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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Bachelor of Engineering & Master of Professional
Engineering
GENG5511/GENG5512 Engineering Research Project Descriptions
Semester 1, 2018
To find a project description, search (Ctrl + F) using the
Supervisors surname. The project title and description are listed
below each Academic’s name. Please ensure that the project is
applicable to your discipline.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Aman, Zachary, Dr Co-supervisors: May, Eric, Prof Johns,
Michael, Prof Stanwix, Paul, Dr Graham, Brendan, Dr Metaxas, Peter,
Dr Flow Assurance and Natural Gas Hydrates Disciplines: Chemical,
Mechanical, and Oil & Gas Topic brief description: Natural gas
hydrates are ice-like solids that form and can often suddenly stop
the flow during oil and gas production. The cost of their
prevention during design and production is high and the removal of
hydrate plugs is expensive and dangerous. Today hydrates are still
a major flow assurance concern especially as production moves to
deeper water, and many of Australia’s major new gas field
developments are considering innovative approaches to this
long-standing problem. These projects aim to provide the knowledge
needed for a risk-based approach to hydrate management by
establishing quantitative model to assess plugging potential,
optimize inhibitor doses, and develop methods to detect hydrate
formation and location. The outcomes will help reduce chemical use
by the industry, provide better methods to locate plugs and provide
safer methods for their remediation, ultimately allowing for the
reliable and economic development of marginal oil and gas fields.
Students working on these projects will measure and/or model
hydrate formation, agglomeration and dissociation processes.
Naturally-occurring gas hydrates also represent a tremendous energy
reserve: in 2013, first production was reported from a naturally
occurring hydrate reserve located offshore the coast of Japan.
Projects will also be available in which various properties of
these natural hydrates are quantified, such that more informed
decisions about exploiting natural hydrates can be made. An,
Hongwei, Dr Hydrodynamic force on a inline cylinder group
Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Mining, and Oil
& Gas Topic brief description: A group of inline cylinders is
often seen in offshore strictures. The flow field around the
cylinder group involves a wide range of interesting flow mechanics
features. A series of physical model tests will be conducted using
the O-tube facility to measure the hydrodynamic force and flow
velocity on the cylinder. The force coefficients and vortex
shedding frequency will be examined. This project gives students an
opportunity to access to multi-awards winning research facility
(the O-tube) and to gain experience on research about hydrodynamics
of offshore structures.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Aslani, Farhad, Dr
Co-supervisor: Chakrabortty, Anup, Dr
New types of self-compacting concrete (SCC) Disciplines:
Materials Prerequisite skills: Interested students must also
contact Dr Aslani before submitting preferences for this project.
Topic brief description: Self-compacting concrete (SCC) can be
placed and compacted under its own weight with little or no
compaction. It is cohesive enough to be handled without segregation
or bleeding. Modifications in the mix design of SCC may
significantly influence the material’s mechanical properties.
Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all the assumed
hypotheses about conventional concrete also hold true for SCC
structures. This project is particularly examining the effect of
fly ash, ground granulated blast-furnace slag and micro silica
content on strength and the durability of the concrete.
Aslani, Farhad, Dr
Co-supervisors: Gunawardena, Yas, Mr
Hollow and geopolymer concrete-filled GFRP tubes columns
Disciplines: Civil, Materials, and Mechanical Prerequisite skills:
Interested students must also contact Dr Aslani before submitting
preferences for this project. Topic brief description:
Deterioration of the Australian’s infrastructure has been well
documented and publicized. Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP)
composites have emerged as a potential solution to the problems
associated with the infrastructure. An economic application of GFRP
materials is in the form of composite construction with concrete,
such that GFRP could act as load-carrying partner and protective
measure for the structural members. And also the concrete industry
is responsible for a significant proportion of world greenhouse gas
emissions. Indeed, manufacture of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is
carbon intensive. An increase in research activities related to the
development of low carbon concrete technologies, namely Geopolymer
Concrete (GC), has occurred in recent years in Australia. GCs
result from the reaction between fly ash and/or slag with an
alkaline liquid. There is no Portland cement clinker in GC. GC
exhibits many of the characteristics of traditional concretes,
despite their vastly different chemical constituents and reactions.
As the first experimental study reported in the literature on the
axial compressive behaviour of normal and high-strength box and
circular hollow and geopolymer concrete-filled GFRP tubes columns,
this study will present the results of a test program that was
aimed at investigating the influence of GC, GFRP Tubes, and
critical confinement parameters on the
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
performance of normal and high-strength box and circular hollow
and geopolymer concrete-filled GFRP tubes columns. Aslani, Farhad,
Dr Co-supervisor: Gunawardena, Yas, Mr
Hollow and concrete filled spiral welded steel tube columns
Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical, and Oil & Gas
Prerequisite skills: Interested students must also contact Dr
Aslani before submitting preferences for this project. Topic brief
description: Spiral welded tube (SWT) structures have found
worldwide application in pipeline construction, wind turbine
towers, foundation piles, and columns in tall buildings. Despite
this, the understanding of SWT structures fundamental behaviour is
still insufficient and efficient analysis and design methods have
not been developed owing to the lack of experimental and numerical
research on these types of structures. In this project, SWTs will
be used in a new and innovative approach for both hollow and
concrete filled steel columns, and the research will be conducted
to characterise the engineering and manufacturing properties of
SWTs. The goal of this project is “to provide insight into the
ultimate strength and ductility of hollow and concrete filled SWT
columns subjected to concentric axial loading, eccentric axial
loading and pure bending loading through a comprehensive
experimental study and theoretical model for adoption by engineers
and Standards bodies”. Basarir, Hakan, A/Prof The prediction of
powder factor using drilling machine operational parameters
Disciplines: Civil, and Mining Topic brief description: Blasting is
one of the main components of open pit mines. Powder factor (PF)
defines the amount of necessary blasting agent to disturb a unit
volume or per tons of rock. The prediction of powder factor is
important as it may be used as an indicator of how hard the rock
is, or for the prediction of the cost of the explosives needed.
Different methods are available for the prediction of powder factor
such as Blastability index (BI), a variable calculated from the
rock mass properties. Researcher used seismic P wave velocity or
some drilling related factors such as Rock Quality Index (RQI) for
the prediction of PF. The purpose of this project is to derive new
empirical equations based on drilling machine operational
parameters such as Thrust (T), RPM and penetration rate (PR) as an
alternative to existing measurement while drilling (MWD) methods.
For this purpose data from open pit lignite mines will be used.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Basarir, Hakan, A/Prof Co-supervisors: Wesseloo, Johan, Dr
Construction of damage risk model for underground opening
Disciplines: Mining Topic brief description: Most of drift support
design focus on stability criteria and yields in a single number
FOS. Whereas it is known that FOS based designs do not consider
reliability. Therefore, new design methodologies including
probability of failure and acceptability criteria are needed. Such
approaches has been started to be used some civil engineering
projects. Whereas, there are very limited number of researches
using rick based design in mining engineering projects. The purpose
of this project is to develop a risk based design approach that can
be used at preliminary stages of design projects. Basarir, Hakan,
A/Prof Co-supervisors: Karrech, Ali, A/Prof The prediction of the
thickness of fractured zone around advancing longwall face: A
parametric study Disciplines: Civil, and Mining Topic brief
description: Longwall mining is a widely used method in underground
coal mines. The assessment of the fractured zone above the
advancing longwall face is very important regarding the caving
process. Conventionally empirical and semi empirical methods are
used for the prediction of the thickness of fractured zone. These
methods are restricted by simplifying assumptions (Basarir et al.,
2014). Therefore more realistic prediction tools are needed. The
purpose of this project is to analyze the effect of different
parameters such as rock properties, seam thickness, inclination,
and production sequences. For this purpose 2D and/or 3D finite
element (FE) method based software will be used. The results of
numerical modeling will be analyzed in detail and guideline charts
relating the parameters to the thickness will be proposed. Basarir,
H., Oge, I. F., Aydin, O., 2015. Prediction of the stresses around
main and tail gates during top coal caving by 3D numerical
analysis. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining
Sciences, 76, 88-97. Bekki, Kenji, Prof Co-supervisor: Bennamoun,
Mohammed, W/Prof
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
A new video-based action recognition system for astrophysical
simulations Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic,
and Software Prerequisite skills: Programming skills (Python etc).
It is great if students are familiar with Keras or Tensorflow.
