Investigation and optimisation of displacement ventilation and cooling systems. An accurate optimisation design tool for cooling and ventilation will be of considerable benefit to the Australian building/construction industry, and will lead to a reduction in energy consumption, thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of the grand chall ....Investigation and optimisation of displacement ventilation and cooling systems. An accurate optimisation design tool for cooling and ventilation will be of considerable benefit to the Australian building/construction industry, and will lead to a reduction in energy consumption, thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of the grand challenge areas of science, and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers trained in this area will be well placed to make a significant contribution to the new technologies needed to address the major environmental problems currently being faced.Read moreRead less
Turbulent fountains in stratified fluids with opposing buoyancy flux. Improved design tools will be developed for use in industries which must deal with turbulent fountains in stratified fluids. These tools will assist in the design of more efficient apparatus, reducing energy consumption and thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of ....Turbulent fountains in stratified fluids with opposing buoyancy flux. Improved design tools will be developed for use in industries which must deal with turbulent fountains in stratified fluids. These tools will assist in the design of more efficient apparatus, reducing energy consumption and thereby reducing both consumer costs and Australia's total greenhouse gas output, as well as providing Australian industry with a competitive advantage. Turbulence modelling for stratified fluids is one of the grand challenge areas of science, and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers trained in this will provide continuing service to Australia in many areas of advanced engineering and science. Read moreRead less
An Investigation Into Fountains Interacting With Both Free Surface and Solid Boundaries. This project will produce an improved understanding of the behavior of fountains interacting with both free surface and solid boundaries. Such flows occur in many environmental and industrial processes and, in particular, the interaction of fountain with boundaries will have a significant influence on the overall performance of the processes. This investigation will combine experiments, numerical simulations ....An Investigation Into Fountains Interacting With Both Free Surface and Solid Boundaries. This project will produce an improved understanding of the behavior of fountains interacting with both free surface and solid boundaries. Such flows occur in many environmental and industrial processes and, in particular, the interaction of fountain with boundaries will have a significant influence on the overall performance of the processes. This investigation will combine experiments, numerical simulations and scaling analysis to provide new insight into the physics governing the behavior of these impinging fountains. Turbulence models will be developed and validated and scaling formulae will be obtained providing relationships for the basic flow properties in terms of the control parameters.Read moreRead less
Extending the range of the flotation process for particle separation. The minerals industry is a significant contributor to Australia's prosperity. Flotation is an important process for upgrading low-grade ores to high-grade concentrates, and for recovering fine coal from tailings. This project is aimed at solving a long-term problem in current flotation practice, the difficulty in recovering ultrafine and coarse particles, currently lost from production. We will pursue two new discoveries recen ....Extending the range of the flotation process for particle separation. The minerals industry is a significant contributor to Australia's prosperity. Flotation is an important process for upgrading low-grade ores to high-grade concentrates, and for recovering fine coal from tailings. This project is aimed at solving a long-term problem in current flotation practice, the difficulty in recovering ultrafine and coarse particles, currently lost from production. We will pursue two new discoveries recently made by us, relating to the recovery of ultrafines and coarse particles. Benefits to Australia are of the order of $500 million a year in increased exports, education of high-quality graduates, export income from license fees and equipment.Read moreRead less
Mass transport in aqueous foams. Flotation is extremely important in the minerals industry, whose exports are $110.5 billion annually. This project aims to significantly advance understanding of liquid transport in flotation froths, via a quantitative study of foam mass flow mechanisms. If successful, it may lead to modifications to current flotation devices, improving their froth-zone performance and saving money, water, energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
