36th annual engineering student conference · on 10 october 2019, you will communicate your ideas...

36th Annual Engineering Student Conference

School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering 10 October 2019

36th Annual Engineering Student Conference 2

Contents

Welcome ............................................................................................................................................................ 3

Message from the Conference Coordinator................................................................................................... 4

IMechE Speak Out for Engineering Competition Information………………………………………………….5

Venue Map ......................................................................................................................................................... 6

Summary of Conference Duties ...................................................................................................................... 7

Order of Proceedings ....................................................................................................................................... 8

Session Times ................................................................................................................................................... 9

Conference Programme ................................................................................................................................. 10


Welcome

I warmly welcome you to our Engineering Student Conference in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering. We are looking forward to a range of presentations from all students in the School this year. The Engineering Student Conference provides our undergraduate honours and coursework master’s thesis cohort the opportunity to present their research to an audience of academics, their peers and engineering professionals. This is a great experience for presenters and offers the opportunity to learn more about the extensive research undertaken across the School. This network is the next generation of engineers and so I encourage you to strengthen your links with your peers now, as they could be your future colleagues, collaborators or leaders. This conference forms an important part of the training experience in the School, providing an opportunity for our students to supplement their technical and scientific training with essential transferable skills in communicating the impact of their studies and conversing with others. Our research community actively pursues excellence in research, promotes collaboration, fosters integrity, and encourages creativity and innovation and this is demonstrated today by all of our students who showcase the high quality and broad range of expertise across our School. I am confident you will find this an engaging and beneficial experience.

Professor Andrej Atrens Theses Course Coordinator School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering The University of Queensland


Message from the Conference Coordinator

On 10 October 2019, you will communicate your ideas formally to a group of your colleagues and you

will receive useful feedback related to your thesis project. The programme follows the form of a

professional symposium, and you should dress and behave appropriately. There will be many times

throughout your career when you will be called upon to give presentations of technical material. Make

the most of this opportunity to develop your presentation skills and help your colleagues to develop

their skills by being constructively critical during the discussion periods.

Each presentation will be formally assessed by everyone who attends. Please read the synopses

before the talks as assessment includes these.

Attendance at all sessions is compulsory. Make sure you complete your electronic assessment via Survey Monkey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/36thconference. This survey will work on any tablet or mobile device. This will be proof of attendance. You need to check the schedule to see if you have special duties. A summary of the Chairperson and Duty Officer roles is provided on page 7. An order of proceedings for each session is also provided on page 8 to guide you through the session.

Outstanding Seminar Presentations

Those students who have presented an outstanding seminar will be awarded a certificate, and will be notified either on the day or via email. You will be advised when certificates are ready for collection from the School Office.

Your Activities During the Conference

1. A 15-minute presentation: 12 minutes presentation time and 3 minutes question time.

2. Attend all sessions during the day and evaluate the performance of the presenters using the electronic

assessment via Survey Monkey. You do not have to submit an assessment if you are one of the

presenters in the session.

Conference Venue

St Leo’s College

College Road, St Lucia QLD 4067

Professor Andrej Atrens

Theses Course Coordinator Engineering Student Conference, 2019

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/36thconference


Run in conjunction with the UQ School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering’s Student Conference, IMechE is looking to award students for outstanding seminar presentations on their thesis research topics in the mechanical field. This is a great opportunity to be recognized for your public speaking and presentation skills. The winner & runner-up will receive cash prizes (1st prize £300, 2nd prize £200) and go forward to the Oceania Regional Final in late 2019 for a chance to then compete in the Global Final held abroad in early 2020. To be considered for the competition, all you need to do is email your IMechE membership number to [email protected] no later than October 9th 2019. A reminder that student membership is FREE – apply online at http://www.imeche.org/membership-registration/become-a-member/affiliate-member and click on “Apply for Student membership”.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.imeche.org/membership-registration/become-a-member/affiliate-member

http://www.imeche.org/membership-registration/become-a-member/affiliate-member


St Leo’s College Map


Summary of Conference Duties

Chairperson Duty Officer

The timing for all sessions is critical, to permit the audience to move between parallel sessions as they wish. Most sessions are made up of presentations that have related subject matter and a common theme. The Chairperson is responsible for: The timing of presentations within their sessions, and must use the following timetable: 2 min - General session introduction by

Chairperson

12 min - Speaker’s Presentation 3 min - Questions from the Audience 5 min - Staff Critic’s closing remarks

Please see the next page for a full summary of Chairperson duties.

The role of the Duty Officer is to ensure that everything runs smoothly for the presenters. The Duty Officer is responsible to: 1. Ensure that the room is prepared and that the

scheduled staff critic is present, and 2. For each speaker -

a. Assist the speaker to locate their presentation on the computer.

b. During each presentation, help the presenter or the Chairperson when needed.

c. Make sure the room is comfortable for the occupants (lighting, noise, etc.) and try to solve any problems associated with the venue; and

d. Report to the conference coordinator if a problem is too difficult to resolve.

If you are Duty Officer for the last session of the day in your room, please pack up the presentation equipment (computer/laser pointer etc). Take to the Conference Foyer for collection by School staff.


Order of Proceedings

Before the Start of the Session

– Presenters report to the session Chairperson;

– The Duty Officer ensures that the room is prepared (presentation files ready) and that the

scheduled staff critic is present

During the Session

Chairperson’s Introduction (2 minutes)

– Announces the start of the session;

– Self-introduction;

– Introduces the Duty Officer;

– Introduces scheduled speakers and their topics;

– Introduces the staff critic;

– Advises time limits of each presentation (12 minutes + 3 minutes);

– Reminds students of the electronic assessment via Survey Monkey;

– Welcome the first presenter of the session

Presenters (12 minute presentation + 3 minutes for questions)

– At 11 minutes the Chairperson provides a 1-minute warning;

– At 12 minutes the Chairperson asks the speaker to stop and calls for applause;

– The Chairperson asks for questions from the audience. The Chairperson identifies who has a

question and handles the discussion. The Chairperson asks the first question if none are

forthcoming from the audience;

– At 15 minutes the Chairperson closes the discussion and calls the next presenter;

– Students complete the electronic assessment via Survey Monkey

Staff Critic Comments (5 minutes)

Chairperson’s Close (1 minute)

– Thanks everyone and concludes the session

NOTES: Let us work together to make the conference a successful event. Chairpersons are requested to

spend a little time before the conference to practice. They should speak loudly and effectively control

the session (introduce speakers, invite questions, control time etc.).


Session Times – St Leo’s College

Venue A

Leonian Room (St Leo’s)

Venue B Boardroom (St Leo’s)

Venue C Library

(St Leo’s)

Venue D McKenna (St Leo’s)

Venue E Tute Room 2

(St Leo’s)

Venue F Dining Room

(St Leo’s)

8:00–8:35 Welcome by Professor Andrej Atrens (Boardroom, St Leo’s College)

8:40-10:12 A1 A5 A7 A9 C3 D2

10:15-10:30 Morning Tea

10:30-12:07 A2 A6 A8 B5 C4 D3

12:10-13:00 Lunch

13:00-14:22 A3 B1 B3 C1 C5 D4

14:25-14:40 Afternoon Tea

14:40-16:02 A4 B2 B4 C2 D1 D5

16:05-16:15 Closing by Professor Andrej Atrens (Boardroom, St Leo’s College)

16:15-17:00 IMechE Networking Afternoon


Conference Programme

Venue: Leonian A1

Venue B: Boardroom A5

Chair Ned Jackson

Staff Feedback Andrejs Atrens

Duty Officer Yunzhou Chen

Chair William Lambre

Staff Feedback Mingyuan Lu

Duty Officer Makenzie Moor

Time Title Presenter Title Presenter

8:35 Chair’s Introduction Chair’s Introduction

8:37 New Manufacturing Methods for Advanced Lithium Ion Battery Anode Materials

Muhammad Hafiz Husain Laser Cladding of YSZ-TiO2 Composite on Ti6Al4V Substrate

Wee Kiat Nicholas Teo

8:52 Microstructure Control of Lead-free Solder Alloys for Microelectronic Interconnect Applications

Nur Haleeda Abdul Ghani

Introducing Macroporosities into Porous PHBV Scaffolds Using a Space-Holder Method

Brian Tiu

9:07 Effect of Interrupted Reflow Cooling on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Pb-Free Solder Alloys on ENIG Substrates

Anthony Smith Laser Cladding of Titanium Oxide Coating on Ti6Al4V Alloy

Lorena Markovic

9:22 Microstructure control of Mg alloys for hydrogen storage

Amirul Rifqi Ayub Zamri Deposition of Titanium Oxide Abrasive Grids on Ti6Al4V Substrate

Jonathan Jofianus

9:37 Effect of Deposition Parameters on Microstructure and Wear Performance of Weld Hardfacing Deposits

Kian Lim Low Investigation on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of laser cladded TiO2 coatings on Ti6Al4V alloy

WeiKang Lin

9:52 Staff Feedback Comments How Sustainable is Our New Battery Economy? Mikah Fenu

10:07 Staff Feedback Comments

Morning Tea


Venue: Leonian A2

Venue B: Boardroom A6

Chair Julian Ebert

Staff Feedback Matthew Dargusch

Duty Officer Matthew Ong

Chair Jordan Vieira

Staff Feedback Ruth Knibbe

Duty Officer Daniel Simpson



10:32 Assistive Mechanisms Design for IVF Needle Packaging

Kate Plimmer Isolation of a Trailer Tow Hitch Connection Samuel Rankin

10:47 3D Mapping in Medical Device Manufacturing Environments

Kaiwen Qiu Feasibility of Regenerative Dampers in Commercial Vehicle Suspension

Noah Murua

11:02 Assistive Mechanisms for the Assembly of Medical Devices – Mechanical Design

Chun-Hao Chien Finite Element Analysis of the Structural and Acoustic Resonances of Cajons

Dante Waugh

11:17 Heat Distribution within 5.56 mm Rifle Barrels Karel Dekruyf Methods of Determining the State Of Health for Lithium Ion Batteries

Anthony Zhang

11:32 Developing a novel hybrid additive manufacturing process to improve the properties of titanium alloys

Dallin Stirling Machine Learning for High Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathode Development

Zhiyue Wang

11:47 Staff Feedback Comments Sulfur sublimation in preparation of Cathode in Li-S battery

Zulkhilmy Kmarol Zaman


Lunch


Venue: Leonian A3

Venue B: Boardroom B1

Chair Kian Lim Low

Staff Feedback Michael Bermingham

Duty Officer Anthony Smith

Chair Brian Tiu

Staff Feedback Italo Onederra

Duty Officer Mikah Fenu



13:02 Heat treatment of high strenght titanium alloy produced by additive manufacturing

Reshabh Agarwal Semiautonomous Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics of Underground Development Blasting

William Lambre

13:17 Grain refinement of titanium alloy produced by additive manufacturing

Tze Sheng Lee The Impact of an Advanced Dispatch Algorithm on the Economic Feasibility of Hybrid Off-Grid Renewable Energy Systems in Remote Australia

Makenzie Moor

13:32 Analysis of titanium components produced by industrial wire additive manufacturing

Yunzhou Chen Is it viable to update cutting tool industries in India? Vijay Vimal

13:47 Mechanisation of Planting Seed Germination Units Ned Jackson Designing a Backyard Vertical Farm in Brisbane, Australia

Wei Juen Wang

14:02 Zener Pinning of WAAM Titanium Beta Alloys Lachlan Aspinall Staff Feedback Comments


Afternoon Tea


Venue: Leonian A4

Venue B: Boardroom B2

Chair Lachlan Aspinall

Staff Feedback Michael Heitzmann

Duty Officer Karel Dekruyf

Chair Noah Murua

Staff Feedback Mehmet Kizil

Duty Officer Zhiyue Wang



14:42 Sucker rod wear guides product development Brooklyn Dodd Review of dust-related health and safety issues in underground coal mines

Claire Chambon

14:57 Sucker Rod Wear Guide Product Development Akshay Krishna Ambika Harikumar

An Economical and Technical Analysis of Autonomous vs Traditional Trucks

Jordan Vieira

15:12 Design & Commission - Thermal Element Test Apparatus

Julian Ebert Development of an AI system to optimize dragline productivity

Sushil Sivanesh Eswara Subramanian

15:27 Reducing Powder Depletion for Laser Cladding of Ti6Al4V Alloy with Titanium Oxide Powder

