A new generation high crash energy absorbing barrier for improved road safety. The new, high energy absorbing road safety barrier developed in this project will provide better protection for all road users than current barriers by reducing the severity of car crashes. Current road barriers result in an average loss of 1600 lives in Australia annually, including a disproportionate number of young lives. The new barrier will be highly efficient in absorbing collisions from vehicles travelling at s ....A new generation high crash energy absorbing barrier for improved road safety. The new, high energy absorbing road safety barrier developed in this project will provide better protection for all road users than current barriers by reducing the severity of car crashes. Current road barriers result in an average loss of 1600 lives in Australia annually, including a disproportionate number of young lives. The new barrier will be highly efficient in absorbing collisions from vehicles travelling at speeds between 60 to over a 100 kilometres per hour. Installation of the new road safety barrier systems in high accident zones will save lives by reducing the severity of accidents involving road barriers. This will significantly benefit the community by reducing injury, medical, rehabilitation and property damage costs, and improve quality of life for all road users.Read moreRead less
Optimisation of self-healing repair systems in aerospace composite structures. Design and manufacture of composite structures for civilian and military aircraft is a multi-billion dollar export business for Boeing Aerostructures Australia and other Australian aerospace companies. To remain globally competitive, Australian industry must develop new expertise for next-generation composite aerostructures that are lighter, cheaper, more damage tolerant and easily repaired. Autonomic self-healing of ....Optimisation of self-healing repair systems in aerospace composite structures. Design and manufacture of composite structures for civilian and military aircraft is a multi-billion dollar export business for Boeing Aerostructures Australia and other Australian aerospace companies. To remain globally competitive, Australian industry must develop new expertise for next-generation composite aerostructures that are lighter, cheaper, more damage tolerant and easily repaired. Autonomic self-healing of composites is an innovative repair technology with many future potential applications for damaged aerostructures. This project will develop analytical tools and data to enable the Australian aerospace industry to take advantage of the economic benefits offered by self-healing repair systems in aircraft composite structures.Read moreRead less
Novel Waterborne Multifunctional Sealer for Asphalt Pavement. One of the long-term challenges and most serious problems faced by the asphalt surfacing and road construction industry is the rapid deterioration of asphaltic surfaces to the extent that they become unfit/unsafe for use in short time. The length of the Australian local government road system is approximately 810,000 kilometres and currently approximately $2,460 million/year is spent on road maintenance; the replacement value of ....Novel Waterborne Multifunctional Sealer for Asphalt Pavement. One of the long-term challenges and most serious problems faced by the asphalt surfacing and road construction industry is the rapid deterioration of asphaltic surfaces to the extent that they become unfit/unsafe for use in short time. The length of the Australian local government road system is approximately 810,000 kilometres and currently approximately $2,460 million/year is spent on road maintenance; the replacement value of the road asset exceeds $106,000 million. Thus providing satisfactory tough protective shield on asphalt pavements that locks out destructive elements and provide long-term protection is of enormous economic importance and national/community benefit.Read moreRead less
Grown not extracted: high performance plant-based polymer packaging. This project aims to develop high performance, thermoformed paper-like materials to replace petroleum-derived plastic packaging. The materials are made using mechanically broken down waste cellulose fibres, which are then formed into shapes with added barrier layers. The grant aims to control the mechanical treatment for optimum performance, engineer the shape forming process and design laminate structures to produce packaging ....Grown not extracted: high performance plant-based polymer packaging. This project aims to develop high performance, thermoformed paper-like materials to replace petroleum-derived plastic packaging. The materials are made using mechanically broken down waste cellulose fibres, which are then formed into shapes with added barrier layers. The grant aims to control the mechanical treatment for optimum performance, engineer the shape forming process and design laminate structures to produce packaging materials, which have all the advantages of plastic packaging with none of the environmental drawbacks. The grant also aims to develop new methods to characterise these composites. The intended outcome is a new industry manufacturing renewable, biodegradable packaging in Australia.
