Development of sophisticated structural design guidelines for the new building product known as Rapidwall. Rapidwall is an Australian made new composite building product made from formulated gypsum plaster and glass-fibre. This is a high-tech building product that has huge potential to be developed into a dominant building material in the future. It is economic, labor effective, eco-friendly, structural sound and fire, thermal resistant and has many advantages over the existing building material ....Development of sophisticated structural design guidelines for the new building product known as Rapidwall. Rapidwall is an Australian made new composite building product made from formulated gypsum plaster and glass-fibre. This is a high-tech building product that has huge potential to be developed into a dominant building material in the future. It is economic, labor effective, eco-friendly, structural sound and fire, thermal resistant and has many advantages over the existing building materials, such as concrete, steel and masonry. The lack of a technical design guidelines has fundamentally obstructed it from expanding its market share both in Australia and overseas. This proposal aims at developing a structural design manual for the new product.Read moreRead less
Experimental investigation and constitutive modelling of reactive soils. This project aims to develop the fundamental knowledge, a mechanical framework and practical engineering design tools needed to minimise the effects of reactive soils on infrastructure. Reactive soils undergo significant swelling and weakening upon wetting or intrusion by salt-rich groundwater and shrinkage upon drying. This can result in damage to buildings and infrastructure beyond a state of repair. This project will dev ....Experimental investigation and constitutive modelling of reactive soils. This project aims to develop the fundamental knowledge, a mechanical framework and practical engineering design tools needed to minimise the effects of reactive soils on infrastructure. Reactive soils undergo significant swelling and weakening upon wetting or intrusion by salt-rich groundwater and shrinkage upon drying. This can result in damage to buildings and infrastructure beyond a state of repair. This project will develop tools, models and theories to detect weaknesses in the design of infrastructure and its foundations built on problematic reactive soils, assess the impact and implement effective remedial measures to improve performance. The project is expected to increase efficiency through improved design and reduced damage, and save infrastructure owners, government and private, tens of millions of dollars each year.Read moreRead less
Combining transient micro-reflections and multi-sensor arrays for condition assessment of buried pipes. This project will develop an accurate and reliable approach for assessing the condition of pipelines. This new approach will reduce costs and save considerable amounts of water each year, as it will assist utilities in preventing major failures such as pipe bursts, and performing strategically targeted maintenance, replacement and rehabilitation.
Detecting developing cracks before pipe bursts using smart sensor systems. This project aims to significantly reduce the number of pipe bursts in cities by detecting the leaks from developing cracks on water supply pipes just in time. New techniques will be developed for reliable and timely detection using the existing sensor network in the Adelaide CBD. Specialised monitoring stations will be developed with adaptive noise-cancellation algorithms to detect small leak signals in noisy city enviro ....Detecting developing cracks before pipe bursts using smart sensor systems. This project aims to significantly reduce the number of pipe bursts in cities by detecting the leaks from developing cracks on water supply pipes just in time. New techniques will be developed for reliable and timely detection using the existing sensor network in the Adelaide CBD. Specialised monitoring stations will be developed with adaptive noise-cancellation algorithms to detect small leak signals in noisy city environments. Expected outcomes include an effective pipe burst early warning system and the implementation of an active burst prevention and targeted pipe replacement strategy. This should significantly reduce the burst rates and associated interruptions in Adelaide and save millions of dollars every year in pipe relay programs.Read moreRead less
Reducing Blackout Risk through Live Modelling and Monitoring. This project aims to reduce the risk of blackouts through the development of on-line systems for modelling and monitoring of loads and power system controllers. This project is a collaboration with Transgrid, Powerlink, Vencorp and ElectraNetSA, four Transmission companies renowned for innovation in the area of system stability. The project proposes to develop innovative algorithms and to implement these algorithms using advanced hard ....Reducing Blackout Risk through Live Modelling and Monitoring. This project aims to reduce the risk of blackouts through the development of on-line systems for modelling and monitoring of loads and power system controllers. This project is a collaboration with Transgrid, Powerlink, Vencorp and ElectraNetSA, four Transmission companies renowned for innovation in the area of system stability. The project proposes to develop innovative algorithms and to implement these algorithms using advanced hardware, software and communication systems to dynamically generate decision tools for safe and efficient power system operating conditions. These systems will also generate alarms if any risky operational situations arise.Read moreRead less
