Development of deep soil mixing technology utilising industrial by-products. This project will investigate the sustainable use of industrial wastes in ground improvement works using deep soil mixing. Currently, ground improvement projects use large amounts of highly carbon intensive materials. This project aims to develop low carbon alternatives by using geopolymers, which are a mixture of industrial waste by-products such as fly ash and slag with alkali activators. This project will explore the ....Development of deep soil mixing technology utilising industrial by-products. This project will investigate the sustainable use of industrial wastes in ground improvement works using deep soil mixing. Currently, ground improvement projects use large amounts of highly carbon intensive materials. This project aims to develop low carbon alternatives by using geopolymers, which are a mixture of industrial waste by-products such as fly ash and slag with alkali activators. This project will explore the consolidation effects and stress–strain responses of soft soil improved with geopolymers under static and dynamic loading. The main expected outcome of the project is an innovative ground improvement technique using geopolymers as an alternative green binder.Read moreRead less
Braced batter micropile group: New design theory and performance framework. Braced batter micropile group: New design theory and performance framework. This project aims to research the design and performance of innovative biomimetic braced battered micropile group footings. This project will test Surefoot, the new concrete free footing, in the laboratory, in the field, and through numerical and analytical modelling. Surefoot’s mechanisms of action are poorly understood but clearly more complex ....Braced batter micropile group: New design theory and performance framework. Braced batter micropile group: New design theory and performance framework. This project aims to research the design and performance of innovative biomimetic braced battered micropile group footings. This project will test Surefoot, the new concrete free footing, in the laboratory, in the field, and through numerical and analytical modelling. Surefoot’s mechanisms of action are poorly understood but clearly more complex than current micropile theory; this project will research the mechanism of load transfer from micropiles to the soil and soil response.Read moreRead less
Phosphorous and iron recovery from steelmaking slag for effective recycling. This project aims to understand the principles that control phosphorus (P) partitioning in steel plant slags and to optimise the treatment process to produce P- and Fe-rich streams for recycling. Changing ore grades in Australia, especially increasing P content, are placing a substantial proportion of these ore products at a competitive disadvantage. The project will use an integrated approach to demonstrate, experiment ....Phosphorous and iron recovery from steelmaking slag for effective recycling. This project aims to understand the principles that control phosphorus (P) partitioning in steel plant slags and to optimise the treatment process to produce P- and Fe-rich streams for recycling. Changing ore grades in Australia, especially increasing P content, are placing a substantial proportion of these ore products at a competitive disadvantage. The project will use an integrated approach to demonstrate, experimentally and theoretically, how key properties of slags can be manipulated to enhance partitioning and couple this analysis with fluid dynamics to model the kinetics of the separation process. The expected outcomes of this research are to: first, provide possible solutions to address the increasing P content in Australian iron ores, which could place future ore products at a competitive disadvantage within the global iron ore market; and second, to identify treatment methods and practices which would promote higher recycling rates of steelmaking slag, significantly reducing the volume of material stockpiled or sent to landfill.Read moreRead less
Unsaturated Soil Dynamics. The main aim of this ambitious project is to address a highly significant and timely class of problems in civil engineering, and in particular in soil mechanics. The outcomes are expected to result in improvements in the design and construction of civil infrastructure. The problems considered are routinely confronted in daily engineering practice whenever a construction site contains weak soil and the ground requires improvement before construction. This project is exp ....Unsaturated Soil Dynamics. The main aim of this ambitious project is to address a highly significant and timely class of problems in civil engineering, and in particular in soil mechanics. The outcomes are expected to result in improvements in the design and construction of civil infrastructure. The problems considered are routinely confronted in daily engineering practice whenever a construction site contains weak soil and the ground requires improvement before construction. This project is expected to provide a comprehensive understanding of soil behaviour in this class of problems, leading to robust techniques and advanced computational tools for more cost-effective and safer engineering designs.Read moreRead less
Durability and debonding resistance of composite based strengthening techniques for deteriorated structures. Australia has many concrete structures exposed to aggressive environments that are deteriorating prior to their intended design life due to durability issues. Externally bonded fibre reinforced polymer composite applications are emerging as a method of structural rehabilitation. This project will provide safe and reliable strengthened structures.
