Behaviour and design of concrete-filled stainless steel tubular columns at ambient and elevated temperatures. Stainless steel is recognised as an advanced construction material for its merits of corrosion resistance, attractive appearance and ease of maintenance. It has enormous potential for use in steel-concrete composite construction, which will provide the structural engineering community with greater choice in terms of aesthetics, constructability, cost and sustainability. The research put ....Behaviour and design of concrete-filled stainless steel tubular columns at ambient and elevated temperatures. Stainless steel is recognised as an advanced construction material for its merits of corrosion resistance, attractive appearance and ease of maintenance. It has enormous potential for use in steel-concrete composite construction, which will provide the structural engineering community with greater choice in terms of aesthetics, constructability, cost and sustainability. The research put forward in this proposal will promote the better use of stainless steel in Australia's building, bridge and offshore infrastructure, thereby providing significant socio-economic benefits to Australia. Moreover it will greatly increase Australia's infrastructure maintenance capability.Read moreRead less
Structure-property relationships in compositionally complex alloys. Physical metallurgy has entered a new era of compositionally complex metallic alloys that show unprecedented combinations of mechanical properties enabling the design of more energy-efficient and economically viable applications. This project aims to generate new knowledge about how locally-resolved, nano-scale atomic arrangements control macroscopic deformation behavior in these materials and develop a fundamental understanding ....Structure-property relationships in compositionally complex alloys. Physical metallurgy has entered a new era of compositionally complex metallic alloys that show unprecedented combinations of mechanical properties enabling the design of more energy-efficient and economically viable applications. This project aims to generate new knowledge about how locally-resolved, nano-scale atomic arrangements control macroscopic deformation behavior in these materials and develop a fundamental understanding of their processing-structure-fracture toughness relationships. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capacity to design materials with damage-tolerant properties superior to existing alloys from bottom up, thereby allowing for commercial benefits throughout transportation, defense, and biomedical device sectors.Read moreRead less
Robust cement-based sensors for smart automation in future infrastructure. Infrastructural health and operation monitoring are core parts of managing built assets. The project aims to develop robust cement-based sensors with integrated self-sensing and hydrophobicity, and to optimise their robustness and resilience for smart automation in future infrastructure. The new sensors are expected to more accurately assess structural health, monitor traffic-flow, decrease the costs of operation and main ....Robust cement-based sensors for smart automation in future infrastructure. Infrastructural health and operation monitoring are core parts of managing built assets. The project aims to develop robust cement-based sensors with integrated self-sensing and hydrophobicity, and to optimise their robustness and resilience for smart automation in future infrastructure. The new sensors are expected to more accurately assess structural health, monitor traffic-flow, decrease the costs of operation and maintenance through enhanced piezoresistivity and serviceability, and gain insights into intrinsic self-sensing and integral water repellency. The outcomes will improve predictions of performance and service, with major reductions in asset management costs through significantly more-efficient operation and maintenance.Read moreRead less
Adaptive structural systems for high-performance buildings. This project aims to develop adaptive structural systems for high-performance buildings. A new theoretical platform will be instrumental in the development of building technologies such as adaptive shading and ventilation components. In a reversal of the conventional design avoidance of structural phenomena such as lateral and flexural-torsional buckling, these phenomena will be exploited to achieve functional forms for shading componen ....Adaptive structural systems for high-performance buildings. This project aims to develop adaptive structural systems for high-performance buildings. A new theoretical platform will be instrumental in the development of building technologies such as adaptive shading and ventilation components. In a reversal of the conventional design avoidance of structural phenomena such as lateral and flexural-torsional buckling, these phenomena will be exploited to achieve functional forms for shading components. Thin-metal ventilation ducts will be embedded within structural components to produce optimised ventilation strategies and to increase thermal mass, while accounting for their structural contribution.Read moreRead less
Mechanics of micro/nanoscale multilayers: theories and applications. The purpose of the project is to develop novel theoretical models, advanced numerical techniques and guidelines for the design and application of micro/nanoscale multilayers. The expected outcomes are fundamental contributions to the knowledge base of micro/nanoscale multilayered materials which are increasingly used in micro/nanotechnology.
