UNSW CIES CENTRE Annual Report 2014

CIES - Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and Safety Annual Report 2014

Never Stand Still Faculty of Engineering School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

2015 CIES - Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and SafetySchool of Civil and Environmental EngineeringThe University of New South WalesSydney NSW 2052AustraliaCRICOS Provider Code 00098G

Address CIES - Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and SafetySchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering (H20)UNSW AustraliaUNSW Sydney NSW 2052 Australia

Enquiries T +61 (0)2 9385 6853E [email protected] www.cies.unsw.edu.au

Project CoordinationIrene CalaizisWith grateful thanks to providers of text, stories and images.

Design Helena Brusi The Imagination Agency Pty Ltd [email protected]

PrintFAASTPRINT

CRICOS PROVIDER NUMBER: 00098G

Contents

Executive Reports

Funding & Finance

Research

Appendices

Activity Highlights

4

8

16

20

68

Directors Report ............................. 4Vision .............................................. 5The Centre ....................................... 6Centre Management ........................ 8

Distinguished Honours ................... 9CIES Funding Success .................... 11CIES Prominence ............................ 12Industry Activities ......................... 15International Profile ......................... 15

Research Funding Summary ........... 16Financial Statement 2014 ................ 18

CIES Research Success .................. 20Research Publications for 2014 ...... 20CIES Research Collaborations ......... 20Staff Research & Teaching .............. 21Selected Research ........................... 26

Research Publications ..................... 68International Visitors ....................... 75Postgraduate Research Students ..... 76PhD Students Graduands ............... 78

Directors Report

< 4> CIES - CENTRE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING AND SAFETY - ANNUAL REPORT 2014

It is with great pleasure that I write this Directors Report for the Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and Safety (CIES) for 2014. The annual report this year again focus-es on the mission of the centre, its governance structure and finances and then highlights the progress of funded national projects. In addition, the report summarises the publications produced by staff and students throughout 2014.

The annual CIES Symposium was held again on Thursday 6th November 2014 with the theme: National Road and Rail Infrastructure - Structural Engineering Perspectives for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure. The sym-posium brought together an array of local, national and international leaders working in the area of road and rail infrastructure to try and bring a focus to this issue and the potential remedies to this situation. Engineers Australia has compiled two National Infrastructure Report Cards, in 2005 and 2010. For both of these exercises, road and rail infrastructure were found to be the most poorly performed of the nations infrastructure systems. The speakers dis-cussed the current state of these systems, the areas of primary need and future areas of research and potential government investment. Inherent in much of this future investment is that structures must be both sustainable and resilient. Another area of increasing focus in the area of infrastructure systems is the use of technology and the increased potential for the use of structural health moni-toring which is also being carried out in our centre.

November saw the announcement of the highly competi-tive Australian Research Council (ARC) grants. CIES was once again extremely successful with ten staff featuring on five ARC Grants totalling close to $2 million for 2015.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our CIES staff and students for their outstanding contributions to the continued success of the centre, as well as our Steering Committee and Industry Advisory Committee for the important role they play in shaping and supporting the CIES activities. I do hope you enjoy reading about all these important activities and events of the Centre and I look forward to reporting on more exciting research and successes in the 2015 annual report. If you are interested in keeping up to date with our activities throughout the year, may I direct you to our website at: www.cies.unsw.edu.au.

PROFESSOR BRIAN UY,

BE PhD UNSW, CPEng, CEng, PE, MIEAust, MASCE, MIStructE, FICE, MAICD

As an internationally recognised research centre our vision is to provide outcomes that improve the design, construction and maintenance of economic, effective and safe civil engineering infrastructure that enhances the quality of human life in a sustainable way

Vision

CIES - CENTRE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING AND SAFETY - ANNUAL REPORT 2014 < 5>

The Centre



The Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and Safety is focused on high-level re-search in structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, engineering materials and computational mechanics. Specifically, we apply our skills to engineering and safety assessments and with the risk management of buildings, bridges, dams, roads and other infrastructure when subjected to both in-service conditions and overload (or limit) conditions, such as may occur in fire, earthquake, cyclone or blast situations, or when structures are exposed to hostile environments. The centre aims to promote multi-disciplinary collaboration across the Faculties of Engineering, Science and the Built Environment at UNSW and to foster international and interdis-ciplinary research partnerships.

CIES: Q Is an established world-class interdisciplinary research team, supported by ad-

vanced analytical, computational and experimental techniques and facilities, and underpinned by structural and geotechnical engineering expertise, in the field of infrastructure engineering and mechanics.

Q Provides a forum for research engineers and scientists from various disciplines to exchange ideas and to develop and lead collaborative research programs.

Q Provides a platform for the submission of highly-competitive nationally peer-as-sessed research grant funding applications, specifically through the Australian Research Councils Discovery and Linkage Project schemes and for the develop-ment of proposals for research funding from industry.

Q Promotes the application of research outcomes and deliverables to industry.

Q Contributes to the education and training of high-quality postgraduate students in a wide range of relevant disciplines in engineering and applied science, and provides an outstanding research and learning environment.

Centre Management

The UNSW Centre for Infra-structure Engineering and Safety was managed in 2014 by an Executive Committee comprising of the CIES Director, Research Director, two Deputy Directors and the Centre Manager. The committee met on a regular basis to discuss strategy, performance and research opportunities.

In addition, input to CIES management is provided by the CIES Academic Group.

CIES StaffDirectorProfessor Brian Uy, BE PhD UNSW CPEng, CEng, PE, MIEAust, MASCE, MIStructE, FICE, MAICD

Research DirectorScientia Professor Mark Bradford, BSc BE PhD Syd DSc UNSW FTSE PEng CPEng CEng Dist. MASCE, FIEAust, FIStructE, MAICD

Deputy DirectorsEmeritus Professor Ian Gil-bert, BE PhD UNSW CPEng FIEAust MACI

Professor Chongmin Song, BE ME Tsinghua, DEng Tokyo

Centre ManagementCentre ManagerIrene Calaizis, BCom UNSW

Administrative OfficerPatricia Karwan

Other AcademicsProfessor Stephen Foster, BE NSWIT, MEngSc PhD UNSW, FIEAust

Professor Nasser Khalili, BSc Teh MSc Birm PhD UNSW

Professor Yong Lin Pi, BE Tongji ME Wuhan PhD UNSW CPEng MIEAust

A/Professor Mario Attard BE PhD MHEd UNSW, MIEAust, CPEng

A/Professor Arnaud Castel BE, MEngSc, PhD Toulouse

A/Professor Wei Gao BE HDU, ME PhD Xidian, MIIAV, MAASA/Professor Linlin Ge, PhD UNSW, MSc Inst of Seismol-ogy, BEng WTUSM

A/Professor Adrian Russell BE, PhD UNSW, PGCert Bristol

Dr Carolin Birk BE DEng Dresden

Dr Kurt Douglas BE Syd. PhD UNSW, MIEAust

Dr Ehab Hamed, BSc MSc PhD Technion

Dr Arman Khoshghalb BE ME Sharif Uni of Tech, PhD UNSW

Dr Kostas Senetakis, BEng, MSc, PhD AUTh

Dr Hossein Taiebat BSc Isfa-han M.E.S. PhD Syd

Dr Sawekchai Tangaram-vong BEng Chulalongkorn, MEngSc PhD UNSW, MIEAust

Dr Hamid Vali Pour Goudarzi BSc MSc Tehran, PhD UNSW

Dr Ghaofeng Zhao,BSc MSc CUMT, PhD EPFL

Other Research Staff (alpha-betical order)

Dr Ankit Agarwal, B-Tech IIT Kanpur PhD UNSW

Dr Farhad Aslani, BSC, MSc, PhD UTSDr Huiyong Ban BE PhD Tsinghua University, Beijing

Dr Zhen-Tian Chang, BE ME Hunan PhD UNSW

Dr Yue Huang, BE MPhil CityU HK, PhD UNSW

Dr David Kellerman BE, PhD UNSW

Dr Inamullah Khan, BE MEngSc PhD University ofToulouse

Dr Nima Khorsandnia, BSc MSc BIHE, PhD UTS

Dr Brendan Kirkland BE PhD UWS

Dr Jean Xiaojin Li, PhD UNSW, BEng WTUSM

Dr Xinpei Liu BE SCUT, MEngSc MPhil PhD UNSW

Dr Michael Man, BE PhD UNSW

Dr Sundararajan Natarajan BE Mech Eng, PhD Cardiff

Dr Alex Hay-Man Ng, PhD UNSW, MEngSc UNSW, BE UNSW

Dr Ean Tat Ooi, BE UTM, PhD NTU

Dr Vipulkumar Patel, BE, ME, PhD VU

Dr Saeed Salimzadeh, BSc MSc Sharif SU) PhD UNSW

Dr Babak Shahbodaghkhan, BSc.IKIU, MSc. Univ. of Tehran, PhD Kyoto Univ.