Courtney Graymore Development a drone module for Mine Environment monitoring

Chung Peng Cheong

15:42 Manufacture of PHBV Scaffold that Mimics Femoral Bone Microstructure using Selective Laser Sintering

Matthew Ong Dynamic Modelling of Mining Operations to Identify the Vicious Cycle

Daniel Simpson

15:57 Staff Feedback Comments Staff Feedback Comments

Closing and IMechE Networking Afternoon


Venue: Library A7

Venue: McKenna A9

Chair Renee Terz

Staff Feedback Bill Daniel

Duty Officer Michael Day

Chair Luke Bartholomew

Staff Feedback MD Shahriar Hossain

Duty Officer Arun Divakar



8:37 Investigation of the flexible rollers and structural rigidity for chain-die forming

Tianyu Liu Determination of the structural characteristics of high-strength steel cords

Hilario Do Campo

8:52 Toolpath Design for Secondary Stages of Incremental Sheet Forming

Zhangdi Zhong Effect of morphology and anisotropy of solvothermal synthesized tin sulphide crystals on thermoelectric performance

Zijie Lin

9:07 Modelling and Drafting Electrical Enclosure and Supporting Frames of Chlorine Generator in Solid Works

Ye Aung (Brian) Kyaw Sorghum Biomass Derived Porous Activated Carbon for Li-S Battery

Nur Nadia Awaludin

9:22 Investigation of the Synergistic Tribological Properties of Water-Based GO-ZrO2 Hybrid Nanolubricants

Tianxiong Liu The Effect of Surface Treatments of Aluminium Alloys on Structural Adhesive Bonding Quality

Sean Hopkins

9:37 Strength Properties of XT-CF20 Elements Produced via Fused Deposition Modelling

Nicholas Milford Quantitative analysis of through thickness damage in laminated structures using ultrasonic non-destructive testing techniques

Kathir Vadivel Marimuthu

9:52 Manufacturing Processes for Pitch Based Carbon/Carbon Composite Materials

Harry Chisholm Behaviour of Fibre Metal Laminates under Low-Velocity Impacts and Theoretical Analysis of Multi-Axial Mechanical Behaviour

Angus Tully


Morning Tea


Venue: Library A8

Venue: McKenna B5

Chair Robert Dendle

Staff Feedback Martin Veidt

Duty Officer Niki Cheng

Chair Zhen Hao Chia

Staff Feedback Micah Nehring

Duty Officer James Barrett



10:32

The investigation on impact property of glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite laminates with non-destructive ultrasonic testing and optical microscope

Haoxiang Guan Engineering and Technology in China- The current state and future prospect

Quan Gong

10:47 Manufacturing and characterisation of fibre-reinforced aluminium castings

Eric Zheng Wei Kang Data Science in the Mine Planning Space Nguyen Tran

11:02 Improving The Toughness Of A Glass/Epoxy Using PEI Thermoplastic

Syamir Sahlan Sulaiman Quantifying the Impacts of Overbreak on the Underground Development Cycle

Gracie Liao

11:17 Application of Time of Flight Diffraction to Inspect Adhesive Joints

Ponsankar Nagarajan Mine planning impacts of at face sorting in underground hard rock operations

Lachlan Munro

11:32 Evaluating the effect of moisture content over timber’s self-extinction capabilities

Muhamad Amirul Haikal Mohd Niza

Implications of the impending global Electric Vehicle (EV) on the Australian mining industry

Pitamber Singh Mutum

11:47 Staff Feedback Comments The Potential of a Reduction in Operating Space in Open Pit Metalliferous Operations due to Autonomous Haulage Trucks

Justin Groeneveld



Lunch

Venue: Library B3

Venue: McKenna C1

Chair Tianyu Liu

Staff Feedback Peter Knights

Duty Officer Ye Aung (Brian) Kyaw

Chair Angus Tully

Staff Feedback Kamel Hooman

Duty Officer Kathir Vadivel Marimuthu



13:02 Using Cumulative Risk Profiles to Smooth Component Changeout Resource Utilisation

Jack Pianta Design and Costing of Natural Draft Dry Cooling Towers for sCO2 cycle concentrated solar thermal power plants

Alexander Moore

13:17 A study of campaign life assurance for automated mining equipment

Renee Terz Heat Recovery in Cars Arun Divakar

13:32 Benchmarking of Haul Truck Fleets Using Equivalent Flat Haulage Distances

William Leech Design of Phase Change Material Reservoir for Intermittent High Intensity Heat Loads

Luke Bartholomew

13:47 Development of Quality Control Process and Procedures

Michael Day A Feasibility Study on Ground Source Heat Pumps Coupled with Dehumidification for the Eastern Coastal Regions of Australia

Duy-Phong Pham

14:02 Investigation of the cause of locked charges within ball mills

Harry Kippen Staff Feedback Comments


Afternoon Tea


Venue: Library B4

Venue: McKenna C2

Chair Syamir Sahlan Sulaiman

Staff Feedback Christopher Leonardi

Duty Officer Ponsankar Nagarajan

Chair Pitamber Singh Mutum

Staff Feedback Zhongwei Chen

Duty Officer Justin Groeneveld



14:42 Numerical Simulation of Aerodynamic losses of Nozzle Guide Vanes

Kynan Schilling Geotechnical Stability Analysis of In-Situ Stopes for In-Place Mining

Yeon Jun Kim

14:57 Heat Transfer Performance of Nanofluids in Natural Convection Cooling of Electronic Components

Niki Cheng Response of fully grouted cable bolts to roof shearing

Namgyu Lim

15:12 Computational Modelling of Proppant Embedment and Fracture Permeability in Queensland Coals

Robert Dendle Quantifying Cleat and Matrix Deformation Using Digital Image Correlation Technique

Zhen Hao Chia

15:27 Quantifying Pipe Light Risk during Underbalanced Workovers of Coal Seam Gas Wells

Gerrit De Waard Automated Analysis of Critical Maintenance Activities using Computer Based Deep Learning

James Barrett

15:42 Computational assessment of wellhead erosion in Queensland coal seam gas fields

Angus Armstrong Electrostatic Precipitator for Mitigation of Egr Cooler Fouling and Reduction of Diesel Particulate Matter

John Milward




Venue: Tute Room 2 C3

Venue: Dining Room D2

Chair Lachlan Dahler

Staff Feedback David Mee

Duty Officer Reilly Palmer

Chair Ashwin Vijayan

Premavally

Staff Feedback Christian Maluk

Duty Officer Xia Shi



8:37 Simulation and Analysis of T4 Operation Teriitua Ceran-Jerusalemy

Mineralization of aqueous Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) using homogeneous catalytic process

Perrine Chapelle

8:52 Analysis of Spiral Pumps Bhanu Prakash Edukulla The Physiochemical Properties of Oxidized Starch for Forth Flotation Process

Xueyan Chen

9:07 Energy (Exergy) analysis of different Space Launch Systems

Brigid Wilson Research of building gelatin- nanoparticle hybrid engineered immune organoid

Yilun Weng

9:22 Concept study for a wake cancelling and propulsion optimised hypersonic flyer

Ben Van Der Kreek Application of anion exchange resin on removing lead from the acidic copper chloride leach solution

Yiquan Deng

9:37 Development of a Calibrated Work Flow for the Hydraulic Design of a Right Ventricular Assist Device

Adam Gluchowski Enrichment of Short-Srt Phosphorus Accumulating Organisms via FNA Side-Stream Treatment

Sihuan Huang


10:07

Morning Tea




Chair Christopher Hopgood

Staff Feedback Rowan Gollan

Duty Officer David Corporal

Chair Timothy Macdonald

Staff Feedback Simon Smart

Duty Officer Angad Singh Virk



10:32 Thrust Profile Optimisation for Smallsat Hybrid Launch

Kieran Mackle Numerical model of heat transfer characteristics of fuel bed particle size

Siddhant Prakash More

10:47 Design of a wind tunnel experiment to probe coupling between fluid dynamics and nonequilibrium thermochemistry

Austen Pane Cu0 Based Photocathode Fabrication for Solar Water Splitting

Yiqun Xu

11:02 Per-Seat, On Demand Air Transportation – Fragment Based Flight Schedule Optimization

Dalton Cox Improved Accuracy for Measuring Upward Flame Spread in a Cost-Effective Manner

Lachlan Knight

11:17 Adjoint-based grid adaptation for CFD of high-speed flows

Reece Otto Increase the contribution of Renewable Sources in the main electricity grid of Punjab, India

Shubham Sharma

11:32 Hybrid Rocket Motor - Simulation of Combustion Ballistics For a Wax Hybrid in Eilmer

Yu Shen Chia Effects of Free Nitrous Acid and Inorganic Carbon on the Nitrate Oxidation Rate of Activated Sludge

Karthik Pranesh Manivasagan

11:47 Staff Feedback Comments Investigation of the effect of 2D nanomaterials on the concrete matrix

Zheng Han


Lunch




Chair Bhanu Prakash Edukulla

Staff Feedback David Gildfind

Duty Officer Ben Van Der Kreek

Chair Perrine Chapelle

Staff Feedback Tom Baldock

Duty Officer Xueyan Chen



13:02 Nozzle Optimisation for High Powered Rockets Jeremy Nak Optimisation of the Mechanical Motion of A Wave Energy Converter

Francisco Javier Rangel Macias

13:17 CFD simulation of time-resolved radiative emission for Earth re-entry tests in an expansion tube

Arlo Leckie The environmental impact of surf wax Onkar Khanolkar

13:32 Computational study of atherosclerosis in the carotid artery utilising a coupled LBM-DEM model

Kleber Xavier Balladares Orellana

The interaction between the surfboard waxes and the surfboard

Ying Zhu

13:47 Finite Element Analysis of X3R Aluminium Buffer Impact

Lachlan Dahler Low Temperature Ammonia Cracking Reactor Xia Shi

14:02 Hypersonic Vehicle for Space Access Using Hydrocarbon Fuel

Reilly Palmer Impact of Membrane Preservation on the Rejection of Boron, Sulfate, Nitrate and Natural Organic Matter

Ashwin Vijayan Premavally


Afternoon Tea


Venue: Tute Room 2 D1


Chair Kieran Mackle

Staff Feedback Vincent Wheatley

Duty Officer Austen Pane

Chair Lachlan Knight

Staff Feedback Roberta Sutton

Duty Officer Shubham Sharma



14:42 Hypersonic Inlet Design Callum Bretherton ENGG1200 Additional Learning Resource Alastair Wallis

14:57 Analysis of modular scramjet engines in non-uniform flow fields

Dillon Hamill Repair of Sports Cars Angad Singh Virk

15:12 Effective Simulation of Sound Generation in Supersonic Flows

Christopher Hopgood Basketball Court Monitoring and Information Sharing system

Pin-Chien Pan

15:27 Optimizing Scramjet Combuster Geometry Justin Ginges Aerodynamic Computational Fluid Dynamic Optimization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

Suman Gc

15:42 Design of an Embodied Simulation Tool for Planetary Rover Development

David Corporal Assessing the Feasibility of VTOL on a UAV using CFD

Timothy Macdonald




Synopses A1

New Manufacturing Methods for Advanced Lithium Ion Bettery Anode

Materials

Muhammad Hafiz HUSAIN

Supervisor: Prof. Kazuhiro Nogita

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are very well known and can be considered as the primary sources for

wide range of technologies such as electric vehicles and portable electronic devices. This is due to

the fact that LIBs have strong performance in energy efficiency as well as energy and power density.

Nevertheless, industry of LIBs is searching for anode materials that are safer and can produce batteries

with better performance than current versions. This brings to the usage of tin-based anodes because

of their high theoretical capacity, relatively low cost and good operating voltage as a replacement for

anode materials in LIBs (Nitta, N., et al., 2015).

This project aims to improve the cyclic performance of tin-based anodes by alloying pure Sn with Cu

to reduce volume change in the material. This project studies the growth rate of the intermetallic

compounds (IMCs) with Ni additions after 3, 5, 7, and, 10 minutes at three different temperatures

(250oC, 270oC, and 300oC) with different compositions - CuxNi where x=0, 2, 6, 10 and 14. The

cross-section microstructures of the samples were observed using scanning electron microscopy

(SEM) Hitachi TM3030. The software used in doing image analysis of these samples was Image-Pro

Premier. Via that, the total surface area, grain size and grain morphology of the samples can be

characterised before the anodes’ electrochemical properties were analysed in terms of their

charge/discharge capacities. The growth rate of the samples is portrayed by the average increment

thicknesses of the IMC. Both X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and transmission electron

microscopy (TEM) were used to investigate the crystalline nature of the layer of these anode samples.

