Electro-Optical Primers for Safe Use and Clean Manufacturing. Conventional primers contain a mechanically-sensitive primary explosive that is used to detonate the more stable propellant in a bullet. This project aims to address the health and environmental impacts of heavy metals in current primers by replacing them with benign, electrically or optically activated silicon-based materials. Modern semiconductor fabrication techniques will be used to develop safe and clean primers through cost-effe ....Electro-Optical Primers for Safe Use and Clean Manufacturing. Conventional primers contain a mechanically-sensitive primary explosive that is used to detonate the more stable propellant in a bullet. This project aims to address the health and environmental impacts of heavy metals in current primers by replacing them with benign, electrically or optically activated silicon-based materials. Modern semiconductor fabrication techniques will be used to develop safe and clean primers through cost-effective doping and deposition protocols. The expected outcomes of the project include a sovereign primer manufacturing capability for Australia. This will provide a significant strategic advantage and health benefits for law enforcement and defence personnel during live fire training and firing range exercises.Read moreRead less
Sewer corrosion reduction through model-supported ventilation control. Ventilation is one of the key technologies for sewer corrosion control. However, its design and operation are currently based on experience and empirical equations, often leading to unsatisfactory results. By integrating in-depth laboratory and pilot-sewer studies under defined conditions with extensive field investigations, this multidisciplinary project aims to develop critical models to predict the corrosion process in res ....Sewer corrosion reduction through model-supported ventilation control. Ventilation is one of the key technologies for sewer corrosion control. However, its design and operation are currently based on experience and empirical equations, often leading to unsatisfactory results. By integrating in-depth laboratory and pilot-sewer studies under defined conditions with extensive field investigations, this multidisciplinary project aims to develop critical models to predict the corrosion process in response to ventilation and dynamic wastewater and atmospheric conditions, enabling model-based sewer ventilation design and operation. The project also aims to deliver novel, field-demonstrated ventilation strategies. The project findings will be incorporated in the Australian ventilation design and operation guidelines.Read moreRead less
Pore Engineering of Chromatography Membranes for Bioseparation. Protein separation and purification is an essential unit operation in manufacturing processes of therapeutic proteins. The project aims to advance the practical applications of chromatography membrane, an emerging technology for protein separation and purification, by tailoring membrane pore geometry and surface functionality to achieve enhanced separation performance. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge and technique ....Pore Engineering of Chromatography Membranes for Bioseparation. Protein separation and purification is an essential unit operation in manufacturing processes of therapeutic proteins. The project aims to advance the practical applications of chromatography membrane, an emerging technology for protein separation and purification, by tailoring membrane pore geometry and surface functionality to achieve enhanced separation performance. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge and techniques in the fields of reactive polymer synthesis, functional membrane fabrication and application in bioseparation. The innovative membranes developed in the project are able to improve the production capacity of therapeutic protein manufacturing processes, providing significant economic benefits to Australia.Read moreRead less
Multilayered Safety Clothing for Personal Protective Equipment. This project aims to improve multilayered firefighting protective garments and their thermal comfort by utilizing aerogel microparticles containing thermal regulation materials and flame-retardant agents. This research will create new multifunctional fabric designs and engineering techniques to integrate improved heat and flame protection, comfort and smart features into optimized multilayered garments. It will create novel clothing ....Multilayered Safety Clothing for Personal Protective Equipment. This project aims to improve multilayered firefighting protective garments and their thermal comfort by utilizing aerogel microparticles containing thermal regulation materials and flame-retardant agents. This research will create new multifunctional fabric designs and engineering techniques to integrate improved heat and flame protection, comfort and smart features into optimized multilayered garments. It will create novel clothing systems that will better protect wearers and allow them to effectively combat bushfires and save lives and assets. The successful completion will enable industrial capability in next generation advanced protective garments and functional uniforms for broad occupational health safety and well-being applications.Read moreRead less
Robust and Scalable Autonomous Landing for Drones. The aim of this project is to develop a transformative robust and scalable autonomous landing system for drones. This is the critical missing technology needed to unleash exponential growth in a potentially enormous drone delivery industry by enabling a multitude of applications to deliver goods and supplies via drones to a wide range of destinations in Australia and the world in a timely, flexible and accurate manner. Such an autonomous landi ....Robust and Scalable Autonomous Landing for Drones. The aim of this project is to develop a transformative robust and scalable autonomous landing system for drones. This is the critical missing technology needed to unleash exponential growth in a potentially enormous drone delivery industry by enabling a multitude of applications to deliver goods and supplies via drones to a wide range of destinations in Australia and the world in a timely, flexible and accurate manner. Such an autonomous landing solution would revolutionise drone technology, and propel Australia to the forefront of technology innovation. This project would benefit not only large scale delivery by drone in urban and suburban areas of Australia but also long distance delivery via drone to remote areas of Australia.Read moreRead less
