Fatigue Life Prediction of Nano-filler Modified Composites. The proposed project aims to study the behaviour and the failure mechanisms of polymer nanocomposites under cyclic loading. The outcomes of the project will make original contributions to our knowledge base on such materials. The mechanics modelling and statistical analysis of the prediction of fatigue life will provide a sound physical basis and a useful tool for any future improvement and optimisation of the composites to achieve bett ....Fatigue Life Prediction of Nano-filler Modified Composites. The proposed project aims to study the behaviour and the failure mechanisms of polymer nanocomposites under cyclic loading. The outcomes of the project will make original contributions to our knowledge base on such materials. The mechanics modelling and statistical analysis of the prediction of fatigue life will provide a sound physical basis and a useful tool for any future improvement and optimisation of the composites to achieve better reliability and integrity in their intended applications. This study will bring economic benefits to the end-users of advanced material technology including the Australian materials industries. Read moreRead less
Grown not extracted: high performance plant-based polymer packaging. This project aims to develop high performance, thermoformed paper-like materials to replace petroleum-derived plastic packaging. The materials are made using mechanically broken down waste cellulose fibres, which are then formed into shapes with added barrier layers. The grant aims to control the mechanical treatment for optimum performance, engineer the shape forming process and design laminate structures to produce packaging ....Grown not extracted: high performance plant-based polymer packaging. This project aims to develop high performance, thermoformed paper-like materials to replace petroleum-derived plastic packaging. The materials are made using mechanically broken down waste cellulose fibres, which are then formed into shapes with added barrier layers. The grant aims to control the mechanical treatment for optimum performance, engineer the shape forming process and design laminate structures to produce packaging materials, which have all the advantages of plastic packaging with none of the environmental drawbacks. The grant also aims to develop new methods to characterise these composites. The intended outcome is a new industry manufacturing renewable, biodegradable packaging in Australia.
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