The method used in this project is inspired by the in-situ formation interface but with simpler

production process (Tan, X.F., et al., 2019). It is expected that Cu6Ni delivers the best performance

followed by Cu10Ni, Cu14Ni, Cu2Ni and pure Cu accordingly.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nitta, N., Wu, F., Lee, J.T. & Yushin, G., 2015. Li-ion battery materials: present and future.

Materials Today, 18(5), pp. 252-264.

Tan, X.F., et al., 2019. The effects of Ni on inhibiting the separation of Cu during the lithiation of

Cu6Sn5 lithium-ion battery anodes. Journal of Power Sources.


Microstructure Control of Lead-free Solder Alloys for Microelectronic

Interconnect Applications

Nur Haleeda ABDUL GHANI

Supervisor: Professor Kazuhiro Nogita

Continuous efforts have been made to produce alloys for low temperature soldering process as an

approach to tackle the economic and political pressure on reducing energy demand (Kotadia et al.,

2014, Sorrell, 2015, Liu et al., 2019). In this project, gallium (Ga) was chosen as the lead-free solder

alloy mainly due to its favourable material properties which are lack in toxicity and having relatively

lower melting point than most currently used conventional solder alloys in the electrical and

electronics industry (Liu et al., 2018).

The purpose of this project is to investigate the joint strength of Cu-xNi/Ga/Cu-xNi (x = 0, 2, 6, 10,

14 wt%) sandwich sample. It is important to assess the sample joint strength to ensure its reliability

on both mechanical strength and electrical conductivity for industry use (Lee and Lee, 2007). A series

of lap joint shear test using Instron 5584 at strain rate of 0.5 mm/min with a maximum of 1 kN load

cell was conducted to evaluate the sample joint strength.

From observation, it was found that the sample joint using Cu-6Ni substrates give the highest joint

strength. The addition of 2 wt% and 6 wt% Ni in the Cu substrate improves the sample joint strength

but further addition of Ni more than 6 wt% decreases the joint strength. The outcome of this project

will contribute to the development of current knowledge base for metal joining and initiate a

fundamental basis for making practical use and commercialization of Ga-based alloys in the

microelectronics industry.

REFERENCES

KOTADIA, H. R., HOWES, P. D. & MANNAN, S. H. 2014. A review: On the development of low

melting temperature Pb-free solders. Microelectronics Reliability, 54, 1253 - 1273.

LEE, Y. H. & LEE, H. T. 2007. Shear strength and interfacial microstructure of Sn-Ag-xNi/Cu single

shear lap solder joints. Materials Science and Engineering A, 75-83.

LIU, S., SWEATMAN, K., MCDONALD, S. & NOGITA, K. J. M. 2018. Ga-Based Alloys in

Microelectronic Interconnects: A Review. 11, 1 - 20.

LIU, S., YANG, W., KAWAMI, Y., GU, Q., MATSUMURA, S., QU, D., MCDONALD, S. &

NOGITA, K. 2019. Effects of Ni and Cu Antisite Substitution on the Phase Stability of CuGa2 from

Liquid Ga/Cu-Ni Interfacial Reaction. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 11, 32523 - 32532.

SORRELL, S. 2015. Reducing energy demand: A review of issues, challenges and approaches.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 47, 74 - 82.


Effect of Interrupted Reflow Cooling on Microstructure and Mechanical

Properties of Pb-Free Solder Alloys on ENIG Substrates

Anthony M. SMITH

Supervisor: Prof. K. Nogita

Currently it is unknown if a SC07 solder alloy on ENIG substrates will result in sufficient Ni diffusion

to stabilise the hexagonal grains - preventing polymorphic phase transformation to a monoclinic

structure, inhibit the ϵ-Cu3Sn phase and in turn increasing reliability of the solder joint. Furthermore,

different reflow cooling conditions will be tested to see how interrupted cooling effects the

microstructure, mechanical properties and reliability of the alloys. Therefore, the overall aim of this

project is to analyse the microstructure, crack characteristics and mechanical properties of Sn-based

solder alloys on Ni substrates (ENIG) and compare the results to Sn based Pb-free alloys on Cu

substrates (Cu-OSP).

500µm solder balls were used on ENIG ball grid arrays (BGA) with solder flux. The BGA were

prepared in a reflow oven with a maximum temperature of 236oC and holding at 140oC for various

times. To analyse the microstructure scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to receive high

magnification images of the IMC and electron diffraction spectrography (EDS) to determine the

composition at the interface. The mechanical properties were measured using shear impact testing.

The maximum force required to shear the ball as well as the energy absorbed during failure were

recorded.

The shear results show that SC07 was the strongest and toughest alloy for the control cooling and 30s

hold samples. This means that on ENIG substrates the cheaper SC07 alloy can be used rather than the

more popular and more expensive SN100C currently dominating the market on Cu substrates. EDS

analysis has also shown that there is diffused Ni throughout the IMC interface with a maximum

strength at 30s hold 1x reflow. The SC07 alloy shows the best stability through reflow cycles in the

0s hold samples with equal properties for the first and second reflow. After 8x however, the sample

showed loss of stability.

REFERENCES

Nogita, K. (2010). Stabilisation of Cu6Sn5 by Ni in Sn-0.7Cu-0.05Ni lead-free solder alloys.

Intermetallics, 18(1), 145-149.

Hock, J., & Pang, L. (2012). Lead Free Solder (1 ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Park, M. S., & Arroyave, R. (2010). Formation and Growth of Intermetallic Compound Cu6Sn5 at

Early Stages in Lead-Free Soldering. Intermetallics, 39(12), 2574-2582.


Microstructure Control of Mg Alloys for Hydrogen Storage

Amirul Rifqi AYUB ZAMRI

Supervisor: Prof. Kazuhiro Nogita

This project aims to develop Mg alloys with a good hydrogen absorption kinetics by modifying the

eutectic phase of the alloy. Plenty of researches have been done on improving the hydrogen storage

capacity of Mg alloy, but there are still low findings on the Mg-Cu alloys as copper are low cost and

non-carcinogenic thus achieving them would contribute to cheaper and safe hydrogen storage but still

maintaining good kinetics of hydrogen absorption.

Three different Mg-Cu alloys which are Mg-12wt%Cu, Mg-25wt%Cu and Mg-44wt%Cu are cast at

a different cooling rate with the addition of sodium (Na), and the samples are observed using Scanning

Electron Microscopy (SEM) for microstructure analysis. A study done by Tran et al. (2016) suggests

that the addition of Na produced the dendritic shape of Mg2Ni eutectic structure, which beneficial for

hydrogen diffusion and enhanced the kinetics of hydrogen sorption. Mg-12wt%Cu samples are

chosen for the hydrogen test due to the high content of magnesium which can store more hydrogen

compared to the other two samples. The as-cast samples of Mg-12wt%Cu series are then

mechanically milled and pulverised into a fine powder and loaded into a Sievert’s type of hydrogen

test equipment for hydrogen test at a pressure of 2 MPa under a temperature of 350°C for 48 hours.

The microstructure of the as-cast samples is observed by using SEM to identify the Primary Mg in

the hypoeutectic samples (Mg-12wt%Cu, Mg-25wt%Cu), Primary Mg2Cu in the hypereutectic

sample (Mg-44wt%Cu) and eutectic structure of Mg-Mg2Cu. The eutectic structure contradicts from

research done by Nogita et al. (2009), where the eutectic structure became finer with the addition of

Na. Although no changes are observed in the eutectic structure, the hydrogen sorption for Mg-

12wt%Cu-0.2wt%Na shows a significant improvement with a shorter activation time (time to reach

90% of the maximum hydrogen capacity of the alloy) as compared to Mg-12wt%Cu.

The SEM images show that there were no significant changes to the eutectic structure when Na is

added to the samples, but the Na-added sample gives a positive result from the hydrogen test. From

the results, it can be stated that the addition of Na gives an impact to the hydrogen absorption kinetics,

where it shortens the activation time.

REFERENCES

Nogita, K. et al., 2009. Engineering the Mg–Mg2Ni eutectic transformation to produce improved

hydrogen storage alloys. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, pp. 7686-7691.

Tran, X. Q., D. McDonald, S., Gu, Q. & Nogita, K., 2016. Effect of trace Na additions on the

hydrogen absorption kinetics of Mg2Ni. Journal of Materials Research.


Effects of Welding Deposition Parameters on Abrasive Wear Performance of

High-Cr Hardfacing Deposits

Kian Lim LOW

Supervisor: Dr. Yahia Ali

Hardfacing is an important technique in the mining and mineral industries, in which a thick layer

coating of hard abrasion-resistant material is applied to a component to protect it from abrasive wear,

impact and erosion. The aim of this project is to establish an automatic welding deposition technique,

which can be used to produce wear test specimens for different hardfacing alloys by means of a

robotic arm and arc welding process. The objective of this project was attained through the study of

the effects of varying welding deposition parameters on the abrasive wear performance of a high-Cr

hardfacing alloy. The deposition method was carried out using gas-shielded flux-cored arc welding

process. Two sets of deposition parameters, particularly with different heat inputs, were found to

produce physically sound overlays. Using these parameters, hardfacing specimens were produced for

further study of microstructure, hardness profile measurements, dilution analysis, and rubber wheel

abrasion test (RWAT) according to ASTM standards. It was discovered that the welding parameters

with lower heat input resulted in lower dilution levels, which led to a better hardness profile. This

was also reflected in terms of better wear performance for single-layer deposits. However, when two

or more layers were deposited, the wear performances attained a steady value and were similar for

both sets of welding conditions. This finding shows that through this deposition method, and

regardless of the heat input, it is possible to achieve the ‘undiluted’ wear performance with just a two-

layer overlay; and that it is not necessarily advantageous to deposit a greater number of layers

considering the additional cost of material. In conclusion, the aim of achieving an automatic

deposition process for hardfacing alloys with the robotic arm was successful in producing sound wear

test specimens, which can be used for further tests in the future.

Back to Conference Program


Synopses A5

Laser Cladding of YSZ-TiO2 Composite on Ti6Al4V Substrate

Wee Kiat Nicholas Teo

Supervisor: Dr Lu Mingyuan

The project aims to develop a Yttria Stabilised Zirconia -TiO2 single track on a Ti6Al4V substrate

for a Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBC). Currently the common methods of depositing YSZ coatings

for TBC are Atmospheric Plasma Spraying (APS) and Electron Beam-Physical Vapour Deposition

(EB-PVD) both of which have their limitations; APS requires a second step laser remelting to seal

surface pores and EB-PVD has a part size limitation and longer processing time. Laser cladding the

TBC could potentially serve as a more effective method of depositing the YSZ-TiO2 coatings.

The current findings into the effects of TiO2 additions and the laser processing parameters have

shown that the TiO2 content affects the pore generation on the clad-substrate interface and the amount

of mixing with the substrate layer. Laser processing parameters have shown that increased exposure

with the laser (increased power input and decreased scanning velocity) have also resulted in a larger

pore generation. The microstructure of the clad have shown that within the composite, an increased

TiO2 content has resulted in a decrease in the amount and size of precipitates which through EDS

(Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy) are shown to contain an increased Titanium to Zirconium

substitution. Hardness tests have shown that for a composite with increased TiO2 content, the

hardness values increase.

YSZ-TiO2 composite for TBC are shown to increase the toughness and retention of the tetragonal

phase of Zirconia in a metastable stage, which is essential as Zirconia often demonstrates a phase

change with temperature change which is detrimental to the mechanical properties of the clad due to

volume changes which are accompanied by cracking in the composite.

The project aims to develop a defect free YSZ-TiO2 laser clad with the goal of multi-track application

and development of an effective TBC.


