Strength of two-way steel fibre reinforced composite flooring systems. The construction industry in Australia is introducing efficient and economical long-span profiled steel sheeting for composite flooring systems, and Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) applications are becoming widespread. Australia is a recognised world leader in the research of both composite structures and SFRC. Using SFRC in composite decks to eliminate conventional reinforcement is very efficient and cost-effective, b ....Strength of two-way steel fibre reinforced composite flooring systems. The construction industry in Australia is introducing efficient and economical long-span profiled steel sheeting for composite flooring systems, and Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) applications are becoming widespread. Australia is a recognised world leader in the research of both composite structures and SFRC. Using SFRC in composite decks to eliminate conventional reinforcement is very efficient and cost-effective, but surprisingly little relevant research aimed at the Australian industry has been reported. Comprehensive design guidance is much needed to advance this technology. This project will give designers confidence and expertise to advance these technologies, while maintaining Australian research and practice in composite structures at the forefront.Read moreRead less
Time-Dependent Response and Deformations of Composite Beams with Innovative Deep Trapezoidal Decks. The construction industry in Australia is introducing efficient and economical long-span trapezoidal profiled steel sheeting for composite flooring systems. Australia is a world leader in the research of composite structures. Composite beams undergo deformations because the concrete creeps and shrinks, and because the slab slips relative to the steel joist. Surprisingly little research has address ....Time-Dependent Response and Deformations of Composite Beams with Innovative Deep Trapezoidal Decks. The construction industry in Australia is introducing efficient and economical long-span trapezoidal profiled steel sheeting for composite flooring systems. Australia is a world leader in the research of composite structures. Composite beams undergo deformations because the concrete creeps and shrinks, and because the slab slips relative to the steel joist. Surprisingly little research has addressed these issues collectively; they are of paramount significance with trapezoidal decks and research is much-needed. This research will investigate the interaction of creep, shrinkage and partial interaction in these composite beams, producing valuable design guidance to keep Australian research and practice at the forefront internationally.Read moreRead less
Behaviour of post-tensioned composite steel-concrete slabs. Post-tensioned composite steel-concrete slabs represent an attractive and novel form of construction capable of combining the advantages of the two most commonly used flooring systems in the Australian building industry which consist of post-tensioned slabs in the case of concrete structures and of composite slabs for steel structures. The advantages of this novel system cannot be exploited as yet as no design guidelines are currently a ....Behaviour of post-tensioned composite steel-concrete slabs. Post-tensioned composite steel-concrete slabs represent an attractive and novel form of construction capable of combining the advantages of the two most commonly used flooring systems in the Australian building industry which consist of post-tensioned slabs in the case of concrete structures and of composite slabs for steel structures. The advantages of this novel system cannot be exploited as yet as no design guidelines are currently available. The proposed research team embraces all the construction building industry and will investigate the structural behaviour of post-tensioned composite slabs, producing valuable design guidance to keep Australian research and practice at the forefront internationally.Read moreRead less
Composite Beams using Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC) Profiled Slabs. The Australian construction industry is currently introducing long-span trapezoidal profiled steel sheeting for the composite floor slabs in composite steel-concrete framed buildings, in order improve efficiency and economy. When the ribs in the sheeting are orthogonal to the steel beam (the secondary beam), the integrity of the shear connection between the steel beam and the composite slab is compromised by premature failur ....Composite Beams using Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC) Profiled Slabs. The Australian construction industry is currently introducing long-span trapezoidal profiled steel sheeting for the composite floor slabs in composite steel-concrete framed buildings, in order improve efficiency and economy. When the ribs in the sheeting are orthogonal to the steel beam (the secondary beam), the integrity of the shear connection between the steel beam and the composite slab is compromised by premature failures. This project aims to research the innovative use of steel fibre reinforced concrete in these slabs, which has been shown (at UNSW and elsewhere) in other applications to possess superior strength properties when subjected to a variety of loading regimes.Read moreRead less
Long Term Behaviour Of Composite Steel-Concrete Beams And Its Effect On Composite Dynamic Response. Composite steel-concrete construction has proven to be a most prolific area of research over the last few decades with Australian researchers at the forefront in the field internationally. Despite this and the great significance of the problem to the Australian building industry (in 2000-2001 alone Australia spent 17.5 billion dollars on heavy engineering infrastructure development), there appears ....Long Term Behaviour Of Composite Steel-Concrete Beams And Its Effect On Composite Dynamic Response. Composite steel-concrete construction has proven to be a most prolific area of research over the last few decades with Australian researchers at the forefront in the field internationally. Despite this and the great significance of the problem to the Australian building industry (in 2000-2001 alone Australia spent 17.5 billion dollars on heavy engineering infrastructure development), there appears to be no systematic study of time effects, such as creep and shrinkage, on the static and dynamic response of composite beams. This project will explore these phenomena, both theoretically and experimentally, leading to development of valuable theoretical models and design aids for practicing engineers.Read moreRead less
Boundary Effects on Bridging-Stress/Crack-Opening Relationship and Specific Fracture Energy. This project is to investigate the boundary/interface influence on fracture/material properties of composites and thin layered structures along crack path to free boundary and bi-material interface. The local fracture energy dissipation along crack path is emphasised and used to study the boundary influence on the cohesive law - the relationship between crack bridging stress and crack opening displaceme ....Boundary Effects on Bridging-Stress/Crack-Opening Relationship and Specific Fracture Energy. This project is to investigate the boundary/interface influence on fracture/material properties of composites and thin layered structures along crack path to free boundary and bi-material interface. The local fracture energy dissipation along crack path is emphasised and used to study the boundary influence on the cohesive law - the relationship between crack bridging stress and crack opening displacement. New fracture mechanics model is proposed that incorporates the boundary/interface influence and the more popular size effect. The new boundary/interface effect model will be more relevant to modern materials applications related to layered ceramics, thin films, coatings in electronic and bio-medical applications.Read moreRead less