Dr Hossein Talebi, BSc, MSc, PhD Bauhaus-Universi-ty Weimar BUW

Dr Tai H. Thai, BE ME HC-MUT, PhD Sejong

Dr Thanh Vo, BE/BCom Syd, MEngSc, PhD UNSW

Dr Guotao Yang, BE PhD Tongji

Technical TeamJohn GilbertGreg WorthingRon Moncay

Emeritus ProfessorSomasundaram Valliappan BE Annam, MS North-eastern, PhD DSc Wales, CPEng, FASCE, FIACM

Francis Tin-Loi BE PhD Monash, CPEng MIEAust

UNSW MembersProfessor Alan CroskySchool of Materials Science & Engineering

Professor Gangadhara Prusty, School of Mechanical Engineering

Dr Mahmud AshrafSchool of Engineering and Information Technology (SEIT), UNSW Canberra.

Steering CommitteeThe Steering Committee meets throughout the year to oversee and monitor the progress of the Centre and to assist the Director in developing strategies to ensure that the goals and objectives of the Centre are realised.

The membership of the 2014 Steering Committee for the Centre was:

Professor Graham Davies, Dean, Faculty of Engineering (Chair)

Professor Stephen Foster, Head of School Civil and Environmental Engineering

Professor Brian Uy, Director, CIES

Scientia Professor Mark Bradford, Director of Research, CIES.

Professor Ian Gilbert, Deputy Director, CIES

Professor Chongmin Song, Deputy Director, CIES

Scientia Professor Deo Prasad, Faculty of the Built Environment

Scientia Professor Rose Amal, School of Chemical Sciences & Engineering

In Attendance: CIES Centre Manager Ms Irene Calaizis


Centre Activity Highlights

CIES MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS/DISTINGUISHED HONOURS

2014 Chandra S. Desai MedalCIES member Profes-sor Nasser Khalili was among the three recip-ients of the Chandra S Desai Medal awarded by the International As-sociation for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IAC-MAG) at its 14th con-ference, held in Kyoto, Japan.

The Chandra S Desai medal is the most pres-tigious medal awarded every three years by

the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG). The award felici-tates individuals who have made seminal contributions to research in geomechanics, particularly in computational modelling, advanced laboratory and field testing, comput-er methods and applications in geotechnical practice.

The citation received by Professor Khalili was for his out-standing contributions to experimental, constitutive and numerical modelling of unsaturated soils.


CIES RESEARCH FUNDING SUCCESS

CIES & UNSW Home to one of the worlds few Physical Blast Simulation facilities.Led by CIES Director Professor Brian Uy, representa-tives from 7 Australian Universities (incl UNSW) and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (part of Australias Department of Defence - as the Collaborat-ing Organisation), were successful in a bid for funding under the ARCs LIEF scheme which provides funding for research infrastructure, equipment and facilities.

The project is titled: National Facility for Physical Blast Simulation (NFPBS).

Recent terrorist attacks employing large quantities of high explosives have prompted the international demand for experimental investigation of civil infrastructure response to shock wave loadings.

The National Facility for Physical Blast Simulation (NFPBS) will be one of only a few in the world that will be suitable for conducting experimental research via a physically gen-erated blast approach.

CIES Receives Funding to Develop Blast Mitigation Technologies

CIES has received ARC Linkage Project funding to devel-op innovative Blast Mitigation Technologies.

CIES Director Professor Brian Uy along with colleagues from UWS and Qingdao Technological University in China were successful with the Shandong Zhihua Construc-tion Group Company in receiving close to $270,000 to carry out research on Development of novel viscoelastic sprayed material for the effective blast resistance of criti-cal and resource infrastructure .

The project will also utilise the National Facility for Physical Blast Simulation at UNSW.


CIES ARC LINKAGE Grant Success CIES Researchers Prof Nasser Khalili, Dr Arman Khosh-ghalb and Mr John A Rubsov - Engineering Services Man-ager, Roads & Maritime Services have been successful in securing an ARC Linkage for the period 2014-2017.

The project titled " Experimental investigation and consti-tutive modelling of weak rocks subject to mechanical and moisture degradation" aims to advance the experimental, theoretical and computational bases for the mechanics of weak rocks, and will provide scientists and engineers with much-needed predictive tools for the quantitative eval-uation and assessment of their behaviour in geological settings.

Best of the best School and CIES - one of the highest UNSW achievers in ARC research grantsThe School and CIES remained at the top of the research game having won ARC grants in the latest round (with funding to commence in 2015). With 4 new Discovery grants and 1 new LIEF grant, CIES won more than half the Schools total and more than any other research centre in its discipline nationwide. These wonderful results consoli-date CIES position as the leading infrastructure centre in Australia.

Discovery Project Grants:Professor Mark Bradford - DP 150100446 - To investi-gate the capacity of high-strength steel (HSS) flexural members by undertaking physical tests and numerical simulations, and proposes to craft innovative overarching design guidance for them within a paradigm of Design by Advanced Analysis.

Professor Stephen Foster & Dr Hamid Valipour - DP 150104107 - TO investigate the moment-rotation performance of steel fibre reinforced concrete ( SFRC) beam-column connections containing economical fibre dosages.

Associate Professor Adrian Russell, Prof David Muir Wood DP 150104123 - To make discoveries for modelling initi-ation, rate of progression and consequences of seepage induced internal erosion through soils which make up critical water retaining infrastructure like dams

Professor Chongmin Song, Emeritus Professor Francis Tin-Loi, Dr Sawekchai Tangaramvong - DP 150103747 - To develop, directly from computer-aided design models or digital images, an automatic numerical simulation approach for the safety assessment of engineering struc-tures in three dimensions.

LIEF Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities Russell, A/Prof Adrian R; Khalili, Prof Nasser; Zhao, Dr GaoFeng; Khoshghalb, Dr Arman; Sloan, Prof Scott W; Kouretzis, Dr Georgios; Indraratna, Prof Buddhima N; Rujikiatkamjorn, A/Prof Cholachat; Cassidy, Prof Mark J; Gaudin, Prof Christophe; Williams, Prof David J; Scheuer-mann, Dr Alexander LE 150100130 - To develop Austral-ia's most advanced earthquake shaking table to investi-gate soil-structure interactions.

Dr Gaofeng Zhao and Professor Khalili were also involved in a successful LIEF grant (LE150100058) administered by Monash University.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Les Field welcomed the result.

This impressive result in ARC grants recognises the calibre of research underway at UNSW. Our position as number one in the country this year is a testament to the importance and impact of the work we are do-ing, he said.


CIES RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS

CIES Promoting Sustainable Concrete TechnologyCIES continues to promote a sustainable concrete tech-nology within the CRC for Low Carbon Living under the leadership of A/Professor Arnaud Castel and Professor Steve Foster.

In July 2014, this new project was approved by the CRC-LCL Board with a cash contribution of $1,100,000 in combination with the In-kind contributions from partner organisations of $1,900,000.

Geopolymer concrete has an 80% lower carbon footprint compared to the conventional Portland cement concrete.

Using field and laboratory data, a comprehensive Hand-book for geopolymer specification will be developed and published through Standards Australia.

Partner organisations include CIES at the UNSW, Swin-burne University of Technology, ADAA, ASA, AECOM, Sydney Water and Standards Australia. The project coordinators also obtained letters of support from the main Australian geopolymer concrete suppliers: Zeobond Pty Ltd, Wagners Concrete Pty Ltd, Milliken Infrastructure solutions as well as RMS Pavement Structures, Transport and Main Roads QLD, Vicroads.

CIES PROMINENCE

Plenary Meeting ISO TC 71 Concrete, Reinforced Concrete and Pre-Stressed Concrete Technical Committee

CIES & The Faculty of Engineering were major sponsors of the Plenary Meeting of ISO TC71 held in Sydney Janu-ary 2014.

As part of activities, CIES also hosted a workshop on: Robustness of Concrete Structures

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the worlds largest developer of voluntary International Standards and in Australia, is represented by Standards Australia - recognised by the Commonwealth Government as the nation's peak Standards body.