Interview will be done before the project starts. Topic brief
description: Galaxies are formed from various physical processes,
such as galaxy merging and hydrodynamics of gas. Astronomers use
high-resolution computer simulations of galaxy formation in order
to identify these formation processes. However, it has been
time-computing for them to do so by checking images one by one by
their naked eyes. In this project, we will develop a new
video-based `action recognition’ system by which astronomers can
automatically identify key physical process of galaxies. The new
system is now being developed through a new collaboration between
scientists working on astronomy and computer vision. Bosveld, Joel,
Dr Co-supervisor: Chu, Qi, Dr Wen, Linqing Gravitational wave
detection Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic,
and Software Prerequisite skills: Programming; physics, mathematics
or signal processing background is helpful but not required. Topic
brief description: Detection of gravitational wave signals from
coalescing binary compact stars (e.g. neutron stars, black holes)
has been achieved through the matched filtering of data with a
modelled template waveform. In order to allow rapid follow-up of
events, a large number of template waveforms must be matched
against the data with low latency. The SPIIR pipeline achieves
these goals through approximating each waveform as a sum of
exponentially damped sinusoids; the matched filtering is then be
implemented as a parallel set of IIR filters using GPU
acceleration. Various projects exist within this domain, relating
to: the waveform approximation; optimising the implementation;
significance estimation; localisation evaluation. Bourhill, Jeremy,
Dr Co-supervisor: Tobar, Michael, Prof Design and testing of
cryogenic vibration isolation system Disciplines: Mechanical, and
Mechatronic Prerequisite skills: Familiarity with MATLAB, Labview
or Python
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Topic brief description: The vibration caused by commercial
dilution refrigerators can be very disruptive for extremely
sensitive experiments. One such experiment aims to construct a
quantum gravimeter capable of navigation in a GPS denied
environment. The aim of this project will be to test an
experimental platform capable of isolating such sensitive
experiments from the noisy external environment. Bourhill, Jeremy,
Dr Co-supervisor: Ivanov, Eugene, W/Prof Extremely high quality
factor resonance search software Disciplines: Electrical &
Electronic, and Software Prerequisite skills: Familiarity with a
programming language Topic brief description: The world's best
frequency standards are used in many applications from radar to
tests of fundamental physics. They rely on spectrally narrow
resonances within some media, such as crystals or a cloud of
ultra-cold atoms. Locating these resonant features in frequency
space can be a very time consuming task - trying to find a needle
in a hay stack. This project will focus on creating software
designed to automate this search. Bräunl, Thomas, Prof
Driverless Cars Disciplines: Software, Electrical &
Electronic Prerequisite skills: Completion of ELEC4403 Digital and
Embedded Sys. or CITS2200 Data Structures with 75+. Good
programming skills in C or C++ are absolutely essential Topic brief
description: We are currently operating two autonomous vehicles, a
donated BMW X5 and a student-built Formula SAE-Electric vehicle.
Both vehicles already have full drive-by-wire technology
implemented and are equipped with several sensor systems, including
GPS, camera, Ibeo Lux Lidar, Xsens IMU (inertial measurement unit)
and wheel encoders. We are using the latest automotive control
hardware with an Nvidia Jetson TX1 board that provides real-time
sensor processing and deep learning capabilities. 2018 Goals:
Autonomous navigation on UWA-internal roads and on external race
track Sensor fusion of GPS, Lidar, inertial measurement system,
odometry Map building Path planning and collision avoidance Vision
sub-system for road and vehicle detection using OpenCV
http://opencv.org
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Exploring of deep-learning systems such as Caffe
http://caffe.berkeleyvision.org
Further Details: http://revproject.com/vehicles/bmw.php
http://revproject.com/vehicles/sae2010.php Bräunl, Thomas,
Professor
Robots and Virtual Reality Disciplines: Software, Electrical
& Electronic, Mechatronic Prerequisite skills: Completion of
ELEC4403 Digital and Embedded Sys. or CITS2200 Data Structures with
75+. Good programming skills in C, C++ or Python. Topic brief
description: We are using advanced mobile robots: driving robots
similar to the ones you know from "Embedded Systems" as well as
underwater robots and autonomous boats for building practical
intelligent applications systems. 2018 Goals: • Completion of
autonomous boat that should sail around Rottnest • Autonomous
navigation and path planning for driving robots • Visual Navigation
• Robot Swarms (in real and in VR) • SLAM (Simultaneous
Localization and Mapping) • Integration of robots and EyeSim-VR
simulator on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive Further Details:
http://robotics.ee.uwa.edu.au/eyebot7/EyeBot7-UserGuide.pdf
http://robotics.ee.uwa.edu.au/eyesim/
http://robotics.ee.uwa.edu.au/auv/ Cardell-Oliver, Rachel, A/Prof
Co-supervisors: Keating, Adrian, A/Prof
Energy Neutral Sensor Networks Disciplines: Electrical &
Electronic, Mechatronic and Software Prerequisite skills:
Applicants will require skills in one or more of the following
areas: embedded programming skills (Raspberry-Pi, Arduino);
electronics (bread boarding, controlling actuators, energy
efficiency); machine learning algs; data analysis (data collection,
analysis and visualisation of experiments) Topic brief
description:
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
This project is intended for a multidisciplinary team of up to 4
students. Applicants will require skills in one or more of the
following areas: embedded programming skills (Raspberry-Pi,
Arduino); electronics (bread boarding, controlling actuators,
energy efficiency); machine learning algs; data analysis (data
collection, analysis and visualisation of experiments) This project
involves the development and testing of new hardware and software
towards zero-energy, wireless sensing systems. Internet-of-things
(IoT) technologies promise a new, lower cost and more flexible
solution for asset monitoring in which self-powered,
self-organising sensors wirelessly communicate. However, to realise
this promise, the energy use of each sensor needs to be shrunk by
an order of magnitude over current systems. This project will
investigate four steps towards zero-energy sensing: 1) experimental
investigation of Lora (long-range) low power radio for
communication; 2) development of general-purpose data-aware
lossless compression algorithms to minimise the amount of sensor
data that must be transmitted; and 3) design of energy harvesting
systems for sensor nodes. Recommended Reading: New Directions: The
Future of Sensing is Batteryless, Intermittent and Awesome, Hester
and Sorber, http://josiahhester.com/cv/files/newdirssensys2017.pdf
Cardell-Oliver, Rachel, A/Prof Co-supervisors: Keating, Adrian,
A/Prof
Smart Sensing with Low Resolution Thermal Arrays Disciplines:
Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic and Software Prerequisite
skills: This project is intended for a multidisciplinary team of up
to 4 students. Applicants will require skills in one or more of the
following areas: embedded programming skills (Raspberry-Pi,
Arduino); electronics (bread boarding, controlling actuators,
energy efficiency); machine learning algs; data analysis (data
collection, analysis and visualisation of experiments) Topic brief
description: Occupancy detection is the problem of identifying the
number of people in a given space with a sensor that is
non-invasive, privacy-preserving, reliable, low-cost and energy
efficient. Low pixel count sensor arrays satisfy these
requirements. However, detector arrays can not directly sense
occupancy, but must be coupled with intelligent software algorithms
to infer occupancy counts. The goal of this project is to
investigate: 1) the properties of newly available thermal detector
arrays (e.g. FLiR Lepton 80 x 80); 2) machine learning
classification algorithms for predicting occupancy from thermal
data; 3) a proactive sensing system that works correctly under
different building conditions (e.g. temperature range) and can
communicate with actuators to adjust those conditions (e.g. turn on
a fan or open a window); 4) energy efficient sensing to support
long term unattended operation of the sensor. Recommended Reading:
Occupancy Estimation Using a Low-Pixel Count Thermal Imager,
Tyndall et al, IEEE Sensors, 16(10) 2016, doi:
10.1109/JSEN.2016.2530824 Cardell-Oliver, Rachel, A/Prof
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Understanding public transport travel patterns Disciplines:
Civil, Environmental, and Software Prerequisite skills: Essential:
Programming (eg R or Python or Java), knowledge of data mining
algorithms. Desirable (one or more of): Databases, Web programming
and visualization (e.g. Javascript, D3, visualization libraries),
GIS programming. Topic brief description: This project is part of a
group supported by the PATREC transport research centre. Students
will build the results of 2016-17 projects to identify customer
types based on their TransPerth smartRider log data. The project
involves developing and testing data mining algorithms and
visualization of the results. Summer research scholarships will be
offered for this project subject to good performance during the
first project semester. Recommended Reading: Mining Ticketing Logs
for Usage Characterization with Nonnegative Matrix Factorization,
Poussevin et al, 2016
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-29009-6_8
Chow, Shiahuey, Dr Co-supervisor: Bienen, Britta, Dr Rapid
penetration of spudcan footing in sand Disciplines: Civil, and Oil
& Gas Topic brief description: The motivation for this study
emanates from the lack of understanding in rapid penetration of
spudcan footing in sand for offshore renewable energy application.
