Non-contact Integrity Assessment of Façade Panels of High-rise Buildings. Disintegration of the external façade (with tiles, plates, etc.) of high-rise buildings presents a great challenge and a threat to community. This project develops fundamental knowledge and algorithms that underpin the deployment of a new technique for fast and automated quantitative integrity assessment of façade units of high-rise buildings, integrating mechanisms of directional acoustic waves, vibro-acoustics of façade ....Non-contact Integrity Assessment of Façade Panels of High-rise Buildings. Disintegration of the external façade (with tiles, plates, etc.) of high-rise buildings presents a great challenge and a threat to community. This project develops fundamental knowledge and algorithms that underpin the deployment of a new technique for fast and automated quantitative integrity assessment of façade units of high-rise buildings, integrating mechanisms of directional acoustic waves, vibro-acoustics of façade tiles or panels, laser sensing technology, deep learning algorithms and drone technology. Outcomes of this project are critical for implementing the new technology for enhanced safety to community and the development of new procedures for driving down maintenance costs of the external façade of high-rise buildings.Read moreRead less
Condition-Based Maintenance Optimisation for Queensland’s Railways. Rail maintainers currently use time-based (scheduled) approaches to balance the costs and benefits of inspections and maintenance. Changing to condition-based maintenance has the potential to reduce costs and improve track condition. This project aims to enable this approach for rail by developing: 1) new track degradation prediction techniques combining Big Data and engineering knowledge; 2) new on-board sensing capabilities fo ....Condition-Based Maintenance Optimisation for Queensland’s Railways. Rail maintainers currently use time-based (scheduled) approaches to balance the costs and benefits of inspections and maintenance. Changing to condition-based maintenance has the potential to reduce costs and improve track condition. This project aims to enable this approach for rail by developing: 1) new track degradation prediction techniques combining Big Data and engineering knowledge; 2) new on-board sensing capabilities for frequent, low-cost track monitoring; 3) novel inspection and maintenance optimisation methods to efficiently allocate resources. The knowledge generated by this project is expected to decrease maintenance costs, safety risk, and track closures and therefore enhance the affordability and reliability of rail travel.Read moreRead less
Development of novel inerter-based damper for platform vibration control. This project aims to develop a novel inerter-based damper to mitigate the excessive vibrations of offshore floating platforms (OFP), which are widely used in the offshore industry for oil exploration. Harsh environmental loads such as wind and waves can induce excessive vibrations to OFPs and endanger their safety and stability. This project aims to develop a novel inerter-based damper that can produce a considerable appar ....Development of novel inerter-based damper for platform vibration control. This project aims to develop a novel inerter-based damper to mitigate the excessive vibrations of offshore floating platforms (OFP), which are widely used in the offshore industry for oil exploration. Harsh environmental loads such as wind and waves can induce excessive vibrations to OFPs and endanger their safety and stability. This project aims to develop a novel inerter-based damper that can produce a considerable apparent mass that is much larger than its physical mass through an amplifying mechanism by translating the linear motion into high-speed rotational motion, which can significantly reduce the mass and cost of the damper. Benefits of the project include more economical and safer OFP designs, which are expected to improve the competitiveness of Australian pillar oil and gas industries.Read moreRead less
Inerter-enhanced metastructure for structural vibration control. Meta-based technique has been proposed for vibration control recently due to its special wave filtering effect. However, the current techniques are difficult to attenuate low-frequency waves, thus not suitable for civil structural vibration control. This project proposes incorporating an inerter-based element into the unit cell of a metastructure. Due to the unique mass amplification characteristic of inerter element, manipulating ....Inerter-enhanced metastructure for structural vibration control. Meta-based technique has been proposed for vibration control recently due to its special wave filtering effect. However, the current techniques are difficult to attenuate low-frequency waves, thus not suitable for civil structural vibration control. This project proposes incorporating an inerter-based element into the unit cell of a metastructure. Due to the unique mass amplification characteristic of inerter element, manipulating low-frequency waves becomes possible. Practical designs are developed and applied to control the adverse vibrations of engineering structures induced by three typical vibration sources. Comprehensive analytical, experimental and numerical studies are carried out to examine the effectiveness of the proposed method.Read moreRead less
Economical Particleboard Product from Hardwood Sawmill Waste for Domestic and Industrial Applications. The proposed project is aimed at developing a methodology to produce particleboard using hardwood saw-mill residue. Currently, 20% of logs used to produce sawn hardwood are disposed of by burning or as fertiliser. Using innovative concepts of high-moisture pressing and understanding composite material behaviour and internal dynamics during hot-pressing of particleboard, the proposed project wil ....Economical Particleboard Product from Hardwood Sawmill Waste for Domestic and Industrial Applications. The proposed project is aimed at developing a methodology to produce particleboard using hardwood saw-mill residue. Currently, 20% of logs used to produce sawn hardwood are disposed of by burning or as fertiliser. Using innovative concepts of high-moisture pressing and understanding composite material behaviour and internal dynamics during hot-pressing of particleboard, the proposed project will have a significant potential for revolutionising particleboard technology. Outcomes will be a significant contribution towards sustainability of the Australian Timber Industry and the environment by reducing logging for custom flaked softwood chips, which will be of significant benefit to regional and rural communities as well.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100023
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
Integrated command and control facility for large-scale critical infrastructure management. This is a test bed facility for achieving sustainable operation of Australia's critical infrastructure, particularly at airports. The facility will enable an integrated and coordinated strategy to increase operational resilience while not losing sight of the complex nature and dynamic requirements of critical infrastructure management.
