A novel design approach for sustainable and resilient railway formations. The project aims to validate a novel design approach for more sustainable and resilient railway formations. The railway network underpins the Australian economy and its maintenance costs tens of millions of dollars every year. This cost will increase with the growing frequency and intensity of climatic events. The research will advance the knowledge on the effect of water on the performance of railway formations and will d ....A novel design approach for sustainable and resilient railway formations. The project aims to validate a novel design approach for more sustainable and resilient railway formations. The railway network underpins the Australian economy and its maintenance costs tens of millions of dollars every year. This cost will increase with the growing frequency and intensity of climatic events. The research will advance the knowledge on the effect of water on the performance of railway formations and will deliver a novel design tool for end-users that will allow engineers to recycle fouled ballast in formations . The project will yield significant financial benefits for Australia, will strengthen links between Academia and industry partners, and will address environmental and sustainability issues linked to fouled ballast.
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Hybrid Pile-Drain System to Stabilise Railways Built on Soft Soils. Australian coastal soils often pose significant challenges in the design and construction of railways. The project aims to develop a novel hybrid system of pipe piles & prefabricated vertical drains installed to prevent soft foundation soil (subgrade) from excessive yielding under prolonged cyclic loading by heavy-haul trains. Using large-scale physical model simulations and field trials supported by numerical analysis of soil-p ....Hybrid Pile-Drain System to Stabilise Railways Built on Soft Soils. Australian coastal soils often pose significant challenges in the design and construction of railways. The project aims to develop a novel hybrid system of pipe piles & prefabricated vertical drains installed to prevent soft foundation soil (subgrade) from excessive yielding under prolonged cyclic loading by heavy-haul trains. Using large-scale physical model simulations and field trials supported by numerical analysis of soil-pile-drain interaction mechanisms, this innovative concept will be examined to establish a user-friendly design methodology. For rail operators, the outcomes will generate substantially reduced maintenance costs, while extending the longevity of track infrastructure to ensure faster and heavier trains of the future. Read moreRead less
Radioimmunotherapy is an experimental method of cancer treatment, involving the use of radioactive isotopes, which are targeted to tumour cells using specific molecules as carriers. These carriers are known as anti-tumour antibodies, and they bind specifically to tumour cells. Recent advances in molecular biology and in the understanding of the nature of tumour cells has resulted in the development of improved anti-tumour antibodies, and such improvements can be expected to continue. However, th ....Radioimmunotherapy is an experimental method of cancer treatment, involving the use of radioactive isotopes, which are targeted to tumour cells using specific molecules as carriers. These carriers are known as anti-tumour antibodies, and they bind specifically to tumour cells. Recent advances in molecular biology and in the understanding of the nature of tumour cells has resulted in the development of improved anti-tumour antibodies, and such improvements can be expected to continue. However, this project is concerned not with the tumour targeting aspect of radioimmunotherapy, but rather with the payload or cytotoxic mechanism, in which the radiation damage is focused on the DNA of the cell. In summary, the project explores a new approach in cancer radioimmunotherapy. This approach will be evaluated firstly in cultures of tumour cells and then in mice bearing transplanted tumours. If successful this project will result in the development of a new cell kill technology that can be combined with different anti-tumour antibodies.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101127
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$443,181.00
Summary
Stabilising soil foundation with biopolymer for enhanced rail transport. This project aims to develop a novel cost-effective and eco-friendly method to stabilise soil foundation for faster and heavier rail transport. The scientific knowledge of cyclic behaviour capturing localised and microscale evolutions of railway foundation will be advanced significantly via innovative physical modelling using iconic facilities with state-of-the-art sensors, and sophisticated numerical modelling. The project ....Stabilising soil foundation with biopolymer for enhanced rail transport. This project aims to develop a novel cost-effective and eco-friendly method to stabilise soil foundation for faster and heavier rail transport. The scientific knowledge of cyclic behaviour capturing localised and microscale evolutions of railway foundation will be advanced significantly via innovative physical modelling using iconic facilities with state-of-the-art sensors, and sophisticated numerical modelling. The project will yield a natural biopolymer-based solution for mud pumping railways, i.e., a critical issue causing substantial annual maintenance cost and poor transport efficiency in Australia and worldwide. The outcomes will greatly benefit transport infrastructure, mining, agriculture, environment and climate change remediation.Read moreRead less
Mud pumping under rail tracks: from Micromechanics to Predictions. Mud pumping under rail tracks is identified as the most frequent issue causing the degradation of rail tracks and increasing their ongoing maintenance cost across Australia and worldwide. This project aims to further the understanding of mud pumping mechanisms across different scales. A novel combined experiment-computational approach will be developed to observe, analyse and link different material properties and external condit ....Mud pumping under rail tracks: from Micromechanics to Predictions. Mud pumping under rail tracks is identified as the most frequent issue causing the degradation of rail tracks and increasing their ongoing maintenance cost across Australia and worldwide. This project aims to further the understanding of mud pumping mechanisms across different scales. A novel combined experiment-computational approach will be developed to observe, analyse and link different material properties and external conditions governing the mud pumping process. It will lead to better criteria for mud pumping and numerical tools for field scale failure analysis and risk assessments. The expected outcomes include the enhanced capability to assess the integrity and stability of rail tracks and better design criteria against mud pumping.Read moreRead less