Cluster hardening of metastable steel alloys produced by thin strip casting. The goal of this project is to generate sufficient knowledge to apply strip casting to a wider range of steel grades and reduce the global energy cost of steel sheet production. Over 1 billion tonnes of steel is produced every year. Direct strip casting is an emerging green technology that reduces the energy required to process liquid steel into thin sheet product by up to 90 per cent. This study plans to use advanced a ....Cluster hardening of metastable steel alloys produced by thin strip casting. The goal of this project is to generate sufficient knowledge to apply strip casting to a wider range of steel grades and reduce the global energy cost of steel sheet production. Over 1 billion tonnes of steel is produced every year. Direct strip casting is an emerging green technology that reduces the energy required to process liquid steel into thin sheet product by up to 90 per cent. This study plans to use advanced atomic-scale characterisation techniques such as atom probe tomography and high-resolution electron microscopy to understand the non-equilibrium microstructures that develop as a result of the extremely rapid cooling rates experienced during strip casting.Read moreRead less
From diesel to electric: a new era in personnel transport for underground coal mines. There are many factors which give rise to poor air quality in underground coal mines with the diesel engines used to transport miners being one of the major contributors. This project will develop an alternative electric power system for these vehicles which will not only be zero emission but meet the challenging environment found in these mines.
Structurally-bridged crystalline molecular sieve-polymer membranes. This project aims to produce a membrane platform technology for efficient and cost-effective separation in natural gas processing and petrochemicals, using crystalline sieve materials. It will address the mismatch of mechanical properties between crystalline molecular sieve materials (zeolites and metal organic frameworks) and polymers, and coating flaws which limit their use as gas separation membranes. It will create nano-rein ....Structurally-bridged crystalline molecular sieve-polymer membranes. This project aims to produce a membrane platform technology for efficient and cost-effective separation in natural gas processing and petrochemicals, using crystalline sieve materials. It will address the mismatch of mechanical properties between crystalline molecular sieve materials (zeolites and metal organic frameworks) and polymers, and coating flaws which limit their use as gas separation membranes. It will create nano-reinforcement in the coating and polymer substrate, with nano-bridges between them. The resulting membranes will be mechanically tough and separate better than existing membranes. Advanced membranes are expected to benefit fuel industries by reducing separation cost and energy consumption.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101662
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
Non-Oxidative and Scalable Electrochemical Production of Functional Graphene and its Nanohybrids. The lack of cost-effective and scalable graphene production methods is the current bottleneck that impedes the commercialisation of advanced graphene-based nanomaterials. Novel electrochemical production of those functional materials directly from bulk graphite not only holds the key to the solution but also provides a non-oxidative route for the production of highly conductive graphene which is wel ....Non-Oxidative and Scalable Electrochemical Production of Functional Graphene and its Nanohybrids. The lack of cost-effective and scalable graphene production methods is the current bottleneck that impedes the commercialisation of advanced graphene-based nanomaterials. Novel electrochemical production of those functional materials directly from bulk graphite not only holds the key to the solution but also provides a non-oxidative route for the production of highly conductive graphene which is well suited for applications such as biosensing, energy storage and conversion. Besides achieving scientific breakthroughs in graphene electrochemistry, this project will directly benefit many Australian socio-economic objectives, including manufacturing of Australia's natural resources into valuable energy related products.Read moreRead less
A Novel Failure Approach for Multi-stage Aluminium Sheet Forming. This project aims to reduce waste in the production of aluminium cans. Over 200 billion aluminium beverage cans per year are produced worldwide (including 30 billion in Australia), but there is a problematic level of waste due to aluminium sheet forming failure. Current simulation of a multi-stage sheet forming process for rigid-packaging components results in a higher rejection rate due to the inaccuracy of conventional forming a ....A Novel Failure Approach for Multi-stage Aluminium Sheet Forming. This project aims to reduce waste in the production of aluminium cans. Over 200 billion aluminium beverage cans per year are produced worldwide (including 30 billion in Australia), but there is a problematic level of waste due to aluminium sheet forming failure. Current simulation of a multi-stage sheet forming process for rigid-packaging components results in a higher rejection rate due to the inaccuracy of conventional forming and fracture limit models. A novel development in this work is the design of a nonlinear strain path which is intended to maximise the forming limit of aluminium alloys and also estimate the safety margin up to the necking or fracture limit in the early die design stage.Read moreRead less