Assessment of structural integrity and deterioration of masonry walls. Brickwork for housing and medium-rise buildings is a traditional material, also much used for modern construction, with aesthetic appeal and modest cost. However, building regulators and others are increasingly concerned about evidence of slow building deterioration, particularly of older buildings. This increases public safety risks, even under normal conditions and more so under high winds or earthquake-induced ground-shaki ....Assessment of structural integrity and deterioration of masonry walls. Brickwork for housing and medium-rise buildings is a traditional material, also much used for modern construction, with aesthetic appeal and modest cost. However, building regulators and others are increasingly concerned about evidence of slow building deterioration, particularly of older buildings. This increases public safety risks, even under normal conditions and more so under high winds or earthquake-induced ground-shaking. This project will help address this issue. It will obtain unbiased evidence of typical masonry building deterioration. It will couple this with mathematical modelling and state-of-the-art non-destructive visual and dynamic techniques to develop tools for making fast, low-cost practical building risk assessments.Read moreRead less
Advancing the Australian specialty alloy processing capability. This project aims to advance Australia’s specialty alloy processing capability by developing novel processing routes to overcome current bottlenecks that prevent supply meeting demand. New knowledge will be generated on alternative means of the processing of Rene 41, a Nickel-based superalloy with limited formability through a comprehensive experimental and modelling-based research program. Rene 41 is strategically important for man ....Advancing the Australian specialty alloy processing capability. This project aims to advance Australia’s specialty alloy processing capability by developing novel processing routes to overcome current bottlenecks that prevent supply meeting demand. New knowledge will be generated on alternative means of the processing of Rene 41, a Nickel-based superalloy with limited formability through a comprehensive experimental and modelling-based research program. Rene 41 is strategically important for manufacturing next generation turbofan engines. The expected outcome is the identification of innovative processing routes to provide stronger, defect-free specialty alloys for aerospace applications, vital to Australia’s advanced manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Sulphate sensor for reverse osmosis integrity and performance monitoring. Sulphate sensor for reverse osmosis integrity and performance monitoring. This project aims to investigate new chemical sensors for sulphate for online reverse osmosis integrity and performance monitoring at an advanced water recycling plant. Wastewater re-use is increasingly important in Australia and worldwide for providing potable water. Demonstrating the integrity and performance of treatment technologies is needed to ....Sulphate sensor for reverse osmosis integrity and performance monitoring. Sulphate sensor for reverse osmosis integrity and performance monitoring. This project aims to investigate new chemical sensors for sulphate for online reverse osmosis integrity and performance monitoring at an advanced water recycling plant. Wastewater re-use is increasingly important in Australia and worldwide for providing potable water. Demonstrating the integrity and performance of treatment technologies is needed to meet health regulations. Sulphate and other surrogates of biological entities enable a rapid, on-line approach to integrity and performance monitoring, but detection with available analytical chemical technology is not feasible. This research is expected to enable better management of water treatment processes and demonstrate compliance to health standards.Read moreRead less
Where to find giant porphyry and epithermal gold and copper deposits. This project will determine when and where giant gold or copper deposits should form, consolidating links with Indonesia, and using South East Asia as a vast natural laboratory in which to examine the effect of large-scale tectonic processes. The project will produce a four-dimensional virtual exploration toolkit to show how to apply the methods.