Transport by Natural Convection in Reservoir Sidearms. This project is a first step in developing models of the distribution of water quality parameters in reservoirs by a range of small scale dynamical processes not included in commercial water quality models. Specifically, the project will investigate the transport of suspended materials from the shore to the deeper parts resulting from the interaction of the meteorological forcing and the topography. This will contribute to the development of ....Transport by Natural Convection in Reservoir Sidearms. This project is a first step in developing models of the distribution of water quality parameters in reservoirs by a range of small scale dynamical processes not included in commercial water quality models. Specifically, the project will investigate the transport of suspended materials from the shore to the deeper parts resulting from the interaction of the meteorological forcing and the topography. This will contribute to the development of improved water quality models, and therefore to better management of water quality of Australia's water resources.Read moreRead less
Development of constitutive models for concentrated suspensions via particle-level simulations. The outcome of this work will be a comprehensive theoretical framework by which accurate microstructural information is distilled into a macro-scale constitutive model of particulate suspensions, readily useable for modelling of practical industrial applications. This work will have a direct impact on the design capability and performance of a wide range of mechanisms and industrial processes involvin ....Development of constitutive models for concentrated suspensions via particle-level simulations. The outcome of this work will be a comprehensive theoretical framework by which accurate microstructural information is distilled into a macro-scale constitutive model of particulate suspensions, readily useable for modelling of practical industrial applications. This work will have a direct impact on the design capability and performance of a wide range of mechanisms and industrial processes involving suspensions. The development of better models for industrially useful suspensions offers a competitive advantage for a diverse range of Australia industry, from the food preparation sector, to mineral slurry transport, and water filtration and recycling.Read moreRead less
Direct simulation of composite microstructures in fluid and elastic media. The proposed innovative computational methodology will improve the design and performance of a wide range of mechanisms and industrial processes involving particulate inclusions, from engineering to biological applications. The resultant technology will make a contribution to maintain and enhance Australia's role in the development of advanced engineering materials through manipulating their composite microstructures. The ....Direct simulation of composite microstructures in fluid and elastic media. The proposed innovative computational methodology will improve the design and performance of a wide range of mechanisms and industrial processes involving particulate inclusions, from engineering to biological applications. The resultant technology will make a contribution to maintain and enhance Australia's role in the development of advanced engineering materials through manipulating their composite microstructures. The proposed computational method will also lead to new opportunities for Australian companies that develop computer simulation software. Our researchers in computational mechanics will gain further opportunities to extend the advances this project will make.Read moreRead less
Microstructural mechanisms of magnetorheological suspensions. A magnetorheological suspension (MRS) is a "smart material" which shows an enormous but reversible increase in flow resistance upon application of a magnetic field. These tunable fluids have many engineering applications, such as in adjustable vibration damping systems. This project comprises a series of innovative experiments and computer simulations, which will lead to a predictive constitutive model. We will investigate the underly ....Microstructural mechanisms of magnetorheological suspensions. A magnetorheological suspension (MRS) is a "smart material" which shows an enormous but reversible increase in flow resistance upon application of a magnetic field. These tunable fluids have many engineering applications, such as in adjustable vibration damping systems. This project comprises a series of innovative experiments and computer simulations, which will lead to a predictive constitutive model. We will investigate the underlying physical mechanisms governing the mechanical response of MRS, including the behaviour under small strains and under squeeze flow, the effects of rheometer wall conditions, and the role of matrix viscoelasticity or viscoplasticity.Read moreRead less
Turbulent mixing of a passive scalar. Turbulence is the usual state of fluid motion. This proposal will increase Australia's expertise in fundamental turbulence research, especially in the area of turbulent mixing, which is of major importance in many natural and engineering problems involving combustion, chemical reactions and pollution. A better knowledge of mixing at small scales will lead to more efficient combustion, savings in energy expenditure as well as a reduction in pollutant emiss ....Turbulent mixing of a passive scalar. Turbulence is the usual state of fluid motion. This proposal will increase Australia's expertise in fundamental turbulence research, especially in the area of turbulent mixing, which is of major importance in many natural and engineering problems involving combustion, chemical reactions and pollution. A better knowledge of mixing at small scales will lead to more efficient combustion, savings in energy expenditure as well as a reduction in pollutant emissions. Read moreRead less