Improvement of the performance of water-sensitive geomaterials using hydrophobic additives. Geo-structures such as road and railway bases suffer from water induced damage because they readily interact with the atmosphere and shallow water tables. Under traffic loading, damage to geo-structures occurs as cracking, rutting and roughness, when the strength and stiffness of the geomaterials are compromised by on-going moisture variations. Substantial cost savings to the community can be made if ef ....Improvement of the performance of water-sensitive geomaterials using hydrophobic additives. Geo-structures such as road and railway bases suffer from water induced damage because they readily interact with the atmosphere and shallow water tables. Under traffic loading, damage to geo-structures occurs as cracking, rutting and roughness, when the strength and stiffness of the geomaterials are compromised by on-going moisture variations. Substantial cost savings to the community can be made if effective methods can be found to minimise such damage. This project proposes to study a novel technique, in which blends of hydrophobic polymer additives are used to increase the stability of geomaterials subjected to varying moisture levels and traffic loading.Read moreRead less
Development of novel viscoelastic sprayed material for the effective blast resistance of critical and resource infrastructure. This project aims to conduct theoretical, numerical and experimental investigations on the mechanism of surface sprayed viscoelastic materials for blast mitigation of structural members in critical and resource infrastructure. The project design is different from traditional designs and aims to achieve protection with a higher efficiency, in a flexible manner and at a lo ....Development of novel viscoelastic sprayed material for the effective blast resistance of critical and resource infrastructure. This project aims to conduct theoretical, numerical and experimental investigations on the mechanism of surface sprayed viscoelastic materials for blast mitigation of structural members in critical and resource infrastructure. The project design is different from traditional designs and aims to achieve protection with a higher efficiency, in a flexible manner and at a lower cost. Therefore, it is worth exploring systemically the development of design methods which are not yet available. The project outcomes intend to be incorporated into design codes for the purposes of improving the civil infrastructure environment subjected to extreme events.Read moreRead less