Introducing Macroporosities into Porous PHBV Scaffolds Using a Space-Holder

Method

Brian Tiu

Supervisor: Dr. Mingyuan Lu, Prof. Han Huang

Polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV) is a biocompatible, biodegradable, optically active and

easily reproduced copolymer (Köse, et al., 2003). PHBV’s use in vivo as a material for bone scaffolding is

often researched because of this. However, PHBV is also known to have poor hydrophilicity due to its lack of

functional groups available for covalent immobilizing cell-recognition signal molecules. Consequently, its

clinical application has been limited (Ke, et al., 2010) as this halts cell adhesion and growth (Li & Chang,

2004).

Diermann et al found that laser processing improved the interconnectivity of PHBV scaffold pore networks.

This led to an inherent increase in hydrophilicity via capillary action through the pore network (Diermann, et

al., 2018). Selvaraj et al looked at improving vascularisation and cell migration by increasing the

macroporosities of a sintered PHBV scaffold via a space holder method. This was done by mixing sodium

chloride (NaCl) grains into a powder blend before sintering. The scaffold would then be leached in water to

remove the sodium chloride, leaving macroporosities, thus increasing the scaffolds ability to vascularise and

migrate cells. Selvaraj et al tested powder blends of 0, 10, 15, 20% salt. During this study, an anomaly termed

as “dead-end pores” was discovered where a percentage of salt was not being leached as they were fully

encased by PHBV.

Continuing the works of Selvaraj et al, this thesis expanded the scope by increasing the NaCl ratio of the PHBV

scaffold (25, 30, 35, 40%), aiming to observe if increasing NaCl concentration would reduce the occurrence

of “dead-end pores”. Changes to absorptivity, compressive strength and microstructure were also analysed

through water absorption, compression tests and microstructural characterization. Most notable findings were

from the water absorption and compression test. From the water absorption, the 40% samples showed that

macroporosities within the scaffold could not promote capillary action due to the overpopulation of pores and

reduction of capillary-like interconnections. Furthermore, compression testing found that past 35%, scaffolds

became too soft for use in vivo as bone implants.

REFERENCES

Diermann, S. H. et al., 2018. Synthesis, microstructure, and mechanical behaviour of a unique porous PHBV

scaffold manufactured using selective laser sintering. Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical

materials, Volume 84, pp. 151-160.

Ke, Y. et al., 2010. Modified PHBV scaffolds by in situ UV polymerization: structural characteristic,

mechanical properties and bone mesenchymal stem cell compatibility. Acta Biomaterialia, Volume 6, pp.

1329-1336.

Köse, G. T., Ber, S., Korkusuz, F. & Hasirci, V., 2003. Poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-3-hydroxyvaleric

acid) based tissue engineering matrices. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, Volume 14, pp.

121-126.

Li, H. & Chang, J., 2004. Fabrication and characterization of bioactive wollastonite/PHBV composite

scaffolds. Biomaterials, Volume 25, pp. 5473-5480.

Selvaraj, S., 2018. Understanding the Hydrophilic Behaviour of Porous PHBV Scaffolds, s.l.: s.n.


Laser Cladding of Titanium Oxide Coating on Ti6AL4V Alloy

Lorena MARKOVIC

Supervisor: Dr. Mingyuan Lu

The use of titanium implants is of great interest within medical fields due to its excellent low density,

biocompatibility and corrosion resistance (Prasad, et al., 2017). However, excessive wear and friction on

implants causes degradation due to surface distortion and material transfer (Wiklund & Hutchings, 2001). This

is undesirable as degradation poses health risks whilst replacements are costly and may lead to further invasive

procedures. Cladding of titanium surfaces is an effective method which may be used to minimise degradation

and reduce the need for replacements.

Laser treatments are achieved through the application of a ceramic powder onto a substrate. A laser is used to

melt the powder onto the substrate surface which is then rapidly cooled to form a thin layer. This allows for

considerable improvements to the substrates mechanical and material properties. Two methods of cladding

exist: direct laser deposition (LENS) and pre-deposited laser cladding. Unlike LENS, pre-deposited laser

cladding may be applied to a wider variety of powders and is not limited to the melting points of the powders

(Lu, et al., 2018). As such, pre-deposited cladding was selected for the purpose of this thesis as it may be

applied to custom-made ceramic powders such as the one used within this study.

The aim of this thesis project was to investigate the material and mechanical properties of titanium dioxide

(TiO2) ceramic coating when applied to a titanium substrate through laser cladding of the TiO2 powder at

varying laser input parameters. Furthermore, multiple track lines were of main interest within this study.

Metallurgical sample preparation was necessary both prior to and following the laser cladding process. This

consisted of initial substrate cutting, laser cladding, secondary cutting of the cladded samples, cold mounting,

grinding and polishing. The mechanical and material properties were observed using a confocal laser

microscope whilst a scanning electron microscope was used to identify any cracks within the clad.

For each of the track geometries, it was evident that clad height increased within increasing scan speed and

laser power whilst track width decreased. Defects existed within the track geometries, primarily in the form of

cracks and pores. It was observed that cracking was most prominent towards the centre of the substrate and in

regions where track lines turned and overlapped due to higher thermal stresses located within these regions.

Additionally, crack depth and length increased with increasing scan speed and power.

Whilst increasing laser power and scan speed produces a thicker clad layer, the formation of defects in the

form of cracking and pores are also promoted at elevated temperatures. As such, it is desirable to achieve a

compromise between the laser parameters and the clad thicknesses produced.

REFERENCES

Lu, M. et al., 2018. Laser deposition of compositionally graded titanium oxide on Ti6Al4V alloy. Ceramics

International, Volume 44, pp. 20851-20861.

Prasad, K. et al., 2017. Metallic Biomaterials: Current Challenges and Opportunities, s.l.: MDPI.

Wiklund, U. & Hutchings, I., 2001. Investigation of surface treatments for galling protection of titanium

alloys. Wear, Volume 251, pp. 1034-1041.


Deposition of Titanium Oxide Abrasive Grids on Ti6Al4V Substrate

Jonathan Jofianus


The importance of Titanium alloys in many applications such as in space engineering, aircraft,

automotive, and biomedical industries have driven researchers to further enhance their properties. Ti

alloys have great biocompatibility, excellent corrosion and oxidation resistance, and high specific

strength. Despite these advantages, titanium has the drawback of having poor wear resistance. Hence,

surface modification of Ti alloys will be the focus of this research.

In this study, laser cladding process was utilised to deposit thick and well adhered of TiO2 on the

surface of Ti-6Al-4V alloy substrate at different scan spacings. Laser cladding method able to boost

corrosion and wear resistance for Titanium and its alloy. This study varied the distance between single

clad tracks during the laser cladding process. The scan spacing used ranged from 1 mm to 3.5 mm

and the laser power and scan speed were fixed at 150 W and 300 mm/min respectively. The powder

used for this study is commercially available Metco 6233C titanium dioxide powders. This powder

has good flowability and commonly used for producing the TiO2 wear-resistant coatings.

This project focused on analysing the effects of single tracks separation on track quality. The optical

microscope is used for cross-section analysis of the samples. It was found that the formation of pores

and cracks inside the tracks are inevitable. The pores in laser cladding are caused by trapped gases

during the melting process because it did not have enough time to escape meanwhile cracks are caused

by poor adhesion to the substrate. It was also found that the higher scan spacing led to more porous

products. The quality of the tracks made using high scan spacing is also not satisfactory, as they are

highly porous. The wear performance of the tracks made using higher scan spacing is inferior

compared to that using scan spacing.

REFERENCES

Weng, F., Chen, C., & Yu, H. (2014). Research Status of Laser Cladding on Titanium and Its Alloy:

A Review. Materials and Design, 412-425.

Longuet, A., Y.Robert, Aeby-Gautier, E., Appolaire, B., Mariage, J., Colin, C., & Cailletaud, G.

(2009). A multiphase mechanical model for Ti-6Al-4V: Application to the modelling of

laser assisted processing. Computational Materials Science, 761-766.


Investigation on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of laser cladded

TiO2 coatings on Ti6Al4V alloy

Weikang Lin


Ti6Al4V alloy is an advanced structural material, and it has been widely used in advanced science

and technology fields such as aerospace and marine industries with its high strength, good heat

resistance, and excellent corrosion resistance. However, poor wear performance restricted their broad

applications (Lu et al., 2018). Laser cladding is an effective surface modification technology; it can

deposit a thick ceramic coating on the surface of titanium alloys to improve their surface wear

resistance hence service life (Balla et al., 2009). Laser cladding uses a high-power laser to melt the

powder on the substrate, a melt pool after rapid solidification produces a single-track coating.

Multiple tracks overlapped can produce a continuous layer. In this technology, ceramic coatings that

are dense and thick and metallurgical bonded to the metallic substrate can be fabricated. Meanwhile,

due to the unique geometry formed by laser cladding, the coating requires precise machining to ensure

the surface flatness (Jahanmir et al., 1999). Understanding the ceramic coating removal mechanism

is crucial for controlling and selecting machining parameters. The primary goals of this thesis were

to study the variation of microstructure and microhardness of deposited TiO2 coating and understand

TiO2 coating removal mechanism for machining.

In this thesis, single-track and multi-tracks samples were cladded onto to Ti6Al4V alloy substrate in

order to investigate the impact of overlapping rate on microstructure and mechanical behavior of

TiO2 coatings. The microstructure characterization and microhardness test showed the variation of

microstructure and hardness laser power and scan spacing. For comprehensively understanding the

relationship between microstructure and microhardness, nanoindentation was used to investigate the

nano-hardness of the phases in microstructure. Nanoscatching was used to study the removal

mechanism of TiO2 coating.

The results showed that under the same overlapping rate, high laser power corresponded coating has

less porosity and cracks. When using the same laser power, the large overlapping rate (30%) resulted

in increased porosity. Meanwhile, as the LED increased, the molten oxide and Ti substrate in the

molten pool fully diffused and mixed, this leads to the disappearance of the graded structure.

REFERENCES

BALLA, V. K., DEVASCONCELLOS, P. D., XUE, W., BOSE, S. & BANDYOPADHYAY, A.

2009. Fabrication of compositionally and structurally graded Ti-TiO2 structures using laser

engineered net shaping (LENS). Acta Biomater, 5, 1831-7.

JAHANMIR, S., RAMULU, M. & KOSHY, P. 1999. Machining of ceramics and composites, New

York : Marcel Dekker.

LU, M., MCCORMICK, P., ZHAO, Y., FAN, Z. & HUANG, H. 2018. Laser deposition of

compositionally graded titanium oxide on Ti6Al4V alloy. Ceramics International, 44,

20851-20861.


How Sustainable is Our New Battery Economy?

Mikah Fenu

Supervisor: Dr. R. Knibbe

Due to the rapid acceleration of climate change and the associated effects, a global focus has been

placed on reducing emissions through the implementation of renewable energy systems.

Consequently, a large spike in the demand of energy storage systems has occurred to accommodate

for the increase in renewables. The goal of the project is to gain a critical understanding of the

sustainability of current and future electricity generation methods. This will be achieved by

comparing the two methods from an economic and LCA perspective. The transition into renewable

generation will require a significant amount of time and resources. Thus, it is incredibly important

that the effects of this transition are fully understood.

Utilising only variable renewable energy sources would be both the most cost-effective option and

the method which imposes the least amount of strain on the environment. However, this method is

not sufficient for meeting the peak demand required for Australia. Therefore, three main storage

options are being investigated. These are pumped hydro energy storage (PHES), Hydrogen storage

and Battery storage. Currently, 43% of Australian Energy storage projects that are operating or under

construction and planning, are related to batteries (Stock, Bourne, Brailsford & Stock, 2018).

However, an LCOE study found that the cost for utility scale battery storage is significantly larger

for batteries than for the other 2 options. Additionally, it was found that batteries are most cost

effective when only used for 1-2 hours of storage (Keith Lovegrove et al., 2018). Further analysis

into the environmental effects of each storage option will be performed. This analysis will help to

gain an understanding of whether the increased costs are justified or whether resources could be being

allocated more effectively.

REFERENCES

Keith Lovegrove, e. a. (2018). Comparison of Dispatchable Renewable Electricity Options.

Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

Stock, B. B. (2018). Fully Charged: Renewable and Storage Powering Australia. Climate Council of

Australia Ltd.



Synopses A7

Investigation of the Flexible Rollers and Structural Rigidity for Chain-die

Forming

Tianyu Liu

Supervisor: Dr W.J.T (Bill) Daniel

This project is aiming at investigating the effects of flexible rollers and structural rigidity involved in

the chain-die forming, which is an advanced, low-energy-cost material forming technology with less

or even without redundant deformation compared to the traditional roll forming (Ding et al., 2008).