One of the 33 precast slag/fly ash-based geopolymer concrete floor parts for the World's first public building with structural Geopolymer Concrete at University of QLD. Credit: Wagners Australia http://www.wagner.com.au/news/wagners-efc-sets-new-standard-global-change-institute-building/


ASCE GOVERNORS' VISIT TO CIESIn February 2014, CIES hosted a visit by the Governors of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The visit included an inspection of the Heavy Structures Research Laboratory at Randwick, where it provided an excellent opportunity for our PhD students and staff to showcase CIESs structures activities to the top executive group of ASCE. Some PhD students had the good fortune to explain their work to the ASCE leaders.

CIES Research Director Professor Mark Bradford - one of ASCE's only two Australian Distinguished Members and also President-Elect of the ASCE Australia Section, was involved in this groups Australian visit. The ASCE dele-gation included its President and its Chief Executive and expressed positive feedback on the facilities at Randwick Heavy Structures Laboratory as well as the high calibre and groundbreaking research activity being carried out there.

UNSAT2014The best and brightest geo-technical engi-neering scholars and engineers visited Sydney during July 2014 to take part in the Sixth International Conference on

Unsaturated Soils. The event was chaired and organised by CIES academics Professor Nasser Khalili, Dr Arman Khoshghalb and Associate Professor Adrian Russell.

The conference was a great success, showcasing the latest research on unsaturated soils from around the world on topics including unsaturated soil behaviour, experimen-tation, modelling, case histories, multidisciplinary prob-

lems and emerging research areas.

ASCE Presidential visit: Professor Mark Bradford explaining some of the test work associated with his Australian Laureate Fellowship during the delegations visit to the Heavy Structures Research Laboratory at Randwick

Pictured: L-R Dr Arman Khoshghalb (secretary), Professor Nasser Khalili (chair) and Emeritus Professor Somasundaram Valliappan (honorary chair)


Impact and innovation peers recognise geotechnical engineering research at UNSWThe research of CIES geotechnical engineering aca-demics Professor Nasser Khalili and Associate Professor Adrian Russell has been awarded for its impact and innovation.

Professor Khalili received the Outstanding Paper Award for his constitutive modelling work presented in the paper A fully coupled flow deformation model for cyclic analysis of unsaturated soils including hydraulic and mechani-cal hysteresis. The paper, published in Computers and Geotechnics in 2008, was judged to have made a highly significant impact to geotechnical engineering, based on citations over a five year period and the opinion of the journals Editors.

A/Professor Adrian Russell received the International In-novation Award for his physical modelling research in the field of unsaturated soil mechanics. At UNSW A/Professor Russell developed with colleagues a calibration chamber, lateral earth pressure rig and shallow foundation rig to conduct full scale cone penetration tests, retaining wall tests and shallow foundation tests to study the influence of soil suction.

CIES 2014 Symposium - NATIONAL ROAD AND RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE - Structural Engineering Perspectives for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure

Scholarly WorksEmeritus Professor Ian Gilbert, Deputy Director of CIES, published his latest text book (CRC Press USA).

The book titled Structural Analysis Principles, Methods and Modelling is co-authored with A/Professor Gianluca Ranzi of the University of Sydney. It is intended as a text for undergraduate students of Civil or Structural Engineer-ing about to embark on the adventure of learning how to

analyse engineering structures. It provides a unique and in-depth treatment of structural analysis where fundamen-tal aspects and derivations of the analytical and numerical formulations are outlined and illustrated by numerous worked examples.

The November symposium brought together an array of local, national and international leaders working in the area of road and rail infrastructure to try and bring a focus to this issue and the potential remedies to this situation.

The speakers discussed the current state of road and rail infrastructure systems, the areas of primary need and future areas of research and potential government

investment. Inherent in much of this future investment is that struc-tures must be both sustainable and resilient.

The list of speakers included:

Ian Pedersen - Managing Director, Pedersen Engineers.

Professor Mark A Bradford CIES

A/Prof Alex Remennikov - UoW

Professor Stephen Foster - CIES

Professor Hong Hao - Curtin Uni-versity

Adj. Professor Wije Ariyaratne - RTA/RMS

Dr Stephen Hicks HERA NZ

Professor Tommy Chan - QUT

Professor Mark Stewart - The University of Newcastle

Mr Richard Hitch - Transport, NSWs Asset Standards Authority

Mr Peter Runcie - NICTA (National ICT Australia Ltd).


Industry Activities

CIES Industry Advisory Committee (IAC)The CIES IAC was established in 2011 to provide a mechanism for receiving input from industry stakeholders and the broader community on a wide range of planning issues.

The CIES IAC provides industrys views on the research directions of the Centre, on trends and directions within the profession, and on emerging technologies and oppor-tunities in the broad research areas of civil engineering infrastructure. From time to time, particular briefs will be provided to the CIES IAC to address specific issues that arise in the Centre and provide advice to the Director. In addition, the CIES IAC may raise issues that it would like to see addressed by the Centre.

The committee is comprised of the CIES Directors and representatives from the following companies:

AECOM, Unicon Systems, Pells Sullivan Meynink (PSM), Aurecon, BOSFA, HYDER, Australian Steel Institute, ARUP, ECLIPSE Consulting Engineers Pty Ltd, Laing ORourke

International ProfileThroughout 2014, CIES continued to attract senior aca-demic visitors on collaborative visits and also a program of delivering seminars which draw on international excel-lence and expertise.

Visitors included:Dr Xiaochun Fan Wuhan, University of Technology, China

Professor Guangyun Gao, Tongji University, China

Professor Paul J Hazell, School of Engineering and Infor-mation Technology, UNSW Canberra

Dr Yiqian He, Dalian University of Technology, China

Professor Moon-Young Kim, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) Korea

Dr Slavomir Krahulec, Institute of Construction and Archi-tecture, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava (Slova-kia)

Dr Liguang Lin, Xian Modern Control Research Institute, China

Dr Junyu Liu, Faculty of Infrastructure Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, China

Associate Professor Hongbo Ma, Xidian University, China

Professor Abhijit Mukherjee, Curtin University, WA

Professor Dunja Peric, Kansas State University, USA

Associate Professor Hui Qu, School of Civil Engineering, Yantai University, China

Dr Maria Paola Santisi, University of Nice Sophia Antip-olis, France

Professor YB Yang, Taiwan National University, Taiwan

Professor Ronald D. Ziemian, Dept. of Civil and Environ-mental Engineering, Bucknell University USA

Dr Yan Zhu, Southwest Jiaotong University, China

Professor Qingming Zhang, Beijing Institute of Technolo-gy, China



Researcher(s) Research Topic Granting Organisation Value at 2014

MA Bradford An Innovative and Advanced Systems Ap-proach for Full Life-Cycle, Low-Emissions Composite and Hybrid Building Infrastruc-ture

ARC Laureate Fellow-ship including Faculty of Engineering & UNSW supportARC FL100100063

$600,392

B Uy The behaviour and design of innovative connections to promote the reduction and reuse of structural steel in steel-concrete composite buildings

ARC DiscoveryDP140102134

$195,742

A Russell, N Khalili Shallow foundations in unsaturated soils: mechanistic design through numerical modelling, analysis and experimental investigation"

ARC Discovery DP140103142

$149,382

W Gao, Y-L Pi, F Tin-Loi Stochastic geometrically nonlinear elas-to-plastic buckling and behaviour of curved grid-like structures


$124,673

G Ranzi (USYD), A Castel, R I Gilbert,D Dias-da-Costa

Stiffness degradation of concrete mem-bers induced by reinforcement corrosion.


$50,000

C Song A high-performance stochastic scaled boundary finite-element framework for safety assessment of structures suscepti-ble to fracture


$144,017

RI Gilbert Control of cracking caused by early-age contraction of concrete


$139,081

N Khalili Dynamics analysis of unsaturated porous media subject to damage due to cracking


$106,986

L Ge Advanced techniques for imaging radar interferometry


$117,684

MA Bradford Thermal-induced unilateral plate buck-ling of concrete pavements: design and evaluation


$133,322

B Uy; Z Tao; F Mashiri The behaviour and design of composite columns coupling the benefits of high strength steel and high strength concrete for large scale infrastructure


$144,433

C Song, F Tin-Loi, W Becker

Scaled boundary finite-element approach for safety assessment of plates and shells under monotonic and shakedown loadings


$111,102

Ehab Hamed; Stephen Foster

Nonlinear long-term behaviour and analy-sis of high strength concrete panels


$99,992

S Foster; Hamid Valipour Progressive collapse resistance of rein-forced concrete framed structures with membrane action


$66,102

RESEARCH FUNDING SUMMARY

Funding and Finance


Researcher(s) Research Topic Granting Organisation Value at 2014

G Zhao Dynamic fracturing in shale rock through coupled continuum-discontinuum model-ling

ARC DECRADE130100457

$132,294

T Thai Reliability assessment of concrete-filled steel tubular frames designed by ad-vanced analysis

ARC DECRA DE140100747

$127,476

MA Bradford Climate adaptation technology and engi-neering forextreme events.

