Synthesis of Novel Nanostructured Ternary Carbide Composites. This research will lead to (a) new advances and provide contribution of new knowledge to the Priority Research Areas of Advanced Materials; (b) a novel vacuum heat-treatment process for nanostructured materials design. This will offer the ceramics industry in Australia a new technology for producing wear- and heat-resistant components for advanced engineering applications. (c) design of new layer-graded materials with a unique combina ....Synthesis of Novel Nanostructured Ternary Carbide Composites. This research will lead to (a) new advances and provide contribution of new knowledge to the Priority Research Areas of Advanced Materials; (b) a novel vacuum heat-treatment process for nanostructured materials design. This will offer the ceramics industry in Australia a new technology for producing wear- and heat-resistant components for advanced engineering applications. (c) design of new layer-graded materials with a unique combination of hardness for wear resistance and toughness for damage tolerance. This will enable the ceramics industry in Australia to compete internationally in the business of advanced and high performance ceramic products.Read moreRead less
The Influence of Cement Type, Age and Curing Conditions on the Flexural Capacity of Masonry Walls. The use of cements containing waste products such as fly ash and blast surface slag has increased markedly. This has desirable environmental and economic consequences, but the influence of these cements on the bond strength of masonry constructed from mortars containing these cements is unknown and in urgent need of clarification. This investigation studies this effect as well as the influence of ....The Influence of Cement Type, Age and Curing Conditions on the Flexural Capacity of Masonry Walls. The use of cements containing waste products such as fly ash and blast surface slag has increased markedly. This has desirable environmental and economic consequences, but the influence of these cements on the bond strength of masonry constructed from mortars containing these cements is unknown and in urgent need of clarification. This investigation studies this effect as well as the influence of age and curing conditions on masonry flexural strength at both a fundamental and applied level, thus allowing the impact of the use of mortars containing these cements on actual building performance to be assessed.Read moreRead less
Miniature triaxial tests to investigate effects of pore fluid salt concentration on the mechanics of clays. Mitigating the land degradation caused by salinity is a national priority. In the urban environment salinity and the associated waterlogging have the potential to seriously degrade infrastructure and domestic housing. Currently the effects of salinity on the mechanical response of the ground are not well understood and there is a paucity of engineering models capable of predicting ground b ....Miniature triaxial tests to investigate effects of pore fluid salt concentration on the mechanics of clays. Mitigating the land degradation caused by salinity is a national priority. In the urban environment salinity and the associated waterlogging have the potential to seriously degrade infrastructure and domestic housing. Currently the effects of salinity on the mechanical response of the ground are not well understood and there is a paucity of engineering models capable of predicting ground behaviour. This project aims to address this situation by providing new knowledge and understanding of how changes in salt concentration affect the soil, and by developing models capable of predicting the observed behaviour. This will assist in the development of rational approaches to mitigate the effects of salinity.Read moreRead less
Erosion of variably saturated soils - a fundamental investigation. Soil erosion is a serious problem in Australia and internationally. Each year 75 billion tones of soil are removed due to erosion causing siltation and reduced storage capacity of reservoirs (and in some cases dam failures), while reducing agriculture productivity. Also, the internal erosion of dams has historically resulted in about 1 in 200 dams failing. This project will develop a framework for understanding the initiation, pr ....Erosion of variably saturated soils - a fundamental investigation. Soil erosion is a serious problem in Australia and internationally. Each year 75 billion tones of soil are removed due to erosion causing siltation and reduced storage capacity of reservoirs (and in some cases dam failures), while reducing agriculture productivity. Also, the internal erosion of dams has historically resulted in about 1 in 200 dams failing. This project will develop a framework for understanding the initiation, progression and rate of erosion of soils including previously overlooked parameters. It will significantly advance the ability to manage and predict soil erosion. Engineers, land management authorities and dam owners will benefit directly through the development of new experimental and predictive tools.Read moreRead less
Mechanics of dynamic loading and rapid penetration of soils. The project will produce improved understanding and new numerical tools that will permit cost effective simulation and modelling of rapid penetration of objects into the ground, and of the compaction processes used on the majority of construction sites. The free fall penetrometer will be developed to enable soil strength to be determined at remote sites, e.g. ocean seabed, jungles, swamps. The project will also assist in the selection ....Mechanics of dynamic loading and rapid penetration of soils. The project will produce improved understanding and new numerical tools that will permit cost effective simulation and modelling of rapid penetration of objects into the ground, and of the compaction processes used on the majority of construction sites. The free fall penetrometer will be developed to enable soil strength to be determined at remote sites, e.g. ocean seabed, jungles, swamps. The project will also assist in the selection of compaction equipment and procedures.Read moreRead less
