An innovative light weight composite panel system for high speed modular construction. This project aims to develop an innovative composite panel system using aerated geopolymer and a thin high strength steel casing. The new panel system aims to have a number of significant enhancements compared to traditional panels in terms of load resistance, much lower carbon footprint and life-cycle costs. It aims to offer desirable properties, such as being light-weight, easy to construct, economical, recy ....An innovative light weight composite panel system for high speed modular construction. This project aims to develop an innovative composite panel system using aerated geopolymer and a thin high strength steel casing. The new panel system aims to have a number of significant enhancements compared to traditional panels in terms of load resistance, much lower carbon footprint and life-cycle costs. It aims to offer desirable properties, such as being light-weight, easy to construct, economical, recyclable and reusable. A significant gap in knowledge exists in the material and system behaviour of the aerated geopolymer and its fire performance. It is intended that a comprehensive research program will be carried out to address those challenges and to provide design guidelines to rapidly progress these technologies in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Structural assembly for remote housing using fibre reinforced composites. This project aims to address construction challenges in remote housing by off-site manufacturing and on-site assembly using fibre reinforced composites and digital made-to-measure approach. Its goal is to generate interdisciplinary knowledge and practical technologies for reliable, affordable and durable housing in remote harsh environments. Intended results include innovative connections and systems with valuable understa ....Structural assembly for remote housing using fibre reinforced composites. This project aims to address construction challenges in remote housing by off-site manufacturing and on-site assembly using fibre reinforced composites and digital made-to-measure approach. Its goal is to generate interdisciplinary knowledge and practical technologies for reliable, affordable and durable housing in remote harsh environments. Intended results include innovative connections and systems with valuable understanding of their performances under various loading scenarios and accurate digital visualization for remote construction. The outcomes expect to unlock remote development, enhance our competitive strengths for manufacturing and construction industries, and further offer new solutions in post-disaster recovery applications.Read moreRead less
Development of Novel Metaconcrete to Resist Impulsive Loads. This project aims to develop innovative metaconcrete for structural protection by utilising the concept of phononic crystals and metamaterials which has been recently developed by physicists. Traditional construction materials are used in new structural forms to mitigate dynamic loading effects by exploiting the unique characteristics of the proposed metaconcrete. Theoretical, numerical and experimental methods will be used to derive t ....Development of Novel Metaconcrete to Resist Impulsive Loads. This project aims to develop innovative metaconcrete for structural protection by utilising the concept of phononic crystals and metamaterials which has been recently developed by physicists. Traditional construction materials are used in new structural forms to mitigate dynamic loading effects by exploiting the unique characteristics of the proposed metaconcrete. Theoretical, numerical and experimental methods will be used to derive the best performing metaconcrete and verify its static and dynamic load resistant capacities. The expected outcomes of the project will lead to innovative extreme-loading resistant designs and provide significant benefit to the Australian construction industry, general public and economy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100986
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,775.00
Summary
Blast Resistant Interlocking Brick Walls Using Engineered Waste Materials. This project aims to develop a next-generation building system integrated with robotic construction, using intelligent interlocking block units with hazard resistance, and sustainable engineered recycled plastic waste materials. It spans from discovery of using recycled waste materials to development of analysis and design methods for a new interlocking structure, as well as mitigation measures for blast resistance. The s ....Blast Resistant Interlocking Brick Walls Using Engineered Waste Materials. This project aims to develop a next-generation building system integrated with robotic construction, using intelligent interlocking block units with hazard resistance, and sustainable engineered recycled plastic waste materials. It spans from discovery of using recycled waste materials to development of analysis and design methods for a new interlocking structure, as well as mitigation measures for blast resistance. The successful implementation of this project will result in a technically, financially and environmentally sound structure form for the next-generation of robotic construction. This should lead to a revolution in construction that will substantially improve construction efficiency, quality and affordability.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE210100019
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$664,580.00
Summary
Collaborative robotics for structural assembly and construction automation. Recent robotic technologies present great opportunity for construction industry to improve quality and productivity while no state of the art research infrastructure has been developed yet for this need. The proposed facility aims to provide a unique platform on research and development for structural assembly and construction automation. It
features by a flexible and adaptive design and instrumentation of structures and ....Collaborative robotics for structural assembly and construction automation. Recent robotic technologies present great opportunity for construction industry to improve quality and productivity while no state of the art research infrastructure has been developed yet for this need. The proposed facility aims to provide a unique platform on research and development for structural assembly and construction automation. It
features by a flexible and adaptive design and instrumentation of structures and space for a team of collaborative robotics in an interactive environment to achieve automated prefabrication, assembly and building. The outcomes are expected to transform current labor-intensive construction industry to highly automated and accurate manufacturing industry with significant benefits to economy and safety.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100101