CSIRO / Flagship Collaborative Research Program

$182,650

H M Goldsworthy, E Gad, B Uy, S Fernando

Development of efficient, robust and archi-tecturally-flexible structural systems using innovative blind-bolted connections

ARC LinkageLP110200511

$30,000

S Foster; E Hamed; Z Vrcelj

Advanced Composite Structures Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures Ltd (CRC-ACS)

$140,180

S Foster Performance based Criteria for Concretes: Creating Pathways for Low Carbon Con-crete Manufacture with Existing Standards

Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living Ltd

(CRC LCL)

$110,676

H Valipour Development of a timber-concrete com-posite system with precast slabs

Faculty of Engineering $40,000

M Attard Orthotropic Hyperelastic Modelling for the Analysis of Composites

UNSW Goldstar Award $40,000

L Ge Mapping decadal change of the Australian landscape from space

UNSW Goldstar Award $40,000

A Russell Triaxial System for Stress Path and Dynam-ic Tests

UNSW MREII $99,755

A Castel Equipment to develop a World class labo-ratory for carrying out durability tests at the material and structural level

UNSW MREII $57,545

L Ge Dedicated Computing Cluster for Near Re-al-Time Satellite Remote Sensing (NRT-RS)

UNSW MREII

$100,000

Industry funded research undertaken by the CIES Projects team

Various $168,191

TOTAL $3,451,675

The CIES Team

A world-class centre in such a broadly based and exciting field attracts world-class research staff and academics. The team at CIES are working together to challenge and change how

things are done in this industry. Often being called upon to provide advice to government and industry, helping

to set standards that raise the bar across the industry.

Research opportunities

Infrastructure needs around the world are changing materials, demands, and expectations are all changing. At CIES, our re-

search is contributing to advanced solutions to improve the way we plan, design, build, maintain and rehabilitate the

things we build, from bridges and dams to roads, rail and other critical infrastructure. Better, stronger,

longer lasting CIES Facilities

The Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and Safety is support-ed by some remarkable facilities to enhance research across the

board. These include the Randwick Heavy Structural Labora-tory at UNSW, and the Materials Research Laboratory and

Geotechnical Engineering Laboratories, collectively known as the Infrastructure Laboratories



Centre ResearchCIES Research SuccessThis years ARC success continues to add to the success of CIES in attracting Category 1 funding through the Aus-tralian Research Council. CIES staff currently hold over 30 ARC grants, including ARC Discovery and Linkage, LIEF and DECRA grants. CIES is also home to Australias only ARC Laureate Fellow in Structural Engineering, Professor Mark Bradford. Ten CIES staff have been successful in Seven ARC Grants totalling over $3.5 million for 2014.

CIES staff were involved in the following four ARC Discov-ery Project Grants:

DP140101887, Dr Wei Gao, Professor Yong- Lin Pi and Emeritus Professor Francis Tin Loi, $395,000

Project Title: Stochastic geometrically nonlinear elas-to-plastic buckling and behaviour of curved grid-like structures

DP140102134, Professor Brian Uy, $530,000

Project Title: The behaviour and design of innovative con-nections to promote the reduction and reuse of structural steel in steel-concrete composite buildings

DP140103142, A/Professor Adrian Russell and Professor Nasser Khalili, $420,000

Project Title: Shallow foundations in unsaturated soils: understanding mechanistic behaviour through numerical modelling, analysis and experimental investigation

DP140100529, A/Professor Gianluca Ranzi, A/Professor Arnaud Castel, Emeritus Professor Ian Gilbert and Dr Daniel Dias-da-Costa, $300,000

Project Title: Stiffness degradation of concrete members induced by reinforcement corrosion

Dr Huu-Tai Thai was also successful with an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA): DE140100747, $333,157.

Project Title: Reliability assessment of concrete-filled steel tubular frames designed by advanced analysis

CIES Staff were also involved in successful Linkage, Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grants. Associate Professor Ganga Prusty (School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering) led a bid from UNSW including Professor Brian Uy that received $500,000 for a National Facility for Robotic Composites. Furthermore,

Research Publications for 2014 Research Publications are an important output of Centre related research activities.

In 2014, CIES researchers continued to have a consist-ently strong publishing output including 3 books, 161 ref-ereed journal papers and 75 refereed conference papers.

Post Graduate Research StudentsMost academic staff involved with the Centre also super-vise higher degree research (HDR) students. All new HDR income associated with Centre students is distributed to the Faculties and Schools in which they are enrolled. Since its inception, there has been a steady growth in new PhD student enrolments associated with CIES member supervision.

2011 2012 2013 2014

Number of PhD students supervised by CIESmembers

42 53 62 69

...consistently strong publishing output including 3 books,

161 refereed journal papers and 75 refereed conference papers...

Professors Nasser Khalili, Brian Uy and Adrian Russell were also part of a successful LIEF bid led by Professor Buddhima Indraratna from the University of Wollongong for a National Testing Facility for High Speed Rail, which received $900,000 from the ARC.


Research & Teaching Areas of Centre Members

Name Position within School

Research Areas Teaching Areas

Dr Brian Uy Professor of Civil Engineering

Composite steel-concrete structures, critical infrastructure protection systems, deconstruction techniques, rehabilitation and strengthening tech-niques, steel structures, structural health monitor-ing, structural systems, sustainable construction materials

Composite steel-concrete struc-tures, steel structures, structural design

Dr Mark Bradford

Australian Laureate Fellow, Scientia Professor and Professor of Civil Engineering

Structures subjected to elevated temperature. Steel, concrete and composite steel-concrete structures. Curved members, including members curved in plan and arches. Structural stability. Numerical techniques (FE, finite strip, non-discre-tisation methods). Time-dependent behaviour of concrete arches and domes.

Engineering mechanics. Struc-tural analysis and design. Steel and composite steel-concrete structures. Structural stability.

Dr Stephen Foster

Professor of Civil Engineering

Analysis and design of reinforced concrete deep beams, corbels and nibs. High strength and reactive powder concretes. Nonlinear 2-D and 3-D modelling of concrete structures. Confined concrete structures.

Engineering mechanics and engineering design. Structural analysis and design. Concrete structures.

Dr Ian Gilbert

Emeritus Professor

Serviceability of concrete and composite struc-tures. Creep and shrinkage of concrete and time-dependent behaviour of concrete structures, including prediction of deflection and cracking. Impact of low-ductility reinforcement on strength and ductility of concrete structures. Nonlinear FE modelling of concrete structures. Structural applications of high strength and reactive powder concrete.

Engineering mechanics and engineering design. Structural analysis and design. Concrete structures.

Dr Chongmin Song


Scaled boundary finite element method. Dynamic soil-structure interaction. Fracture mechanics. Elasto-plastic damage constitutive modelling.

Computing. Foundation engi-neering. Pavement analysis and design. Numerical techniques.

Dr Francis Tin Loi

Emeritus Professor

Large-scale limit and shakedown analyses. Limit analysis in the presence of constitutive instabili-ties. Identification of quasi-brittle fracture parame-ters. Smoothing of contact mechanics problems.

Strength of materials. Structural analysis and design. Bridge engineering.

Dr Nasser Khalili


Numerical methods. Unsaturated soils.Remediation of contaminated soils.Flow and contaminant mitigation.

Numerical methods. Geotech-nical engineering. Foundation engineering.

Dr Somasun-daram Valliappan

Emeritus Professor

Stress analysis in soil and rock mechanics. Sta-bility of large dams. Wave propagation. Fracture mechanics. Fuzzy analysis. Biomechanics. Smart materials and structures. Earthquake engineering.

Numerical analysis. Continuum mechanics. Soil mechanics.




Dr Mario Attard

Associate Professor in Civil Engineering

Finite strain isotropic and anisotropic hyperelas-tic modelling. Fracture in concrete and masonry. Crack propagation due to creep. Ductility of high-strength concrete columns. Structural stability.

Mechanics of solids. Structural analysis and design. Design of concrete structures. Finite element analysis. Structural stability.

Dr Yong-Lin Pi

Professor in Civil Engineering

Advanced nonlinear mechanics. Members curved in plane, including beams curved in-plan and arches. Nonlinear FE techniques. Thin-walled structural mechanics. Structural dynamics.

Engineering mechanics and mathematics.