Offshore renewable energy devices are typically located in shallow
water (< 30 m) that predominates with sandy sediments. The
renewable energy devices, particularly wind farms are installed and
serviced using mobile jack-up rigs. A jack-up rig may experience
dynamic leg loading during the set down of its spudcan footing into
sand. The current inability to predict the penetration resistance
under dynamic or rapid penetration of spudcan footing in sand has
introduced substantial risk. Inaccurate prediction of sand
resistance at high penetration rates may cause premature refusal
for the spudcan, or potential damage to the jack-up rack-and-pinion
systems and legs due to high moments and vertical loading
introduced by spudcan-seabed impact. Economic consequences are
severe (loss in productivity, property or even life), which could
amount to tens of millions of dollars. Hence this project aims to
provide better understanding of rapid penetration of spudcan
footing in sand using laboratory model tests. The laboratory model
tests will involve pushing an instrumented model spudcan footing
into sand covering a range of penetration velocities. This project
will require a team of two students, one looking at rapid
penetration of spudcan in dry sand and another in saturated sand.
Interested students are encouraged to contact Dr Shiaohuey Chow
([email protected]) for more information. Chu, Qi, Dr
Co-supervisor: Bosveld, Joel, Dr
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Wen, Linging, Prof Robust real-time gravitational-wave detection
Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic, and Software
Prerequisite skills: Programming; Paper reading Topic brief
description: The summed parallel infinite impulse response (SPIIR)
program is one of the four real-time gravitational wave search
pipeline programs operated for aLIGO’s first and second science
runs. It triggers a gravitational wave event in 30 seconds.
However, when the detector noise is fluctuating, the pipeline is
tempted to trigger on these noises. This project will simulate a
real-time detection environment using realistic aLIGO data and
investigate how to reduce glitch detections. Chu, Qi, Dr
Co-supervisor: Bosveld, Joel, Dr Wen, Linging, Prof Deep neural
network for gravitational wave search Disciplines: Software
Prerequisite skills: Programming; paper reading Topic brief
description: In gravitational wave search, we often use matched
filtering technique to detect a signal from noise. The detection
efficiency is limited by the linearity of this filtering. Deep
neural network has the potential to detect weaker signals due to
its inherent non-linear operations of elements. This project will
investigate the detection efficiency of given gravitational wave
signals using deep neural network techniques. Chua, Hui Tong, Prof
High flux bright light synthesis of valuable nanomaterials
Disciplines: Chemical Topic brief description: This project makes
use of a first-of-its-kind high flux bright light facility to
synthesise valuable nanomaterials. For example, we aim to
synthesise MoS2 and WS2 nanoparticles from their naturally occuring
MoS2 and WS2 materials. The former materials have phenomenal
applications in engine and medical applications. They are mainly
used as advanced lubricants in those applications, but are also
very promising as materials for supercapacitors as well. We will
also work on synthesising graphene from graphite particles, which
has great applications in batteries, supercapacitors and membranes,
as well as boron nitride nanoparticles from boron nitride.
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This project will be conducted in collaboration with colleagues
at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel and the Taiyuan
University of Technology, China. Chua, Hui Tong, Prof Geothermal
energy applications Disciplines: Chemical, and Mechanical Topic
brief description: 1. Modelling and Controlling geothermal swimming
pool - this is an ongoing topic to work with the local councils and
schools on managing geothermal swimming pools and specifically the
Beatty Park Leisure Centre as well as Hale School. The student
needs to physically visit the Beatty Park Leisure Centre and Hale
School and even other swimming pools to collect pool data - 1
student. This project will inform the design/consulting sector in
terms of the proper sizing of the heating capacity of swimming
pools, which has a huge ramification in terms of the adoption of
renewable energy. 2. The Cool Earth Project - this is an exciting
project in partnership with LandCorp, Geoexchange, ABN builders,
AIRAH, Carbonomics and other agencies to monitor the performance of
two occupied properties at Craigie, with one being fitted with a
ground source heat pump and another with a conventional air source
heat pump. - 1 student. Chua, Hui Tong, Prof Catalytic cracking of
methane for graphitic carbons and hydrogen Disciplines: Chemical
Topic brief description: This is an ongoing project with the UWA
ASX-listed spin-off company, Hazer Group, to focus on producing
graphitic carbons by cracking methane. There will be two aspects to
this project. One is to work on fine-tuning the catalytic process
to get consistent and good yield, another is to work on purifying
the as-cracked carbons in favour of graphene and other carbon
morphologies. The Hazer technology has been spun off from UWA lab
and is now worth more than $20mil. Chua, Hui Tong, Prof Industrial
waste heat distillation, desalination, bauxite residue
remediation
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Disciplines: Chemical, and Mechanical Topic brief description:
This topic will have 2 sub-topics. 1. Reconcentrating spent liquor
using waste heat from an alumina refinery - 4 students. Students
will get to build and operate an actual pilot plant in
collaboration with South32 and making use of actual spent liquor.
Students need to travel to Worsley Alumina and Rockingham, Murdoch
Uni campus for the actual test. Students will also get to be
trained to the safety standard of South32 - a fantastic project to
prepare for a career. Chemical engineering students are required.
2. Bauxite residue remediation - using centrifuge to dewater mining
residue, an exciting technology - 1 student. This project is to be
co-supervised by Prof. Andy Fourie of Civil Engineering. We are
investigating the prospect of substituting the traditional
impoundment method as practiced by the industry. A mechanical/civil
engineering student is good for this project. Coggins, Liah, Dr
Co-supervisor: Ghadouani, Anas, Prof Flow cytometry for the
characterisation of water quality Disciplines: Environmental Topic
brief description: Flow cytometry is rapid, high-resolution
measurement technique, originally developed for medical
applications. This project will involve the further development of
this technique for the characterisation of algal and bacterial
groups present in wastewater. Project perks: exclusive access to
fancy equipment at the Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research
:) Datta, Amitava, Prof
Various projects in sociophysics and agent-based simulation of
social phenomena Disciplines: Software Prerequisite skills: Some
programming skills in C/Python/Fortran/Matlab are required Topic
brief description: Sociophysics is an emerging discipline for
studying social phenomena through agent-based simulation. There are
many interesting results that have been already discovered through
sociophysics simulations related to finance, opinion dynamics in
human populations and evolution of languages. It is possible to
frame questions in environmental and ecological studies as
simulations in sociophysics. The programming skill required is not
very demanding and these simulations can be written in C, Python,
Fortran or even in Matlab. Any student
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interested in simulation and modeling should be able to grasp
the basics very fast. Students from all disciplines with some
programming background are welcome.
Doherty, James, Dr Strength and fatigue assessment of well
conductors Discipline: Civil Prerequisite skills: Soil and
structural mechanics, Matlab Topic brief description: The soil
lateral stiffness (p-y response) has a strong influence on the
overall strength and fatigue response of well conductors used for
offshore oil and gas developments. Current API/ISO guidance is
provided only for generic “sand” and “clay” soils and recent
research by BP indicates that they are too soft for small amplitude
well conductor motions. This project will involve the review of
centrifuge tests conducted at UWA on a model conductor and the
development of guide lines to better predict fatigue life of
conductors in carbonate. Doherty, James, Dr Performance of
infrastructure on soft soils Disciplines: Civil Prerequisite
skills: Geotechnical engineering Topic brief description: During
2013 a full-scale embankment was constructed and instrumented at
Australia’s first National Field Testing Facility (NFTF) for soft
soils at Ballina NSW. The instrumentation of this embankment is
extensive and includes the measurement of pore pressures, vertical
deformations, horizontal deformations, vertical soil pressure, and
horizontal soil pressure at a large number of key locations over
time. In this project, numerical models will be calibrated using
available laboratory and in-situ test data and applied to simulate
the performance of the embankment with the aim of developing models
to better predict settlement and consolidation. Doherty, James, Dr
Improved foundation models for offshore wind turbines Disciplines:
Civil Prerequisite skills: Geotechnics, structural analysis Topic
brief description: Offshore wind energy is now cost competitive
with some traditional forms of energy, thanks to the development of
new design and construction technologies. The aim of this project
is
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
to develop improved foundation models for large diameter mono
pile foundations for offshore wind turbines by combining m-theta
springs with tradition p-y soils springs. Durham, Richard, Prof
Industry topic (usually based on your vacation work) Disciplines:
Mining Topic brief description: During your vacation work over the
2017-2018 summer break, you should ask your employer if they have
any topic(s) suitable for your thesis. Ask them at the beginning,
and then again towards the end. You need to write up the topic
on
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Dyskin, Arcady, Prof Co-supervisors: Pasternak, Elena, Prof Geo-
and Mechanical Lasers Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Mining, Oil
& Gas, Petroleum, and Software Prerequisite skills: GENG4405
Topic brief description: Modelling of the mechanism of wave
amplification in geomaterials produced by grain rotations.
Numerical modelling will involve solving large systems of
differential equations using the functions provided by Matlab.
