Development of Canonical Mist Filter Models. Over one million tonnes of oil (mist) is wasted every year – and emitted to the atmosphere through inefficient filtration. Over 50 per cent of energy usage in most process industries is for filtration and separation processes, yet mist filters and separators are largely designed by trial and error, resulting in sub-optimal, inefficient designs. Recent advances by the research team have, only now, made it possible to develop accurate models for such sy ....Development of Canonical Mist Filter Models. Over one million tonnes of oil (mist) is wasted every year – and emitted to the atmosphere through inefficient filtration. Over 50 per cent of energy usage in most process industries is for filtration and separation processes, yet mist filters and separators are largely designed by trial and error, resulting in sub-optimal, inefficient designs. Recent advances by the research team have, only now, made it possible to develop accurate models for such systems. This work intends to be the first to develop accurate, broadly applicable models for all processes in mist filters, thereby providing immense process efficiency benefits, together with improved worker and environmental protection, and less wastage of dwindling oil resources.Read moreRead less
Vibration-based health monitoring of aero-engine bearings . This project will develop new vibration-based techniques to greatly improve the detection and diagnosis of faults in aero engine bearings from in-flight measurements. To achieve this goal, advances will be made on source separation algorithms to extract the weak bearing signals, and signal processing techniques to extract features for diagnosing bearing fault severity and lubrication conditions, under a wide range of operating condition ....Vibration-based health monitoring of aero-engine bearings . This project will develop new vibration-based techniques to greatly improve the detection and diagnosis of faults in aero engine bearings from in-flight measurements. To achieve this goal, advances will be made on source separation algorithms to extract the weak bearing signals, and signal processing techniques to extract features for diagnosing bearing fault severity and lubrication conditions, under a wide range of operating conditions. A bearing degradation model will estimate the remaining useful life. Since rolling element bearings are among the most critical components in most machines, the results of this research will also provide massive benefits in other sectors such as mining, transportation, energy production and manufacturing.Read moreRead less
The Acoustic, Control and Aerodynamic Aspects of the Entecho Hoverpod. The development of small aerial vehicles, both manned and unmanned is a growing market in the aviation industry. This market sector has the potential to provide cheap, environmentally friendly transport solutions for the defence purposes, law enforcement agencies and emergency and recreational vehicles. This project serves to enhance Australia's position in this market by helping a local company develop its technology in a ....The Acoustic, Control and Aerodynamic Aspects of the Entecho Hoverpod. The development of small aerial vehicles, both manned and unmanned is a growing market in the aviation industry. This market sector has the potential to provide cheap, environmentally friendly transport solutions for the defence purposes, law enforcement agencies and emergency and recreational vehicles. This project serves to enhance Australia's position in this market by helping a local company develop its technology in a cost effective and timely manner. The progress made in the three research aspects will also advance areas of science and technology with practical applications other than aerial vehicles.Read moreRead less
Optimising gaseous and particulate emissions from diesel engines. About $3.7 billion is spent annually in Australia on respiratory diseases. Diesel vehicle emissions of nano- and ultra-fine urban air particulate pollution are a significant factor in this disease. This project will directly addresses this problem by developing a technology to monitor and reduce diesel particulate emissions.