Dr Kurt Douglas

Pells Sullivan Meynink Senior Lecturer

Rock mechanics. Probabilistic evaluation of con-crete dams and landslides. Numerical methods.

Geotechnical engineering. Engineering geology. Design of tunnels, slopes, retaining walls

Dr Adrian Russell


Unsaturated soils. Fibre reinforced soils. Particle crushing in granular media. Wind turbine founda-tions. In-situ testing and constitutive modelling of soils.

Geotechnical engineering. Soil mechanics.

Dr Linlin Ge Associate Professor in Civil Engineering

Remote Sensing and ApplicationsNear Real-time Satellite Remote SensingInterferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (in-cluding InSAR, DInSAR and PSInSAR/PSI) and ApplicationsIntegration of Remote Sensing, GIS and GPSStructural Deformation and Health MonitoringNatural Hazard Monitoring (e.g. Landslide, Bushfire, Flood, Tropical Cyclone, Beach Erosion, Earthquake and Volcano)Ground Deformation Monitoring (e.g. Mine Sub-sidence)Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), especially site stability monitoring

Remote Sensing and Photo-grammetry Radar Remote SensingSatellite Remote Sensing and ApplicationsSurveying for Civil EngineersSurveying for Mining EngineersSurveying and GIS

Dr Arnaud Castel


Durability of construction materials: Steel corro-sion in concrete, chemical attacksLow Carbone Concrete Technology: Geopoly-mer concrete, blended cements, Manufactured aggregatesTime-dependent behaviour: Shrinkage and creep of concreteModelling of Time-dependent steel corrosion process in concreteRepair and Strengthening using CFRP

Concrete technologyEngineering MechanicsConcrete Structure Analysis and DesignEarthquake engineering

DrHossein Taiebat

State Water Senior Lecturer of Dam Engineering

Embankment dams, Erosion and piping, Numer-ical modellings, Slope stability analysis. Fibre reinforced clays, Analysis of offshore foundations, Liquefaction analysis.

Applied geotechnics, Funda-mentals of geotechnics; Ad-vanced foundation engineering, Ground improvement tech-niques, Embankment dams




Dr Wei Gao Associate Professor in Civil Engineering

Uncertain modelling and methods. Vehicle/bridge interaction dynamics. Wind and/or seismic random vibrations. Stochastic nonlinear systems. Smart structures.

Dynamics. Structural analysis and design.

Dr Hamid Valipour

Senior Lecturer

Structural Mechanics, Constitutive modelling of concrete and timber, Finite element modelling, Lo-calisation limiters, progressive collapse analysis and structural dynamics.

Mechanics of Solids, Steel and Timber Design, Bridge Design, Design of reinforced concrete

Dr Ehab Hamed

Senior Lecturer

Viscoelasticity of concrete and composite ma-terials, Creep buckling of concrete domes and shells, Strengthening of concrete and masonry structures with composite materials (FRP), Nonlin-ear dynamics of concrete structures.

Steel and Composite Structures

Dr Carolin Birk

Lecturer Numerical modelling of wave propagation in unbounded domains and in bounded domains containing discontinuities, Soil-structure interaction, fluid-structure interac-tion Longitudinal railway track-structure interaction Artificial boundary conditions for diffusion Fractional calculus

Structural Dynamics Engineering Mechanics Mechanics of Solids

Dr Arman Khoshghalb

Lecturer Mechanics of unsaturated soilsNumerical modelling of porous mediaLarge deformation problems Meshfree methodsSoil water characteristic curveCoupled flow-deformation

Soil MechanicsFundamental of Geomechanics

Dr Gaofeng Zhao

Lecturer Rock dynamicsMicrostructure constitutive modelComputational methodsMutiphysical modelling

Pavement engineeringAdvanced Topics in Geotechni-cal EngineeringWater & Soil Engineering

Dr Sawek-chai Tangar-amvong

Lecturer Structural safety assessment; Optimal design and retrofit of strctures; Limit and shakedown analy-sis; Elastoplastic analysis; Contact mechanics; Mixed finite element method; Structural uncer-tainty

Steel Structure Design; Re-inforced Concrete Design; Structural Analysis; Mechanics of Solids

Dr Kostas Senetakis

Lecturer Experimental Mechanics, Soil Dynamics, Micro-mechanics, Earthquake Engineering, Pavement Engineering.

Foundation Engineering, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engi-neering, Structural Dynamics

Dr Babak Shah-bodagh- Khan

Lecturer Computational Poromechanics,Dynamic Soil-Structure, Interaction Analysis,Constitutive Modelling of Geomaterials,Swarm-Based Optimization

Numerical Methods in Geotech-nical Engineering,Pavement Engineering,Civil Engineering Practice

Dr Zhen-Tian Chang

Senior Research Fellow

Corrosion of reinforced concrete, concrete repair, structural analysis




Dr Xiaojing Li Research Fellow

Algorithms for information extraction from opti-cal and radar imagery for earth surface change detectionStructural deformation monitoring using DInSAR, PSI and GPS techniques.

Dr Michael Man

Research Associate

Scaled boundary Finite Element Method forPlate/shell structures Damage identification using artificial neural networksComposite structures andpiezoelectric materials

Engineering Mechanics: statics and dynamics

Dr David Kellerman

Research Associate

Continuum Mechanics, Computational Mechan-ics, Advanced Composite Materials, Forming Analysis, Fibre Kinematics, Biomechanics, Ortho-tropic and Hyperelastic Material Modelling, Finite Deformation, Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis, Buckling and Stability

Mechanics of SolidsEngineering MechanicsComputational Mechanics

Dr Xinpei Liu Research Associate

Composite steel and concrete structures, Numer-ical modelling of structures, Non-linear analysis and behaviour of curved members, Quasi-viscoe-lastic behaviour of concrete.

Dr Huiyong Ban

Research Associate

High-performance and high-strength steel structures, flexural behaviour of steel-concrete composite beams, buckling behaviour of steel structures, residual stress.

Dr Sund-ararajan Natarajan

Research Associate

Method development (extended finite element method, iso-geometric analysis, mesh free meth-ods), functionally graded materials, Thin-walled structures, Composite Materials, Computational Fracture Mechanics

Structural Stability

Dr Guotao Yang

Research Associate

Stabilityofrailwaytracksunderthermalloading, Fatigue reliabilityofsteelbridges, Structural be-haviourofsteel-concretecompositestructures

Dr Inamullah Khan

Research Associate

Time dependent behaviour of concrete, Steel Corrosion in RC structures, Service life design of Reinforced concrete structures exposed to severe environment

Structural Analysis, Design of concrete structures.

Dr Tai H. Thai

Research Associate

Advanced analysis; Steel structures; Steel-con-crete composite structures; Beam and plate theories; Functionally graded and laminated composite plates.

Engineering Design

Dr Ankit Agarwal

Research Associate

Durability of steel-FRP joints under thermal load-ing, Numerical Modelling

Dr Yue Huang

Research Associate

Nonlinear short-term and time-dependent behav-iour of high-strength concrete panels, analysis and numerical modelling of RC structures, creep buckling of structures




Dr Nima Khorsandnia

Research Associate

Structures: Timber, concrete, steel, timber-con-crete and timber-timber composites;Numerical Modelling: Non-linear finite element modelling of structures, finite difference method, computational mechanics, 3D continuum-based elements, frame and fibre elements, force-based formulation, coupled analysis;Time Dependent Analysis: Long-term behaviour of timber, concrete and timber-concrete compos-ite structures;Progressive collapse of RC structures

Dr Saeed Salimzadeh

Research Associate

Mechanics of Multi Phase Multi Porous MediaAdvanced Numerical Modelling in Geomechanics

Dr Alex Hay-Man Ng

Research Associate

Remote sensing applicationinmonitoringland surface changes

Remote Sensing

Dr Vipulkumar Patel

Research Associate

Demountable connections, Residual stresses,Concrete-filled steel tubular columns.

Dr Hossein Talebi

Research Associate

Scaled boundary Finite Element Method for mod-elling damage and elastoplasticity Multiscale methodsHigh Performance Computing

Dr Farhad Aslani

Research Associate

Composite steel-concrete structures, Steel struc-tures, Reinforced concrete structures, Analytical and numerical modelling of structures, Fire per-formance of reinforced concrete structures.

