Real-time bridge performance evaluation based on crowdsourcing and learning. This project aims to develop a novel strategy utilizing the real-time measurements from moving vehicles and bridges for evaluating the safety and operational performance of bridges based on transfer learning and vehicle-bridge interaction model. This is the first essential study on integrating the bridge-moving load models with transfer learning to extract common knowledge from simulation experiments to support the asse ....Real-time bridge performance evaluation based on crowdsourcing and learning. This project aims to develop a novel strategy utilizing the real-time measurements from moving vehicles and bridges for evaluating the safety and operational performance of bridges based on transfer learning and vehicle-bridge interaction model. This is the first essential study on integrating the bridge-moving load models with transfer learning to extract common knowledge from simulation experiments to support the assessment of damaged status in practice. The project will provide an engineer-friendly low cost monitoring system for its deployment, management and maintenance of existing transport infrastructure. The innovative techniques developed enable the safe operation and reliable evaluation and maintenance of transport infrastructure.Read moreRead less
Network Calming - Using Smart Sensors to Improve Water Asset Performance. Recent high-frequency monitoring in water distribution networks (WDNs) shows that pressure perturbations are significantly more dramatic than expected and cause pipe failures with highly disruptive consequences. This project aims to hydraulically calm WDNs to improve their performance, informed by smart sensors. The project will generate insightful knowledge of the hydraulic behaviour of real WDNs. The outcomes will be new ....Network Calming - Using Smart Sensors to Improve Water Asset Performance. Recent high-frequency monitoring in water distribution networks (WDNs) shows that pressure perturbations are significantly more dramatic than expected and cause pipe failures with highly disruptive consequences. This project aims to hydraulically calm WDNs to improve their performance, informed by smart sensors. The project will generate insightful knowledge of the hydraulic behaviour of real WDNs. The outcomes will be new strategies to identify, eliminate and suppress harmful pressure perturbations, leading to a reduced burst rate, extended asset life, improved system operation and advanced design principles. The resultant sustainable water assets provide significant economic and environmental benefits to the water industry and society.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100481
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$388,673.00
Summary
Illuminating Dark Fibres for Smart Water Asset Monitoring. Smart water networks formed by fleets of acoustic sensors to detect developing cracks in water networks have grown rapidly in the past decade but are costly to install and maintain. This project aims to overcome this challenge by exploiting unused underground optical fibre cables that are ubiquitous in cities. The result will be low-cost and ready-made distributed sensing systems that protect critical water supplies, supported by intelli ....Illuminating Dark Fibres for Smart Water Asset Monitoring. Smart water networks formed by fleets of acoustic sensors to detect developing cracks in water networks have grown rapidly in the past decade but are costly to install and maintain. This project aims to overcome this challenge by exploiting unused underground optical fibre cables that are ubiquitous in cities. The result will be low-cost and ready-made distributed sensing systems that protect critical water supplies, supported by intelligent data analytic algorithms that can translate real-time data into valuable information to optimise water asset monitoring. The research outcomes will stimulate a technological revolution in smart water networks, accelerate water digitalisation globally and bring significant economic and social benefits.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC230100015
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$5,000,000.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Whole Life Design of Carbon Neutral Infrastructure. This Centre aims to transform the capability of civil infrastructure stakeholders to design, construct, operate and dispose of infrastructure in a carbon neutral way. By training industry-embedded PhDs and postdocs in the methodology and technology required to design out excess carbon of infrastructure in its whole life, this Centre expects to lead the world in sustainable infrastructure design, enabling a new generation ....ARC Training Centre for Whole Life Design of Carbon Neutral Infrastructure. This Centre aims to transform the capability of civil infrastructure stakeholders to design, construct, operate and dispose of infrastructure in a carbon neutral way. By training industry-embedded PhDs and postdocs in the methodology and technology required to design out excess carbon of infrastructure in its whole life, this Centre expects to lead the world in sustainable infrastructure design, enabling a new generation of infrastructure design in Australia and internationally. Achieving carbon neutral infrastructure in its whole life will bring significant far-reaching benefits, including equipping industry with tools required to meet Australia’s emission reduction targets as well as economic, commercial, environmental, and social gains.Read moreRead less