The current transitional surface, the material forming quality and the chain-die costs of chain-die

forming are not satisfactory due to the unexpected redundant deformation that may exist in the

machine frame and rollers. Hence, it is essential to predict the performance of chain-die forming by

gaining more accurate stiffness of rollers.

To achieve more accurate stiffness, theoretical calculation, FEM (finite element modelling) with

Abaqus and experimental validations will be conducted to investigate both the rigidity of the machine

structure and the flexibility of the rollers.

The investigation finds that the major factors which affect the roller stiffness are the added loading,

and the number of rollers involved. The increasing load will increase the stiffness of the rollers within

the elastic deformation period and will decrease significantly due to the plastic deformation. The

suitable number of rollers involved will assist to sperate the loading and avoid unexpected plastic

deformation of the roller. As the result, the average stiffness of rollers can be predicted as the more

accurate stiffness of the roller.

The stiffness gained from the investigation can be used to predict the forming performance much

more accurately. It will assist to reduce the time and cost of die in the fields of designing,

manufacturing, and modification significantly.

REFERENCES

DING, S., DANIEL, W. J. T., YUAN, J. & ZHANG, Y. Making roll forming flexible-introduction to

Chain forming. Yokohama Tube and Pipe 2011 Joint Symposium -Innovative Tube and Pipe

Manufacturing and Forming, 2008. 335-340.


Toolpath design for secondary stages of incremental sheet forming

Zhangdi Zhong

Supervisor: Dr. William Daniel

Incremental sheet forming process is an effective method to manufacture components with complex

3-D geometry. Compare to conventional sheet forming process, it has shorter lead time and reduced

cost. However, forming a component with a steep wall angle in a single pass is very difficult, as the

material might be stretched too much and could possibly fail during the process. In order to avoid

material failure, the material thickness has to be distributed uniformly through a multiple stage

forming process(Liu et al., 2014, Cao et al., 2015).

This project aims at designing the multi-stage forming toolpath, by determining the intermediate

shape for each stage. MATLAB is used in this project to simulate the forming process and estimate

the strain and thickness distribution on the formed component. For certain shape tested, the multi-

stage strategy works effectively as it reduces the maximum major strain, so that the material is less

likely to fail during the process. Based on the progress so far, this algorithm of generating the multi-

stage toolpath is expected to work on other complex shapes, with proper settings applied.

REFERENCES

CAO, T., LU, B., XU, D., ZHANG, H., CHEN, J., LONG, H. & CAO, J. 2015. An efficient method

for thickness prediction in multi-pass incremental sheet forming. The International Journal

of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 77, 469-483.

LIU, Z., DANIEL, W. J. T., LI, Y., LIU, S. & MEEHAN, P. A. 2014. Multi-pass deformation design

for incremental sheet forming: Analytical modeling, finite element analysis and experimental

validation. Journal of Materials Processing Tech., 214, 620-634.


Modelling and Drafting Electrical Enclosure and Supporting Frames of

Chlorine Generator in SolidWorks

Ye Aung KYAW

Supervisor: Dr. Bill Daniel

Australian Innovative Systems (AIS) Water is an awarding winning company that boasts its success

on water disinfection using electrolysis to generate simpler, safer and smarter water chlorination.

Generation of hypochlorite from saltwater electrolysis creates close to neutral pH level that reduces

discomfort for users. With the vision to increase its production, existing outdated drawings needs to

be reviewed and updated to modern standards to ensure manufacturability of machines models.

Existing drawings are done on AutoCAD, which is predominantly used for 2D drawings, lack

visualisation of model and requires tedious amount of work to modify a design. Therefore,

SolidWorks will be used in the project as it offers a more extensive range of design flexibility while

created parts can be used as a reference to migrate other existing machine models of similar design.

This will allow possibility of future development of extending the project onto other machine models.

Other benefits of this software package include model simulation to review strength and durability,

computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) to assess time and method of production, electrical and

plumbing schematics. The outcome of the project will consist complete 3D modelling of all subparts

and assembled parts of SRC-400 model, and production-ready 2D drawings that comply with

Australian Standard. As most works contain confidential information, presentable drawing updates

will be displayed only during the seminar.

Bibliography

Anon., . Full text of "AS 1100.101 1992 Technical Dwgs". [Online]

Available at: https://archive.org/stream/AS1100.1011992TechnicalDwgs/AS1100.101-

1992+Technical+Dwgs_djvu.txt

[Accessed 19 9 2019].

Committee ME/72, Technical Drawing, 1992. Australian Standard 1100 - Technical drawing. 2014

ed. s.l.:Council of Standards Australia.


Investigation of the Synergistic Tribological Properties of Water-Based GO-

ZrO2 Hybrid Nanolubricants

Tianxiong LIU

Supervisor: Prof Han Huang

Lubricants are important in the field of engineering and are used commonly and frequently in

mechanical systems to improve efficiency, consistency and sustainability. The oil-based lubricants

are currently the mainstream in the market and industry. However, they are inherently toxic, non-

renewable and unfriendly to the environment. The emerging water-based nano-additive lubricants

resolve the issues of the oil lubricants while demonstrating promising tribological properties. Water

based lubricants with single nano-additive such as GO nanosheets and ZrO2 nanoparticles tend to

restack and agglomerate, which consequently compromise their lubricating abilities (Zhou et al

2015). However, it is believed that by synthesising hybrid nano lubricants, the issues can be mitigated

while achieving improved tribological performance (Huang et al 2019).

This project aims to discover the tribological properties (friction and wear characteristics) of the

water-based GO/ZrO2 additive hybrid nanolubricants; reveal the effects of different concentration,

mass fraction of the additives and testing conditions on the tribological properties of the proposed

lubricants; investigate and understand the lubrication mechanisms of the proposed lubricants.

The nanolubricants were characterised by examining the morphologies of the solution and size

distribution of the nano materials. The tribological performance of the GO/ZrO2 nanolubricants were

assessed using the Bruker Universal Material Tester (UMT-3) with the block on ring configuration.

The contact pair used was alloy/stainless steel. The wear mark width of each test sample was

measured using a scanning electron microscopy, and the surface roughness was evaluated using a

laser confocal microscope.

The prepared hybrid nanolubricants shows better dispersibility than those contain only GO or ZrO2

solutions. The experimental results indicate that the 1 wt% 1:1 GO-ZrO2 lubricants exhibited 20%

and 15% reductions in coefficient of friction and 50% and 20% reduction in surface roughness when

compare with 0.5% ZrO2 and 0.5% GO lubricants respectively. Worn mark analysis suggested a

protecting layer consists of both ZrO2 nanoparticle and GO nanosheets were formulated during the

experiment and effectively prevented the surfaces from direct contact.

REFERENCES

Huang, S., He, A., Yun, J.-H, Xu, X., Jiang, Z., Jiao, S., & Huang, H 2019, Synergistic tribological

performance of a water based lubricant using graphene oxide and alumina hybrid nanoparticles as

additives, Tribology International, 135, 170-180.

Zhou, Q., Huang, J., Wang, J., Yang Z., Liu, S., Wang, Z., & Yang, S 2015, Preparation of a reduced

graphene oxide/zirconia nanocomposite and its application as a novel lubricant oil additive, Royal

Society of Chemistry,5, 91802-91812.


Strength Properties of XT-CF20 Elements Produced Via Fused Deposition

Modelling

Nicholas M. MILFORD

Supervisor: Dr. M Heitzmann

The primary aim of this thesis project is to contribute to the research conducted by Airbus Australia

Pacific (AAP) with the goal of producing ColorFabb XT-CF20 Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)

components that may be flight certified. Achieving this goal will substantially reduce inhibiting

factors concerning the financial performance of the company and the mandated flight schedules of

the supported aircraft. As per MIL-HDBK-17, element testing is to be conducted in support of the

coupon-level testing performed by AAP (Macdonald 2018). This previous research served as the basis

for the design and production of the element specimens for this project.

The specimen strength properties were obtained via tensile, compression, and flexural testing using

facilities at the University of Queensland. The testing results presented a close correlation with the

previous research data, thus validating the accuracy and repeatability of the production process using

the XT-CF20 material with the available equipment. Using the data obtained, a Finite Element

Analysis (FEA) was performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of a single-use, non-flight critical

component for the current MRH90 configuration.

Due to the extensive verification process for new aerospace materials and the absence of a

standardised approach for certification of FDM components, the findings of this project are important

in support of the use of XT-CF20 use within AAP and generally, the use of FDM components within

the industry.

REFERENCES

Macdonald, R 2018, Strength Properties of Fused Deposition Modelling Components Produced with

XT-CF20 Carbon Fibre Filament, Airbus Australia Pacific


Manufacturing Processes for Pitch Based Carbon/Carbon Composite Materials

Harry W. CHISHOLM

Supervisor: Dr Michael T. HEITZMAN

Carbon-Carbon composites are a material group receiving huge interest for their favourable high

temperature properties, facilitating use cases not possible with current material technology. Currently,

manufacturing of carbon matrix material is extremely energy intensive and costly, problems that

could be mitigated with the development of matrix processing from high carbon content ‘pitch,’

which is produced as a by-product from various petrochemical processes. This project aims to develop

a base understanding of the manufacturing processes of pitch-based matrix material for the use in

carbon-carbon composites.

The two major measures of the quality of a pitch-based matrix sample are its carbon content and

porosity. Carbon content will be the focus of the investigation with carbon mass percentage (giving

carbon yield) measured using thermogravimetric analysis after different heat and chemical treatments

to determine the combination that yields the most favourable results.

The findings of the report detail, based on the project testing, the best method for converting the given

pitch precursor into a carbon-carbon matrix material with favourable mechanical properties. It was

found that the properties of the finished matrix material are highly dependant on its processing,

meaning that a standard detailed processing procedure is required to ensure inter sample consistency.

These findings will provide a strong starting point for future investigation into pitch-based carbon-

carbon composites by giving a good understanding of the manufacturing methods which yield the

best results. This work will ultimately help facilitate solutions to problems not solvable/feasible with

current material technology, helping bring concepts such as hypersonic aircraft to fruition.



Synopses A9

Determination of the Structural Characteristics of High Strength Steel Cords

Hilario do Campo

Supervisor: Prof. Jin Zou

High strength steel cords (approximately 0.9% carbon) are widely used across our society in a variety

of high load scenarios including car tyres and suspension bridge cables. Identifying the structural

characteristics of the chords is critical in the future development of chords able to withstand higher

stress levels. To analyse the structural and fracture mechanics of the steel cords light microscopy and

SEM imaging was used to identify key structural features such as the steel phase. Following from this

the steel cords were fractured under a tensile test to replicate the cold drawing process and the fracture

surface analysed using SEM to determine the mechanics of fracture. The SEM imaging showed clear

steel microstructures in the untested samples including pearlite and clear grain boundaries. The tensile

tested samples deformed in a ductile fashion before fracturing as expected from the literature allowing

for cross-examination of findings to identify the fracture mechanics. The findings from this

investigation will be used to modify manufacture and processing techniques of high strength steel

cords. This will allow for cords to be developed with higher carbon content and a greater yield

strength.


Effect of morphology and anisotropy of solvothermal synthesized tin sulphide

crystals on thermoelectric performance

Zijie LIN

Supervisors: Prof. J. Zou & Prof. Z.G. Chen

Under the circumstance of the world energy crisis, thermoelectric materials, which converts heat into

electricity directly and vice versa, are attracting wildly research (Chen et al., 2012). The efficiency of

thermoelectric materials is determined by the dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) (Snyder & Toberer,

2008). A high ZT of 0.8 (at 873K) was achieved in the polycrystalline doped anisotropic tin sulphide

(SnS).

In order to investigate the effect of SnS morphology and anisotropy on thermoelectric performance,

we obtained different micro-scale morphological crystal via solvothermal method with different

volume (5 and 7.5ml) of sodium hydroxide solutions.