Sound programming skills or strong interest to acquire them are
expected. Dyskin, Arcady, Prof Co-supervisors: Pasternak, Elena,
Prof MacNish, Cara, Prof Hassan, Ghulam Mubashar, Dr Deformation
measurements using 2D or 3D photogrammetry Disciplines: Civil,
Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Oil & Gas, Petroleum, and
Software Prerequisite skills: GENG4405 or an equivalent course on
programming and numerical methods Topic brief description:
Deformation in solids may be very small hence highly accurate
measuring techniques are required. The measurements are complicated
by surface features, discontinuities (such as cracks) and
environmental noise (such as dust or occlusion). This project will
characterise the problems and find robust solutions. There is also
a scope to assess viability issues in real-world deployment and
collection and analysis of in-situ data. Elchalakani, Mohamed, Dr
Co-supervisor: Meek, Alexandra, Ms
Corrosion of steel in geopolymer-stabilised rammed earth
Disciplines: Civil, and Materials Topic brief description: Students
will investigate the corrosion behaviour of steel reinforcement in
newly developed geopolymer-stabilised rammed earth. The project
will involve a comprehensive programme
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of testing in the Structures Laboratory to correlate material
properties with corrosion susceptibility. Specimens are
manufactured using a jackhammer - students will need to be
comfortable with physical work. Contact:
[email protected] with any queries. Elchalakani,
Mohamed, Dr Co-supervisor: Meek, Alexandra, Ms
Mechanical properties of geopolymer-stabilised rammed earth
Disciplines: Civil and Materials Topic brief description: This
project will study the mechanical properties of newly developed
geopolymer-stabilised rammed earth. Students will determine
properties such as compressive, tensile and bond strengths in
various environments. Mixes will largely be composed of industrial
waste products and there will also be the opportunity to
investigate materials used to construct Egyptian pyramids.
Specimens are manufactured using a jackhammer - students should be
comfortable with physical work. Contact:
[email protected] with any queries. Elchalakani,
Mohamed, Dr Co-supervisor: Karrech, Ali, A/Prof
Development of ultra High Strength Fibre Reinforced Concrete
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Materials, Mechanical,
and Oil & Gas Topic brief description: Ultra-high performance
concrete (UHPC) which is characterised by high strength and, when
reinforced with steel fibres, high ductility, has the potential to
revolutionise the construction industry. The application of UHPC is
currently mainly limited to landmark projects due to the high cost
of manufacture, which often involve specialist materials such as
specially graded sands and the need for complex mixing and curing
regimes. Moreover, mix designs are commonly proprietary information
or incompletely reported. As a result of the complexity of material
requirements and the restricted nature of complete mix design
details it can be difficult to reproduce reported results. This
project aims to address these issues by investigating the potential
for producing UHPC using widely available fine and coarse
aggregates. It is expected that UHPC of compressive strengths in
the range of 100–160 MPa can be produced using commonly graded
aggregates without the requirement for complex
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
mixing or curing regimes. It is expected that the fineness
modulus of aggregates as well as the superplasticiser content
strongly influences the compressive strength. An investigation of
the axial and lateral stress–strain relationship of the mixes may
shed some light on the residual stress plateau post softening.
Elchalakani, Mohamed, Dr Co-supervisor: Karrech, Ali, A/Prof
Geopolymer Concrete Structures reinforced with GFRP Disciplines:
Civil, Environmental, Materials, and Mechanical
Topic brief description: Geopolymer concrete is a new concrete
which does not have any cement. It is more envinrementally friendly
than traditional cement concrete and more durable. The use of Glass
Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) reinforcement as an alternative to
steel for use in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures has developed
significantly in recent years. GFRP’s excellent corrosion
resistance, high tensile-strength-to-weight ratio, nonmagnetic,
nonconductive make it an excellent solution for projects requiring
improved corrosion resistance or reduced maintenance costs. Despite
a number of recent studies illustrating the effective use of GFRP
bars as longitudinal reinforcement for concrete compression
members, the current international design codes such as ACI
440.1R-15 (2015), CAN/CSA S806 (2012), TR55 (2012), ISO 10406-1
(2015), and FIB (2007) do not recommend including GFRP
reinforcement in the compression member capacity calculations.
Recent Experimental research at UWA showed that GFRP RC columns are
more ductile under their steel RC column counterparts. This project
is a further step to compare the behaviour and design of circular
columns under dynamic loading. In this research project, laboratory
tests will be conducted on RC columns reinforced under concentric
and eccentric loading. Elchalakani, Mohamed, Dr Co-supervisor:
Karrech, Ali, A/Prof
Analytical and Numerical modeling of steel structures with and
without strengthening using CFRP Disciplines: Civil, Environmental,
Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Oil & Gas, and
Petroleum Topic brief description: In this project, analytical and
numerical models will be developed for design presupposes for steel
structures reinforced with CFRP. Steel structures all around the
world including bridges, offshore platforms and mining
infrastructure require retrofitting. Conventional methods for
repairing and strengthening steel structures has generally always
been to cut out
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
and replace plating, or to attach additional external steel
plates that are bulky, heavy, difficult to install and prone to
corrosion and fatigue. In addition, welding or bolted connection
repair works are not a favourable solution due to further fatigue
issues, and extensive installation time respectively. The superior
mechanical, fatigue, high strength to density ratio and in-service
properties of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites
make them excellent candidates for strengthening and retrofitting
of steel structures. Elchalakani, Mohamed, Dr Co-supervisor:
Karrech, Ali, A/Prof Reinforced Concrete Circular Columns
reinforced with GFRP Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Materials,
Mechanical, and Oil & Gas Topic brief description: The use of
Glass Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) reinforcement as an
alternative to steel for use in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures
has developed significantly in recent years. GFRP’s excellent
corrosion resistance, high tensile-strength-to-weight ratio,
nonmagnetic, nonconductive make it an excellent solution for
projects requiring improved corrosion resistance or reduced
maintenance costs. Despite a number of recent studies illustrating
the effective use of GFRP bars as longitudinal reinforcement for
concrete compression members, the current international design
codes such as ACI 440.1R-15 (2015), CAN/CSA S806 (2012), TR55
(2012), ISO 10406-1 (2015), and FIB (2007) do not recommend
including GFRP reinforcement in the compression member capacity
calculations. Recent Experimental research at UWA showed that GFRP
RC columns are more ductile under their steel RC column
counterparts. This project is a further step to compare the
behaviour and design of circular columns under dynamic loading. In
this research project, laboratory tests will be conducted on RC
columns reinforced under concentric and eccentric loading. Faiello,
Cosimo, Associate
Sustainability applied to project management & engineering
practice Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Electrical & Electronic,
Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Oil
& Gas, Petroleum Prerequisite skills: N/A Topic brief
description: This topic will introduce students to the field of
project management and engineering practice with a focus on
achieving sustainable results based on a “triple bottom line” (TBL)
approach: That is, achieving project objectives, while taking into
account the societal and environmental implications of a project. A
sustainable approach to project management and engineering practice
is recognised globally by many organizations, as being vital to
achieving
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
their strategic objectives. By researching this topic students
will learn how to apply theoretical concepts and frameworks to
‘real world projects’ in order to achieve sustainable outcomes
using a TBL strategy. Fernando, Tyrone, Prof Co-supervisors: Iu,
Herbert, Prof
Stability Analysis of a DFIG Wind Turbine System Disciplines:
Electrical & Electronic Prerequisite skills: MatLab programming
Topic brief description: Presently there is a global concern about
the economic downturn and a green earth which in turn is related to
a better and efficient method to generate and transmit electric
power. Wind energy systems are becoming popular. Doubly fed
induction generator (DFIG) is a popular wind turbine system due to
its high energy efficiency, reduced mechanical stress on the wind
turbine, and relatively low power rating of the connected power
electronics converter. The DFIG is also complex involving
aerodynamical, electrical, and mechanical systems. With increasing
penetration level of DFIG‐type wind turbines into the grid, the
stability issue of DFIG is of great importance to be properly
investigated. The aim of this project is to study the small signal
stability of the DFIG wind turbine system. Fernando, Tyrone, Prof
Co-supervisors: Iu, Herbert, Prof
Control Strategy of DFIG Wind Turbines for Power System Fault
Ride Through Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic Topic brief
description: Doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) is a popular
wind turbine (WT) system due to its high energy efficiency, reduced
mechanical stress on the WT, and relatively low power rating of the
connected power electronics converter of low costs. With increasing
penetration level of WTs into the grid, the wind power grid
connection codes in most countries require that WTs should remain
connected to the grid to maintain the reliability during and after
a short‐term fault. The ability of WT to stay connected to the grid
during voltage dips is termed as the low‐voltage ride‐through
(LVRT) capability. The aim of this project is to develop a control
strategy for both the rotor and grid side converters to enhance the
LVRT capacity of the DFIG WT. Fernando, Tyrone, Prof
Co-supervisors: Iu, Herbert, Prof
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Power Management and Control Incorporating Renewable Energy
Sources, Micro-grids and Batteries Disciplines: Electrical &
Electronic Topic brief description: An investigation to power
management and control incorporating renewable energy sources,
micro grids and batteries. It is likely and desirable for homes,
companies and suburbs to incorporate battery storage for power
generated by renewable sources, such as solar panels. A control
system designed to optimize energy contributions to local storage,
selling to the grid and micro-grid batteries is desired. Fourie,
Andy, Prof Co-supervisor: Reid, David, Dr Investigation of the
effects of consolidated state on triaxial extension results for
