Bottom-up multiscale modelling of expansive soils in natural environments . Expansive soils, highly sensitive to the environment, undergo dramatic strength and volume changes. This project aims to advance our understanding of expansive soils under different temperatures, hydraulic conditions, mechanical loads, and aqueous salinities. The project expects to use a combination of multidisciplinary knowledge, multiscale experiments and numerical simulations. The outcomes are a new multiscale model a ....Bottom-up multiscale modelling of expansive soils in natural environments . Expansive soils, highly sensitive to the environment, undergo dramatic strength and volume changes. This project aims to advance our understanding of expansive soils under different temperatures, hydraulic conditions, mechanical loads, and aqueous salinities. The project expects to use a combination of multidisciplinary knowledge, multiscale experiments and numerical simulations. The outcomes are a new multiscale model and advanced analysis/design tool for evaluating the performance of expansive soils under different conditions. The outcomes should provide the efficient way to mitigate the significant damage caused to infrastructure by expansive soils and facilitate the application of expansive soil products in waste disposal systems.Read moreRead less
Multi-hazard resilient hybrid modular structures. This project aims to develop the next generation of multi-hazard resilient modular construction methods for efficient, affordable and sustainable buildings. New demountable modular connections will be developed and the response of hybrid modular buildings to multiple hazards such as wind, earthquake, blast and impact will be investigated through a combination of experimental, numerical, and analytical studies. The project will develop knowledge o ....Multi-hazard resilient hybrid modular structures. This project aims to develop the next generation of multi-hazard resilient modular construction methods for efficient, affordable and sustainable buildings. New demountable modular connections will be developed and the response of hybrid modular buildings to multiple hazards such as wind, earthquake, blast and impact will be investigated through a combination of experimental, numerical, and analytical studies. The project will develop knowledge of the structural behaviour of hybrid modular buildings, and expects to deliver design methods and robust simplified models for building design purposes. This project will advance construction techniques and practices for resilient hybrid modular buildings.Read moreRead less
Fundamental study of fracture-controlled compensation grouting for ground movement. This project aims to investigate the fundamentals of fracture-controlled compensation grouting in various types of soil, so as to optimise the compensation efficiency and to minimise the risk of collapse of nearby structures. This will result in the minimisation of ground movements induced by underground excavations, which pose a major threat to existing infrastructure and communities worldwide. Small-scale labor ....Fundamental study of fracture-controlled compensation grouting for ground movement. This project aims to investigate the fundamentals of fracture-controlled compensation grouting in various types of soil, so as to optimise the compensation efficiency and to minimise the risk of collapse of nearby structures. This will result in the minimisation of ground movements induced by underground excavations, which pose a major threat to existing infrastructure and communities worldwide. Small-scale laboratory experiments, centrifuge tests and numerical analyses will be conducted to develop an effective and economical grouting method that will provide a valuable design tool for engineers.Read moreRead less
Composite structures: a game changer for modular buildings. Modular construction can tackle Australia's housing affordability crisis on a large scale. This project aims to develop cutting-edge technologies for the next generation of modular buildings by embracing recent breakthroughs in construction materials, computational modelling methods and construction techniques. Expected outcomes include a novel composite modular unit, a smart joining technique, a robust computational framework and desig ....Composite structures: a game changer for modular buildings. Modular construction can tackle Australia's housing affordability crisis on a large scale. This project aims to develop cutting-edge technologies for the next generation of modular buildings by embracing recent breakthroughs in construction materials, computational modelling methods and construction techniques. Expected outcomes include a novel composite modular unit, a smart joining technique, a robust computational framework and design guidelines that enable modular buildings to be built taller, safer, faster and thus cheaper than current practices allow. This project will position Australia at the forefront of modular construction technology, and make the local construction industry more competitive globally.Read moreRead less
Adaptive structural systems for high-performance buildings. This project aims to develop adaptive structural systems for high-performance buildings. A new theoretical platform will be instrumental in the development of building technologies such as adaptive shading and ventilation components. In a reversal of the conventional design avoidance of structural phenomena such as lateral and flexural-torsional buckling, these phenomena will be exploited to achieve functional forms for shading componen ....Adaptive structural systems for high-performance buildings. This project aims to develop adaptive structural systems for high-performance buildings. A new theoretical platform will be instrumental in the development of building technologies such as adaptive shading and ventilation components. In a reversal of the conventional design avoidance of structural phenomena such as lateral and flexural-torsional buckling, these phenomena will be exploited to achieve functional forms for shading components. Thin-metal ventilation ducts will be embedded within structural components to produce optimised ventilation strategies and to increase thermal mass, while accounting for their structural contribution.Read moreRead less
Modelling and simulation of complex granular flows. Granular flows are of crucial importance in a wide range of problems related to civil infrastructure. These include landslides and similar catastrophic events, often leading to loss of life and property. The project aims to develop new methods for accurate prediction of such events thus allowing for the formulation of efficient mitigation strategies.
Platform technologies for multifunctional nanocarrier systems. Smart targeted nanocarriers offer new opportunities for drug delivery. This project aims to develop new platforms for reproducibly producing and screening targeted nanocarriers. The platform technologies developed in this project aim to revolutionise current strategies for designing and evaluating drug delivery systems, and will accelerate the clinical translation of targeted drug delivery. This will include a novel one-step microflu ....Platform technologies for multifunctional nanocarrier systems. Smart targeted nanocarriers offer new opportunities for drug delivery. This project aims to develop new platforms for reproducibly producing and screening targeted nanocarriers. The platform technologies developed in this project aim to revolutionise current strategies for designing and evaluating drug delivery systems, and will accelerate the clinical translation of targeted drug delivery. This will include a novel one-step microfluidic platform technology for reproducibly producing targeted polymer nanocarriers having systematically varied properties, a dual-templating method for making targeted silica nanocapsules and new design of in vivo-mimicking 'Tissue Chips' for screening and evaluating the nanocarriers.Read moreRead less
Variational multiscale modelling of granular materials. Granular materials play an important role in a wide-range of problems related to physical infrastructure. These include landslides and similar catastrophic events often leading to loss of life and property. This project will aim to develop new methods for adequate simulation of granular flows to allow formulation of efficient risk mitigation strategies.
Electronic coupling and nanoscale engineering of two-dimensional nanojunctions. This project aims to improve the design of photovoltaic, energy storage, and nanocatalytic devices by using quantum-size tuning, orientation control, strain engineering, and surface modification to manipulate the electronic coupling and charge transfer of two-dimensional nanojunctions. The limitations of and potential environmental damage from fossil-fuel-based energy resources have increased interest in renewable en ....Electronic coupling and nanoscale engineering of two-dimensional nanojunctions. This project aims to improve the design of photovoltaic, energy storage, and nanocatalytic devices by using quantum-size tuning, orientation control, strain engineering, and surface modification to manipulate the electronic coupling and charge transfer of two-dimensional nanojunctions. The limitations of and potential environmental damage from fossil-fuel-based energy resources have increased interest in renewable energy research. The expected outcomes are electron-scale understanding of the tuneable functionalisation of two-dimensional nanojunctions and the design of low-cost and high-efficiency renewable energy devices.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