Measuring and modelling the mechanical response of soils incorporating recycled tyres. Civil engineers use backfill to refill excavated areas around new structures. They have found recently that rubber chips and shredded rubber make excellent backfill when combined with a small percentage of cement to make ‘rubber soil’. The widespread use of rubber soil therefore offers a tremendous opportunity to make use of a serious waste product to achieve important engineering outcomes. However, too little ....Measuring and modelling the mechanical response of soils incorporating recycled tyres. Civil engineers use backfill to refill excavated areas around new structures. They have found recently that rubber chips and shredded rubber make excellent backfill when combined with a small percentage of cement to make ‘rubber soil’. The widespread use of rubber soil therefore offers a tremendous opportunity to make use of a serious waste product to achieve important engineering outcomes. However, too little is known about the technology. This project will model the behaviour of rubber soil in order to introduce it as an environmentally sustainable, cost-effective and technically sound choice of geomaterial for both standard and non-standard geotechnical structures.Read moreRead less
Design and Construction Error Mitigation in Infrastructure Projects. Human errors committed during the design and construction process of infrastructure projects increase costs by as much as 25 per cent. The costs associated with such errors would be significantly higher in the event of an engineering failure and loss of life. This research will develop a model that can be used to mitigate errors and improve the performance and safety of infrastructure projects. A reduction in errors will reduce ....Design and Construction Error Mitigation in Infrastructure Projects. Human errors committed during the design and construction process of infrastructure projects increase costs by as much as 25 per cent. The costs associated with such errors would be significantly higher in the event of an engineering failure and loss of life. This research will develop a model that can be used to mitigate errors and improve the performance and safety of infrastructure projects. A reduction in errors will reduce the financial burden placed on taxpayers for cost overruns experienced as well as improve the profitability of organisations. This will lead to greater investment, and contribution to gross domestic product.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
Automatic construction monitoring through semantic information modelling. This project aims to develop computational algorithms and methods for automatic as-built construction monitoring through semantics-based Building Information Modelling (BIM). Construction as–built monitoring is crucial for the cost, time, quality and safety of projects. Methods for generating as-built status are primarily manual. There are gaps in sophistication of automation, and recognition for semantic construction info ....Automatic construction monitoring through semantic information modelling. This project aims to develop computational algorithms and methods for automatic as-built construction monitoring through semantics-based Building Information Modelling (BIM). Construction as–built monitoring is crucial for the cost, time, quality and safety of projects. Methods for generating as-built status are primarily manual. There are gaps in sophistication of automation, and recognition for semantic construction information during the process is low. The project is expected to provide efficient and accurate solutions for as-built construction monitoring.Read moreRead less
Rapid structural condition assessment using adaptive model updating. The proposed project has potential to significantly enhance the accuracy with which the condition (and hence load bearing capacity) of existing infrastructure can be determined. By providing a technique of model updating that can be applied effectively in real time, location of damage will be able to be determined accurately. Economic benefits will be reaped, both through saving infrastructure from demolition where the conditio ....Rapid structural condition assessment using adaptive model updating. The proposed project has potential to significantly enhance the accuracy with which the condition (and hence load bearing capacity) of existing infrastructure can be determined. By providing a technique of model updating that can be applied effectively in real time, location of damage will be able to be determined accurately. Economic benefits will be reaped, both through saving infrastructure from demolition where the condition is found to be adequate, and by replacing or repairing inadequate structures before costly failure occurs. This is particularly important as much of Australia's infrastructure is aging, and unnecessary periodic replacement of infrastructure is not sustainable.Read moreRead less
Blast Damage and Fragmentation Prediction for Occupants and Structure Protection. Protecting infrastructures against blast loads from terrorist bombing or accidental explosion is a challenge. Researchers have been working on developing a numerical model, but the progress is slow owing to difficulties in modelling nonlinear and high strain rate damage process. Most blast effect assessment is based on empirical relations from blast tests. These have been demonstrated not necessarily yielding accur ....Blast Damage and Fragmentation Prediction for Occupants and Structure Protection. Protecting infrastructures against blast loads from terrorist bombing or accidental explosion is a challenge. Researchers have been working on developing a numerical model, but the progress is slow owing to difficulties in modelling nonlinear and high strain rate damage process. Most blast effect assessment is based on empirical relations from blast tests. These have been demonstrated not necessarily yielding accurate prediction owing to variations of structural properties from the test model. A reliable numerical model is therefore important. It will result in big savings from blast tests, and better prediction of blast effects for structure and occupant protection. It will have applications in civil, mining and defence engineering. Read moreRead less
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC REPONSE AND DAMAGE OF FRAME STRUCTURES TO EXPLOSIVE LOADS. Understanding structural response to explosive loads is essential to protect critical infrastructure against terrorist bombing or industrial explosions. Current practice in analysis and design of structures to withstand explosive loads uses either empirical methods or a simplified structure model. In many cases, engineers need to know the structure response in more detail in order to protect the structure an ....NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC REPONSE AND DAMAGE OF FRAME STRUCTURES TO EXPLOSIVE LOADS. Understanding structural response to explosive loads is essential to protect critical infrastructure against terrorist bombing or industrial explosions. Current practice in analysis and design of structures to withstand explosive loads uses either empirical methods or a simplified structure model. In many cases, engineers need to know the structure response in more detail in order to protect the structure and plan evacuation procedures. This project will study the response and damage mechanism of structures to explosive loads, and develop a numerical model to predict structural response and damage. It will have immediate and wide-ranging applications in defence, construction and mining engineering.Read moreRead less
PROBABILISTIC BRIDGE STRUCTURE CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY PREDICTION. Bridge failures have occasionally been reported around the world. Condition assessment of bridges is vital to maintain their safety. It is difficult to assess quantitatively the deterioration and damage using traditional methods. Vibration-based methods are very sensitive to noise in vibration measurement and error in finite element modelling. This project will study the effects of measurement noises and f ....PROBABILISTIC BRIDGE STRUCTURE CONDITION ASSESSMENT AND LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY PREDICTION. Bridge failures have occasionally been reported around the world. Condition assessment of bridges is vital to maintain their safety. It is difficult to assess quantitatively the deterioration and damage using traditional methods. Vibration-based methods are very sensitive to noise in vibration measurement and error in finite element modelling. This project will study the effects of measurement noises and finite element model errors on bridge condition assessment, and develop improved techniques for predicting load carrying capacities of bridges. The technique developed will be applied to Main Roads WA bridges, will also be applicable to the assessment of other types of structures.Read moreRead less
Experimental and numerical study of dynamic properties of concrete and fibre reinforced concrete materials. Recent disastrous examples of life and economy loss due to terrorist action or accident explosion include Bali bombing and Western Australia gas explosion. Reliable prediction of structure response to blast and impact loads is essential for life and economy protection against such loads. This project will perform laboratory tests and numerical simulations to study the construction material ....Experimental and numerical study of dynamic properties of concrete and fibre reinforced concrete materials. Recent disastrous examples of life and economy loss due to terrorist action or accident explosion include Bali bombing and Western Australia gas explosion. Reliable prediction of structure response to blast and impact loads is essential for life and economy protection against such loads. This project will perform laboratory tests and numerical simulations to study the construction material properties under dynamic loading conditions, and develop numerical models for accurate predictions of structure response to blast loads. The project contributes to the integrated effort for a secure Australia. It will result in enormous savings from conducting blast tests and will have applications in civil, mining and defence engineering.Read moreRead less
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