Thin-walled Structures Subjected to Impact and Blast Loading. Terrorist attacks have cost Australians much human grief and billions of dollars. Containing the consequences of a blast or impact is crucial to survival and restricting damage to critical civilian/defence infrastructure. Thin-walled structures are used extensively in such infrastructure. There is a lack of knowledge about their behaviour when subjected to impulse and blast loads. The investigators will establish the most economical m ....Thin-walled Structures Subjected to Impact and Blast Loading. Terrorist attacks have cost Australians much human grief and billions of dollars. Containing the consequences of a blast or impact is crucial to survival and restricting damage to critical civilian/defence infrastructure. Thin-walled structures are used extensively in such infrastructure. There is a lack of knowledge about their behaviour when subjected to impulse and blast loads. The investigators will establish the most economical means of designing passive blast protection into thin-walled structures and hence, Australia's critical infrastructure. This knowledge will be transferred into design standards and Australia's limited defence resources.Read moreRead less
Response of residential structures to blast vibration. This proposed project combines the expertise and disciplines of residential construction, structural dynamics and blasting technology. The ultimate aim of the project is to develop a rational methodology for assessing the damage potential of ground vibration resulting from blasting on typical Australian residential structures. The project involves field blast vibration measurements, static and dynamic laboratory tests on structural sub-assem ....Response of residential structures to blast vibration. This proposed project combines the expertise and disciplines of residential construction, structural dynamics and blasting technology. The ultimate aim of the project is to develop a rational methodology for assessing the damage potential of ground vibration resulting from blasting on typical Australian residential structures. The project involves field blast vibration measurements, static and dynamic laboratory tests on structural sub-assemblages in a controlled environment, and comprehensive analytical modelling of both loading and response. The outcomes from this research will have direct application to the mining, insurance, construction and defence industries.Read moreRead less
Investigation of Geopolymer based Concretes for the Construction of High Fire Risk Infrastructures. Geopolymer concretes are emerging new materials promising superior fire resistance and durability and potentially cheaper than the widely used high strength concretes, which also consume high levels of Portland cements. Production of 1 ton of Portland cement releases 1 ton of green house gases. Further, the 6.5 million tons/year of cement currently produced in Australia is insufficient to meet the ....Investigation of Geopolymer based Concretes for the Construction of High Fire Risk Infrastructures. Geopolymer concretes are emerging new materials promising superior fire resistance and durability and potentially cheaper than the widely used high strength concretes, which also consume high levels of Portland cements. Production of 1 ton of Portland cement releases 1 ton of green house gases. Further, the 6.5 million tons/year of cement currently produced in Australia is insufficient to meet the industry demand. This project investigates the use of fly ash to make geopolymer concrete, without using any Portland cement, to find usage for part of the 11 million tons/year of fly ash produced as a waste from coal power stations in Australia.Read moreRead less
Development of an Alkali Activated Slag based Construction Material for High Fire Risk Infrastructures. This project will develop an alkali-activated slag (AAS) based construction material for tunnel construction. In tunnels, conventional concretes are likely to 'spall' in a hydrocarbon fire accident, possibly resulting in a tunnel collapse. The project is set to develop a spalling-resistant AAS as an alternative to conventional Portland cement, which is responsible for 6.5 million tons of gre ....Development of an Alkali Activated Slag based Construction Material for High Fire Risk Infrastructures. This project will develop an alkali-activated slag (AAS) based construction material for tunnel construction. In tunnels, conventional concretes are likely to 'spall' in a hydrocarbon fire accident, possibly resulting in a tunnel collapse. The project is set to develop a spalling-resistant AAS as an alternative to conventional Portland cement, which is responsible for 6.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia per year, whereas AAS is based on slag, an industrial waste product. The project also seeks to provide better understanding of the spalling phenomenon so that the engineers can design fireproofing for conventional concrete tunnels with confidence.Read moreRead less
Multi-Scale Model-Based Simulation of Glass Fragmentation under Blast Loading. It is estimated that most injuries from bomb blasts can be attributed to airborne sharp glass fragments. The proposed project will help us gain better understanding of glass failure mechanism under impact/blast loading. The results from the proposed project are expected to help in developing more effective blast-resistant transparency, ensuring the reliability and quality of buildings and facilities, mitigating injury ....Multi-Scale Model-Based Simulation of Glass Fragmentation under Blast Loading. It is estimated that most injuries from bomb blasts can be attributed to airborne sharp glass fragments. The proposed project will help us gain better understanding of glass failure mechanism under impact/blast loading. The results from the proposed project are expected to help in developing more effective blast-resistant transparency, ensuring the reliability and quality of buildings and facilities, mitigating injury or death due to flying glass fragments, and eventually enhancing public safety and security.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