loose sand Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical,
Mechatronic, Mining, and Ocean Systems Prerequisite skills:
Bachelor of Science (Engineering Science) Topic brief description:
The undrained triaxial extension test, while less frequently used
than triaxial compression, represents an important loading
condition. As triaxial extension testing often shows the lowest
undrained strength, it is theorised to be important in the
triggering process of static liquefaction. However, all available
triaxial extension test data is for samples that were either
consolidated isotropically or in anisotropic conditions in
compression. However, in a liquefiable soils deposit with material
under triaxial extension loading, it is far more likely that
anisotropic consolidation will have resulted in extension loading
already occurring under a drained condition prior to subsequent
failure. Such drained loading prior to failure is likely to
increase the strength of the material in undrained shearing, and
potentially reduce the actual strength anisotropy relevant in the
field. To investigate this possibility, this project will comprise
carrying out and interpreting a comprehensive set of to investigate
the effects of drained shearing in the extension direction prior to
subsequent undrained shearing. Fourie, Andy, Prof CPT correlations
to infer consolidation characteristics Disciplines: Civil,
Environmental, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, and Ocean Systems
Prerequisite skills: Bachelor of Science (Engineering Science)
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Topic brief description: The cone penetration test (CPT)
represents the leading method to investigate the strength and in
situ conditions of tailings. However, correlations for the CPT
typically assume either “drained” or “undrained” cone penetration,
whereas for many tailings materials it is likely the penetration
will be partially drained. The potential for partial drainage can
be inferred through dissipations tests, however these are time
consuming and are only carried out intermittently in a CPT
sounding. To develop better correlations between the CPT and
drainage conditions, this project will involve review and analysis
of a large amount of CPT data provided by Perth-based tailings
consultants and mining companies. This data will be used to develop
correlations between dissipation test behaviour and the “soil
behaviour type” indicated by the CPT for the tailings at that
location. Depending on the outcome of this review and analysis,
updated correlations on when partial drainage is occurring may be
proposed. Fourie, Andy, Prof Using electric fields to extract
minerals from mine waste Disciplines: Chemical, Civil,
Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, and
Ocean Systems Prerequisite skills: Bachelor of Science (Engineering
Science) Topic brief description: There are many mine waste
deposits (tailings) that still contain high grades of unrecovered
minerals, e.g. the tailings storage facility of a mine in
Queensland is now the world's tenth largest zinc resource. The
objective of the project will be to recover minerals without
needing to excavate and process the waste; rather, the process will
be in-situ treatment, which is environmentally far more favourable.
A recent final year project at UWA demonstrated excellent recovery
of zinc from tailings from the Qld mine. This project will continue
this work, using previously designed equipment, and evaluate the
recovery potential of valuable minerals from tailings that will be
sourced from a range of sites in WA. It will also focus on
optimising the process, e.g. using pulsed voltages, polarity
reversal, etc. Fridjonsson, Einar, Dr Co-supervisors: May, Eric,
Prof Johns, Michael, Prof Industrial and Oilfield Water Management
Disciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, and Oil & Gas Topic brief
description: Projects are available across a range of industrial
and oilfield water management topics.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
(i) Natural gas and oil extraction results in the production of
substantial quantities of (formation) water which needs to be
discharged back into the sea. We are currently developing
technologies to both monitor ppm oil contamination of this
discharge water such that it is compliant with environmental
legislation, as well as the use of novel NMR-based multi-phase flow
metering methods for oil/gas/water production flow quantification.
(ii) Desalination and waste water treatment are areas of growing
global importance (47% of Perth’s water now comes from
desalination!). Membranes are important for the separation of
contaminants from liquids across a range of industrial processes. A
critical issue with membrane separation is fouling, projects are
available on membrane fouling, forward osmosis and the development
of NMR based clamp-on monitoring technology, as well as associated
process modelling and optimisation. (iii) 80-95% of all crude oils
existing at some stage in an unwanted emulsified state. Typically
these form water-in-oil emulsions which increase corrosion,
transportation costs and hydrate formation risk. We are currently
developing various chemical treatment options to break these
emulsions into their constituent parts. (iv) Projects are also
available on Nanofluids which have the potential to substantially
reduce both the OPEX and CAPEX and water usage of heat exchange
processes for LNG production facilities. Ghadouani, Anas, Prof
Co-supervisor: Coggins, Liah, Dr Decentralised water and wastewater
treatment systems Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Environmental,
Mechanical, and Mining Prerequisite skills: Hydraulics Topic brief
description: As we move into the future, increasing population
requires innovation of flexible solutions for the treatment of
water and wastewater in both small towns and large cities. This is
a multidisciplinary topic which would be suitable Environmental,
Civil, Mechanical, Mining and Chemical engineering students. This
topic could include design, social innovation, planning and
management strategies. Ghadouani, Anas, Prof Co-supervisor:
Coggins, Liah, Dr Greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater ponds
Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Mining,
and Software Topic brief description:
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
This topic is around the development of tools for the
measurement and assessment of Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and
fluxes from waste stabilisation ponds. This could include the
development of accounting frameworks and policy considerations.
Ghadouani, Anas, Prof Co-supervisor: Coggins, Liah, Dr
Microplastics in the water cycle Disciplines: Chemical, Civil,
Environmental, Mechanical, and Mining Prerequisite skills:
Hydraulics Topic brief description: Microplastics are growing area
of concern in the water cycle. This project could involve the
characterisation, fate and transport of microplastics through
wastewater, stormwater, and environmental flows. Ghadouani, Anas,
Prof Ecological engineering solutions for urban water Disciplines:
Chemical, Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, and Mining Topic brief
description: This project revolves around the integration of
ecological engineering principles in the design and management of
water infrastructure in urban settings. Graham, Brendan, Dr Surface
Active Agents for Flow Assurance Mitigation Disciplines: Chemical,
Mechanical, and Oil & Gas Topic brief description: Water in oil
emulsions and hydrate formation/plugging are two major flow
assurance issues being investigated at UWA. This project is looking
at naturally occurring surface active components in crude oil that
interact with the droplet/hydrate surface thereby affecting their
agglomeration behaviour and reducing the severity of the resultant
flow assurance problems. Work by previous FYP and PhD students have
shown very promising results and the desire of this project is to
complete the research with the aim of writing a paper for journal
publication. The project is mainly experimental with successful
students being trained in all relevant techniques so prior
experimental background is not required. The project is suitable
for both chemical and mechanical engineering students.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Grime, Andrew, Dr Co-supervisor: Chen, Lifen, Dr Testing of an
innovative concept design for self-installing spar structure
Disciplines: Civil, and Mechanical, and Oil & Gas Prerequisite
skills: Hydrodynamics, wave-structure interaction, experimental
methods Topic brief description: Arup is a leading independent
consulting organisation providing strategic, commercial and
technical services for offshore oil and gas projects. Arup is
developing a self-installing spar “ACE” structure which will fill
the gap between subsea tie-backs and full facility floaters. The
hydrodynamic response of the as-installed spar structure will be
investigated in this project through scale model experimental
testing using the Riverlab facility. This will be complemented by
performing hydrodynamic and mooring system analyses of the spar
using state of the art software. Grime, Andrew, Dr Co-supervisor:
Pinna, Rod, Dr – Aker Solutions Post-yield behavior of bolted end
plate connections Disciplines: Civil Prerequisite skills:
Structural analysis, Finite element analysis Topic brief
description: Bolted end plate connections are regularly used in
onshore structures. As clients seek to extend the life of existing
structures there is a need to critically reassess connection
behaviour in both the elastic and post-yield regimes, stepping
outside of the usual codified methods. In this project students
will establish the codified approach to connection assessment and
compare their findings to results of finite element modelling. One
of the potential outputs of this parametric study will be an update
to the ASI prying action factor. Grime, Andrew, Dr Co-supervisor:
Pinna, Rod, Dr – Aker Solutions Use of directional metocean data in
offshore platform design Disciplines: Civil, and Oil & Gas
Prerequisite skills: Structural analysis, Hydrodynamics, Structural
design Topic brief description: New-build offshore structures
typically use omni-directional metocean data as it represents a
conservative basis for design. The use of directional wave data is
permitted by ISO 19902, but the wave data is required to be
adjusted so as to result in a design with the same probability of
failure as one designed to omni-directional waves. There is no
agreed upon method for
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
doing this, though typically it is done by increasing the return
period of the directional wave. For this project it is proposed to
design a number of simplified example fixed jacket structures using
both omni-directional and scaled directional wave data. The return
period of failure of the structure will be found for the various
structures. Comparisons of the reliability of the structures will
then be made. The reliability will be assessed through push-over
analysis. Grime, Andrew, Dr Co-supervisor: Pinna, Rod, Dr – Aker
Solutions Accurate modelling of the response of gravity based
structures Disciplines: Civil Prerequisite skills: Structural
analysis, Geotechnical background Topic brief description:
Determining the natural frequency response of gravity based
structures is a key factor in their design. In particular, the
frequency response of offshore wind turbines is of concern in their
design. Current practice generally relies on fairly crude models,
with the soil represented by discrete springs. This is generally
driven by the requirements of typical offshore design packages.