A Novel Reconfigurable Unlimited Spherical Motion Generator. The main contribution of this research lies in the National Research Priority of Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries. The main outcome is a strategy to produce unlimited spherical motion with high precision. It is an innovative solution that is applicable to many cutting edge research and industry problems. Immediate application is expected to produce a faithful motion simulation, for flight, astr ....A Novel Reconfigurable Unlimited Spherical Motion Generator. The main contribution of this research lies in the National Research Priority of Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries. The main outcome is a strategy to produce unlimited spherical motion with high precision. It is an innovative solution that is applicable to many cutting edge research and industry problems. Immediate application is expected to produce a faithful motion simulation, for flight, astronaut, and vehicle control training. It would potentially improve the quality of human resources and the quality of Australian industry, both civil and military. This project would also enhance the Australian competitive technological edge in developing advanced mechatronic systems.Read moreRead less
Development of a High Capacity Steep Angle Belt Conveying System. Deep open-pit mining operations rely extensively on fleets of large haul trucks to convey both ore and waste rock. The aim of this project is to develop a high capacity conveying system with the ability to continuously convey ore and rock up steep inclines directly from the pit. The benefits of the research outcomes to the efficient handling of our most valuable export commodities are immense. This innovative new technology will s ....Development of a High Capacity Steep Angle Belt Conveying System. Deep open-pit mining operations rely extensively on fleets of large haul trucks to convey both ore and waste rock. The aim of this project is to develop a high capacity conveying system with the ability to continuously convey ore and rock up steep inclines directly from the pit. The benefits of the research outcomes to the efficient handling of our most valuable export commodities are immense. This innovative new technology will significantly reduce the dependency on haul trucks, reducing energy consumption, minimising environmental impact of the mining process, and improve the health and safety of personnel and the surrounding community.Read moreRead less
Diagnostics and Prognostics of Turbine Engine Bearings. Rolls Royce are a leading supplier of engines world-wide, but in particular (with respect to this application) to airlines operating in and from Australia, including Qantas, as well as to the Australian armed forces. The methods to be developed will give greater security to the flying public, and to the Defence Forces, allowing them to carry out their role more reliably. Collaboration with Rolls Royce will add prestige to this Australian de ....Diagnostics and Prognostics of Turbine Engine Bearings. Rolls Royce are a leading supplier of engines world-wide, but in particular (with respect to this application) to airlines operating in and from Australia, including Qantas, as well as to the Australian armed forces. The methods to be developed will give greater security to the flying public, and to the Defence Forces, allowing them to carry out their role more reliably. Collaboration with Rolls Royce will add prestige to this Australian developed technology, and increase the likelihood of it (and related technology) being used in the Joint Strike Fighter.Read moreRead less
Development of an active noise control system for sleeper seats on large commercial aircraft. Possible avenues will be investigated to actively reduce aircraft cabin noise experienced by passengers in sleeper seats, using localised active noise control (ANC). Previous work has focused on headsets and upright seat headrests which represent a different problem to the partially enclosed sleeper seats considered here. Efficiency and robustness problems that affect existing ANC systems will be addres ....Development of an active noise control system for sleeper seats on large commercial aircraft. Possible avenues will be investigated to actively reduce aircraft cabin noise experienced by passengers in sleeper seats, using localised active noise control (ANC). Previous work has focused on headsets and upright seat headrests which represent a different problem to the partially enclosed sleeper seats considered here. Efficiency and robustness problems that affect existing ANC systems will be addressed. A prototype system will be produced for a business class sleeper seat in a wide body aircraft. A second outcome is the establishment of a robust integrated system design procedure that can be used to quickly develop ANC systems for future designs.Read moreRead less
Robust Control and System Identification of Highly Resonant Systems. The modelling and control of complex and highly resonant systems is of increasing engineering importance due to their occurence in a wide variety of emerging areas in aerospace, acoustics, robotics and ``smart'' structures. At the same time, effective tools tailored towards identifying the necessary models, and synthesising the necessary controllers for these systems are in their infancy. This arises from special difficulties ....Robust Control and System Identification of Highly Resonant Systems. The modelling and control of complex and highly resonant systems is of increasing engineering importance due to their occurence in a wide variety of emerging areas in aerospace, acoustics, robotics and ``smart'' structures. At the same time, effective tools tailored towards identifying the necessary models, and synthesising the necessary controllers for these systems are in their infancy. This arises from special difficulties encountered via the high dimensionality of the structures involved. This research project will employ new methods from the fields of robust control and multivariable system identification theory to lead to new and high performance solutions in this area.Read moreRead less
Development of a New Generation Low Rolling Resistance Conveyor Belt. Belt conveying systems are employed extensively to transport bulk materials within Australia's mining and mineral processing industries. The energy consumption of belt conveyors are significant and dominated by the indentation rolling resistance of the idler rolls into the bottom cover of the belt. This project will develop technology to design more energy efficient conveyors by employing new laminated low energy loss belt cov ....Development of a New Generation Low Rolling Resistance Conveyor Belt. Belt conveying systems are employed extensively to transport bulk materials within Australia's mining and mineral processing industries. The energy consumption of belt conveyors are significant and dominated by the indentation rolling resistance of the idler rolls into the bottom cover of the belt. This project will develop technology to design more energy efficient conveyors by employing new laminated low energy loss belt covers. With Australian mineral exports exceeding $100 billion, coupled with the considerable transportation distances often necessary in Australian mining operations, the outcomes of this research will result in significant energy savings and economic benefits to these vital industries.Read moreRead less