Liquefaction of silty soils: Micromechanics, modelling and prediction. The project aims to develop a numerical approach to understand liquefaction in silty soils. Liquefaction of silty soils in submarine landslides, mine tailings dam failures and cargo liquefaction in vessels carrying iron/nickel ores can cause property loss and be fatal. This project will bridge the behaviours across the scales and deliver constitutive models that possess grain scale mechanisms for better prediction of liquefac ....Liquefaction of silty soils: Micromechanics, modelling and prediction. The project aims to develop a numerical approach to understand liquefaction in silty soils. Liquefaction of silty soils in submarine landslides, mine tailings dam failures and cargo liquefaction in vessels carrying iron/nickel ores can cause property loss and be fatal. This project will bridge the behaviours across the scales and deliver constitutive models that possess grain scale mechanisms for better prediction of liquefaction induced failure at the large scales. The expected outcomes are liquefaction criteria for silty soils with different silt contents and numerical tools to predict the onset of liquefaction and flow of liquefied soils.Read moreRead less
Advanced Combustion Modelling for Scramjets and Rotating Detonation Engines. This project will develop new fundamental knowledge and engineering models underpinning air-breathing high speed propulsion engines employing complex hydrocarbon fuels. Extensive data and new physical understanding will be garnered through analysis of direct numerical simulations of supersonic reacting mixing layers including impinging shock waves. That data will be employed to isolate, test and develop computationally ....Advanced Combustion Modelling for Scramjets and Rotating Detonation Engines. This project will develop new fundamental knowledge and engineering models underpinning air-breathing high speed propulsion engines employing complex hydrocarbon fuels. Extensive data and new physical understanding will be garnered through analysis of direct numerical simulations of supersonic reacting mixing layers including impinging shock waves. That data will be employed to isolate, test and develop computationally efficient engineering models that are accurate and efficient for high speed combustion in rotating detonation engines and scramjets. Expected outcomes are knowledge and tools needed to develop practical and effective supersonic propulsion engines for access to space, defence and high speed point-to-point flight.
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Micromechanical analysis of size segregation and its prediction in granular free-surface flows. Industries often suffer from size segregation in the handling and processing of granular materials, leading to significant economic consequences. This project aims to develop a fundamental understanding of size segregation and prediction models, enabling industries to eliminate, minimise, or manage the effects to an acceptable level.
Observer design for singularly perturbed systems. This project aims to provide a framework for observer design for singularly perturbed systems, analyse performance/robustness of such designs and apply it to engineering problems. Estimating unmeasured physical variables from available measurements is essential in engineering and science, but is hard when the system exhibits multiple time scales. This is common as dynamics occurring on much faster time scales age engineered systems’ physical prop ....Observer design for singularly perturbed systems. This project aims to provide a framework for observer design for singularly perturbed systems, analyse performance/robustness of such designs and apply it to engineering problems. Estimating unmeasured physical variables from available measurements is essential in engineering and science, but is hard when the system exhibits multiple time scales. This is common as dynamics occurring on much faster time scales age engineered systems’ physical properties, but tools to deal with these systems do not exist. This project aims to provide the fundamental science to estimate systems exhibiting multiple time scales. These results are expected to improve condition monitoring in mechanical, electrical and power systems.Read moreRead less
Unravelling the enigma of turbulence by integrating simulation & modelling. This project will transform how turbulence and flow-induced noise is understood and predicted to help meet the challenge of ever-growing transport and energy demands in an affordable and sustainable way. This will be achieved by integrating the latest simulation advances with unique machine-learning approaches. The expected outcome will be a paradigm shift in how turbulence and noise models are created and used, informed ....Unravelling the enigma of turbulence by integrating simulation & modelling. This project will transform how turbulence and flow-induced noise is understood and predicted to help meet the challenge of ever-growing transport and energy demands in an affordable and sustainable way. This will be achieved by integrating the latest simulation advances with unique machine-learning approaches. The expected outcome will be a paradigm shift in how turbulence and noise models are created and used, informed by new scientific knowledge and data. The proliferation of these new models will allow the design and operation of more efficient, reliable and quieter technologies in the aerospace, naval and energy industries, benefitting the Australian economy and environment, and raise the international profile of our scientists.Read moreRead less
Dissecting non-equilibrium effects in wall turbulence. This project aims to progress understanding of wall-bounded turbulent flows under non-equilibrium conditions. The focus is on turbulent flows over rough surfaces where the bulk flow decelerates along the streamwise length of the surface. Such flows are regularly encountered in important practical applications, such as over the trailing edge of an airplane wing or inside a flow diffuser, which are ubiquitous in industry. Novel experiments and ....Dissecting non-equilibrium effects in wall turbulence. This project aims to progress understanding of wall-bounded turbulent flows under non-equilibrium conditions. The focus is on turbulent flows over rough surfaces where the bulk flow decelerates along the streamwise length of the surface. Such flows are regularly encountered in important practical applications, such as over the trailing edge of an airplane wing or inside a flow diffuser, which are ubiquitous in industry. Novel experiments and numerical simulations will provide the definitive data needed in order to uncover the scaling laws of these flows, thus enabling their reliable prediction.Read moreRead less
Environmentally sustainable shipping through improved understanding and management of wall-bounded turbulence. The thin region of turbulent flow that is pulled along by a ship's hull as it moves through the water accounts for up to 90 per cent of the overall resistance and a large amount of the fuel burnt. This project aims to control or tame recurrent flow patterns within these turbulent regions to reduce resistance, overall fuel cost and emissions from shipping.
Particle-scale modelling of particle-fluid flows in gas and oil extraction. Particle-scale modelling of particle-fluid flows in gas and oil extraction. This project aims to develop a particle scale model to study the pipeline transport of petroleum fluids. It will use a combined theoretical and experimental program, involving state-of-the-art discrete element modelling and simulation techniques, to describe the complex particle-fluid flow and erosion of pipeline transport in gas and oil extracti ....Particle-scale modelling of particle-fluid flows in gas and oil extraction. Particle-scale modelling of particle-fluid flows in gas and oil extraction. This project aims to develop a particle scale model to study the pipeline transport of petroleum fluids. It will use a combined theoretical and experimental program, involving state-of-the-art discrete element modelling and simulation techniques, to describe the complex particle-fluid flow and erosion of pipeline transport in gas and oil extraction, quantify the effects of key variables, and formulate strategies for optimum process control under different conditions. The research outcomes are expected to be useful for the process control of pipeline transport in Australia’s important petroleum and energy-related industries.Read moreRead less
Aerodynamic interaction of bluff bodies with applications to sports aerodynamics. Numerical modelling and experiments will be combined by this project to characterise the flow and reduce drag on a set of objects in the wake of another object. The Olympic pursuit cycling team is a typical application, with small improvements leading to major competitiveness gains. Findings will also apply to Paralympic team sports, and potentially transportation.
Ultra-fast alchemy: a new strategy to synthesise super-dense nanomaterials. We have recently created a new super-dense aluminium phase by ultrafast laser microexplosion. This project will search further for new super-dense material phases with drastically different and exotic properties, such as those inside planets and stars, and which have great potential as new nanomaterials for industrial applications.