Evolution of Contact Damage in Layer Structures. Brittle layer structures (eg brittle coating on ceramic substrate) can be much more damage tolerant than their constituent material components - cracks tend to remain contained within the coating. Very little is known about the factors that control this behaviour. This project will exploit unique local expertise in modelling damage evolution to fill a niche in a large study being carried out at the National Institute of Standards (NIST) in the U ....Evolution of Contact Damage in Layer Structures. Brittle layer structures (eg brittle coating on ceramic substrate) can be much more damage tolerant than their constituent material components - cracks tend to remain contained within the coating. Very little is known about the factors that control this behaviour. This project will exploit unique local expertise in modelling damage evolution to fill a niche in a large study being carried out at the National Institute of Standards (NIST) in the U.S.A. An understanding of the factors that maximise the containment of cracks is essential to the design and development of the next generation of advanced layer composites for many biomechanical and other engineering applications.Read moreRead less
Grain-boundary sliding in high-temperature ceramics: mechanical spectroscopy of high-purity magnesium oxide. The demise of elastic behaviour in materials stressed at sufficiently high temperature limits the usefulness of ceramics for structural applications, and is also responsible for reduced wave speeds and associated attenuation of seismic waves in the Earth's interior. Yet the nature of the transition in fine-grained materials tested at high temperature from elastic through anelastic to vis ....Grain-boundary sliding in high-temperature ceramics: mechanical spectroscopy of high-purity magnesium oxide. The demise of elastic behaviour in materials stressed at sufficiently high temperature limits the usefulness of ceramics for structural applications, and is also responsible for reduced wave speeds and associated attenuation of seismic waves in the Earth's interior. Yet the nature of the transition in fine-grained materials tested at high temperature from elastic through anelastic to viscous rheology remains poorly understood. Through a combination of mechanical testing by torsional forced oscillation/ microcreep methods of carefully fabricated and characterised specimens of polycrystalline MgO and associated micro-mechanical modelling we seek to clarify this fundamental and general aspect of high-temperature mechanical behaviour.Read moreRead less
The mechanics of healing and self-healing in clayey soils. This project aims to develop an experimentally-validated theory of healing and self-healing in clay and determine clay-polymer mixtures that heal cracks and fissures in clay. Healing of fissures will improve strength and reduce hydraulic conductivity, which will reduce risks associated with construction on fissured clay and make clay barrier systems in dehydrating environments more reliable. The project’s observations of crack healing ar ....The mechanics of healing and self-healing in clayey soils. This project aims to develop an experimentally-validated theory of healing and self-healing in clay and determine clay-polymer mixtures that heal cracks and fissures in clay. Healing of fissures will improve strength and reduce hydraulic conductivity, which will reduce risks associated with construction on fissured clay and make clay barrier systems in dehydrating environments more reliable. The project’s observations of crack healing are expected to advance understanding of this phenomenon of soil mechanics and of geotechnical applications where cracking can occur, such as in foundation design, waste containment, slope stability and embankment dams.Read moreRead less
Boundary Effects on Bridging-Stress/Crack-Opening Relationship and Specific Fracture Energy. This project is to investigate the boundary/interface influence on fracture/material properties of composites and thin layered structures along crack path to free boundary and bi-material interface. The local fracture energy dissipation along crack path is emphasised and used to study the boundary influence on the cohesive law - the relationship between crack bridging stress and crack opening displaceme ....Boundary Effects on Bridging-Stress/Crack-Opening Relationship and Specific Fracture Energy. This project is to investigate the boundary/interface influence on fracture/material properties of composites and thin layered structures along crack path to free boundary and bi-material interface. The local fracture energy dissipation along crack path is emphasised and used to study the boundary influence on the cohesive law - the relationship between crack bridging stress and crack opening displacement. New fracture mechanics model is proposed that incorporates the boundary/interface influence and the more popular size effect. The new boundary/interface effect model will be more relevant to modern materials applications related to layered ceramics, thin films, coatings in electronic and bio-medical applications.Read moreRead less
Improved seismic resilience against life-safety hazard of masonry buildings. This project aims to develop a cost-effective technique to mitigate the safety risk posed by the many unreinforced brick masonry parapets and walls which are vulnerable to seismic shock. Every Australian city has many streets lined with older unreinforced brick masonry buildings (now cafes, pubs, boutique shops) which feature parapets. The project will provide benefits to society by reducing the potential for parapet co ....Improved seismic resilience against life-safety hazard of masonry buildings. This project aims to develop a cost-effective technique to mitigate the safety risk posed by the many unreinforced brick masonry parapets and walls which are vulnerable to seismic shock. Every Australian city has many streets lined with older unreinforced brick masonry buildings (now cafes, pubs, boutique shops) which feature parapets. The project will provide benefits to society by reducing the potential for parapet collapse and therefore reduce the total number of fatalities in an earthquake. Building owners and engineers will be benefit from the design guidance provided by this project, which will lead to a suite of fully-tested and low-cost retrofit techniques.Read moreRead less