collapse problems. Oil and gas exploration is a major industry in Australia. Collapse problems in the soil to which structures such as oil rigs are anchored are a major challenge, involving issues of safety, longevity and maintenance. Research on this topic has been devoted to non-crushable sands, but Australia's offshore seabed is rich in breakable calcareous sediments. We will create a novel theory and visualisation techniques that will allow us to gain a deep understanding of sand crushing and will be a major step towards minimising the occurrence of catastrophic failures in the offshore oil and gas industry. Read moreRead less
Dynamic Simulation of Gear and Bearing Interactions in Gearboxes for Improved Diagnostics and Prognostics of Faults. The techniques to be developed in this project should become the international standard for diagnostic and prognostic techniques for high speed gearboxes, and improve the performance of Australian industry. Australia being a major supplier of natural resources, with many mines in remote locations, it is heavily dependent on machine condition monitoring techniques, such as those be ....Dynamic Simulation of Gear and Bearing Interactions in Gearboxes for Improved Diagnostics and Prognostics of Faults. The techniques to be developed in this project should become the international standard for diagnostic and prognostic techniques for high speed gearboxes, and improve the performance of Australian industry. Australia being a major supplier of natural resources, with many mines in remote locations, it is heavily dependent on machine condition monitoring techniques, such as those being developed in the project, to maximise output and minimise the likelihood of catastrophic failure. The techniques also give improved safety, for example of helicopters, which are suspended from the gearbox, making it a very critical component. This will be of considerable benefit to both civil and military operators of helicopters, both important to Australia.Read moreRead less
Reactive flow through porous media by micro-imaging. Australia is embarking on the development of major gas fields offshore Western Australia. These developments are very costly and techniques to manage the risk in development are well sought after. This project assists in risk management of tertiary recovery methods and CO2 storage. Further, it can contribute significantly to the accurate forward modelling of storage of hazardous materials and pollution remediation strategies. The project could ....Reactive flow through porous media by micro-imaging. Australia is embarking on the development of major gas fields offshore Western Australia. These developments are very costly and techniques to manage the risk in development are well sought after. This project assists in risk management of tertiary recovery methods and CO2 storage. Further, it can contribute significantly to the accurate forward modelling of storage of hazardous materials and pollution remediation strategies. The project could shape important decisions in the future and impact on environmental risk assessment.Read moreRead less
A multi-scale theory of unsaturated porous media under extreme loading. Extreme loading induced by impacts, explosives or earthquakes generates stress wave propagation through unsaturated media; this can lead to rock fracturing and soil liquefaction and severely damage civil, mining and military infrastructures and operations. The project aims to develop a novel experimentally-validated theory, with associated models, for describing dynamic responses of unsaturated porous media subject to extrem ....A multi-scale theory of unsaturated porous media under extreme loading. Extreme loading induced by impacts, explosives or earthquakes generates stress wave propagation through unsaturated media; this can lead to rock fracturing and soil liquefaction and severely damage civil, mining and military infrastructures and operations. The project aims to develop a novel experimentally-validated theory, with associated models, for describing dynamic responses of unsaturated porous media subject to extreme loading. Our continuum framework will allow building constitutive models directly from saturation-dependent contact laws at the micro-scale. This will remove the need to use the site-dependent empirical models and thus give the derived constitutive models truly predictive capabilities.Read moreRead less
Propagating fragmentation waves in granular materials. This project will conduct the first systematic study to understand and control fragmentation waves in granular systems subject to impact loading. The outcomes will be essential for geoscience including earthquakes and meteoritic impacts, and for many industries, including mining, mineral processes, petroleum production and pharmaceutics.
An investigation of granular stress fields and permeability interactions in gas-solid flow. This project will provide the fundamental theoretical basis for a completely new approach to the design of dense phase pneumatic conveying systems. This will lead to improved energy efficiency, significantly greater operational reliability and reduced wear of system components for the transport of bulk solids in the resource and process industries.