Composite steel-concrete struc-tures

Dr Thanh Vo Research Associate

Physical and Theoretical Modelling of Interactions between Unsaturated Soils and Structures

Resilience & Safety

Sustainability

Rehabilitation

GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES


Research Projects


The aim of this research Project is to develop a feasible scientific methodology for sustainable composite framed building infrastructure embodying reduced-emissions concrete and steel components in its construction. The provision for deconstructability at the end of its service life with a maximisation of component recycling is also part of the Project. The composite frame system utilises inno-vative geopolymer concrete and low carbon concrete flooring as well as high strength steel components, with tensioned bolted shear connectors joining them. The sig-nificant challenges in modelling frames with these compo-nents is being addressed, as is the delivery of guidance to rapidly progress relevant Australian technologies into adopting low carbon design practices and operations. The fourth year of the Project saw the completion of joint

Project Name: An Innovative and Advanced Systems Approach for Full Life-Cycle, Low-Emissions Composite and Hybrid Building Infrastructure

Principal Investigator: Scientia Professor Mark Bradford Funding Body: ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship Project Duration: 2011-2015

The aim of this research Project is to develop a feasible scientific methodology for sustainable composite framed building infrastructure embodying reduced-emissions concrete and steel components in its construction. The provision for deconstructability at the end of its service life with a maximisation of component recycling is also part of the Project. The composite frame system utilises innovative geopolymer concrete and low carbon concrete flooring as well as high strength steel components, with tensioned bolted shear connectors joining them. The significant challenges in modelling frames with these components is being addressed, as is the delivery of guidance to rapidly progress relevant Australian technologies into adopting low carbon design practices and operations. The fourth year of the Project saw the completion of joint tests, considering semi-rigid connections with H-section and CFST columns, high-strength steel, low-carbon Portland cement-based concrete and bolted shear connection. Two types of slab were tested as shown in Fig. 1, since consideration for the precast slab being in tension in a connection is essential. Beam testing also commenced in 2014 and extensive numerical studies have been conducted (Fig. 2), showing that ABAQUS software can model the response of joints very closely, and so providing a means for conducting parametric studies to craft design guidance. Research Associate Dr Xinpei Liu was closely associated with the work, and Mr Reza Ataei undertook both experimental testing and computation modelling as part of his PhD studies.

Fig. 1. Joint Testing Fig. 2. Computational Modelling

Project Name: An Innovative and Advanced Systems Approach for Full Life-Cycle, Low-Emissions Composite and Hybrid Building Infrastructure

Principal Investigator: Scientia Professor Mark Bradford Funding Body: ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship Project Duration: 2011-2015

The aim of this research Project is to develop a feasible scientific methodology for sustainable composite framed building infrastructure embodying reduced-emissions concrete and steel components in its construction. The provision for deconstructability at the end of its service life with a maximisation of component recycling is also part of the Project. The composite frame system utilises innovative geopolymer concrete and low carbon concrete flooring as well as high strength steel components, with tensioned bolted shear connectors joining them. The significant challenges in modelling frames with these components is being addressed, as is the delivery of guidance to rapidly progress relevant Australian technologies into adopting low carbon design practices and operations. The fourth year of the Project saw the completion of joint tests, considering semi-rigid connections with H-section and CFST columns, high-strength steel, low-carbon Portland cement-based concrete and bolted shear connection. Two types of slab were tested as shown in Fig. 1, since consideration for the precast slab being in tension in a connection is essential. Beam testing also commenced in 2014 and extensive numerical studies have been conducted (Fig. 2), showing that ABAQUS software can model the response of joints very closely, and so providing a means for conducting parametric studies to craft design guidance. Research Associate Dr Xinpei Liu was closely associated with the work, and Mr Reza Ataei undertook both experimental testing and computation modelling as part of his PhD studies.

Fig. 1. Joint Testing Fig. 2. Computational Modelling

Figure 1: Joint Testing

Figure 2: Computational Modelling

Project Name:

An Innovative and Advanced Systems Approach for Full Life-Cycle, Low-Emissions Composite and Hybrid Building Infrastructure

Principal

Investigator: Scientia Professor Mark Bradford

Funding Body: ARC Australian Laureate Fellowship

Project Duration: 2011-2015

tests, considering semi-rigid connections with H-section and CFST columns, high-strength steel, low-carbon Port-land cement-based concrete and bolted shear connec-tion. Two types of slab were tested as shown in Fig. 1, since consideration for the precast slab being in tension in a connection is essential. Beam testing also commenced in 2014 and extensive numerical studies have been con-ducted (Fig. 2), showing that ABAQUS software can mod-el the response of joints very closely, and so providing a means for conducting parametric studies to craft design guidance. Research Associate Dr Xinpei Liu was closely associated with the work, and Mr Reza Ataei undertook both experimental testing and computation modelling as part of his PhD studies.


Project Name:Thermal-Induced Unilateral Plate Buckling of Concrete Pavements: Design and Evaluation

Principal Investigator: Scientia Professor Mark BradfordFunding Body: ARC Discovery Grant


This Project is investigating the upheaval buckling of con-crete pavements made using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and new low-carbon geopolymer cementitious (GPC) materials. The increasing occurrences of pro-longed spells of high temperature are being associated with pavement upheavals, which clearly compromise soci-etal safety, economy and amenity. Fig. 1 shows a pave-ment upheaval buckle caused by a heatwave in Cherry-brook, NSW. The theoretical and experimental modelling is unique, insofar as such pavements buckle in a unilateral fashion away from the subgrade, and their weight acts against the direction of the buckle. The outcomes being developed are a means for assessing the vulnerability of existing OPC pavements and the design of a new genera-tion of GPC pavements, and so addressing the impacts of climate change and variability.

Project Name: Thermal-Induced Unilateral Plate Buckling of Concrete Pavements: Design and Evaluation

Principal Investigator: Scientia Professor Mark Bradford

Funding Body: ARC Discovery Project


This Project is investigating the upheaval buckling of concrete pavements made using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and new low-carbon geopolymer cementitious (GPC) materials. The increasing occurrences of prolonged spells of high temperature are being associated with pavement upheavals, which clearly compromise societal safety, economy and amenity. Fig. 1 shows a pavement upheaval buckle caused by a heatwave in Cherrybrook, NSW. The theoretical and experimental modelling is unique, insofar as such pavements buckle in a unilateral fashion away from the subgrade, and their weight acts against the direction of the buckle. The outcomes being developed are a means for assessing the vulnerability of existing OPC pavements and the design of a new generation of GPC pavements, and so addressing the impacts of climate change and variability.

A model of a continuous pavement has been developed with Dr Liao Liang Ke (on leave from Tsinghua University) which allows for the variation of the temperature through the thickness; this is particularly important for black-top pavements. Fig. 2 shows the relationship between the dimensionless axial force in a jointed pavement (of the type in Fig. 1) and the thermal strain T. When this parameter reaches a certain value (being a 15oC increment from the neutral temperature for = 10-5 oC-1), the pavement buckles upwards in a snap-through fashion and the axial compression is reduced by one third in this case; the pavement deformation then increases slowly in the ensuring post-buckling range with a reduction in the axial force in it.

A closed-form solution has been developed for determining the buckling temperature as a function of the weight of the pavement and frictional sliding characteristics of the subgrade, with the intent of vulnerability assessment of buckling in asset management and evaluation.

Fig. 1. Buckled Pavement Fig. 2. Non-linear pre and post buckling response

1.2

1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

00 50 100 150 200 250

Thermal parameter T (x 10-6)

Project Name: Thermal-Induced Unilateral Plate Buckling of Concrete Pavements: Design and Evaluation

Principal Investigator: Scientia Professor Mark Bradford

Funding Body: ARC Discovery Project


This Project is investigating the upheaval buckling of concrete pavements made using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and new low-carbon geopolymer cementitious (GPC) materials. The increasing occurrences of prolonged spells of high temperature are being associated with pavement upheavals, which clearly compromise societal safety, economy and amenity. Fig. 1 shows a pavement upheaval buckle caused by a heatwave in Cherrybrook, NSW. The theoretical and experimental modelling is unique, insofar as such pavements buckle in a unilateral fashion away from the subgrade, and their weight acts against the direction of the buckle. The outcomes being developed are a means for assessing the vulnerability of existing OPC pavements and the design of a new generation of GPC pavements, and so addressing the impacts of climate change and variability.

A model of a continuous pavement has been developed with Dr Liao Liang Ke (on leave from Tsinghua University) which allows for the variation of the temperature through the thickness; this is particularly important for black-top pavements. Fig. 2 shows the relationship between the dimensionless axial force in a jointed pavement (of the type in Fig. 1) and the thermal strain T. When this parameter reaches a certain value (being a 15oC increment from the neutral temperature for = 10-5 oC-1), the pavement buckles upwards in a snap-through fashion and the axial compression is reduced by one third in this case; the pavement deformation then increases slowly in the ensuring post-buckling range with a reduction in the axial force in it.