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$744,697.00
Summary
New generation facility for impact testing. This project aims to develop a new generation, national-impact testing facility to study the impact response of civil and mechanical structures and components. This project expects to seek simultaneous, realistic impact scenarios with very high velocities, which were previously impossible. This will enhance the capability for innovative research on real-time behaviour of components/systems under high amplitude impacts to augment their protection throug ....New generation facility for impact testing. This project aims to develop a new generation, national-impact testing facility to study the impact response of civil and mechanical structures and components. This project expects to seek simultaneous, realistic impact scenarios with very high velocities, which were previously impossible. This will enhance the capability for innovative research on real-time behaviour of components/systems under high amplitude impacts to augment their protection through advanced materials. This project is essential for research on rational design philosophies and effective retrofitting of high-risk buildings, infrastructure and armoured vehicles. Benefits include the saving of lives and property through new knowledge from credible impact testing.Read moreRead less
Developing innovative concrete composites by upscaling material properties. This project aims to develop an upscaling process to correlate micro-nano properties of engineering materials to their comprehensive physicochemical properties based on systematic mechanical and statistical analysis approaches and nanoindentation technology. The process will enable assessing material mechanical and viscoelastic properties at a microscale level thus will generate a new knowledge in structural engineering ....Developing innovative concrete composites by upscaling material properties. This project aims to develop an upscaling process to correlate micro-nano properties of engineering materials to their comprehensive physicochemical properties based on systematic mechanical and statistical analysis approaches and nanoindentation technology. The process will enable assessing material mechanical and viscoelastic properties at a microscale level thus will generate a new knowledge in structural engineering discipline including health monitoring, assessment of existing structures, historical buildings, and strengthening and repairing materials in structures. The outcomes are a multiscale link model for upscaling material properties and a development of innovative reinforced concrete composites which are cost-effective and efficient.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC150100023
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,000,000.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing. ARC Training Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing. This training centre aims to unlock the potential for growth of Australia’s prefabricated building industry by creating a sustainable training ecosystem including both industry and universities. It seeks to enable the next generation of engineers and architects to apply advanced manufacturing principles to prefabricated modular buildings. This emerging ....ARC Training Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing. ARC Training Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing. This training centre aims to unlock the potential for growth of Australia’s prefabricated building industry by creating a sustainable training ecosystem including both industry and universities. It seeks to enable the next generation of engineers and architects to apply advanced manufacturing principles to prefabricated modular buildings. This emerging highly trained workforce, driven by the needs of the customer, should identify innovations in the use of advanced materials, designs for manufacturing, and assembly. The centre aims to secure a competitive advantage for Australia in the global value chain leading to local employment growth and increased exports of prefabricated products and services.Read moreRead less
Concrete Enriched with Carbon Nanotubes for Advanced Future Construction. This project aims to develop an advanced construction material based on enrichment of concrete with carbon nanotubes (CNT). Concrete, the most consumed construction material globally, is brittle and needs embedded steel reinforcement. Concrete enriched with CNT, one of the strongest known fibres, may partially replace conventional bulky and heavier steel reinforcement thereby creating economies (e.g. thinner section sizes) ....Concrete Enriched with Carbon Nanotubes for Advanced Future Construction. This project aims to develop an advanced construction material based on enrichment of concrete with carbon nanotubes (CNT). Concrete, the most consumed construction material globally, is brittle and needs embedded steel reinforcement. Concrete enriched with CNT, one of the strongest known fibres, may partially replace conventional bulky and heavier steel reinforcement thereby creating economies (e.g. thinner section sizes), and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by expending less steel and cement for construction. This project extends earlier research by the research team and aims to transform cement-CNT pastes into construction-scale concrete by resolving uncertainties associated with scaling.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101116
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,000.00
Summary
Development of sandwich structures to mitigate blast and impact loading. Innovative sandwich structures with Prismatic Hexagonal-like form and polymeric foam material are proposed in this project and should lead to better designs for structure and personnel protection. Critical civil infrastructure such as government buildings might be subjected to severe blast/impact loads during their lifetime, which may lead to catastrophic consequences. Therefore, protective techniques are desired to increas ....Development of sandwich structures to mitigate blast and impact loading. Innovative sandwich structures with Prismatic Hexagonal-like form and polymeric foam material are proposed in this project and should lead to better designs for structure and personnel protection. Critical civil infrastructure such as government buildings might be subjected to severe blast/impact loads during their lifetime, which may lead to catastrophic consequences. Therefore, protective techniques are desired to increase the resistance capacity of critical structures against blast/impact loads. The expected outcome is to develop an innovative sandwich structure with new structural forms to mitigate blast/impact loads for better structure and personnel protections.Read moreRead less