Failure Mechanisms of Roof Cladding under Fluctuating Wind Loads. Wind damage to low-rise buildings cause disruption to communities and result in economic losses. Improvements to the most vulnerable part (i.e. roof) will therefore have national benefits and associated economic benefits. Currently, roofing systems used in cyclonic areas are evaluated to DABM in the Northern Territory and to TR440 elsewhere, requiring the same product be tested under two different (and unsatisfactory) specificat ....Failure Mechanisms of Roof Cladding under Fluctuating Wind Loads. Wind damage to low-rise buildings cause disruption to communities and result in economic losses. Improvements to the most vulnerable part (i.e. roof) will therefore have national benefits and associated economic benefits. Currently, roofing systems used in cyclonic areas are evaluated to DABM in the Northern Territory and to TR440 elsewhere, requiring the same product be tested under two different (and unsatisfactory) specifications. This is due to the limited understanding of wind-induced fatigue of cladding. This project will provide the framework for understanding and minimizing cladding fatigue. A realistic single test will also reduce cost and result in better design systems.Read moreRead less
Open-plan Office Concepts Determine Effective Facilities Space Management. Open-plan layout is the most predominant work-setting and office designs are changing substantially towards this style. This research addresses the question, "How do open-plan attributes affect effective facilities space management." While this layout is increasingly adopted, no research has definitively answered this question or evaluated open-plan design for its usefulness. This research therefore aims to respond to thi ....Open-plan Office Concepts Determine Effective Facilities Space Management. Open-plan layout is the most predominant work-setting and office designs are changing substantially towards this style. This research addresses the question, "How do open-plan attributes affect effective facilities space management." While this layout is increasingly adopted, no research has definitively answered this question or evaluated open-plan design for its usefulness. This research therefore aims to respond to this question and establish reliable criteria for effective management and re-engineering of offices with open-plans. This research is novel and timely since it endeavours to develop new models and objective criteria to better exploit this concept for greater office performance and productivity.Read moreRead less
Modelling greenhouse gas emissions associated with commercial building construction. A reliable model of greenhouse gas emissions for commercial building construction is required. Construction product manufacturing emissions are well known, but those associated with the construction process (representing up to 25% of the energy embodied in construction products) have not been fully elucidated. Commercial building construction requires more energy per square metre than residential building constr ....Modelling greenhouse gas emissions associated with commercial building construction. A reliable model of greenhouse gas emissions for commercial building construction is required. Construction product manufacturing emissions are well known, but those associated with the construction process (representing up to 25% of the energy embodied in construction products) have not been fully elucidated. Commercial building construction requires more energy per square metre than residential building construction, due mainly to lifting of heavy items. The results will be used to develop cost effective strategies for optimising greenhouse gas emissions associated with the total emissions from commercial building construction and operation. This will improve the environmental performance of the Australian construction industry.Read moreRead less
Embodied energy modelling of individual commercial buildings. This research will develop a method for modelling the energy embodied in individual commercial building construction. Construction material manufacturing emissions are well known in most industries, but the total embodied energy of the construction supply chain is difficult to model for individual buildings. For efficient commercial buildings, the embodied energy can represent up to 40 years of operational energy. The results will be ....Embodied energy modelling of individual commercial buildings. This research will develop a method for modelling the energy embodied in individual commercial building construction. Construction material manufacturing emissions are well known in most industries, but the total embodied energy of the construction supply chain is difficult to model for individual buildings. For efficient commercial buildings, the embodied energy can represent up to 40 years of operational energy. The results will be used to develop cost effective strategies for optimising the total life cycle energy of individual commercial buildings. This will in part improve the environmental performance of the Australian construction industry.Read moreRead less
Innovative concrete panels for resisting severe impulsive loading. Responding to the threat of terrorist attacks around the world, structural engineers are seeking new methods of assessment and prevention of damage to high-risk facilities. This project seeks to develop an innovative technology to enhance the performance of concrete panels subjected to severe impulsive loading through a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study. Different protective technologies using advanced materials in ....Innovative concrete panels for resisting severe impulsive loading. Responding to the threat of terrorist attacks around the world, structural engineers are seeking new methods of assessment and prevention of damage to high-risk facilities. This project seeks to develop an innovative technology to enhance the performance of concrete panels subjected to severe impulsive loading through a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study. Different protective technologies using advanced materials including steel fibres, reactive-powder concrete (RPC), fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) and the use of light-weight cellular concrete (CC) as a sacrificial layer will be studied. The outcomes of this study will be applicable to both new and existing structures.Read moreRead less