A closed-form solution has been developed for determining the buckling temperature as a function of the weight of the pavement and frictional sliding characteristics of the subgrade, with the intent of vulnerability assessment of buckling in asset management and evaluation.


1.2

1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

00 50 100 150 200 250

Thermal parameter T (x 10-6)

A model of a continuous pavement has been developed with Dr Liao Liang Ke (on leave from Tsinghua University) which allows for the variation of the temperature through the thickness; this is particularly important for black-top pavements. Fig. 2 shows the relationship between the dimensionless axial force in a jointed pavement (of the type in Fig. 1) and the thermal strain T. When this parameter reaches a certain value (being a 15C incre-ment from the neutral temperature for = 10-5 C-1), the pavement buckles upwards in a snap-through fashion and the axial compression is reduced by one third in this case; the pavement deformation then increases slowly in the ensuring post-buckling range with a reduction in the axial force in it.

A closed-form solution has been developed for determin-ing the buckling temperature as a function of the weight of the pavement and frictional sliding characteristics of the subgrade, with the intent of vulnerability assessment of buckling in asset management and evaluation.



Project Name: Thermal-Induced Railway BucklingPrincipal Investigator: Scientia Professor Mark BradfordFunding Body: Climate Adaptation Technology and Engineering for

Extreme Events. CSIRO / Flagship Collaborative Research Program


This Project has as its focus the buckling of railways, and particularly curved railways, during heatwave events. One such buckle is illustrated in Fig. 1. These buckling instances are becoming quite frequent during heatwaves in Australia, and particularly in Melbourne. The Project aims to provide a deterministic modelling to be used with a stochastic one, so that a reliability analysis can be un-dertaken to determine the probability and cost of buckling events. The Project has employed Dr Gaotao Yang as a Research Associate.

The critical temperature for a snap-through type buckle has been established in closed form. It has been found, however, that the ballast resistance is non-linear with sof-tening characteristics the behaviour is somewhat different.

Project Name: Thermal-Induced Railway Buckling Principal Investigator: Scientia Professor Mark Bradford Funding Body: Climate Adaptation Technology and Engineering for



This Project has as its focus the buckling of railways, and particularly curved railways, during heatwave events. One such buckle is illustrated in Fig. 1. These buckling instances are becoming quite frequent during heatwaves in Australia, and particularly in Melbourne. The Project aims to provide a deterministic modelling to be used with a stochastic one, so that a reliability analysis can be undertaken to determine the probability and cost of buckling events. The Project has employed Dr Gaotao Yang as a Research Associate.

The critical temperature for a snap-through type buckle has been established in closed form. It has been found, however, that the ballast resistance is non-linear with softening characteristics the behaviour is somewhat different. In this case, the ballast has an initial elastic restraining response and the railway buckles in a bifurcation mode, as is predicted by the theory of struts on an elastic foundation. Following this, the postbuckling mode is unstable and the deformations not only grow, but localise, as shown in Fig. 2 which represents the lengthwise buckling deformation as the load parameter p decreases with an increase of temperature. This observation is consistent with the field results of Fig. 1 and differs from established buckling theory which predicts harmonic buckling shapes. More sophisticated modelling of the foundation characteristics have been determined and implemented into a flow rule with non-associated hardening to provide a computational treatment of the phenomenon.

Fig. 1. Buckled Railway Fig. 2. Increasing localisation in the post-buckling range as force parameter decreases: p = 1.999, 1.99, 1.9, 1.8, 1.5, 1.0 (p = 2 at bifurcation buckling)

25 10 0 10 250.2

0.1

0

0.1

0.2

s

v

25 10 0 10 251

0.5

0

0.5

1

s

v

25 10 0 10 251

0.5

0

0.5

1

s

v

25 10 0 10 251

0.5

0

0.5

1

s

v

25 10 0 10 251.5

1

0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

s

v

25 10 0 10 250.06

0.04

0.02

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

s

v

Project Name: Thermal-Induced Railway Buckling Principal Investigator: Scientia Professor Mark Bradford Funding Body: Climate Adaptation Technology and Engineering for



This Project has as its focus the buckling of railways, and particularly curved railways, during heatwave events. One such buckle is illustrated in Fig. 1. These buckling instances are becoming quite frequent during heatwaves in Australia, and particularly in Melbourne. The Project aims to provide a deterministic modelling to be used with a stochastic one, so that a reliability analysis can be undertaken to determine the probability and cost of buckling events. The Project has employed Dr Gaotao Yang as a Research Associate.

The critical temperature for a snap-through type buckle has been established in closed form. It has been found, however, that the ballast resistance is non-linear with softening characteristics the behaviour is somewhat different. In this case, the ballast has an initial elastic restraining response and the railway buckles in a bifurcation mode, as is predicted by the theory of struts on an elastic foundation. Following this, the postbuckling mode is unstable and the deformations not only grow, but localise, as shown in Fig. 2 which represents the lengthwise buckling deformation as the load parameter p decreases with an increase of temperature. This observation is consistent with the field results of Fig. 1 and differs from established buckling theory which predicts harmonic buckling shapes. More sophisticated modelling of the foundation characteristics have been determined and implemented into a flow rule with non-associated hardening to provide a computational treatment of the phenomenon.

Fig. 1. Buckled Railway Fig. 2. Increasing localisation in the post-buckling range as force parameter decreases: p = 1.999, 1.99, 1.9, 1.8, 1.5, 1.0 (p = 2 at bifurcation buckling)

25 10 0 10 250.2

0.1

0

0.1

0.2

s

v

25 10 0 10 251

0.5

0

0.5

1

s

v

25 10 0 10 251

0.5

0

0.5

1

s

v

25 10 0 10 251

0.5

0

0.5

1

s

v

25 10 0 10 251.5

1

0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

s

v

25 10 0 10 250.06

0.04

0.02

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

s

v

Fig. 1. Buckled Railway

In this case, the ballast has an initial elastic restraining response and the railway buckles in a bifurcation mode, as is predicted by the theory of struts on an elastic foun-dation. Following this, the postbuckling mode is unsta-ble and the deformations not only grow, but localise, as shown in Fig. 2 which represents the lengthwise buckling deformation as the load parameter p decreases with an increase of temperature. This observation is consistent with the field results of Fig. 1 and differs from estab-lished buckling theory which predicts harmonic buckling shapes. More sophisticated modelling of the foundation characteristics have been determined and implemented into a flow rule with non-associated hardening to provide a computational treatment of the phenomenon

Fig. 2. Increasing localisation in the post-buckling range as force parameter decreases: p = 1.999, 1.99, 1.9, 1.8,1.5, 1.0 (p = 2 at bifurcation buckling)

To have a safely design concrete structures with rela-tively new technologies that use high strength precast panels, an understanding and an investigation of their long-term creep and shrinkage behaviour are required.

The main challenge in predicting the long-term response and design lifetime of high strength concrete panels lies in the ability of the numerical models to accurately de-scribe the time-dependent cracking, geometric nonline-arity and buckling, aging of the concrete, shrinkage, and other effects. Slender high strength concrete panels are characterized by creep buckling as shown in Fig. 1, which is accompanied with cracking and other material nonlin-ear effects that make predicting the long-term response a difficult and a challenging task. Describing the struc-tural response requires a step-by-step time analysis that takes into account the change in the structural geometry, internal stresses, and material characteristics at each time increment.

Through a 3-years project funded by the ARC, this project aimed to provide a better understanding of the nonline-ar time-dependent behaviour of high strength concrete (HSC) panels in order to enhance their effective design and safe use. The project involved both theoretical and ex-perimental studies. Comprehensive theoretical models, as

well as numerical and computational tools for the unidirec-tional short-term and long-term nonlinear analyses of HSC panels have been established. An experimental study that investigated the short-term response of 8 HSC panels was finalized during 2013. Full-scale panels that some of them exhibited creep buckling failures were tested under long-term sustained loading with different load levels, load eccentricities, and concrete age. Such an experimental program has not been conducted elsewhere. The creep experimental study that included the testing of 9 full-scale panels was finalized by the end of 2014.

A PhD student (Huang Y) and a Senior Research Asso-ciate (Chang Z-T) were involved in this project and they worked on the mathematical formulation of the problem, and on conducting the long-term testing. The already developed long-term mathematical formulation includes a one-way model of the HSC panel that accounts for the effects of creep, shrinkage, aging, cracking, tension-stiff-ening, and geometric nonlinearity (as shown in Fig. 2). The model will be further calibrated and validated against the experimental results, and is currently being further enhanced and expanded to account for the two-way ac-tion of HSC panels. The two-way model is expected to be completed by mid 2015.