The SEM images showed two SnS crystal shapes as plate and belt, we then detected the composition

of each other, and found that the content of plate shape in 5ml group is higher, which leads to higher

average in-plane thermoelectric performance of SnS in 5ml group (ZT ≈ 0.15, 300K) compare to

7.5ml group (ZT ≈ 0.12, 300K). As for both in-plane and out-of-plane directions of bulk SnS, ZT

values exhibit significantly higher in the former than the latter one (ZT ≈ 0.05 for 5ml group, 300K)

This work raises the crystal scale of SnS to the micron level in the thermoelectric field, and the

investigation on morphology control & anisotropy may pave the path to further research to enhance

ZT in SnS system, such as heavy elements doping and vacancy engineering.

REFERENCES

Chen, Z.-G. 2012, Nanostructured thermoelectric materials: Current research and future challenge.

Progress in Natural Science: Materials International, 2012. 22(6): p. 535-549

Snyder, G. J. & Toberer, E. S. 2008, Complex thermoelectric materials. Nature Materials, 7, 105.


Sorghum Biomass Derived Porous Activated Carbon for Li-S Battery

Nur Nadia AWALUDIN

Supervisor: Dr. M.S. Hossain & Prof. Y. Yamauchi

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) has been widely used worldwide due to its lightweight and portability

energy properties. Followed by that, lithium-sulfur battery has been introduced to improve the

weaknesses LIB was having such as low theoretical capacity and energy density. However, this

battery also found facing obstacle of low cycle life. This project aims to improve the performance of

Li-S battery by using sorghum leaf and stem biomass approach. The derived sorghum biomass from

porous activated carbon is used in the cathode for battery testing at different surface area. The

significance of this project is that high surface area of biomass will increase loading of sulfur as active

material. This will then increase the conductivity and energy density of the battery.

Throughout this project, 10 samples were used which are through direct carbonization at 800oC,

activation with potassium hydroxide (KOH) at 400 oC, 600 oC, 800 oC and 900 oC for both sorghum

leaf and stem. These multiple approaches gave different pore volumes and surface areas of cathode

material.

These carbon materials were gone through degassing process to remove excess gas molecules in air

from the biomass carbon and then transferred to do BET measurement to investigate the surface area

of the carbon material using nitrogen pressure. Then, they were run through x-ray photoelectron

spectroscopy (XPS) to check the components exist in the material and raman spectroscopy to

investigate the orbital hybridisation. Scanning and transmission electron microscope (SEM & TEM)

are used to observe the surface and pore structures of the biomass carbon. The coin cell is made from

this carbon materials at the cathode and the battery performance is analysed.

This whole project is manipulated by surface area and porosity of the carbon materials. It is targeted

that the higher the surface area and porosity, the greater the battery performance.


The Effect of Surface Treatments of Aluminium Alloys on Structural Adhesive

Bonding Quality

Sean J. HOPKINS

Supervisor: Dr. M. Veidt

The aerospace and automotive industry has turned its attention towards the use of so-called fibre-metal

laminates for use in creating a light-weight but structurally strong material (Homebergsmeier, 2006). These

fibre-metal laminates are created through laminating an aluminium alloy with epoxy composites in order to

make a strong, layered structure. This project was conducted with the goal in mind to explore which

combination of typical aluminium surface treatment and epoxy composition was the strongest. There was

also a secondary goal involved which looked at both the price and ease of manufacturing the samples in

order to determine what might work best for certain scenarios.

The project investigated the effects of three surface treatments and five epoxy compositions as shown in

table 1 below. These were chosen as they were fairly common, easy to manufacture, and fairly little research

had been done on the combination of them. The project began by developing suitable manufacturing

methodologies for each of the samples which required a large element of trial and error and involved a fair

bit of time. After manufacturing the samples, a suitable testing methodology was developed and lap shear

tests were picked as the chosen testing methodology.

None (N) Mechanical Abrasion

(MA)

Alkaline Etch (AE)

No additive (NA) N/NA MA/NA AE/NA

Toughening agent low %

(LTA)

N/LTA No testing AE/LTA

Toughening agent high %

(HTA)

N/HTA No testing AE/HTA

Coupling agent low %

(LCA)

N/LCA MA/LCA AE/LCA

Coupling agent high %

(HCA)

N/HCA MA/HCA AE/HCA

Through this testing, it was revealed that alkaline etching is the most strength-enhancing surface treatment

and that the addition of both coupling and toughening agents also enhance the strength of the bond.

However, using a different epoxy composition should is not a suitable replacement for surface treatments

and treating the aluminium had a much larger effect on the quality of the structural adhesive bonding. These

findings are notable as they become the foundations for extended research into the topic of aluminium-epoxy

bonding and to develop a standard manufacturing process for the strongest material.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Hombergsmeier, E., 2006. Development of advanced laminates for aircraft structures. In Proceedings of 25th

International Congress of the Aeronautical Sciences (P. 3-8).

Surface

Treatment Epoxy

Treatment

Table 1 – Testing Conditions


Quantitative analysis of through thickness damage in laminated structures using

ultrasonic non-destructive testing techniques

Presenter: Kathir Vadivel Marimuthu

Supervisor: Dr Martin Veidt

The project aims to quantitatively analyse the different types of damages in composite materials through

ultrasonic non-destructive techniques like conventional Ultrasonic Testing and Phased Array Ultrasonic

Testing (PAUT). Samples used include Plexiglass, Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP), and Glassfiber

reinforced polymer (GFRP). Plexiglass (of 6mm thickness) was borrowed from a thesis student while CFRP

sample (of 7mm thickness) was manufactured for Airbus as test sample. GFRP was manufactured using wet

layup for 10mm thickness.

Damages were made in the materials in the following ways. Plexiglass material was drilled for different

thickness of different diameters. CFRP was manufactured with some artificial delaminations at different

locations on the sample while GFRP was manufactured and performed impact damaging to test the impact

damage characteristics.

The quantitative results were aimed to be based on the thickness readings of the samples and hence PAUT was

the primary NDT testing technique. The two methods adapted in PAUT are:

1. Thickness C-Scan: Thickness C-scan or Corrosion mapping is capable of identifying any significant

changes in the thickness of the material. These scan images use range of colours to represent the

thickness range of the part being inspected (Automated Corrosion Mapping, n.d.).

2. Amplitude C-Scan: Amplitude drop sizing method is more like a conventional -6dB method which

is performed using amplitude C-scan with the amplitude of A-scan. The gates are established over A-

scan and the amplitudes are recorded by the cursor movement recorded at regular intervals with the

movement of transducer over the sample (NDT Resource Center, n.d.).

GFRP exhibits greater attenuation with higher frequencies and hence it is tested with conventional UT. This

method does help in finding the defects but characterising though thickness is not possible. Hence, the material

is tested to trace the path of the defect produced by impact damage on both the sides of the material.

The methods successfully found the 3 and 6 damages in plexiglass and CFRP respectively. The results of the

PAUT methods for five set of readings are calculated for the standard deviations. As the resultant errors were

observed from the five set of readings, this holds 68% confidence on accuracy and this can be increased by

increasing the number of experimentation readings. It is evident from the experiment that the Conventional

UT is very helpful in understanding the basics of material properties like the attenuation which would be

helpful in selecting the appropriate probe selection, thickness configuration. PAUT result shows the

importance of choosing the right technique of PAUT for specific applications based on the materials.

Bibliography

Automated Corrosion Mapping. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2019, from

https://www.ansndt.com/advanced-ndt-services/ultrasonic_corrosion_mapping/

NDT Resource Center. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2019, from https://www.nde-

ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Ultrasonics/EquipmentTrans/DataPres.htm


Behaviour of Fibre Metal Laminates under Low-Velocity Impacts and

Theoretical Analysis of Multi-Axial Mechanical Behaviour

Angus J. TULLY

Supervisor: Dr. M. Veidt

The thesis aims to investigate the low-velocity impact behaviour of an aluminium/glass/epoxy fibre

metal laminate (FML). Primarily, this aims to inform the impact behaviour of FMLs; although, it will

involve investigating the effect of multiple layers on the impact response. As a result of this thesis,

both non-destructive ultrasonic testing (NDUT) of FMLs and the manufacture of FMLs will be better

understood. The low-velocity impact behaviour will be extended to a theoretical analysis of FMLs

under biaxial strain states using ANSYS. FML’s have found a use in the aerospace industry due to

many desirable properties, this includes impact behaviour and fatigue (Vogelesang, & Vlot 2000).

Due to these properties, this class of materials has potential within other industries. The investigation

involves the manufacture of a FMLs using a vacuum bag technique. The produced samples were

tested according to ASTMD7136. Further analysis of the results was made using microscopy and

NDUT. The investigation indicates the significants of additional manufacturing processes on the

quality of FMLs. Additionally, the effect of metal layers can be seen in the response of the FMLs. In

investigating how a sample may respond under bi-axial conditions this can be used to inform later

testing of FMLs under these conditions. The thesis will provide additional insight into the behaviour

of FMLs.

REFERENCES

Vogelesang, LB & Vlot, A 2000, ‘Development of fibre metal laminates for advanced aerospace

structures’, Journal of Materials Processing Tech, vol. 103, no. 1, pp. 1-5.



Synopses C3

Simulation and Analysis of T4 Operation

Teriitua Ceran-Jerusalemy

Supervisor: Professor David Mee

This project involves the analysis of the T4 free-piston shock tunnel facility. The main goal of the

project is to be able to determine the motion of the piston travelling inside the compression tube in

order to develop new operating test conditions and possibly help improve the tunnel conditions with

minor maintenance. To achieve this, Peter Jacobs’ paper (1993) was used as a starting point to

understand the work done on the facility. From here, L1d, the quasi-one dimensional computer

program was studied and utilized.

With a model of the T4 facility, different tests were evaluated and compared to experimental data

obtained from previous researches. The comparison would indicate the accuracy and the reliability

of the program to simulate these tests, and that it would, therefore, be able to monitor the motion of

the piston correctly.

It was found that the simulations match the experimental data and that the program could model the

gas dynamics of T4 and provide accurate results of the piston motion in the compression tube.

This shows that L1d can be used to investigate new possible operating conditions for the facility

and also provide precise information of different parameters such as the piston motion or the

pressures at different locations. Furthermore, this could be used to potentially improve the

maintenance of the facility regarding the buffers for example.

REFERENCES

P. A. Jacobs (1993), “Quasi-One-Dimensional Modeling of a Free-Piston Shock Tunnel”, the UQ

library, AAIA Paper 93-0352


Analysis of Spiral Pumps

Bhanu Prakash Edukulla

Supervisor: Dr David Mee

Spiral pumps are the water wheels or hydraulic machines which can pump the water from a river

without electricity (Quaranta, 2016). The flowing water of the river provides the energy to the spiral

pump to rotate the wheel. While turning of the wheel, the inlet tube lifts the water and air into the

tube and passes through different water columns and reaches to outlet tube (Quaranta, 2016). These

spiral pumps are used in remote locations and used primarily for irrigation and farming purposes.

Also, these kind of pumps can pump the water from river approximately 43,000 litres/day (Quaranta,

2016). By using the advantages of no electricity usage, and no carbon emissions, these water wheels

are being installed in developing and developed countries like Nepal, Indonesia, Turkey, Zambia and

Spain (Quaranta, 2016).

In the last four decades, many tests were conducted on the spiral pumps, but these tests are used to

improve the pump's efficiency, not on the working principle of the pump. In this research, a spiral

pump is designed and constructed at UQ makerspace. For designing the pump, CAD software is used,

and for construction of the pump, acrylics are used. By using a laser cutting/engraving machine,

acrylics are shaped and cut for construction of the pump. To understand the how the spiral pump

works and produce some empirical data; experimental analysis has been done to record the data of

each water column length, each air column length and different pressures in the tube. The results of

the experiments show the working principle of the spiral pump, and some experiment results will be

shown during presentation.


Energy (Exergy) Analysis of Different Space Launch Systems

Brigid M. WILSON

Supervisor: Dr. Ingo JAHN

With the rapidly growing demand for affordable methods of getting satellites and other payloads into

orbit, the ability to effectively design and compare different launch vehicles is vital. Traditionally this

has been done using energy-based methods which are not able to provide a useful metric from

comparison across different systems. Exergy is the measure of the useful work in a system. Through

the use of exergy-based techniques, a metric that is universal across all systems is developed, thus

allowing for comparison across different subsystems and vehicles altogether (Gilbert, et al., 2015).

This method has been used extensively in the optimisation and design of power plants however is

only starting to be explored in the aerospace field (Hayes, et al., 2017).

