ARC Research Network for Economic Design. The Economic Design Network is a partnership of more than one hundred researchers and over forty international universities and research centres. The Network will support cross disciplinary research and policy innovation using state of the art techniques in economic theory and experimental economics. It will create practical policy tools that can be used to solve complex social and economic problems in industry economics, health economics and environment ....ARC Research Network for Economic Design. The Economic Design Network is a partnership of more than one hundred researchers and over forty international universities and research centres. The Network will support cross disciplinary research and policy innovation using state of the art techniques in economic theory and experimental economics. It will create practical policy tools that can be used to solve complex social and economic problems in industry economics, health economics and environmental policy. By linking Australian mid and early career researchers into multidisciplinary teams based around the world's top experimental economics laboratories, it will create a world class economic design capacity in Australia.Read moreRead less
Developing criteria to help solve Australia's urban infrastructure crisis. The key items of infrastructure in our cities are seen to be in crisis. Yet despite a growing willingness to fund new infrastructure, governments at all levels struggle to devise, rank and deliver infrastructure projects. The project will recover and rebuild a language for understanding the role of infrastructure in Australian cities and then devise criteria for better enactment of the infrastructure procurement and provi ....Developing criteria to help solve Australia's urban infrastructure crisis. The key items of infrastructure in our cities are seen to be in crisis. Yet despite a growing willingness to fund new infrastructure, governments at all levels struggle to devise, rank and deliver infrastructure projects. The project will recover and rebuild a language for understanding the role of infrastructure in Australian cities and then devise criteria for better enactment of the infrastructure procurement and provisioning processes. The project's prime outcomes will intersect with a growing need for better ways to build and operate large economic infrastructure and thus contribute to building cities that perform better economically, are more liveable, and contribute to long term environmental sustainability goals.Read moreRead less
A high performance, robust and sensorless Natural Field Oriented controller for induction machine drives. Natural Field Orientation (NFO) is a technique of field oriented control of AC machines that is potentially very robust, able to operate at low speeds, and inherently sensorless. However, it is a little known fact that under regenerative conditions the algorithm is unstable. The primary aim of this project is to develop a NFO algorithm that is stable under regeneration, and has minimum depen ....A high performance, robust and sensorless Natural Field Oriented controller for induction machine drives. Natural Field Orientation (NFO) is a technique of field oriented control of AC machines that is potentially very robust, able to operate at low speeds, and inherently sensorless. However, it is a little known fact that under regenerative conditions the algorithm is unstable. The primary aim of this project is to develop a NFO algorithm that is stable under regeneration, and has minimum dependence on machine parameters. If these aims are achieved the NFO algorithm would be a significant addition to control algorithms for AC machines, allowing their use in a broader range of applications.
Read moreRead less
Development of Topological Optimisation Techniques for the Conceptual Design of Multi-storey Buildings. The building design process often begins with a case based preliminary design which derives its main parameters and features from a number of existing buildings of similar dimensions and functionality. This project aims to develop a design tool which incorporates two topological optimisation techniques in the conceptual design of multi-storey buildings. This design tool will enable inefficient ....Development of Topological Optimisation Techniques for the Conceptual Design of Multi-storey Buildings. The building design process often begins with a case based preliminary design which derives its main parameters and features from a number of existing buildings of similar dimensions and functionality. This project aims to develop a design tool which incorporates two topological optimisation techniques in the conceptual design of multi-storey buildings. This design tool will enable inefficient materials to be automatically removed from the design, thus producing a structurally efficient building system. At the same time, the new topologies generated by these optimisation techniques can be used by the designer to create innovative forms and layouts for the building.Read moreRead less
Multilevel converters. Until recently the vast majority of power electronic applications have been to low voltage systems. However, developments in high voltage semiconductor switches in the last decade have generated significant activity in high voltage power electronic applications.
Traditional two level converters have significant problems in high voltage applications - high output dv/dt damages insulation and motor bearings, and the semiconductor switches have high switching losses.
Mu ....Multilevel converters. Until recently the vast majority of power electronic applications have been to low voltage systems. However, developments in high voltage semiconductor switches in the last decade have generated significant activity in high voltage power electronic applications.
Traditional two level converters have significant problems in high voltage applications - high output dv/dt damages insulation and motor bearings, and the semiconductor switches have high switching losses.