Little work has been done to demonstrate the accuracy of these
simplified methods. More accurate modelling, such as modelling the
soil as a 3D continuum is possible, but not generally performed.
The aim of this project is to compare the accuracy of simplified
models to more complex models. Preliminary work has suggested that
typical simplified models may not accurately represent the true
response. This project will extend this work. Guzzomi, Andrew, Dr
Co-supervisor: Peressini, Carlo, Dr Agricultural engineering (1):
novel machinery development for cropping systems Disciplines:
Mechanical, and Mechatronic Topic brief description: Engineering
must contribute to agriculture if we are to increase global food
production. UWA's AgEng group's $1.5M Targeted Tillage GRDC project
has developed commercial mechanical weeding technology for the
grain's industry which is considered state-of-the-art. This R&D
project offers exciting prospects for machine design, mechanism
dynamic analysis, Discrete Element Modelling (DEM) of
tool-soil-plant impact phenomena and multi-physics models. Guzzomi,
Andrew, Dr
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Co-supervisor: Erickson, Todd, Dr (School of Biological
Sciences) Merritt, David, Dr (Kings Park and Botanic Gardens)
Restoration engineering: rendering lab science practical at scale
Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Mechatronic, and
Mining Topic brief description: In 2016 the Restoration Engineering
team won the WA Innovator of the Year and 2017 a $1.3M Global
Innovation Linkage Project "Eco-engineering solutions to improve
mine-site rehabilitation outcomes". This project will improve our
ability to restore sites using native seed. Research topics
include: the development of seed coating/pelleting technologies,
large-scale/broadacre precision sowing, robotics and
automation/mechanisation. The outcomes will be applicable to the
agricultural sector (i.e. farming) and areas suffering from
desertification as well as mine site restoration. Guzzomi, Andrew,
Dr Co-supervisor: Silva, Dilusha, Dr Peressini, Carlo, Dr
Agricultural Engineering(2): Engineering innovations for food
production Disciplines: Civil, Electrical & Electronic,
Environmental, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Topic brief description:
Recognising the need to provide engineering solutions to
agriculture for sustainable growth of net farm-yield, reduction of
wastage, and minimisation of environmental impact the UWA Institute
of Agriculture (IOA) has recently added an Agricultural Engineering
'Engineering innovations for food production' research theme. This
project will develop and research topics from 'sensors' to
'effectors' for cropping, horticulture and livestock. Hassan,
Ghulam, Dr Co-supervisors: French, Tim, Dr, Reynolds, Mark,
A/Prof
Tabletop model for vehicle protocol simulations Disciplines:
Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Mech, Mechatronic,
Mining, and Software Prerequisite skills: Strong programming skills
essential Topic brief description:
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
The aim of this project is to utilize and improve a recently
developed table top traffic testbed for investigations of
autonomous vehicle networks. The model consists of Bluetooth
controlled vehicles, raspberry pi microcomputers, a data projector
and a machine vision camera. This is a part of complex large scale
project, where the first phase focused on building a basic control
loop that can detect the location of different vehicles, and based
on this pass driving instructions onto those vehicles. In this
project, students will be modelling observability and implementing
traffic routing algorithms. Hodkiewicz, Melinda, Prof
Co-supervisors: Liu, Wei, Dr French, Tim, Dr
Cognitive Computing of Maintenance Records Disciplines:
Electrical & Electronic, and Software Prerequisite skills:
Requires >75% in any of CITS2200, CITS3001, CITS3002 or CITS4404
Topic brief description: There is a huge interest from major
manufacturing and resource companies in being able to automate the
processing of manually completed maintainer work orders. These work
orders capture information about the state of the equipment and
work done by the maintainer. This information is vital in assessing
the reliability of the equipment. We have been working with a major
resource company for a number of years on this exciting area. This
project is for CSSE students or computing literate EE’s with the
right experience (see below) who are doing MPE. We are looking for
someone interested in ontology development, text mining, and other
cognitive computing methods and their application to an important
industry problem. Hodkiewicz, Melinda, Prof Co-supervisors:
Travaglione, Ben, Adjunct Defence Science Design and Build MEMS
Test Units Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical,
and Mechatronic Prerequisite skills: ELEC4403 or GENG5508 with
>70%. Coding (experience with python, or a willingness to
learn), Scientific computing (eg Matlab, Mathematica, SciPy, R),
electronics , CAD, microcontroller/arduino experience, general
workshop skills. Topic brief description: The Internet-of-Things
has arrived. Our world is becoming filled with vast numbers of
small sensors, capable of collecting and processing data in real
time, and streaming data to the cloud. The sensors are becoming
smaller and cheaper. The wifi-enabled microcontrollers attached to
these sensors are becoming faster and more powerful. In order to
explore this new and rapidly changing landscape, the System Health
Lab has developed an IoT device called the "Blue Box". This device
uses a small COTS MEMs accelerometer and a cheap wifi-
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
enabled microcontroller to stream data to the cloud. The
student(s) undertaking this project will design and build a series
of test apparatus to compare the Blue Box performance to a number
of (more expensive) commercial/scientific alternatives. Interested
students must have a strong background in the open-source software
used in programming modern single-board microcontrollers. A
familiarity with electronics will also be helpful. There will also
be a requirement to manipulate the collected data and build
appropriate models of the underlying physics. Hodkiewicz, Melinda,
Prof Optimising maintenance for Mobile units Disciplines: Software
Prerequisite skills: Java, Python, Good Stats Topic brief
description: All the iron ore in WA is moved with heavy haulage
trains. As we look at autonomous trains the reliability of locos is
crucial. The aim of this project is to incorporate real life
considerations into an existing simulation and optimization model
for maintenance of locomotives on a heavy haulage rail. It is an
extension of a FY17 project. Students need a strong understanding
of reliability analysis concepts (Distinction or above in Geng5507
or similar stats unit), and an ability to program in Java. Ideally
you would have done a number of CSSE units. Hodkiewicz, Melinda,
Prof Co-supervisors: Sercombe, Tim, Prof Travaglione, Ben, Adjunct
Defence Science Experimental work – UV degradation of 3D printed
parts Disciplines: Materials, and Mechanical Prerequisite skills:
There is a large test component in this project so the students
will need to have a strong practical and time management skills.
You will need to do laser, Instron, and possibly microscopy
training. You will learn a lot of skills and work with a good team
but will need to dedicate at least one day a week to this project
throughout both semesters. We suggest you only consider this if you
have >70% in core Materials units as there is a strong technical
component. There was a previous project on this if you need more
information. See Poster outside System health Lab 1.53 in Mech Eng.
Topic brief description: In 2017 System Health Lab developed
testing facilities for comparing the UV degradation of 3D printed
vs machined nylon. The 2018 project will involve experimental
design, procurement, test execution, tensile testing and microscopy
of samples degraded using facilities on the roof and an accelerated
test facility.
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Hu, Xiaozhi, W/Prof Co-supervisor: Yuan, Bingyan, Dr Impact
resistant carbon fibre composites Disciplines: Civil, Materials,
and Mechanical Topic brief description: Even low energy impact can
induce delamination in laminar carbon fibre composites. This
project involves design, manufacturing and testing of carbon fibre
composites with interfacial toughening. Potentially, research
papers can be published in international journals. Hu, Xiaozhi,
W/Prof Co-supervisor: Yuan, Bingyan, Dr Repair of drilling damage
in carbon fibre composite Disciplines: Civil, Materials, and
Mechanical Prerequisite skills: Basic knowledge of materials, able
to take initiative and work hard
Topic brief description: Drilling and machining can induce edge
delamination in carbon fibre composites. The delamination crack tip
opening is measured in sub-micron and hard to repair. We have
developed a special technique, which can fill the crack tip with
epoxy resin. Potentially, research papers can be published in
international journals. Hu, Xiaozhi, W/Prof Co-supervisor: Yuan,
Bingyan, Dr U n- bonded non-woven veils using Kevlar pulps
Disciplines: Civil, Materials, and Mechanical Prerequisite skills:
Basic knowledge of materials, able to take initiative and work hard
Topic brief description: The ultra-thin veils will be used to
manufacture impact resistant carbon fibre composites. We have
successfully made the veils using short Kevlar fibres from 2 - 8
mm. The length of Kevlar fibre pulps is less than 1 mm. Mechanical
testing will be required. Potentially, research papers can be
published in international journals. Hu, Yuxia, Prof
Co-supervisors: Geoff Cocks, Mr., Senior Principal (Industry
Partner)
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Fred Verheyde, Dr., Manager/Principal (Industry Partner)
Investigation of Perth sand characteristics and ground improvement
using sand overlay Disciplines: Civil Prerequisite skills: This
project involves lab testing and field testing. Hands-on works are
essential.