This research is focused on the development of exergy equations which can then be applied to a

trajectory to determine where losses are occurring during flight. By understanding where the primary

losses are occurring it will enable the optimisation of the launch vehicles design. A model has been

devised which can determine the trajectory of a vehicle based off its nozzle geometry and propellant

type (motors from the ATK Catalogue (Northrop Grumman, 2018)). Through this trajectory analysis,

it is then possible to investigate where and how exergy is being used.

The effects that nozzle geometry, thrust profiles and burn times have on the overall performance and

efficiency of the vehicle have been explored in this research in detail thus allowing an optimal design

for a specific task or payload to then to be designed. Several types of exergy have been explored,

including but not limited to, chemical, drag, and thermal.

Through the completion of this research, a comprehensive understanding of where exergy losses

occur within a launch vehicles flight will be established.

REFERENCES

Gilbert, A., Mesmer, D. B. & Watson, D. M. D., 2015. Exergy Analysis of Rocket Systems, s.l.:

NASA.

Hayes, D. et al., 2017, Adopting exergy analysis for use in aerospace. Progress in Aerospace, 5

August.pp. 73-94.

Northrop Grumman, 2018, Propulsion Products Catalog. Utah: s.n.


Concept Study for A Wake Cancelling and Propulsion Optimised Hypersonic

Flyer

Ben VAN DER KREEK

Supervisor: Dr. I. Jahn

With a greater push towards more efficient engines in automobiles and propulsors in marine and

aircraft, it should follow onto research into how to effectively reduce emissions from hypersonic

flyers. The domestic aviation industry accounts for 1.7% of Australia’s greenhouse emissions (NGGI,

2017). More so, studies have shown that emissions from aircraft flying at higher altitudes have an

increased effect in the production of O3 from nitrous oxides as opposed to ground releases of the gas

(Richard Derwent et al, 2002). This observed effect is expected to worsen with the hypersonic craft

estimated to fly at altitudes in excess of 25 Kms, which is over double the altitude of regular jetliners

(Anderson, 2016). Amongst other things, an effective way to reduce emissions is to reduce the amount

of power or energy required to propel the craft. This leads to less fuel being burned, a lighter craft

since less fuel has to be stored and a smaller craft since the fuel tanks can be reduced in size. All

factors that lend to a saving in harmful gas emissions. Advancements first introduced in marine

vessels 1800’s saw the propulsors being placed at the stern of the craft, in an attempt to capture the

slower moving water due to drag effects (Smith Jr., 1993). By pushing this slower moving water as

opposed to the faster incoming water, less kinetic energy is required due to the squared relationship

of velocity. This method of ingesting the wake works best of narrow vessels in the direction of flow

and is exciting to develop ideas for applications in hypersonics.

By use of the well-developed method of characteristics for determining flow properties around

geometry, different shapes of craft and propulsion exit nozzles can be tested and analysed in their

performance to effectively cancel out the wake of the craft. Early tests conducted have already shown

promising results and savings of the required power by an order of 5-7%.

REFERENCES

Anderson, J., 2016. Introduction to Flight. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

Jr., L. H. S., 1993. Wake Ingestion Propulsion Benefits. Journal of Propulsion and Power, 9(1), p.

1.

NGGI, 2017. Australian Greenhouse Emissions Information System. [Online]

Available at: http://ageis.climatechange.gov.au/NGGI.aspx

RICHARD DERWENT, W. C. C. O. L. J. A. D. S., 2002. GlobalOZONE Concentrations and

Regional Air Quality. Viewpoint, pp. 3,4.


Development of a Calibrated Work Flow for the Hydraulic Design of a Right

Ventricular Assist Device

Adam GLUCHOWSKI

Supervisor: Dr. Ingo Jahn

All currently existing ventricular assist devices (VADs) that are designed for long-term support are

designed to treat left heart failure, meaning that right heart failure patients are treated using off-label

left ventricular assist devices. This has often led to complications such as blood damage or stroke

(Arabía, F.A., Milano, C.A., et al. 2018). Thus, the Innovative Cardiovascular Engineering and

Technology Laboratory (ICETLAB) is designing a novel, purpose-built right ventricular assist device

(RVAD).

This project has aimed to create an axial-flow impeller design workflow to be used by the ICETLAB

to design an optimised RVAD. The first stage involved integrating classical turbomachinery

equations into a python script to predict the performance of a range of different pump geometries and

identify the optimal solution for any desired operating point. Following this, the impact of various

geometric parameters on pressure loss mechanisms and blood damage within the pump were

investigated via a systematic computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study.

A preliminary screening study, using the python script, revealed that a 90⁰ impeller blade exit angle

is optimal for RVAD applications, as it produces a maximised pressure head for a given rotational

speed, as well as the flattest H-Q curve. The CFD study revealed relationships between the pump

pressure head and parameters including the blade inlet angle, rotational speed, diameter and blade tip

gap and thickness. These relationships were used to derive corresponding loss models, which were

subsequently integrated into the python script to increase its fidelity.

This python script/CFD workflow will facilitate rapid design iteration and detailed optimisation of

the RVAD’s hydraulic geometry, thus reducing the need for prototyping, and also potentially

reducing the need for in vivo (animal) studies later on. This workflow may also be useful for the

development of other devices and applications that use axial-flow blood pump technology, including

paediatric heart pumps as well as non-VAD devices.

REFERENCES

Arabía, F.A., Milano, C.A., et al. 2018, Biventricular Support With Intracorporeal, Continuous Flow,

Centrifugal Ventricular Assist Devices, Ann. Thorac. Surg. 105 548–555.



Synopses D2

Mineralization of aqueous Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) using homogeneous

catalytic process

Perrine Paule Odile Camille CHAPELLE

Supervisor: Professor William Clarke

This research focuses on a chemical called PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid). It is a humanmade

chemical classified by the Stockholm Convention as Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) (Stockholm

Convention, 2008). This chemical does not degrade naturally and is resistant to classic oxidation

processes (Park, Lee, Medina, Zull, & Waisner, 2016). Therefore, an Advanced Oxidation Process

(AOP) was used to try to breakdown the carbon chain. Two different couples of strong oxidants

(Peroxymonosulfate and Peroxide) and catalysts (Cobalt and Iron) were tested, and the influence of

relevant parameters in each case (pH, Temperature, PFOS Concentration) was assessed. All the

chemicals were mixed and stirred at desired temperature for at least 40 minutes. Samples were taken

at 0, 5, 10, 20, ad 40 minutes. According to the experiments, the couple peroxymonosulfate/cobalt

did not manage to breakdown any PFOS, even at relatively low concentration of PFOS and different

pH. However, the couple peroxide/iron (also called Fenton system) managed to degrade up to around

30% of initial PFOS. PFOS treatment is a relatively new topic as it was classified as POP only in

2009 (Stockholm Convention, 2008). Current technologies developed to treat PFOS include

electrochemical oxidation and sonolysis (Ross et al., 2018). However, those technologies are quite

sophisticated as they require a power input, and are usually done ex-situ. Managing to effectively

degrade PFOS at low costs (peroxide and ferrous ions are not expensive chemicals) is promising in

the PFOS treatment field. The next step of this research would be to test this process on wastewater

containing not only PFOS.

REFERENCES

Park, S., Lee, L. S., Medina, V. F., Zull, A., & Waisner, S. (2016). Heat-activated persulfate oxidation

of PFOA, 6:2 fluorotelomer sulfonate, and PFOS under conditions suitable for in-situ

groundwater remediation. Chemosphere, 145, 376-383.

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.11.097

Ross, I., McDonough, J., Miles, J., Storch, P., Thelakkat Kochunarayanan, P., Kalve, E., . . . Burdick,

J. (2018). A review of emerging technologies for remediation of PFASs.(Report).

Remediation: The Journal of Environmental Cleanup Costs, Technologies & Techniques,

28(2), 101. doi:10.1002/rem.21553

Stockholm Convention. (2008). What are POPs? . Retrieved from

http://chm.pops.int/TheConvention/ThePOPs/tabid/673/Default.aspx

http://chm.pops.int/TheConvention/ThePOPs/tabid/673/Default.aspx


The Physiochemical Properties of Oxidized Starch for the Froth Flotation

Process

Xueyan Chen

Supervisor: Brenton Fletcher

This project studies the physicochemical properties of oxidized starch which is part of the project

"Designing starches for improving mineral recovery”. The oxidized starch is used as a depressant in

the froth flotation process to separate minerals and recovery target minerals (Pugh, 1989). The

research is aiming to find suitable oxidized starch with high selectivity to separate minerals efficiently

and economically.

In this project, the starch is oxidized by oxidants (hydrogen peroxide and sodium periodate) in

different reaction conditions (e.g. pH, temperature, time, oxidant concentration) according to the plan.

Then the properties of the oxidized starch like intrinsic viscosity, water solubility index (WSI) and

water absorption index (WAI), carbonyl content and carboxyl content are measured and analysed

(Vanier et al., 2017). Therefore, the findings of this project are about the relationship between reaction

conditions with different types of oxidants and the physicochemical properties of oxidized starch.

The intrinsic viscosity of oxidized starches increases with a lower concentration of the oxidant of the

reaction under the same reaction time. The solubility of oxidized starch increases when the proportion

of the oxidant increases. The carbonyl content and carboxyl content of oxidized starch also increase

with the increasing concentration of the oxidant. These properties of the oxidized starch are used to

find and produce the suitable oxidized starches to the froth floatation process.

The results are provided to other researchers in this project who is responsible for measuring oxidized

starch in the froth flotation process. The oxidized starch which has the highest selectivity is identified

and the froth flotation process applied this oxidized starch will have a higher mineral recovery with

lower cost and environment impact.

REFERENCES

PUGH, R. 1989. Macromolecular organic depressants in sulphide flotation—a review, 1. Principles,

types and applications. International Journal of Mineral Processing, 25, 101-130.

VANIER, N. L., EL HALAL, S. L. M., DIAS, A. R. G. & DA ROSA ZAVAREZE, E. 2017.

Molecular structure, functionality and applications of oxidized starches: A review. Food

chemistry, 221, 1546-1559.


Research of Building Gelatin-Nanoparticle Hybrid Engineered Immune

Organoid

Yilun Weng

Supervisor: Associate Prof. Chunxia Zhao

A vaccine can provide active acquired immunity to a particular disease (Melief et al., 2015). In order

to make the vaccine safe and efficacious, the development process of vaccines always contains animal

tests, which is expensive and has long turnaround times.

The project is to make the engineered immune organoid so that the animal tests for new vaccines can

be replaced by doing experiments on the engineered hybrid material we made. This kind of material

can be made based on the crosslink of gelatin and silica nanoparticles. The synthesis of silica

nanoparticles is based on a biosilification method which uses SurSi peptide and TEOS for the reaction

(Hui et al., 2018).

The relationship between the obtained nanoparticles and several factors including TEOS

concentration, SurSi concentration and reaction time is studied. In a certain range, the size of the

nanoparticles increases when the TEOS concentration and the reaction time goes up. The yield of

nanoparticles also rises when it takes more time to react.

Certain concentrations of gelatin and silica nanoparticles are mixed and crosslinked to form the hybrid

material. The stiffness of hydrogel-based engineered immune organoid could be adjusted by changing

the concentrations of gelatin and nanoparticles (Purwada et al., 2015). In the end, the engineered

immune organoid has the similar physical property as immune organs which can help accelerate the

development of vaccines.

REFERENCES

HUI, Y., WIBOWO, D., LIU, Y., RAN, R., WANG, H.-F., SETH, A., MIDDELBERG, A. P. J. &

ZHAO, C.-X. 2018. Understanding the Effects of Nanocapsular Mechanical Property on

Passive and Active Tumor Targeting. ACS nano, 12, 2846-2857.

MELIEF, C. J. M., VAN HALL, T., ARENS, R., OSSENDORP, F. & VAN DER BURG, S. H. 2015.

Therapeutic cancer vaccines.(REVIEW SERIES: CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY)(Report).

Journal of Clinical Investigation, 125, 3401.

PURWADA, A., JAISWAL, M. K., AHN, H., NOJIMA, T., KITAMURA, D., GAHARWAR, A. K.,

CERCHIETTI, L. & SINGH, A. 2015. Ex vivo engineered immune organoids for controlled

germinal center reactions. Biomaterials, 63, 24-34.