Demonstrating the feasibility of designing sustainable buildings using evolutionary systems. The design approach proposed in this research will result in two key areas of national benefit. First, the research will enable Australian built environment design professions to become more competitive in both domestic and international markets. There is a growing demand for environmentally-friendly buildings and the proposed design approach will enable Australian firms to be at the cutting edge of sust ....Demonstrating the feasibility of designing sustainable buildings using evolutionary systems. The design approach proposed in this research will result in two key areas of national benefit. First, the research will enable Australian built environment design professions to become more competitive in both domestic and international markets. There is a growing demand for environmentally-friendly buildings and the proposed design approach will enable Australian firms to be at the cutting edge of sustainable design. Second, the research will enable the Australian built environment to become more sustainable. The proposed approach will enable buildings to be designed that perform well, that are cost effective and that minimise their environmental impact. Read moreRead less
Seismic performance of concrete beam-slab-column systems constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system. When designing for earthquake induced loading it is very important to know the ductility and any other inherent deficiencies in structural systems under lateral deflections. The main purpose of this application is to investigate the seismic performance of an efficient beam-slab-column system constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system, Corcon, which is becoming popula ....Seismic performance of concrete beam-slab-column systems constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system. When designing for earthquake induced loading it is very important to know the ductility and any other inherent deficiencies in structural systems under lateral deflections. The main purpose of this application is to investigate the seismic performance of an efficient beam-slab-column system constructed with a re-useable sheet metal formwork system, Corcon, which is becoming popular in Australia and overseas. The proposed research will ultimately lead to revised design guidelines for these systems, suitable for local and overseas practice where different levels of seismicity occur.
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Behaviour of anchors in post-tensioned high-strength concrete slabs. Recently High-strength concrete(HSC) was introduced to minimise the time required for stressing the tendons in post-tensioned construction(PC), which is the preferred construction method for long span slabs in Australia and overseas. Although HSC is an obvious choice for this application, many failures have been observed in the live and dead end anchors of PC slabs and there is in fact very little understanding of relationships ....Behaviour of anchors in post-tensioned high-strength concrete slabs. Recently High-strength concrete(HSC) was introduced to minimise the time required for stressing the tendons in post-tensioned construction(PC), which is the preferred construction method for long span slabs in Australia and overseas. Although HSC is an obvious choice for this application, many failures have been observed in the live and dead end anchors of PC slabs and there is in fact very little understanding of relationships between specified concrete properties and performance. Through a systematic experimental and theoretical study, the behaviour of anchor regions of these slabs, including the reasons for failure will be investigated.Read moreRead less
Fire Risk Evaluation of Commercial Buildings. An integrated systems risk-based model for fire safety has been developed for apartment buildings. A risk-based model must also be developed for commercial high-rise buildings taking into account the sub-models most relevant for these buildings. This requires a new approach and the development and integration of new submodels. Such a model does not currently exist but its development will allow for the cost-effective design of commercial buildings wh ....Fire Risk Evaluation of Commercial Buildings. An integrated systems risk-based model for fire safety has been developed for apartment buildings. A risk-based model must also be developed for commercial high-rise buildings taking into account the sub-models most relevant for these buildings. This requires a new approach and the development and integration of new submodels. Such a model does not currently exist but its development will allow for the cost-effective design of commercial buildings whilst still maintaining appropriate levels of fire safety.Read moreRead less
An Integrated Systems Analysis: Fire Growth and Severity in Enclosures. An integrated systems risk-based model for fire safety has been developed and has been internationally acclaimed. A new fire severity submodel urgently needs to be developed before ramifications of the World Trade Centre catastrophe impact on fire safety regulations. Current submodels seriously misrepresent the real fires. They were developed from 1970's experiments on 2-3 metre cube-like enclosures and predict that fires ....An Integrated Systems Analysis: Fire Growth and Severity in Enclosures. An integrated systems risk-based model for fire safety has been developed and has been internationally acclaimed. A new fire severity submodel urgently needs to be developed before ramifications of the World Trade Centre catastrophe impact on fire safety regulations. Current submodels seriously misrepresent the real fires. They were developed from 1970's experiments on 2-3 metre cube-like enclosures and predict that fires engulf enclosures. Recent preliminary experiments have revealed that real fires burn locally at windows and only appear to be all engulfing. The research will lead international collaboration involving extensive experiments and some modelling to be completed in twelve months.Read moreRead less