Topic brief description: Perth sands include Tamala sand, Safety
bay sand and Bassendean sand. Although sands are good foundation
soils for construction, they may behave differently when fines are
present in the soil. The soil characteristics, such as capillary
rise, permeability and compressibility of Perth sand with different
amount of fines need to be investigated for foundation design. With
the population growth of Western Australia, the residential
establishment expands to areas with soft ground for residential
buildings and roads. A sand overlay method is normally used to
improve the ground condition before construction. This project is
to investigate the performance of soft ground soils with different
sand layer laid on top.
Hu, Yuxia, Prof Co-supervisors: Hossain, M. Shazzad, A/Prof
Offshore foundation design Disciplines: Civil, and Software
Prerequisite skills: Numerical analysis experience and geomechanics
knowledge Topic brief description: Jackup rigs are a popular
offshore structure to support offshore platforms up to 150 m in
water depth. The rigs are normally supported by three individual
legs with a footing at the bottom called spudcan. The mobility of
the rigs means that it will be installed at a location for oil/gas
exploration and retrieved after the exploration, before it is moved
to the next location. The common issues are: (a) spudcan retrieving
process - using innovative spudcan to reduce pullout resistance;
(b) sand overlay method to reduce spudcan penetration depth for
wind turbine installation. This project will investigate different
issues above. Finite Element analysis will be conducted to
investigate different options.
Hu, Yuxia, Prof Co-supervisors: Reynolds, Mark, Prof Qindong Li,
WAMR Optimisation of Road Maintenance and Scheduling Disciplines:
Civil, and Software
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Prerequisite skills: Some programming experience (need to be
confident with simple data structures, basic iteration, I/O, etc.)
and some road construction/maintenance knowledge, working with WA
MainRoad department (communication skills)
Topic brief description:
Road performance has been monitored after the road construction
in the road network around Perth and WA. For existing road
networks, roads are deteriorating with age. Road maintenance work
needs to be scheduled based on the budget and optimum performance
of the overall network. This project is to examine the road
performance monitoring data and the current road deterioration
models, with the constraint of annual road maintenance budget, to
optimise the road maintenance scheduling. This project is to
combine datamining with optimisation techniques based on genetic
algorithms to determine the most effective ways to keep a
maintenance schedule up to date. The decisions will be guided by a
simple mechanical model of road deterioration along with data about
failures and faults appearing. Huang, David, Prof
Mining plan based wireless network design for open-pit mines
Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mining, Prerequisite
skills: N/A Topic brief description: Mine site wireless
communications with seamless coverage and Quality of Service
guarantees are a key element to improving operational efficiency
and employee safety of contemporary open pit mines. The topography
of a typical pit consists of benches and slopes with mineral-rich
reflective surfaces, and its size and form can change quickly
during the lifetime of the mine. This makes the radio propagation
conditions of open pit mining very different from typical
commercial wireless communication systems. Mining is a carefully
planned activity. Mine planning determines the extent of the
terrain profile that will be modified and provides estimates of
materials to be moved and equipment to be deployed. From mine
planning, it is possible to determine the communication
requirements, e.g. the amount of data traffic (including when and
where) required to be transmitted, and the radio propagation
conditions. Geographic Information System (GIS) has been
extensively used in the mining industry for development and
production. Using the GIS and the mining plan, a
quasi-deterministic communication traffic dimensioning can be
determined. It is then possible to identify a proper combination of
wireless technologies that are appropriate for the mining site. In
this project, we will investigate how to select the optimal
locations of key communication nodes (e.g. access points and base
stations) and the optimal parameters associated with them, through
the simulation and modeling of the radio propagation environment
and data traffic, with the aid of GIS. This approach includes:
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
• 3D radio propagation modeling for typical open pit mine
structure such as benches and slopes. • Radio coverage analysis for
different antennas over typical mining pits. • Data traffic
modeling for typical devices employed in an open pit mine. •
Developing analytical models for the deployment of various wireless
networks. • Modeling and analysis of capital and operating expense
of various wireless networks Huang, David, Prof Resource
Optimization in Broadband Wireless Communications Disciplines:
Electrical & Electronic Prerequisite skills: N/A Topic brief
description: For future broadband wireless communications, we need
not only to build a link with the capability of providing high data
rate but also to divide the link wisely to accommodate the various
requirements of different applications from different users. From
this perspective, how to utilize a link is as important as how to
build a link. In this project, you are going to investigate and
propose ways to effectively and efficiently allocate resources to
different users and different applications using the principle of
“opportunistic communications”. The principle of opportunistic
communications is actually simple: it always allocates the
resources to the users or applications that can best utilize them.
This is somehow similar to the fact that the school normally awards
students with best performance. Huang, Yimiao, Dr Explosion Safety
Assessment of Urban Underground Utility Tunnel Disciplines: Civil,
Materials, and Oil & Gas Topic brief description: In order to
fulfill the requirements of new-type urbanization and city
modernization, the development of urban underground utility tunnels
is required. Since pipes with hazardous materials such as natural
gas and heating power are installed in the utility tunnel together
with other pipes, high confinement and congestion conditions may be
formed and significant consequences will occur if gas cloud from a
leak pipe is ignited. This project aims at proposing risk analysis
and evaluation methods which consider multiple explosion risk
factors based on the specific characteristics of underground
utility tunnels. Meanwhile, numerical modelling methods will be
applied to model the complicated environments of underground
utility tunnels and estimate explosion effects. Ivey, Greg Prof
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Co-supervisor: Branson, Paul, Mr Island wakes and downstream
flows in shallow water Disciplines: Civil, and Environmental
Prerequisite skills: Matlab, Fluid mechanics Topic brief
description: In the topographically complex Kimberley Region there
are over 1000 islands, which are subjected to strong tidal forcing
due to the very large tidal range (up to 10m). The tidal flow
around islands form wakes and secondary circulation regions that
are thought to have an ecologically significant influence on the
vertical and cross shelf mixing processes. A purpose built Shallow
Tidal Flow Flume has been constructed in the Geophysical Fluid
Dynamics Laboratory at UWA to study this system. The wake form and
vertical transport (upwelling) are functions of the relative tidal
excursion to island size in conjunction with bed friction on the
shallow shelf region. This project will utilise flow visualisation
techniques to examine the secondary influence of the Reynolds
number on two processes 1) the in water column wake form and 2)
distribution of bed shear stress across the parameter range
relevant to shallow islands. Semi-quantitative image analysis
techniques will be applied examine the flow structure and spatial
distribution. Ivey, Greg Prof Co-supervisor: Zulberti, Andrew Mr
Near bottom flows in deep water and forces on bottom structures
Disciplines: Civil, and Environmental Prerequisite skills: Matlab,
Fluid mechanics Topic brief description: A variety of Engineering
codes are used to guide the design of offshore structures. In this
project, we will look at the relative performance of these codes
with simple idealised near-bottom infrastructure. The key feature
of the project is that we will use measured mean velocity data from
a recent field experiment conducted offshore of Broome in 250 m of
water offshore of Broome in April 2017. The data shows a complex
and unsteady tidally-driven near-bottom velocity field, and the
project would involve comparing this actual oceanic forcing with
the idealised velocity fields that are assumed in design codes.
Johns, Michael, Prof Co-supervisors: May, Eric, Prof Carbon
Sequestration
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Disciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, and Oil & Gas Topic brief
description: Western Australia has several major offshore gas
assets containing significant quantities of carbon dioxide.
Scenarios for dealing with this CO2 must be developed before these
gas fields can be developed. One scenario involves the re-injection
of carbon dioxide produced from one reservoir into the extremities
of a different natural reservoir for the purpose of both CO2
disposal and enhanced gas recovery. However, such a strategy is
only viable if the probability of breakthrough by the re-injected
CO2 to the producing wells is small. Simulating reliably this novel
reservoir production scenario requires an improvement in our
fundamental understanding of the hydrodynamic behaviour of
supercritical CO2 in heterogeneous gas and water-saturated rock.