Development of Novel Concrete Noise Walls Incorporating Recycled Materials. This project will develop high-performance, lightweight, concrete noise walls and acoustic barriers that use recycled tyre and glass products to improve sound absorption, and address environmental problems associated with the mining of river sands, and stockpiling of waste tyre and glass products. Innovation in noise wall technology consists in developing low-carbon concrete mixes (using less cement) with a maximum amoun ....Development of Novel Concrete Noise Walls Incorporating Recycled Materials. This project will develop high-performance, lightweight, concrete noise walls and acoustic barriers that use recycled tyre and glass products to improve sound absorption, and address environmental problems associated with the mining of river sands, and stockpiling of waste tyre and glass products. Innovation in noise wall technology consists in developing low-carbon concrete mixes (using less cement) with a maximum amount of recycled product, together with reducing wall thickness, while maintaining the necessary engineering properties such as acoustics, strength, and durability. In addition to higher acoustic insulation, the novel low-carbon, lightweight, panels will improve material handling and affordability of noise barriers.Read moreRead less
Optimising Decentralised Membrane Bioreactors for Water Reuse. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling has emerged as an important component of water management practises throughout Australia. Decentralised wastewater treatment systems (or package plants) offer opportunities for water recycling in regional communities; however this application is limited by our understanding on the removal of contaminants of concern through these tr ....Optimising Decentralised Membrane Bioreactors for Water Reuse. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling has emerged as an important component of water management practises throughout Australia. Decentralised wastewater treatment systems (or package plants) offer opportunities for water recycling in regional communities; however this application is limited by our understanding on the removal of contaminants of concern through these treatment systems. This project will assess the suitability and efficiency of decentralised membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for the removal of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) and pathogens in accordance with the 2006 National Guidelines for Water Recycling.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0883080
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$490,000.00
Summary
Detection of Trace Concentrations of Chemical Contaminants in Urban Water Systems. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling is becoming more prevalent. The presence of chemical contaminants such as low concentrations (ng/L) of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), endocrine disrupters (EDCs) and other organic micropollutants in the aquatic environment has received much attention around the world including Australia due to their ....Detection of Trace Concentrations of Chemical Contaminants in Urban Water Systems. Water is a critical resource in Australia and as pressures on water resources increase, water recycling is becoming more prevalent. The presence of chemical contaminants such as low concentrations (ng/L) of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), endocrine disrupters (EDCs) and other organic micropollutants in the aquatic environment has received much attention around the world including Australia due to their potential biological impact in urban water systems. The proposed equipment aims to establish analytical techniques and instrumental capacity for the selective analysis of chemical contaminants in order to improve our understanding of the fate of these compounds through different urban water systems.Read moreRead less
Optimising dissolved air flotation (DAF) for algae removal by bubble modification in drinking water and advanced wastewater systems. Algal blooms in potable water reservoirs and advanced wastewater treatment lagoons can impact the performance and economic viability of water treatment processes resulting in taste and odour episodes and the risk of algal toxins as well as causing further limitation to already stressed water resources in Australia. This project aims to develop an adaptation of the ....Optimising dissolved air flotation (DAF) for algae removal by bubble modification in drinking water and advanced wastewater systems. Algal blooms in potable water reservoirs and advanced wastewater treatment lagoons can impact the performance and economic viability of water treatment processes resulting in taste and odour episodes and the risk of algal toxins as well as causing further limitation to already stressed water resources in Australia. This project aims to develop an adaptation of the dissolved air flotation process that is already used for algae treatment that will provide a more robust, economic and sustainable barrier to algal cells in accordance with the Australian Drinking and Recycled Water Guidelines.Read moreRead less