Multilevel converters hold the promise of alleviating these problems. This project will research and develop multilevel converter technology for static VAR compensators and medium voltage drives, initially targeted at mining applications.Read moreRead less
Time dependent stratified flows in a differentially heated cavity under realistic conditions. Flows driven by the application of a horizontal temperature gradient has applications in nature and engineering. Although much progress has been made in the analysis of the case of a sudden application of temperature differences to the vertical walls of a container with insulating horizontal walls containing an isothermal fluid, the reality is that neither the insulated walls nor the initially isotherma ....Time dependent stratified flows in a differentially heated cavity under realistic conditions. Flows driven by the application of a horizontal temperature gradient has applications in nature and engineering. Although much progress has been made in the analysis of the case of a sudden application of temperature differences to the vertical walls of a container with insulating horizontal walls containing an isothermal fluid, the reality is that neither the insulated walls nor the initially isothermal fluid can be achieved. This project will, by analytical, numerical and experimental methods, make a preliminary investigation of the influence of conducting horizontal walls and an initially stratified fluid.Read moreRead less
Low emission, Gas Turbine Air Compressor (GTAC) demonstrator. Compressed air production consumes a significant portion of electricity generated world-wide. The fragility of power infrastructure in many developed countries, and the growing Chinese economy, has created very large markets for compressed air plants that run off Diesel and natural gas fuels. Australia's reliance on coal introduces the added greenhouse incentive of reduced electricity use.
This project will demonstrate a novel air ....Low emission, Gas Turbine Air Compressor (GTAC) demonstrator. Compressed air production consumes a significant portion of electricity generated world-wide. The fragility of power infrastructure in many developed countries, and the growing Chinese economy, has created very large markets for compressed air plants that run off Diesel and natural gas fuels. Australia's reliance on coal introduces the added greenhouse incentive of reduced electricity use.
This project will demonstrate a novel air compressor concept that features a natural gas fuelled micro-gas turbine. This device is expected to have comparable thermal efficiency to other air compressors, but with very significantly reduced greenhouse and overall emissions, much quieter operation, lower cost and increased device compactness.
Read moreRead less
Design and Optimisation of Novel Enthalpy Heat Exchangers. This project deals with the thermal design and optimisation of a novel type of latent energy heat exchanger. This new heat exchanger overcomes the practical implementation problems of previous latent energy heat exchangers such as heat-wheels. The main application of this innovative heat exchanger will be to improve the capacity and efficiency of air conditioning systems. As the new heat exchanger is very compact it will be ideally sui ....Design and Optimisation of Novel Enthalpy Heat Exchangers. This project deals with the thermal design and optimisation of a novel type of latent energy heat exchanger. This new heat exchanger overcomes the practical implementation problems of previous latent energy heat exchangers such as heat-wheels. The main application of this innovative heat exchanger will be to improve the capacity and efficiency of air conditioning systems. As the new heat exchanger is very compact it will be ideally suited for integration with air conditioning coils. Existing latent heat wheels are very bulky and are difficult to integrate into standard air conditioner installations.Read moreRead less
Efficient and Robust Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimisation Method for Large-scale Three-dimensional Topological Design. Structural optimisation is a process of searching for the best shape and topology of an engineering structure which will consume the least amount of material or energy. This project aims to further investigate the Bi-directional Structural Optimisation (BESO) method which has recently been proposed by the applicant's team. New algorithms will be developed to subst ....Efficient and Robust Bi-directional Evolutionary Structural Optimisation Method for Large-scale Three-dimensional Topological Design. Structural optimisation is a process of searching for the best shape and topology of an engineering structure which will consume the least amount of material or energy. This project aims to further investigate the Bi-directional Structural Optimisation (BESO) method which has recently been proposed by the applicant's team. New algorithms will be developed to substantially improve the efficiency and robustness of the BESO method. The expected outcome of the project is a simple and effective optimisation technique that can be used for the conceptual design of a wide range of engineering structures.Read moreRead less
Investigating the coupled dependencies of soot in turbulent flames by advanced laser diagnostics and modelling. The community will benefit from the project by reduced air pollution and improved health and safety. Soot is a major air pollutant, adversely effecting public health, while also contributing directly to global warming. It also dominates heat transfer and influences the emissions of NOx and CO2. The project will significantly advance detailed understanding and modelling capability of fl ....Investigating the coupled dependencies of soot in turbulent flames by advanced laser diagnostics and modelling. The community will benefit from the project by reduced air pollution and improved health and safety. Soot is a major air pollutant, adversely effecting public health, while also contributing directly to global warming. It also dominates heat transfer and influences the emissions of NOx and CO2. The project will significantly advance detailed understanding and modelling capability of flames containing soot. Hence it will provide significantly improved capability to optimise these flames in applications spanning gas turbines, power generation, minerals processing and fires.Read moreRead less