Project Name: Nonlinear long-term behaviour and analysis of high strength concrete panels

Principal Investigator: Dr Ehab Hamed and Professor Stephen FosterFunding Body ARC Discovery Grant

Project Duration 2012-2014


Figure 2: (a) Panel geometry, loads, coordinates and displacements; (b) Cross-section of the panel; (c) Instantaneous stress-strain curve of the concrete; (d) Instantaneous absolute stress-strain curve of the steel; (e) Maxwell chain model

Figure 3: Influence of load level on the long-term behaviour of the HSC panel (e = h/6,

v = 0.2%)

Comprehensive theoretical models, as well as numerical and computational tools for the unidirectional short-term and long-term nonlinear analyses of HSC panels have been established. An experimental study that investigated the short-term response of 8 HSC panels was finalized during 2013. Full-scale panels that some of them exhibited creep buckling failures were tested under long-term sustained loading with different load levels, load eccentricities, and concrete age. Such an experimental program has not been conducted elsewhere. The creep experimental study that included the testing of 9 full-scale panels was finalized by the end of 2014.

A PhD student (Huang Y) and a Senior Research Associate (Chang Z-T) were involved in this project and they worked on the mathematical formulation of the problem, and on conducting the long-term testing. The already developed long-term mathematical formulation includes a one-way model of the HSC panel that accounts for the effects of creep, shrinkage, aging, cracking, tension-stiffening, and geometric nonlinearity (as shown in Fig. 2). The model will be further calibrated and validated against the experimental results, and is currently being further enhanced and expanded to account for the two-way action of HSC panels. The two-way model is expected to be completed by mid 2015.








Figure 3: Influence of load level on the long-term behaviour of the HSC panel (e = h/6, v = 0.2%)

ProjectName: Nonlinearlongtermbehaviourandanalysisofhighstrengthconcretepanels

PrincipalInvestigator: DrEhabHamedandProfStephenFosterFundingBody ARCDiscoveryProjectDuration 20122014Tohaveasafelydesignconcrete structureswith relativelynew technologies thatusehighstrengthprecast panels, an understanding and an investigation of their longterm creep and shrinkagebehaviourarerequired. The main challenge in predicting the long-term response and design lifetime of high strength concrete panels lies in the ability of the numerical models to accurately describe the time-dependent cracking, geometric nonlinearity and buckling, aging of the concrete, shrinkage, and other effects. Slender high strength concrete panels are characterized by creep buckling as shown in Fig. 1, which is accompanied with cracking and other material nonlinear effects that make predicting the long-term response a difficult and a challenging task. Describing the structural response requires a step-by-step time analysis that takes into account the change in the structural geometry, internal stresses, and material characteristics at each time increment.

Figure. 1: Testing of panels for time effects

Through a 3-years project funded by the ARC, this project aimed to provide a better understanding of the nonlinear time-dependent behaviour of high strength concrete (HSC) panels in order to enhance their effective design and safe use. The project involved both theoretical and experimental studies.

Figure. 1: Testing of panels for time effects


Reducing, reusing and recycling steel have been iden-tified as having potential for future composite high rise buildings. The main aim of this project is to promote the reuse of structural members by designing demountable connections. The reduction of structural steel is also en-couraged through the use of concrete-filled steel tubular columns.

The material and geometric parameters for the experi-mental program on demountable column-column splice connections have been carefully selected based on initial finite element studies. The experiments on demountable column-column splice connections will be carried out at the end of 2015 at the Randwick Heavy Structural Labora-tory (UNSW) using hydraulic actuators with force capac-ities up to 5,000 kN. Experimental ultimate strengths and

axial load-strain curves of demountable column-column splice connections will be used to verify the accuracy of the ABAQUS finite element models. The verified model will then be utilised to investigate the effects of important pa-rameters on the behaviour of demountable connections.

Composite beams have been widely used in steel-con-crete buildings and bridges for many years. A finite element model has been developed for determining the behaviour of demountable composite steel-concrete beams with profiled steel decking, hollowcore slabs and bolted shear connectors. The influence of oversized holes for demountability of composite beams has also been evaluated. Dr Vipulkumar Patel, research associate, and Mr Dongxu Li, PhD scholar, are currently working on this project under the close supervision of Professor Brian Uy.


Project Name:

The behaviour and design of innovative connections to promote the reduction and reuse of structural steel in steel-concrete composite buildings

Principal Investigators: Professor Brian UyFunding Body: ARC Discovery Grant


Figure 1: Demountable col-umn-column connections


Figure 2: Demountable composite beam

Publications Emanating from this Project in 2014:

Uy, B. (2014) Innovative connections for the demountability and rehabilitation of steel, space and composite structures. Paper presented at the 12th International Conference on Steel, Space and Composite Structures (SS14), Prague, Czech Republic

Early-age contraction of concrete may cause excessive cracking in restrained concrete slabs and walls within the first few days and weeks after casting. The repair of such cracks results in high annual costs to the construction in-dustry. Early-age contraction of concrete is due to thermal contraction and shrinkage. Thermal contraction occurs as the concrete cools from its peak hydration temperature to its lowest ambient temperature (usually within the first few days after csting). Contraction also occurs due to shrinkage as the concrete dries in the days and weeks after casting (drying shrinkage) and during the hydration process (autogenous shrinkage). When early-age con-traction is restrained by embedded reinforcement or by the supports or adjacent parts of the structure, tensile stresses develop in the immature concrete and, to some extent, cracking is inevitable. Where the contraction varies through the thickness of a member, as it almost always does due to temperature and shrinkage gradients, additional eigenstresses develop that can also lead to cracking.

Some typical types of restraint in reinforced concrete structures and the consequent cracking are shown in Figure 1.

This project involves an experimental study to calibrate and quantify the early-age deformational characteristics of Australian concretes and an analytical study to develop mathematical models to predict the width and spacing of early-age cracks in reinforced concrete structures. A fur-ther objective is to develop procedures for use in structur-al design to determine the amount of steel reinforcement required to satisfactorily control early-age cracking.

In 2014, the first and second stages of testing cwere completed aimed at quantifying the early-age properties of concrete, including the tensile elastic modulus, tensile creep and shrinkage strain (both drying and autoge-nous). Testing rigs have been fabricated to facilitate the measurement of tensile creep at early ages (see sketch in Figure 2).

Mathematical models to determine the restraint to early age deformation and the development of stress in re-strained concrete elements have also been developed.


Project Name: Control of cracking caused by early-age contraction of concrete.

Principal Investigators: Professor Ian Gilbert, A/Professor Arnaud Castel, Dr Inam KhanFunding Body: ARC Discovery Grant

Project Duration: 2013 2015

Figure 1: Some typical types of restraint in reinforced concrete This project involves an experimental study to calibrate and quantify the early-age deformational characteristics of Australian concretes and an analytical study to develop mathematical models to predict the width and spacing of early-age cracks in reinforced concrete structures. A further objective is to develop procedures for use in structural design to determine the amount of steel reinforcement required to satisfactorily control early-age cracking. In 2014, the first and second stages of testing cwere completed aimed at quantifying the early-age properties of concrete, including the tensile elastic modulus, tensile creep and shrinkage strain (both drying and autogenous). Testing rigs have been fabricated to facilitate the measurement of tensile creep at early ages (see sketch in Figure 2). Mathematical models to determine the restraint to early age deformation and the development of stress in restrained concrete elements have also been developed.

Heat of hydration temperature profile

Tensile strain near surface Potential cracking near surface

+

-

Heating

Strain due to internal restraint during heating

Temperature profile during cooling thermal contraction

Potential internal cracking due to thermal contraction

-

+

Cooling

(b) Development of potential cracking in a thick wall due to heat of hydration

Internal tensile strain during cooling

free Rfree

T = (1-R)freeEsAs

(a) Tensile restraint T due to bonded reinforcement

T = RfreeEeAcRfree

free

(d) Contraction of a wall with one edge (e) Contraction of wall with two adjacent edges restrained and potential cracking restrained and potential cracking

Restraint

Contraction Wall restrained at base by footing

Footing Restraint

Contraction

Buttress

Footing

wall restrained on two adjacent edges

(c) Restraint and full-depth cracking in a member partially restrained at each end

Figure 2 Tensile creep specimen and typical testing rig.

(a) Dog bone specimen (b) Schematic of portable creep rig

Gauge leng

UNSW CIES CENTRE Annual Report 2014

Documents

Transcript of UNSW CIES CENTRE Annual Report 2014