Dynamically responding metals: a new generation of engineering alloys. The manufacture of engineering metals is a major Australian industry and the worldwide metal manufacturing sector is estimated to be worth $1 trillion USD per annum. Advanced materials and, particularly the light metals, are both designated national research priority areas. The availability of new classes of metals with greatly improved combinations of properties will profoundly affect not only metal use by existing industry, ....Dynamically responding metals: a new generation of engineering alloys. The manufacture of engineering metals is a major Australian industry and the worldwide metal manufacturing sector is estimated to be worth $1 trillion USD per annum. Advanced materials and, particularly the light metals, are both designated national research priority areas. The availability of new classes of metals with greatly improved combinations of properties will profoundly affect not only metal use by existing industry, through the introduction of new, stronger and safer metal grades, but also allows for new engineering designs which will lead, for example, to lighter and more efficient automobiles and more sustainable construction.Read moreRead less
Nanostructured Upconvertors for Advanced Solar Energy Harvesting. The efficiency of many solar energy conversion processes, such as solar photovoltaic and solar hydrogen, can be improved by management of the solar spectrum. One photon management strategy is up-conversion, whereby two lower energy, unusable photons are conjoined to bring about a higher energy photon. Photochemical up-conversion, where light harvesting and energy-pooling is performed in organic molecules, has been rapidly advanced ....Nanostructured Upconvertors for Advanced Solar Energy Harvesting. The efficiency of many solar energy conversion processes, such as solar photovoltaic and solar hydrogen, can be improved by management of the solar spectrum. One photon management strategy is up-conversion, whereby two lower energy, unusable photons are conjoined to bring about a higher energy photon. Photochemical up-conversion, where light harvesting and energy-pooling is performed in organic molecules, has been rapidly advanced in recent years, and promises to deliver the efficiencies required to find real-world application. This project brings together laser spectroscopy, organic and materials chemistry and nanotechnology to realise efficient up-convertors which will be applied to solar cells and solar fuels.Read moreRead less
Expanding the molecular tool set for structural studies of proteins and their complexes. Many applications in medical science and drug development depend on our ability to determine the 3D structures of proteins, protein assemblies and protein-ligand complexes. This project will develop novel lanthanide-binding tags and crosslinking agents that can be coupled to unnatural amino acids introduced into proteins with advanced protein chemistry techniques. These new tools will facilitate the collecti ....Expanding the molecular tool set for structural studies of proteins and their complexes. Many applications in medical science and drug development depend on our ability to determine the 3D structures of proteins, protein assemblies and protein-ligand complexes. This project will develop novel lanthanide-binding tags and crosslinking agents that can be coupled to unnatural amino acids introduced into proteins with advanced protein chemistry techniques. These new tools will facilitate the collection of structure restraints by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and mass spectrometry, which are needed to generate accurate models of proteins and their complexes with other molecules. Major beneficial outcome will include an increase in the number of protein targets amenable to rational drug design and improved methods for generating new drug leads.Read moreRead less
Erosion processes in soils across scales. This project aims to develop a monitoring tool for predicting the evolution of internal erosion in dams based on innovative electromagnetic observation methods. Internal erosion is an insidious process occurring in the obscurity of the soil’s pore system until its consequences become visible and threaten the stability of the dams. These water retaining structures are vital for the future water and energy supply for our society and their failure can be ca ....Erosion processes in soils across scales. This project aims to develop a monitoring tool for predicting the evolution of internal erosion in dams based on innovative electromagnetic observation methods. Internal erosion is an insidious process occurring in the obscurity of the soil’s pore system until its consequences become visible and threaten the stability of the dams. These water retaining structures are vital for the future water and energy supply for our society and their failure can be catastrophic. By establishing an improved understanding of internal erosion as a sequence of processes on various scales, from the onset of erosion until the failure of the structure, this project will place Australia at the forefront of dam safety assessment.Read moreRead less
Single-molecule optofluidics: streamlining high-throughput engineering and analysis of proteins and protein assemblies. This project aims at creating novel technologies for high-throughput engineering and analysis of proteins with single-molecule sensitivity. The platform will considerably accelerate the generation of protein-based diagnostics, new vaccines and therapeutics; it will foster collaborations with industry putting Australia at the forefront of protein research.