Sustainable and robust Australian Ni-based superalloy manufacturing. This project aims to solve challenges related to microstructural defect formation in the manufacturing of a critical Ni-based superalloy. It will generate new knowledge on its microstructure evolution and defect origin via a combined experimental and computational approach. Expected outcomes are advanced manufacturing routes with higher yield of defect free materials, using more scrap as input. This will enable robust and susta ....Sustainable and robust Australian Ni-based superalloy manufacturing. This project aims to solve challenges related to microstructural defect formation in the manufacturing of a critical Ni-based superalloy. It will generate new knowledge on its microstructure evolution and defect origin via a combined experimental and computational approach. Expected outcomes are advanced manufacturing routes with higher yield of defect free materials, using more scrap as input. This will enable robust and sustainable alloy manufacturing for power generation, defence, and aerospace industries. Commercial benefits are opportunities to domestically source alloys with reduced dependency on international trade. Environmental and societal benefits include lower emissions due to better mechanical design and workforce training.Read moreRead less
Hyper-accumulations of monosulfidic sediments: Exploring a biogeochemical extreme to resolve fundamental sulfur biomineralisation pathways. The hyper-accumulation of monosulfidic sediments has a directsocial, economic and environmental impact on communities in many parts of Australia, including highly valued wetland systems such as the Ramsar wetlands of the lower Murray Darling Basin and internationally recognised Peel-Harvey Estuary of WA. Maintenance dredging of these materials alone costs th ....Hyper-accumulations of monosulfidic sediments: Exploring a biogeochemical extreme to resolve fundamental sulfur biomineralisation pathways. The hyper-accumulation of monosulfidic sediments has a directsocial, economic and environmental impact on communities in many parts of Australia, including highly valued wetland systems such as the Ramsar wetlands of the lower Murray Darling Basin and internationally recognised Peel-Harvey Estuary of WA. Maintenance dredging of these materials alone costs the nation millions of dollars annually. The hyper monosulfidic sediments are also linked to severe environmental impacts. This project will inform how these materials develop and accumulate. This new knowledge will be of immediate relevance for the management of eutrophic estuaries.Read moreRead less
Novel Hydrophobic Concrete for Durable and Resilient Mining Infrastructure. The mining field is harsh with various corrosive media that cause rapid deterioration and ageing of concrete. This project aims to develop a novel hydrophobic concrete with integrated water-proofing and self-healing capacities and optimise its efficacy and cost-effectiveness for durable and resilient mining infrastructure using hybrid water-repellent nanoparticles and raw crystalline admixtures. The new hydrophobic concr ....Novel Hydrophobic Concrete for Durable and Resilient Mining Infrastructure. The mining field is harsh with various corrosive media that cause rapid deterioration and ageing of concrete. This project aims to develop a novel hydrophobic concrete with integrated water-proofing and self-healing capacities and optimise its efficacy and cost-effectiveness for durable and resilient mining infrastructure using hybrid water-repellent nanoparticles and raw crystalline admixtures. The new hydrophobic concrete is expected to significantly improve structural safety, durability, and service life of mining infrastructure while simultaneously reducing protection costs, repair needs, and reconstruction. The outcomes will offer desirable benefits for Australia’s mining industry, with significant reductions in maintenance costs.Read moreRead less
Structural assembly for remote housing using fibre reinforced composites. This project aims to address construction challenges in remote housing by off-site manufacturing and on-site assembly using fibre reinforced composites and digital made-to-measure approach. Its goal is to generate interdisciplinary knowledge and practical technologies for reliable, affordable and durable housing in remote harsh environments. Intended results include innovative connections and systems with valuable understa ....Structural assembly for remote housing using fibre reinforced composites. This project aims to address construction challenges in remote housing by off-site manufacturing and on-site assembly using fibre reinforced composites and digital made-to-measure approach. Its goal is to generate interdisciplinary knowledge and practical technologies for reliable, affordable and durable housing in remote harsh environments. Intended results include innovative connections and systems with valuable understanding of their performances under various loading scenarios and accurate digital visualization for remote construction. The outcomes expect to unlock remote development, enhance our competitive strengths for manufacturing and construction industries, and further offer new solutions in post-disaster recovery applications.Read moreRead less
Novel semio-chemical approach to control the Australian Sheep Blowfly . The Australian Federal Government through the 'Smart Farming' initiative highlights the need for improved multidisciplinary measures in order to remain at the global forefront of the invention and adoption of technology. This multidisciplinary project (entomology, biotechnology, analytical chemistry and genomics) will rapidly inform the management of fly strike on an important Australian resource merino sheep. This will bui ....Novel semio-chemical approach to control the Australian Sheep Blowfly . The Australian Federal Government through the 'Smart Farming' initiative highlights the need for improved multidisciplinary measures in order to remain at the global forefront of the invention and adoption of technology. This multidisciplinary project (entomology, biotechnology, analytical chemistry and genomics) will rapidly inform the management of fly strike on an important Australian resource merino sheep. This will build the key biochemical data in order to develop a novel fly lure technology (at scale) to be used on farm delivering national benefit through improved animal welfare and safety considerations for producers, and will establish the best approach to disseminate this scientific information to stakeholders such as farmers.Read moreRead less
Concentrating solar thermal energy storage using metal hydrides. This project will investigate energy storage for concentrating solar thermal energy systems. These systems can be used to efficiently generate electricity in remote locations, day and night, using solar energy. The solar energy is converted to heat energy and then chemical energy stored in a metal-hydrogen compound.