Biosolid flow, separation and activity in anaerobic lagoons. This project aims to develop a fundamental model of the complex, non-steady state flow behaviour in anaerobic lagoons. The project will develop new operating procedures and designs for large municipal, industrial and agricultural anaerobic lagoons. This will improve the efficiency of anaerobic digestion and reduce wastewater treatment costs, as well as increase renewable and sustainable biogas production. The intended outcome is a va ....Biosolid flow, separation and activity in anaerobic lagoons. This project aims to develop a fundamental model of the complex, non-steady state flow behaviour in anaerobic lagoons. The project will develop new operating procedures and designs for large municipal, industrial and agricultural anaerobic lagoons. This will improve the efficiency of anaerobic digestion and reduce wastewater treatment costs, as well as increase renewable and sustainable biogas production. The intended outcome is a validated 3D model that captures the physical and biological complexities of anaerobic lagoons. This will impact the design and operation of partner organisation lagoons, reducing capital and operating costs and improving biogas production.Read moreRead less
Food structure design. Food structure design. This project aims to use fundamental studies in multi-scale rheology and biotribology, surface sciences, soft matter physics and protein chemistry to develop new measurement capabilities and knowledge for rational food structure design. This research is intended to enable researchers and industry to quantify how oral processing (including saliva) transforms food during consumption, and to provide new instrumental measurements and know-how that assist ....Food structure design. Food structure design. This project aims to use fundamental studies in multi-scale rheology and biotribology, surface sciences, soft matter physics and protein chemistry to develop new measurement capabilities and knowledge for rational food structure design. This research is intended to enable researchers and industry to quantify how oral processing (including saliva) transforms food during consumption, and to provide new instrumental measurements and know-how that assists in defining sensory percepts in dairy foods and beverages such as creaminess in full, reduced or non-fat systems and grittiness in high protein systems.Read moreRead less
Multiscale viscoelastic lubrication of soft matter systems. The project aims to develop new principles of viscoelastic lubrication in soft contacts. New insights into friction behaviour arising from complex fluid-substrate interactions are expected to be generated using techniques and interdisciplinary approaches that bridge rheology, tribology and surface science. The intended outcome is a lubrication model that interprets the contribution of viscoelastic effects occurring across multiple lengt ....Multiscale viscoelastic lubrication of soft matter systems. The project aims to develop new principles of viscoelastic lubrication in soft contacts. New insights into friction behaviour arising from complex fluid-substrate interactions are expected to be generated using techniques and interdisciplinary approaches that bridge rheology, tribology and surface science. The intended outcome is a lubrication model that interprets the contribution of viscoelastic effects occurring across multiple length and time scales. This should provide significant benefits to diverse fields including advanced materials and complex fluids, engineering tribology, bio-lubrication and food structure design.Read moreRead less
Hydraulic erosion of granular structures: experiments and computational simulations. Erosion due to hydraulic forces causes vast damage to infrastructure and buildings in Australia and overseas. The project aims to improve the predictability and controllability of flooding related disasters caused by erosion. The project involves experiments as well as cutting edge computer simulations.
Enabling the design of superior healthy snack foods and beverages through innovative assessment of oral processing and mucosal film interactions. Reducing sugar and fat in foods generally leads to products that are perceived as less flavoursome and appealing. A significant contributor to this is the interaction of foods and beverages with oral mucosal substrates, which play a key role in perceptual processes that drive unacceptable mouthfeel sensations. This project seeks to develop and use oral ....Enabling the design of superior healthy snack foods and beverages through innovative assessment of oral processing and mucosal film interactions. Reducing sugar and fat in foods generally leads to products that are perceived as less flavoursome and appealing. A significant contributor to this is the interaction of foods and beverages with oral mucosal substrates, which play a key role in perceptual processes that drive unacceptable mouthfeel sensations. This project seeks to develop and use oral mimetic substrates to permit objective and quantified rheological and tribological responses, imitating the underlying physics occurring during food oral processing that drive dynamic sensory responses. The project aims to enable a mechanism-based approach to minimise the amounts of fat, salt and sugar required for sensory properties that meet consumer expectations.Read moreRead less
Engineering biomimetic lubrication with mucin. Engineering coatings for water to be an effective lubricant is a significant challenge. The project seeks to emulate how nature builds highly lubricating water-rich polymer films on biological surfaces. This is intended to be achieved by directing the self-assembly of mucin macromolecules onto polymer brushes attached to a substrate, and then cross-linking the constituents to obtain a hydrated gel-like lubricating coating. This research is expected ....Engineering biomimetic lubrication with mucin. Engineering coatings for water to be an effective lubricant is a significant challenge. The project seeks to emulate how nature builds highly lubricating water-rich polymer films on biological surfaces. This is intended to be achieved by directing the self-assembly of mucin macromolecules onto polymer brushes attached to a substrate, and then cross-linking the constituents to obtain a hydrated gel-like lubricating coating. This research is expected to provide new insights on the mechanisms by which mucin-rich fluids lubricate and protect biosurfaces, which is important to human health, nutrition and well-being. It may also lead to new discoveries for engineering surface coatings for biomaterials and nanomaterials.Read moreRead less
Reducing the deleterious impacts of clay particle interactions with valuable minerals in copper and gold processing. This project seeks to understand the rheological behaviour of clay minerals and the effect of the viscosity caused by clay minerals on gas dispersion, the transport of network structures and the locking of the structures in the froth in mineral flotation. Novel methods will be developed to improve flotation separation by reducing the viscosity.