Understanding mud pumping in heavy haul railroads. This project aims to examine the factors that cause mud pumping and evaluate the effectiveness of sub-surface drainage to prevent rail track instability. Fast heavy haul operations (such as loads used in mining and agriculture) impart repeated loads on the natural formation that can result in mud pumping. If the build-up of water pressure becomes excessive this can cause track failure. Through an experimental program and field study, the mechani ....Understanding mud pumping in heavy haul railroads. This project aims to examine the factors that cause mud pumping and evaluate the effectiveness of sub-surface drainage to prevent rail track instability. Fast heavy haul operations (such as loads used in mining and agriculture) impart repeated loads on the natural formation that can result in mud pumping. If the build-up of water pressure becomes excessive this can cause track failure. Through an experimental program and field study, the mechanisms of mud pumping, incorporating train loads and frequencies, will be studied, and the role of vertically installed drains will be quantified for improved practical design. The project aims to contribute to improved track longevity and reduced maintenance costs, with a corresponding boost in rail productivity.Read moreRead less
Modelling and distributed control of large infrastructure networks. The main outcome of this project will be the capability to study systematically basic questions on the operation of large infrastructure systems. Methodologies for control of larger systems and security issues will be developed. Application of the techniques to several applications areas will include power grids and traffic networks.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100116
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
100 Gbit to 1 Terabit per second optical communication test bed facility. This facility will develop and demonstrate novel optical technologies that will underpin the generation and transmission of a higher-speed Ethernet at 100 Gb/s to 1Terabit/s, and will lead to better broadband and more energy efficient internet. At the foundation of this research will be a test bed with multiple signal sources at data rates above 50 Gbaud.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100062
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$240,000.00
Summary
Universal Optical Transmitter for rapid prototyping and system emulation. Universal optical transmitter for rapid prototyping and system emulation: This Project proposes an integrated, multi-user facility for the generation of extremely wide-bandwidth optical communication signals that will help to dramatically improve the data-handling capability of optical fibres and improve the energy efficiency of optical communication networks. The project will modulate the input of an advanced optical tran ....Universal Optical Transmitter for rapid prototyping and system emulation. Universal optical transmitter for rapid prototyping and system emulation: This Project proposes an integrated, multi-user facility for the generation of extremely wide-bandwidth optical communication signals that will help to dramatically improve the data-handling capability of optical fibres and improve the energy efficiency of optical communication networks. The project will modulate the input of an advanced optical transmitter with multi-level, multi-phase signals at multi-Gb/s rates to generate 'higher-order' modulation formats at multi- terra bits per second rates including orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), Nyquist-wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), regular WDM and Optical Time-Division Multiplexing (OTDM). With this transmitter the project will investigate advanced optical communications concepts including 'constellations' of phase and intensity, limitations of nonlinearity in optical fibres, signal regeneration, and all-optical routing.Read moreRead less
Safety in the Heavy Vehicle Industry: A Collaborative Response. The management and regulation of heavy vehicles, particularly in relation to safety, is recognised as an urgent issue at all levels of government across Australia. In the absence of research that identifies the key determinants of heavy vehicle crashes, countermeasures will continue to be based on anecdote. The proposed study will determine the role key risk factors, namely scheduling and sleep-related factors, play in heavy vehicl ....Safety in the Heavy Vehicle Industry: A Collaborative Response. The management and regulation of heavy vehicles, particularly in relation to safety, is recognised as an urgent issue at all levels of government across Australia. In the absence of research that identifies the key determinants of heavy vehicle crashes, countermeasures will continue to be based on anecdote. The proposed study will determine the role key risk factors, namely scheduling and sleep-related factors, play in heavy vehicle crashes and will identify cost-effective strategies to reduce the growing economic burden associated with these crashes.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100113
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,000.00
Summary
Travel Choice Simulation Laboratory (TRACSLab): a visualisation laboratory to study travel behaviour and drivers’ interactions. Travel Choice Simulation Laboratory (TRACSLab) is a world-first facility to observe collective travel choice in a realistic lab environment. It is unique due to the focus on travel choice, networked interaction and strong teaming. The findings of the lab will support a new generation of transport analysis techniques for emerging issues such as sustainability, reliabili ....Travel Choice Simulation Laboratory (TRACSLab): a visualisation laboratory to study travel behaviour and drivers’ interactions. Travel Choice Simulation Laboratory (TRACSLab) is a world-first facility to observe collective travel choice in a realistic lab environment. It is unique due to the focus on travel choice, networked interaction and strong teaming. The findings of the lab will support a new generation of transport analysis techniques for emerging issues such as sustainability, reliability, and intelligent transport systems (ITS).Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100030
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$270,000.00
Summary
Test-bed for Wide-Area Software Defined Networking Research. Test bed for wide-area software defined networking research: This project aims to develop a wide-area test bed, spanning ten organisations, for conducting research and experimentation in the emerging disruptive technology of Software Defined Networking (SDN). SDN is likely to bring long-term transformation to the networking industry, much like cloud computing did, by enabling dynamic virtualised elastic network services under software ....Test-bed for Wide-Area Software Defined Networking Research. Test bed for wide-area software defined networking research: This project aims to develop a wide-area test bed, spanning ten organisations, for conducting research and experimentation in the emerging disruptive technology of Software Defined Networking (SDN). SDN is likely to bring long-term transformation to the networking industry, much like cloud computing did, by enabling dynamic virtualised elastic network services under software control. The test bed will empower Australian researchers in network technologies and dependent applications (for example, multimedia and security) to collaboratively develop and demonstrate novel ideas at scale. This is expected to benefit Australia by giving our researchers international recognition in this nascent area, and developing a national talent pool for local industry.Read moreRead less
Wideband Strongly-Truncated Composite Cavity-Resonator Antennas. A rapidly growing demand for fast wireless services calls for wideband communication systems with wideband antennas, which are compact, aesthetically appealing and inexpensive, yet have good performance. With novel concepts, this project aims to produce a new class of antennas that deliver impressive performance (bandwidth and gain) while taking up a dramatically reduced area in a way that was impossible before, increasing a figure ....Wideband Strongly-Truncated Composite Cavity-Resonator Antennas. A rapidly growing demand for fast wireless services calls for wideband communication systems with wideband antennas, which are compact, aesthetically appealing and inexpensive, yet have good performance. With novel concepts, this project aims to produce a new class of antennas that deliver impressive performance (bandwidth and gain) while taking up a dramatically reduced area in a way that was impossible before, increasing a figure-of-merit to up to seven times the state-of-the-art. Their planar geometry and simplicity lead to low cost. This is expected to create new knowledge, design methods and examples, prototypes, test results and guidelines required to design, optimise and make these versatile antennas for emerging robust broadband wireless systems.Read moreRead less
Rail Safety And Reliability: A Human Factors/Ergonomics Approach. Recent rail crashes have focussed rail operators and the public on issues of rail safety and reliabilty. The project is a major initiative that will assist the development of safer and more reliable rail operations through the application of human factors and ergonomics methods to the design of train control and management devices and systems.
Erosion of embankment dams and dam spillways. In excess of $250M is spent annually to maintain, upgrade, improve safety and monitor performance of Australian dams. Improved methods for assessing both spillway and internal erosion, the cause of 50 per cent of embankment dam failures and incidents requiring repairs, will be developed, maximising dam safety and minimising maintenance expenditure.