Research projects are available measuring this behaviour for its
inclusion into relevant field simulations. Jones, Nicole, Dr
Internal wave dynamics on the Australian Northwest Shelf
Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Environmental, and Mechanical
Prerequisite skills: Desirable: Matlab skills (or equivalent);
Strong interest in fluid mechanics Topic brief description:
Internal waves are a ubiquitous feature of the Australia Northwest
Shelf. They have a significant impact on the design of offshore
infrastructure as they often provide the strongest near-bed
currents. Furthermore, they cause vertical mixing and cross-shelf
transport that delivers nutrients to support primary productivity.
This project will examine 2.5 y of existing field observations to
better characterize, understand and increase predictability of
internal waves. Jones, Nicole, Dr Co-supervisor: Rayson, Matt, Dr
Riverlab- Swan River physical dynamics project Disciplines:
Chemical, Civil, Environmental, and Mechanical Prerequisite skills:
Desirable: Matlab skills (or equivalent); Strong interest in fluid
mechanics Topic brief description: The RiverLab – a collaboration
between Woodside and The University of Western Australia – is a
unique initiative aimed at developing innovations in offshore
engineering via research, education and outreach.
http://www.oceans.uwa.edu.au/collaborations/woodside-futurelab/riverlab
This project will explore the physical dynamics of importance
within the Swan River using existing and new field observations.
For example:
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
1) Salt fluxes in the Swan River- quantifying the movement of
the fresh and marine water in the estuary using new observations.
2) Turbulent mixing in the Swan River- developing techniques to
observe turbulence using new instrumentation. Karnowski, Karol,
Research Associate Co-supervisors: Sampson, David, Prof
Untracht, Gavrielle, Ms (PhD Student)
Miniaturized, handled, fiber probes for optical coherence
tomography Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical,
Mechatronic Prerequisite skills: Electronics, Machatronics, 3D
design. Topic brief description: Our microscope in a needle won The
Australian newspaper’s Innovation Challenge in 2015. We are looking
for passionate students who would like to participate in the
prototyping of next generation needle microscopes. We are aiming
for light, hand-held imaging probes that can be used with our
existing OCT systems. Within this project, we can accommodate
students with different background and interests, from 3D
designing, electronics, and mechatronics; through designing, making
and experimental testing. Come and talk to us about this project.
Karnowski, Karol, Research Associate Co-supervisors: Sampson,
David, Prof
Li, Qingyun, Mr (PhD Student)
Real time processing of biomedical measurements with GPU
Disciplines: Software Prerequisite skills: Experience in GPU
programming Topic brief description: We collect tens of GB of data
during out OCT measurements. Multi-stage processing to get final
image or quantitative information is crucial for many of clinical
applications. In this project, we aim to develop GPU based
processing that will allow real time preview of measured quantities
during measurement. With this project, you can help us help
clinicians to help people. Come and talk to us about this project.
Keating, Adrian, A/Prof Sugar cube sized energy harvesting and
wireless sensors for the internet of
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Disciplines: Mechanical, Mechatronic, and Software Prerequisite
skills: Much of the work leverages electrical engineering, design
skills, instrumentation and data collection and analysis.
Mechanical design is also required – this is an interdisciplinary
project Topic brief description: This project has significant
industrial interest. Students will investigate novel energy
harvesting technologies, extracting energy from unused heat, motion
or electromagnetic radiation. We have a desire to create extremely
small wireless sensors than can be used almost anywhere, but which
require extremely low power technology to work with the energy
being harvested. All students working on this project will focus on
a sub-system of the overall system, as there is a high degree of
interconnection. Keating, Adrian, A/Prof Co-supervisor: Parish,
Gia, Prof Materials and sensors made from thin air - porous film
properties Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials,
Mechanical, and Mechatronic Prerequisite skills: Modeling and
experimental design skills, instrumentation and data collection and
analysis. Topic brief description: This project investigates how
the addition of nanometer sized pores in a material can alter the
mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties. Such
"meta"-materials are useful in a range of applications, from
sensors, to cloaking devices. This project offers opportunities for
electrical, mechanical and/or material students to learn more about
this technology and it's applications. Investigations of both
electrical (noise) and thermal (conductivity, time constants)
properties is required. Kimiaei, Mehrdad, A/Prof Effects of
combined environmental loads on fatigue design of risers
Disciplines: Civil, and Mechanical Prerequisite skills: Familiarity
with offshore engineering concepts (enrolled in CIVL5505 or already
passed it) and structural / mechanical engineering background are
necessary. Topic brief description: Offshore platforms are always
under randomly generated and combined wave, current and wind loads.
Steel Catenary Risers (SCRs) are one of the main components for
development of offshore fields in deep water areas and their
structural response is strongly affected by time varying
environmental loading and dynamic characteristics of the
system.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Leggoe, Jeremy, Dr Finite Element Modelling of Bolted Flanged
Connections in LNG Processing Disciplines: Mechanical, and
Materials Prerequisite skills: Strong Performance in Solid
Mechanics, Materials & Manufacturing, Numerical Methods&
Modelling; if not already taken, students should plan to enrol in
Degradation of materials and Finite Element Modelling during the
project. Topic brief description: The integrity of sealing in
bolted flanged connections (BFC) can be compromised when large
temperature differentials exist across the connection, as can be
the case when cold liquid LNG partially fills a pipeline that is
otherwise exposed to ambient conditions.This is a significant
practical issue in LNG plants, as a loss of sealing integrity
implies a loss of containment of hydrocarbons. Finite element
analysis is being used to investigate BFC integrity under a range
of conditions. Given the broad range of temperatures, even
characterising the material properties for the flanges, bolts and
gaskets accurately for use in FE models is challenging. Students in
this project will focus on various aspects of modelling the
connection: - The seating of the gasket, and the response of the
gasket material when exposed to different temperatures (noting that
gaskets are often composites themselves) - Modelling the individual
bolts, and the effects of the sequence of bolt tightening -
Understanding the effect of pipe layout (and thus boundary
conditions) on the connection - Understanding the effects of flange
dimensions on BFC performance This project is aligned with an
ongoing investigation being undertaken by a PhD candidate. The PhD
candidate will join weekly group meetings, and his previous work in
this area will provide background for the project Leggoe, Jeremy,
Dr Co-supervisor: Aman, Zach, A/Prof
Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling of Jet break up for Oil
& Gas Well Blow Outs and other jet spraying applications in the
Oil & Gas industry Disciplines: Chemical, and Mechanical
Prerequisite skills: Previous completion of ENSC3003 (and ideally
strong performance in the unit) is essentialfor this project.
Completion of CHPR 4407 would also be an advantage – if not already
undertaken, students undertaking this project should plan to enroll
in CHPR4407 in 2018. Topic brief description:
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
In the event of jet releases such as a well blowout or MEG
spray, the nature of the turbulent flow field in the feed pipe and
the surrounding the resulting jet are significant but poorly
understood factors in determining the ultimate dispersion of the
released material. This project will develop and interpret CFD
models of jet releases into a quiescent environment to explore the
relation between jet dynamics and the distribution of droplet sizes
produced by the process. Particular emphasis will be directed
towards: - Characterising multi-scale processes of droplet
formation - Characterising the effect of the presence of multiple
immiscible phases on turbulence - Evaluating different turbulence
modelling approaches, in particular scale resolving techniques such
as SAS, DES, and LES Students should expect to work with the
software ANSYS/Fluent - previous experience with the software is
not essential, but would be a significant advantage. The students
undertaking this project will join a group including PhD student,
and significant progress was made by the students working on the
project in 2016 and 2017. The PhD student has presented papers on
this work at international conferences in 2016 and 2017 (and will
again in 2018), and that work will provide background for the
project. Lehane, Barry, Prof Co-supervisor: Vulpe, Cristina, Dr
Exploring the potential of hybrid gravity-suction caissons
Disciplines: Civil, and Oil & Gas Topic brief description:
Proposed developments in wind and wave energy as well as in new oil
and gas fields have identified a need for more cost effect
anchoring systems at soft clay sites. This project is a numerical
study that explores the potential of combining the benefits of
suction caisson anchors with gravity anchors. The students will
employ existing techniques developed at UWA for this study. The
final research output will be a series of design charts to assist
Industry. Lehane, Barry, Prof Co-supervisor: Grime, Andrew, Dr
Reducing foundation costs using optimised construction
sequencing Disciplines: Civil Topic brief description: Integration
of the design of a building’s substructure and superstructure is
not generally performed in a way that optimises the overall design,
minimises the foundation costs and mitigates the risk of an
ultimate limit state or serviceability limit state failure. This
proposal
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
uses a simple structural analysis package combined with finite
element analysis for p