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775656
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$490,000.00
Summary
High Rate Testing System for Materials and Structures. Human or natural disasters such as terrorist attack or tsunami take place and they have catastrophic consequences, in terms of fatalities and psyche of fear among the population, as well as enormous financial loss. Vehicle accident is another example. In Australia, 1636 people were killed in 1481 road crashes, in 2005 alone. There is a great demand for research into devising novel materials and structures for optimum performance under such c ....High Rate Testing System for Materials and Structures. Human or natural disasters such as terrorist attack or tsunami take place and they have catastrophic consequences, in terms of fatalities and psyche of fear among the population, as well as enormous financial loss. Vehicle accident is another example. In Australia, 1636 people were killed in 1481 road crashes, in 2005 alone. There is a great demand for research into devising novel materials and structures for optimum performance under such circumstances. The proposed new high rate testing system will significantly advance research in this area. The facility will directly support a range of research projects in material and structural design in military and civil vehicles, aerospace industry and defence.Read moreRead less
Design of Microstructures for Materials and Composites with Desired Functional Properties. The creation of new and advanced materials and composites will underpin the growth in many industrial and economic activities in Australia. This project will meet the substantial scientific and technological challenges in exploring and finding optimal microstructures for materials and composites with desired functional properties. The proposed research will significantly extend a topological optimization t ....Design of Microstructures for Materials and Composites with Desired Functional Properties. The creation of new and advanced materials and composites will underpin the growth in many industrial and economic activities in Australia. This project will meet the substantial scientific and technological challenges in exploring and finding optimal microstructures for materials and composites with desired functional properties. The proposed research will significantly extend a topological optimization technique known as ESO/BESO - an Australian initiative that has earned a widespread international recognition. Its further development and applications will enable the Australian researchers and engineers to maintain and enhance the national capacity to exploit a niche market in the design of novel materials and composites.Read moreRead less
Delivering Digital Architecture in Australia. Design, documentation, and off-site prefabrication of numerous recent major international architectural projects, were achieved with evolving integrated 3D digital methods. While Australian architects, engineers, manufacturers, fabricators, and constructors have participated in a few such projects using these technologies, generally, local understanding and uptake of the opportunities is still very low. Growth in this area means growth in an existi ....Delivering Digital Architecture in Australia. Design, documentation, and off-site prefabrication of numerous recent major international architectural projects, were achieved with evolving integrated 3D digital methods. While Australian architects, engineers, manufacturers, fabricators, and constructors have participated in a few such projects using these technologies, generally, local understanding and uptake of the opportunities is still very low. Growth in this area means growth in an existing export rather than increasing reliance on importing these services and products. More fundamentally, it means a huge cultural dividend to Australia from greater affordable freedom of architectural expression.Read moreRead less
Investigate control of in-situ termite and decay protection and control using microwave technologies. Australia has a very substantial investment in timber structures for example 11,000 km of timber bridges, railway sleepers, power poles and dwellings. Timber losses each year due to fungal, termite and other insect degradation, is very significant. The use of organochlorine compounds for ground poisoning and remedial treatment has been discontinued due to environmental, health and safety concern ....Investigate control of in-situ termite and decay protection and control using microwave technologies. Australia has a very substantial investment in timber structures for example 11,000 km of timber bridges, railway sleepers, power poles and dwellings. Timber losses each year due to fungal, termite and other insect degradation, is very significant. The use of organochlorine compounds for ground poisoning and remedial treatment has been discontinued due to environmental, health and safety concerns. Less toxic chemicals are less effective, require more regular inspection and don't address fundamental concerns associated with environment issues. This project will provide the community a cheap automated alarm system indicating when remedial treatment is required and a non-chemical technology for sterilising infected structures.Read moreRead less