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Failure modes in ceramic-based layer structures: Relevance to failure of dental crowns. With the aging of our population, issues concerning the lifetime of biological system are paramount to the quality of life and economic well being of our society. This project is closely linked to the development of prosthetic materials and structures that will improve performance and life of biomechanical devices, by providing better understanding to the mechanics of failure and failure origins of ceramic-ba ....Failure modes in ceramic-based layer structures: Relevance to failure of dental crowns. With the aging of our population, issues concerning the lifetime of biological system are paramount to the quality of life and economic well being of our society. This project is closely linked to the development of prosthetic materials and structures that will improve performance and life of biomechanical devices, by providing better understanding to the mechanics of failure and failure origins of ceramic-based dental crowns and restorations, and to develop materials that will withstand exacting conditions - in body fluids - over extended lifetimes. Crown replacement is by far the most widespread of all prosthetic procedures. This project promises to help bridge the gap between physical and medical science in Australia. Read moreRead less
Surface engineering of biomaterials for optimal bone bonding characteristics. The ideal bone-implant material is hydroxyapatite. Chemically similar to bone mineral, hydroxyapatite is capable of inducing bone ongrowth. An ideal surface coating for metal hip implants, plasma spraying has been the preferred commercial hydroxyapatite coating technique. Until recently, it was always presumed that the bioactivity of hydroxyapatite resulted from its surface chemistry. However, a recent study has shown ....Surface engineering of biomaterials for optimal bone bonding characteristics. The ideal bone-implant material is hydroxyapatite. Chemically similar to bone mineral, hydroxyapatite is capable of inducing bone ongrowth. An ideal surface coating for metal hip implants, plasma spraying has been the preferred commercial hydroxyapatite coating technique. Until recently, it was always presumed that the bioactivity of hydroxyapatite resulted from its surface chemistry. However, a recent study has shown that the bioactivity of HAp coatings strongly correlates with surface roughness on the scale of bone cells. This project will explore cell-attachment behaviour for hydroxyapatite coatings prepared by plasma spraying compared with engineered surface morphology/chemistry by microlithography and vapour coating.Read moreRead less
Functionally graded fibre-polymer composites: a novel material for spinal disk prostheses. Chronic back pain affects a significant proportion of the population and is primarily caused by failure of the spinal disk. A strong social/economic imperative exists to develop engineering solutions to this problem. This project concerns the development of a novel fibre-polymer functionally graded composite material that mimics the structure of the spinal disk. The spinal disk comprises a soft core (nucle ....Functionally graded fibre-polymer composites: a novel material for spinal disk prostheses. Chronic back pain affects a significant proportion of the population and is primarily caused by failure of the spinal disk. A strong social/economic imperative exists to develop engineering solutions to this problem. This project concerns the development of a novel fibre-polymer functionally graded composite material that mimics the structure of the spinal disk. The spinal disk comprises a soft core (nucleus) and a tough fibrous periphery (annulus). The graded composite approach of this proposal represents a significant advance over spinal fusion, and over the alternative spinal disk protheses in clinical use or in the patent literature.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100012
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$890,000.00
Summary
Dual Column-Focused Ion Beam/Scanning Electron Microscope facility for Queensland. Dual column focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope facility: This facility will precisely cut specimens and surfaces that can be imaged in a variety of ways, including crystallographic and elemental space, of particular use for physical scientists, as well as biological specimens. This instrument will provide information at resolutions between optical and transmission electron microscopy, images that will ....Dual Column-Focused Ion Beam/Scanning Electron Microscope facility for Queensland. Dual column focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope facility: This facility will precisely cut specimens and surfaces that can be imaged in a variety of ways, including crystallographic and elemental space, of particular use for physical scientists, as well as biological specimens. This instrument will provide information at resolutions between optical and transmission electron microscopy, images that will effectively provide the biologist with the ability to develop the complete correlative picture of organelles and cells. The instrument will also provide a much needed resource for researchers across disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, geology and engineering.Read moreRead less
Nanoporous siloxane membranes for ultrasound mediated ophthalmic drug delivery. This project will develop tailored polymers for use in a novel non-invasive ocular drug delivery device which treats vision threatening conditions such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The outcomes of this project will enable an entirely new ocular drug delivery technology, thereby delivering significant benefit to ophthalmic healthcare.
Fabrication of High Performance Nanocomposite Photoanodes with Built-in Electron Transport Superhighway for Photoelectrocatalysis Applications. Worldwide, huge fresh water shortage problems force us to recycle/reuse water. For Australia, this is an urgent issue due to our limited fresh water resources. In recent years, rapidly diminishing fossil fuel supplies and dramatically accelerated global warming gives society no alternative but adopt renewable, clean energies. Globally, there is a united ....Fabrication of High Performance Nanocomposite Photoanodes with Built-in Electron Transport Superhighway for Photoelectrocatalysis Applications. Worldwide, huge fresh water shortage problems force us to recycle/reuse water. For Australia, this is an urgent issue due to our limited fresh water resources. In recent years, rapidly diminishing fossil fuel supplies and dramatically accelerated global warming gives society no alternative but adopt renewable, clean energies. Globally, there is a united front calling for action to address these problems. However, a practical solution to the issues can only be found when economically viable alternative technologies are developed. This project aims to tackle the biggest obstacle - the low sunlight conversion efficiency. The success of the project will result in economically viable water treatment and solar energy conversion technologies. Read moreRead less