Damage Tolerance Approach in Designing and Maintaining Truck Trailers. This project aims to develop a damage tolerance approach in designing and maintaining truck trailers. Combined with field test and computational simulation, machine learning will be used to generate loading spectrums. Following the damage tolerance philosophy, a mature approach in aerospace industry, the fatigue crack growth and the fatigue life will be predicted. In addition, structural optimisation will be applied in traile ....Damage Tolerance Approach in Designing and Maintaining Truck Trailers. This project aims to develop a damage tolerance approach in designing and maintaining truck trailers. Combined with field test and computational simulation, machine learning will be used to generate loading spectrums. Following the damage tolerance philosophy, a mature approach in aerospace industry, the fatigue crack growth and the fatigue life will be predicted. In addition, structural optimisation will be applied in trailer design. This project expects to revolutionize the design and maintenance practices in Australian truck trailer industry. It should provide significant benefits, such as prolonging the life cycle of truck trailers, reducing the tare weight and increasing operating profit, to both trailer producers and users.Read moreRead less
Automated Integrity Assessment of Self-Piercing Rivet Joints: i4.0 Approach. Lightweighting in the car industry by the use of aluminium reduces emissions substantially. It entails joining the car body sections by self-piercing rivets rather than the traditional spot welds. We aim to fill the technology gap for effective quality control of these joints. The project expects to solve the problem by merging industry 4.0 principles, three-dimensional X-ray technology, machine learning computer vision ....Automated Integrity Assessment of Self-Piercing Rivet Joints: i4.0 Approach. Lightweighting in the car industry by the use of aluminium reduces emissions substantially. It entails joining the car body sections by self-piercing rivets rather than the traditional spot welds. We aim to fill the technology gap for effective quality control of these joints. The project expects to solve the problem by merging industry 4.0 principles, three-dimensional X-ray technology, machine learning computer vision and structural mechanics. The expected outcomes are technologies for automation-friendly assessment of these joints. This should benefit industries from medical to electronics to automatically spot a random and delicate abnormality within a solid of complex geometry, such as that in live tissue or an electronic circuit.Read moreRead less
Computational alloy design for cold spray deposition. The aim of this project is to design a new generation of proprietary, high performance alloys and composites that are optimised for cold spray deposition. Cold spray is a new manufacturing technology that is used to create coatings for enhancement, repair, restoration and for additive manufacturing. Using a systems approach and by integrating experiment with computational models, this project will generate new knowledge for enhanced materials ....Computational alloy design for cold spray deposition. The aim of this project is to design a new generation of proprietary, high performance alloys and composites that are optimised for cold spray deposition. Cold spray is a new manufacturing technology that is used to create coatings for enhancement, repair, restoration and for additive manufacturing. Using a systems approach and by integrating experiment with computational models, this project will generate new knowledge for enhanced materials design. Partnering with Ruag Australia, a leading Defence aerospace supplier, the project will deliver a practical tool for the accelerated design of metal powders for cold spray and invent commercially useful advanced materials to improve the competitiveness of Australian manufacturing industry.Read moreRead less
Low-Complexity Capacity-Scalable Multiple Antenna Wireless Communications. The project aims to develop innovative solutions for low-complexity, capacity-scalable multiple antenna wireless communications, in order to meet future data rate requirements whilst maintaining a practical system at a sustainable cost. By leveraging delay-Doppler domain channel properties and geometric reciprocity, pragmatic transceiver technologies and innovative delay-Doppler domain signal processing algorithms for cha ....Low-Complexity Capacity-Scalable Multiple Antenna Wireless Communications. The project aims to develop innovative solutions for low-complexity, capacity-scalable multiple antenna wireless communications, in order to meet future data rate requirements whilst maintaining a practical system at a sustainable cost. By leveraging delay-Doppler domain channel properties and geometric reciprocity, pragmatic transceiver technologies and innovative delay-Doppler domain signal processing algorithms for channel prediction and multi-user transmissions will be developed. The outcomes of the project are expected to significantly improve users' data rates with low system complexity and reduced signalling overhead for future wireless communications.Read moreRead less
Electron Transpiration Cooling of Hypersonic Vehicles. Future aircraft for flight at hypersonic speeds require sharp leading edges for the best aerodynamic performance. Sharp leading edges incur high heat loads and cannot be adequately cooled with current technologies. The project aim is to investigate novel surface materials that emit electrons when heated. This emission of electrons from the surface can significantly contribute to the cooling of the sharp leading edges. This project is expecte ....Electron Transpiration Cooling of Hypersonic Vehicles. Future aircraft for flight at hypersonic speeds require sharp leading edges for the best aerodynamic performance. Sharp leading edges incur high heat loads and cannot be adequately cooled with current technologies. The project aim is to investigate novel surface materials that emit electrons when heated. This emission of electrons from the surface can significantly contribute to the cooling of the sharp leading edges. This project is expected to deliver new experimental data on novel surface materials exposed to a hypersonic flow environment and computer models that can simulate their cooling effect. This investigation will contribute towards enabling technologies for sustained hypersonic flight by overcoming critical head load limitations.Read moreRead less