Novel test and design methods for base course reinforced flexible pavements. This project aims to develop the mechanics of geosynthetic-reinforced flexible pavements as an urgent need for the Australian pavement industry to build more sustainable and economical roads. Novel laboratory test apparatus and in-situ test programs, and mathematical models will be developed, for the first time, to capture the responses of reinforced base courses in a complete and optimised way to determine the paramete ....Novel test and design methods for base course reinforced flexible pavements. This project aims to develop the mechanics of geosynthetic-reinforced flexible pavements as an urgent need for the Australian pavement industry to build more sustainable and economical roads. Novel laboratory test apparatus and in-situ test programs, and mathematical models will be developed, for the first time, to capture the responses of reinforced base courses in a complete and optimised way to determine the parameters for pavement design and performance evaluation. The outcomes will enable reliable prediction of reinforced pavement behaviour, leading to better-performing geosynthetic products and more resilient pavements, reduced material usage and damage in pavements, and less environmental impact and maintenance cost.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101127
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$443,181.00
Summary
Stabilising soil foundation with biopolymer for enhanced rail transport. This project aims to develop a novel cost-effective and eco-friendly method to stabilise soil foundation for faster and heavier rail transport. The scientific knowledge of cyclic behaviour capturing localised and microscale evolutions of railway foundation will be advanced significantly via innovative physical modelling using iconic facilities with state-of-the-art sensors, and sophisticated numerical modelling. The project ....Stabilising soil foundation with biopolymer for enhanced rail transport. This project aims to develop a novel cost-effective and eco-friendly method to stabilise soil foundation for faster and heavier rail transport. The scientific knowledge of cyclic behaviour capturing localised and microscale evolutions of railway foundation will be advanced significantly via innovative physical modelling using iconic facilities with state-of-the-art sensors, and sophisticated numerical modelling. The project will yield a natural biopolymer-based solution for mud pumping railways, i.e., a critical issue causing substantial annual maintenance cost and poor transport efficiency in Australia and worldwide. The outcomes will greatly benefit transport infrastructure, mining, agriculture, environment and climate change remediation.Read moreRead less
Mud pumping under rail tracks: from Micromechanics to Predictions. Mud pumping under rail tracks is identified as the most frequent issue causing the degradation of rail tracks and increasing their ongoing maintenance cost across Australia and worldwide. This project aims to further the understanding of mud pumping mechanisms across different scales. A novel combined experiment-computational approach will be developed to observe, analyse and link different material properties and external condit ....Mud pumping under rail tracks: from Micromechanics to Predictions. Mud pumping under rail tracks is identified as the most frequent issue causing the degradation of rail tracks and increasing their ongoing maintenance cost across Australia and worldwide. This project aims to further the understanding of mud pumping mechanisms across different scales. A novel combined experiment-computational approach will be developed to observe, analyse and link different material properties and external conditions governing the mud pumping process. It will lead to better criteria for mud pumping and numerical tools for field scale failure analysis and risk assessments. The expected outcomes include the enhanced capability to assess the integrity and stability of rail tracks and better design criteria against mud pumping.Read moreRead less
Break the deadlock in corrosion research to prevent infrastructure collapse. Corrosion destroys one-quarter of the world’s annual steel production and costs the Australian economy $30 billion each year. This project targets a crucial missing link in understanding the structure and dynamics of the atomic lattices of corroded steel and the degradation of its mechanical strength. By combining advanced electrochemical and mechanical measurements with dynamics simulation of atomic lattices of corrode ....Break the deadlock in corrosion research to prevent infrastructure collapse. Corrosion destroys one-quarter of the world’s annual steel production and costs the Australian economy $30 billion each year. This project targets a crucial missing link in understanding the structure and dynamics of the atomic lattices of corroded steel and the degradation of its mechanical strength. By combining advanced electrochemical and mechanical measurements with dynamics simulation of atomic lattices of corroded steel, this project will produce the first concerted picture of corrosion induced strength degradation with a particular focus on real industrial conditions. This promises to guide the ongoing diagnosis of corrosion damages to steel, effectively preventing the collapse of corroded infrastructure.Read moreRead less