Cyclic Fatigue Mechanisms in New Lead-Free Piezoelectric Ceramics. Piezoceramics are an important component in many items in modern day Australian life. However, they present a growing environmental concern, particularly for disposal, because they contain lead oxide and must often be disposed of prematurely due to component failure. Furthermore, many key Australian industries manufacture and use piezoceramics in fields ranging from mineral exploration, to imaging to biomedical devices. This proj ....Cyclic Fatigue Mechanisms in New Lead-Free Piezoelectric Ceramics. Piezoceramics are an important component in many items in modern day Australian life. However, they present a growing environmental concern, particularly for disposal, because they contain lead oxide and must often be disposed of prematurely due to component failure. Furthermore, many key Australian industries manufacture and use piezoceramics in fields ranging from mineral exploration, to imaging to biomedical devices. This project will enable the development of lead-free alternatives to current materials and more reliable materials which will reduce the need for waste disposal.Read moreRead less
Development of Cyclic Fatigue Degradation Criteria for Piezoelectric Ceramic Components. Piezoelectric ceramics are widely used in advanced engineering applications such as actuators in the automotive industry, sonars for submarine mineral exploration and defence, and a broad range of medical devices, e.g. ultrasound probes. The reliable operational lifetime of these devices is, however, severely limited because they suffer cyclic fatigue leading to both degradation in performance and device fai ....Development of Cyclic Fatigue Degradation Criteria for Piezoelectric Ceramic Components. Piezoelectric ceramics are widely used in advanced engineering applications such as actuators in the automotive industry, sonars for submarine mineral exploration and defence, and a broad range of medical devices, e.g. ultrasound probes. The reliable operational lifetime of these devices is, however, severely limited because they suffer cyclic fatigue leading to both degradation in performance and device failure. The proposed project seeks to develop an understanding of the mechanisms of fatigue and develop a design model for engineers such that piezoelectric ceramic devices can be operated for longer periods with higher levels of reliability.Read moreRead less
ACTIVE CONTROL OF SURFACE OCEAN SHIPS. This research is to design nonlinear robust adaptive control systems using active actuators (flaps, fins and rudders) for course keeping and path tracking of surface ocean ships, which are inherently nonlinear and with uncertainties. The outcome of the research will lead to the development of non-linear control strategies, which result in simple-to-implement and effective controllers. These controllers are robust to the environmental disturbances and uncert ....ACTIVE CONTROL OF SURFACE OCEAN SHIPS. This research is to design nonlinear robust adaptive control systems using active actuators (flaps, fins and rudders) for course keeping and path tracking of surface ocean ships, which are inherently nonlinear and with uncertainties. The outcome of the research will lead to the development of non-linear control strategies, which result in simple-to-implement and effective controllers. These controllers are robust to the environmental disturbances and uncertainties, adapt to unknown parameters of the ship and actuators. Only a few control gains are required to be tuned. The success of this project will significantly increase the international competiveness of Australian shipbuilding industry.Read moreRead less