Design guideline for suction caissons supporting offshore wind turbines. This project aims to develop an industry guideline for suction caisson foundations, that are a new form of fixed platform anchor, for offshore wind turbines. The project expects to generate new knowledge of caisson response during installation and over millions of wind/wave load cycles, by integrating field experience with measurements from innovative experiments. The expected outcomes of this project include new methods to ....Design guideline for suction caissons supporting offshore wind turbines. This project aims to develop an industry guideline for suction caisson foundations, that are a new form of fixed platform anchor, for offshore wind turbines. The project expects to generate new knowledge of caisson response during installation and over millions of wind/wave load cycles, by integrating field experience with measurements from innovative experiments. The expected outcomes of this project include new methods to guide suction installation in difficult soil layering and predicting rotation and stiffness over a turbine’s operational life. The benefits of these scientific advances will contribute to the economic and reliable design of suction caisson foundations and a more rapid take-up of offshore wind energy.Read moreRead less
Blast resistance of flexural ultra-high performance concrete members. Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) has high material strengths, high material deformation and high toughness, making it an ideal material for resisting blast effects. Since there are great differences between the mechanical properties of UHPC and conventional concrete, traditional guidelines need to be significantly adapted to accommodate UHPC. This project will facilitate the development of design procedures for reinforce ....Blast resistance of flexural ultra-high performance concrete members. Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) has high material strengths, high material deformation and high toughness, making it an ideal material for resisting blast effects. Since there are great differences between the mechanical properties of UHPC and conventional concrete, traditional guidelines need to be significantly adapted to accommodate UHPC. This project will facilitate the development of design procedures for reinforced UHPC members. It will enable design engineers to take advantage of the desirable properties of UHPC for anti-terrorism. The application of this project will lead to saving lives, reducing the extent of injury and minimizing social and economic disruption.Read moreRead less
Advanced Future Automotive Electrical Machines based on Amorphous Iron. Electric machines consume about 70% of all electrical energy generated. Electric machines constructed from a promising magnetic material called amorphous iron can be much more efficient than conventional designs, hence saving energy. Amorphous iron is normally difficult to cut accurately into the shapes required in electric machines. We propose to design and construct high-efficiency permanent magnet machines based on amorp ....Advanced Future Automotive Electrical Machines based on Amorphous Iron. Electric machines consume about 70% of all electrical energy generated. Electric machines constructed from a promising magnetic material called amorphous iron can be much more efficient than conventional designs, hence saving energy. Amorphous iron is normally difficult to cut accurately into the shapes required in electric machines. We propose to design and construct high-efficiency permanent magnet machines based on amorphous iron for automotive applications, which will be cut using an innovative Australian waterjet cutting technique. The key challenges are to optimise the machine design for commercial production given the capabilities and limitations of the material and the new cutting process.Read moreRead less
Condition monitoring and process control of injection molding. Injection molding has been widely used in automotive industry and improvement of the productivity and quality of the products is very important for the injection molding production to be internationally competitive. The aim of this project is to develop a condition monitoring and process control system to monitor the key parameters of the injection molding processes, to optimise the design and process conditions, and consequently, to ....Condition monitoring and process control of injection molding. Injection molding has been widely used in automotive industry and improvement of the productivity and quality of the products is very important for the injection molding production to be internationally competitive. The aim of this project is to develop a condition monitoring and process control system to monitor the key parameters of the injection molding processes, to optimise the design and process conditions, and consequently, to more actively control the processes. This will lead to an more reliable process, improved productivity and production of higher quality of moldings.Read moreRead less
Closing the Gap in Pipe Condition Assessment using Hydro-Acoustic Waves. Worldwide, the deterioration of water distribution pipeline infrastructure is driving an unsustainable explosion in maintenance and repair costs. In collaboration with industry leader Detection Services, this project will develop new methods to detect pipe condition faults at a scale and precision not currently possible. The outcome will be an advanced, yet practical, technology that provides critical information on pipe co ....Closing the Gap in Pipe Condition Assessment using Hydro-Acoustic Waves. Worldwide, the deterioration of water distribution pipeline infrastructure is driving an unsustainable explosion in maintenance and repair costs. In collaboration with industry leader Detection Services, this project will develop new methods to detect pipe condition faults at a scale and precision not currently possible. The outcome will be an advanced, yet practical, technology that provides critical information on pipe condition using new innovative active hydro-acoustic signal generators and sensors, combined with state-of-the-art signal analysis methods. The unprecedented cost-effectiveness of the technology will ensure a broad use in the water industry for targeted and efficient action, creating jobs and saving costs.Read moreRead less