Rapid structural condition assessment using adaptive model updating. The proposed project has potential to significantly enhance the accuracy with which the condition (and hence load bearing capacity) of existing infrastructure can be determined. By providing a technique of model updating that can be applied effectively in real time, location of damage will be able to be determined accurately. Economic benefits will be reaped, both through saving infrastructure from demolition where the conditio ....Rapid structural condition assessment using adaptive model updating. The proposed project has potential to significantly enhance the accuracy with which the condition (and hence load bearing capacity) of existing infrastructure can be determined. By providing a technique of model updating that can be applied effectively in real time, location of damage will be able to be determined accurately. Economic benefits will be reaped, both through saving infrastructure from demolition where the condition is found to be adequate, and by replacing or repairing inadequate structures before costly failure occurs. This is particularly important as much of Australia's infrastructure is aging, and unnecessary periodic replacement of infrastructure is not sustainable.Read moreRead less
Blast Damage and Fragmentation Prediction for Occupants and Structure Protection. Protecting infrastructures against blast loads from terrorist bombing or accidental explosion is a challenge. Researchers have been working on developing a numerical model, but the progress is slow owing to difficulties in modelling nonlinear and high strain rate damage process. Most blast effect assessment is based on empirical relations from blast tests. These have been demonstrated not necessarily yielding accur ....Blast Damage and Fragmentation Prediction for Occupants and Structure Protection. Protecting infrastructures against blast loads from terrorist bombing or accidental explosion is a challenge. Researchers have been working on developing a numerical model, but the progress is slow owing to difficulties in modelling nonlinear and high strain rate damage process. Most blast effect assessment is based on empirical relations from blast tests. These have been demonstrated not necessarily yielding accurate prediction owing to variations of structural properties from the test model. A reliable numerical model is therefore important. It will result in big savings from blast tests, and better prediction of blast effects for structure and occupant protection. It will have applications in civil, mining and defence engineering. Read moreRead less
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC REPONSE AND DAMAGE OF FRAME STRUCTURES TO EXPLOSIVE LOADS. Understanding structural response to explosive loads is essential to protect critical infrastructure against terrorist bombing or industrial explosions. Current practice in analysis and design of structures to withstand explosive loads uses either empirical methods or a simplified structure model. In many cases, engineers need to know the structure response in more detail in order to protect the structure an ....NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC REPONSE AND DAMAGE OF FRAME STRUCTURES TO EXPLOSIVE LOADS. Understanding structural response to explosive loads is essential to protect critical infrastructure against terrorist bombing or industrial explosions. Current practice in analysis and design of structures to withstand explosive loads uses either empirical methods or a simplified structure model. In many cases, engineers need to know the structure response in more detail in order to protect the structure and plan evacuation procedures. This project will study the response and damage mechanism of structures to explosive loads, and develop a numerical model to predict structural response and damage. It will have immediate and wide-ranging applications in defence, construction and mining engineering.Read moreRead less
PROBABILISTIC BRIDGE STRUCTURE CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY PREDICTION. Bridge failures have occasionally been reported around the world. Condition assessment of bridges is vital to maintain their safety. It is difficult to assess quantitatively the deterioration and damage using traditional methods. Vibration-based methods are very sensitive to noise in vibration measurement and error in finite element modelling. This project will study the effects of measurement noises and f ....PROBABILISTIC BRIDGE STRUCTURE CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY PREDICTION. Bridge failures have occasionally been reported around the world. Condition assessment of bridges is vital to maintain their safety. It is difficult to assess quantitatively the deterioration and damage using traditional methods. Vibration-based methods are very sensitive to noise in vibration measurement and error in finite element modelling. This project will study the effects of measurement noises and finite element model errors on bridge condition assessment, and develop improved techniques for predicting load carrying capacities of bridges. The technique developed will be applied to Main Roads WA bridges, will also be applicable to the assessment of other types of structures.Read moreRead less
Experimental and numerical study of dynamic properties of concrete and fibre reinforced concrete materials. Recent disastrous examples of life and economy loss due to terrorist action or accident explosion include Bali bombing and Western Australia gas explosion. Reliable prediction of structure response to blast and impact loads is essential for life and economy protection against such loads. This project will perform laboratory tests and numerical simulations to study the construction material ....Experimental and numerical study of dynamic properties of concrete and fibre reinforced concrete materials. Recent disastrous examples of life and economy loss due to terrorist action or accident explosion include Bali bombing and Western Australia gas explosion. Reliable prediction of structure response to blast and impact loads is essential for life and economy protection against such loads. This project will perform laboratory tests and numerical simulations to study the construction material properties under dynamic loading conditions, and develop numerical models for accurate predictions of structure response to blast loads. The project contributes to the integrated effort for a secure Australia. It will result in enormous savings from conducting blast tests and will have applications in civil, mining and defence engineering.Read moreRead less
Energy dissipation and vibration-assisted self-healing in structures with topological interlocking. High dissipation of impact and vibration energy, vibration-assisted self-healing, high tolerance to block failure and an ease of assembly/disassembly make topological interlocking structures ideal for safety barriers, protective shields and floating structures. The theory of these phenomena will open a way for more efficient protection of infrastructure against both natural and human perpetrated i ....Energy dissipation and vibration-assisted self-healing in structures with topological interlocking. High dissipation of impact and vibration energy, vibration-assisted self-healing, high tolerance to block failure and an ease of assembly/disassembly make topological interlocking structures ideal for safety barriers, protective shields and floating structures. The theory of these phenomena will open a way for more efficient protection of infrastructure against both natural and human perpetrated impacts and for developing new methodology in constructing mobile marine bases. This constitutes the main benefit of the project. Furthermore, understanding the resonance structure of travelling waves will improve methods of non-destructive monitoring by back analysing spectral signatures of the waves.Read moreRead less
Continuum Damage Mechanics in Geotechnical Engineering. Mining and oil exploration are amongst the major industries in Australia and must address geotechnical problems in which growth in damage plays a central role. For example, failure of an offshore platform can occur under cyclic environmental loading, due to accumulated damage to the seabed soils. Design tools are therefore needed that incorporate continuum damage mechanics in modelling the response of geomaterials. The project will place Au ....Continuum Damage Mechanics in Geotechnical Engineering. Mining and oil exploration are amongst the major industries in Australia and must address geotechnical problems in which growth in damage plays a central role. For example, failure of an offshore platform can occur under cyclic environmental loading, due to accumulated damage to the seabed soils. Design tools are therefore needed that incorporate continuum damage mechanics in modelling the response of geomaterials. The project will place Australia at the forefront in this field through the development of rigorous yet simple numerical models that achieve this, and thus underpin safe but economic geotechnical engineering solutions in the mineral resource industries.Read moreRead less
Negative Poisson's ratio and negative stiffness: rational approach to hybrid materials with internally engineered architecture. The project falls within Research Priority 3: Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries. This generic work involves cutting-edge multidisciplinary research leading to better understanding of the fundamental principles governing the behaviour of hybrid materials. The proposed framework of internally engineered architecture will enrich the ....Negative Poisson's ratio and negative stiffness: rational approach to hybrid materials with internally engineered architecture. The project falls within Research Priority 3: Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries. This generic work involves cutting-edge multidisciplinary research leading to better understanding of the fundamental principles governing the behaviour of hybrid materials. The proposed framework of internally engineered architecture will enrich the existing set of available methods of designing new materials, extend the knowledge base of the discipline and maintain Australia's leading position in the field. Australian Industry will benefit directly from unique engineering properties and functionalities that hybrids provide. This contributes to Priority Goals: Breakthrough Science and Advanced Materials.Read moreRead less
Fracture propagation through fragmented solids. This project investigates fracture propagation in heavily fractured (fragmented) solids such as rock masses, ice covers, fractured coatings, mortar-free structures. It introduces new ideas and methods and has potential to result in a breakthrough science to achieve better understanding of the fundamental processes of fracturing fragmented materials that will advance knowledge and develop technological innovations. A particular outcome of the projec ....Fracture propagation through fragmented solids. This project investigates fracture propagation in heavily fractured (fragmented) solids such as rock masses, ice covers, fractured coatings, mortar-free structures. It introduces new ideas and methods and has potential to result in a breakthrough science to achieve better understanding of the fundamental processes of fracturing fragmented materials that will advance knowledge and develop technological innovations. A particular outcome of the project will be in developing tools for designing new materials with enhanced failure resistance. Another application is in Resource Engineering and Earth and Planetary Science; the project will contribute to understanding of fracture propagation in the Earth's (and generally, planetary) crust.Read moreRead less
Mechanism and Control of In-situ Minerals Extraction. By introducing the theory of coupled hydraulic-mechanical-thermal-chemical processes and the well technology in petroleum engineering into in-situ minerals extraction, mineral values will be extracted directly from ore deposits without the need for mining. This work will have the potential to convert the known sub-economic mineral resources (about 37 million tonnes in Australia alone) into reserves. The five-year project will lead to a comput ....Mechanism and Control of In-situ Minerals Extraction. By introducing the theory of coupled hydraulic-mechanical-thermal-chemical processes and the well technology in petroleum engineering into in-situ minerals extraction, mineral values will be extracted directly from ore deposits without the need for mining. This work will have the potential to convert the known sub-economic mineral resources (about 37 million tonnes in Australia alone) into reserves. The five-year project will lead to a computer simulation assisted in-situ minerals extraction methodology for application in mining industry.Read moreRead less