Application of anion exchange resin on removing lead from the acidic copper

chloride leach solution

Yiquan Deng

Supervisor: Associate Professor James Vaughan

Australia possesses abundant copper resources and aiming to become the third-largest producer by

2030 (Industry Queensland, 2018). As the requirement of the purity of copper products for export

increasing, the toxic portion, like lead, mercury and arsenic, of copper concentrate is needed to be

removed. Apart from lead, other impurities are removed in other stages. According to WHO, lead has

been identified as 1 of 10 chemicals of primary public health concern (World Health Organization,

2018). Therefore, to further purify the impurity, this project aims to develop an anion-exchange

procedure to remove the lead from acidic copper chloride leach solution (Dunn and Teo, 2018).

The lead removal laboratory-scale methodology includes three parts, exploratory experiments,

condition experiments and column tests. The first one ensures factors and levels for condition

experiments based on literature (Schlesinger et al., 2011). Temperature, contact time, feed solution

composition including hydrochloric acid concentration, chloridion and cupric concentration, were

selected as experimental factors for adsorption. Also, the former two were selected as experimental

factors for stripping. After that, column tests were done to evaluate the performance of this method.

Meanwhile, the kinetics of adsorption also been tested by adsorption isotherm, and the lead species

graph derive from the thermodynamic calculation and computer-assisted programming.

In conclusion, the optimal adsorption conditions are resin-solution volume ration 0.025-0.05, the

concentration of hydrochloric acid 1M, contact time 100 minutes, operating temperature 23C, the

concentration of chloridion 1M. The optimal stripping conditions are temperature 60C, contact time

120 min. Under these conditions, the single-stage lead complexes removal rate up to 86%.

Furthermore, the result of column tests shows that the lead concentration in effluent less than 5 mg/L

with effluent volume around 25 times bed volume. This method not only can be applied to remove

lead from copper leach solution but also can be utilized to lower the toxic of other mineral process

and contaminated soil.

REFERENCES

DUNN, G. & TEO, Y. 2018. The Removal of Radiation and Other Impurities from Copper Sulphide

Concentrates.

INDUSTRY QUEENSLAND. 2018. Copper in Australia [Online]. Available: https://www.i-

q.net.au/main/copper-in-australia [Accessed 9th March 2019].

SCHLESINGER, M. E., KING, M. J. & DAVENPORT, W. G. 2011. Extractive metallurgy of

copper, Elsevier.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. 2018. Lead poisoning and health [Online]. Available:

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health [Accessed 10th

May 2019].

https://www.i-q.net.au/main/copper-in-australia

https://www.i-q.net.au/main/copper-in-australia

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health


Enrichment of Short-SRT Phosphorus Accumulating Organisms via FNA Side-

Stream Treatment

Sihan Huang

Supervisor: Dr. Liu Ye

With the increasingly serious problems of water resources shortage and pollution, biological nutrients

removal, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), is currently paid close attention in wastewater

treatment process. A process combining nitrogen removal with partial nitrification and biological

phosphorus removal achieved via free nitrous acid (FNA) treatment is worth to be studied due to

significantly lower energy and cost consumption. However, it has been reported that FNA can

seriously inhibit the activity of phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs) that play a vital role in

biological phosphorus removal process. Additionally, sludge retention time (SRT) for biological N

removal is generally longer than biological P removal process required, and a long SRT has been

demonstrated to be harmful to P removal efficiency.

To achieve an effective combined N & P removal process with partial nitrification pathway, firstly,

a parent reactor addressing enhanced biological phosphorus removal process is set up to provide

massive PAOs from the sludge which is seeded into the other reactor combining N & P removal

process. In combined N & P process, FNA side-stream treatment process is introduced to treat the

part of sludge to achieve partial nitrification pathway, shorten SRT in the system, meanwhile, select

and enrich putative PAOs with high resistance to FNA.

Following the designed project, the stable and effective removal efficiency of up to 90% for both of

N and P is found in the combined N & P removal system. Furthermore, the survived organisms show

the typical mechanism of PAOs action which is consistent with the theory. Hence, it is verified that

some PAOs still can be active and has been enriched in combined N & P removal system to effectively

remove P after FNA treatment when effective N removal is achieved through partial nitrification

pathway at the short- SRT condition in the meantime.



Synopses A2

Assistive Mechanism Design for IVF Needle Packaging

Kate L. PLIMMER

Supervisor: Professor M. Dargusch

The aim of the project is to design an assistive mechanism for the packaging of In Vitro Fertilisation

(IVF) needles. The implementation of an assistive mechanism will increase the efficiency of the

packaging procedure in addition to ensuring the welfare of operators currently at risk of attaining

repetitive strain injuries.

The design process began with familiarisation and understanding of the design environment; a

cleanroom facility. Research was then undertaken into occupational ergonomics, current assistive

technologies such as needle packaging systems (Wang 2012; Deng 2018) and a tube feeding

mechanism (Jiang et al. 2018), and lastly, manufacturing processes. Potential designs were then

developed using Computer Aided Design and prototypes predominantly printed using Polylactic Acid

in a Fused Deposition Modelling 3D Printer.

Prototype testing determined that the most effective design is a simple, guided platform with a cavity

for the needle handpiece, which aligns the needle in the correct position to receive the protector

component. A hopper mechanism ensures that one protector is released at a time onto the protector

section of the platform. This enables the operator to slide the protector over the needle with minimal

movement. The assembled components can then be removed via a gap in the platform across the

handpiece. A baseplate made from extruded aluminium enables the operator to quickly change

platform sizes (to accommodate all manufactured product lengths) using pins which slide in and out

of drilled holes.

This design provides a proof of concept for improving the packaging process of IVF needles. When

implemented, the decreased reach envelope (Stack, Ostrom & Wilhelmsen 2016) achieved for

operators will reduce the risk and occurrence of repetitive strain injuries. Increased efficiency will

enable products to be delivered to customers/patients in less time, while reduced labour time and

remedial costs due to workplace injury will help lower operating costs for the business.

REFERENCES

Deng, M 2018, Blood taking needle packaging system, CN Patent 107813993.

Jiang, Z, Xie X, Sun, X, Jiang, X, Chen, G & Xu, M 2018, Tube body feeding mechanism in

serological pipette welding equipment, CN Patent 108422254.

Stack, T, Ostrom, LT & Wilhelmsen, CA 2016, Occupational Ergonomics: A Practical Approach,

John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey.

Wang, D 2012, Medical acupuncture needle casing assembly machine, CN Patent 202376440.


3D Mapping in Medical Device Manufacturing Environments

Kaiwen Qiu

Supervisor: David Creagh

In the last decade, the raise of intelligent manufacturing has introduced robot arms into some existing

production lines, in order to improve the yield and lower the increasing labor cost. However, the

commissioning of the robotic arm will occupy the venue and interrupt the production line, which

increases the cost of the implementation. To solve this issue, working with Cook Medical, this project

aims to use a simple rgbd camera to capture the point cloud data of an indoor production environment

and transfer it into 3D model, so that the Cook Medical can use it to commission its robot in virtual

environment.

After researching some outstanding works in this field, the SLAM algorithm, which allows a hand-

held camera to create a continuous map from surroundings, is considered the best solution for the 3D

reconstruction. Among many open-source SLAM methods, the ORB-SLAM2 was selected because

it outperforms most algorithms by using bundle adjustments, and it creates a dense point cloud which

is suitable for indoor scene. The whole project was built under Linux environment and operated

through Robot Operation System (ROS). Some open projects such as OpenNI2, VTK and PCL were

involved to realise the communication between software and hardware, as well as post processing of

the collected data.

Through the project, a monochromatic point cloud is created. It is recorded by ROS and formed into

editable format. A 3D model is then created by adding surface to the mesh. This project uses

consumer-level RGBD camera and ordinary laptop, which provides a low-cost and portable method

for 3d indoor reconstruction. However, a higher resolution of camera is required for higher accuracy.

The robustness of camera tracking is also heavily constrained by lighting condition.


Assistive Mechanisms for the Assembly of Medical Devices – Mechanical Design

Chun-Hao Chien

Supervisor: Professor Matthew Dargusch

This thesis project aims to design an assistive tool for the assembly of the medical needle, the risk of

suffering from occupational overuse syndrome can then be mitigated with the implantation of this

design. Due to the shortage of prior arts existence, few online resources of relative tool designs are

found useful. Two auxiliary tools are analysed thoroughly to get a better understanding of the

involved mechanisms; one is wire strippers, and the other one is scissors. The disassembly of the wire

strippers helped to inspire the design ideas. The designs will then be printed by the 3D printer to test

the design mechanisms, and bring its merits to the next design attempt. With the trial and error, the

final design is found to be the most suitable design for the assembly of medical design which mostly

achieved the design goals. The final design is consist of the features from wire strippers and scissors,

the handlebars are inspired by the scissors’ handlebars structure, and the design of the clamping jaw

is from the wire stripper. With the implement of this tool, the operators in the industries will not

require to move their arms in the wide range during the assembly process.

REFERENCES

Andreasen, Kahler, & Lund. (1988). Design for assembly (2nd ed..). Bedford, England: IFS

Publications ; Berlin : Springer Verlag.

Baid, R. (2006). Protector Cover Assembly For Needle of Disposable Medical Device.

Hindenburg, E.D.(1959). Wire Stripper.


Heat Distribution within 5.56 mm Rifle Barrels

Karl M. DEKRUYF

Supervisor: Dr. M. Bermingham

Overheating of rifle barrels has the potential to result in explosive failure with potentially lethal

consequences for users (Göktas & Halil 2017). Heat transfer from the rifle barrel to the surrounding

environment is limited by the barrel’s geometry and material properties (Cengel & Ghajar 2015),

whilst some barrel materials have health and environmental risks during manufacturing (Safe Work

Australia 2013). Reducing operating temperature can greatly improve operator safety whilst

substituting hazardous materials reduces environmental and health impacts.

This project aims to identify the thermal influence of barrel bore lining materials, investigate the

impact of an additional barrel outer sleeve layer on operating temperature and determine the trade off

cost between barrel mass and operating temperature.

A 3D model was created based on the Steyr AUG A1 508 mm barrel, a variable 2mm outer sleeve

added to the barrel, and the model converted into an axisymmetric 2D plane model for use in an

ANSYS transient thermal analysis. Heat was input to the model as heat flux, calculated from a 5.56

x 45 mm standard NATO round. The plane model was verified against previous studies and then used

to simulate various outer sleeve materials for two firing sequences; single round and 30 rounds over

four seconds.

Variation of the bore lining material resulted in a maximal 0.5 ℃ variance in outer surface

temperature and whilst bore temperatures fluctuated. Barrel surface temperatures were observed to

reduce with the addition of a 2 mm thick outer sleeve layer for both the single and 30 round firing

sequences. Comparison of temperature reduction data, material density and material cost identified

aluminium as the most suitable material for use as an outer sleeve. A 0.869 ℃ reduction in barrel

surface temperature was recorded for the single round firing sequence, with an estimated additional

mass of 174.9 grams. Temperature reductions were also observed in the 30 round firing sequence.

The results of the project identified that the chromium liner has no significant thermal influence on

the rifle barrel, and as such can be replaced with an alternative, less hazardous wear resistant material

with no adverse effects. Furthermore, the project identified that aluminium is a feasible solution to

the barrel outer sleeve material to reduce operating temperature, whilst minimising additional mass

and cost, and decrease the risk of explosive failure.

REFERENCES

Cengel, Y & Ghajar, A 2015, Heat and Mass Transfer. Fundamentals and Applications. 5th edn,

McGraw Hill Education, New York.

Göktas, F & Halil, I 2017, ‘Cook-off analysis of a propellant in a 7.62 mm barrel by experimental

and numerical methods’, Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 112, pp. 484-496.

Safe Work Australia 2013, Hazardous Chemicals Requiring Health Monitoring, Safe Work

Australia, Canberra, viewed 17 July 2019,

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/hazardous-chemicals-requiring-

health-monitoring.pdf

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/hazardous-chemicals-requiring-health-monitoring.pdf

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/hazardous-chemicals-requiring-health-monitoring.pdf


Developing a Novel Hybrid Additive Manufacturing Process to Improve the

Properties of Titanium Alloys

Dallin R. STIRLING

Supervisor: Dr. M.J. Bermingham

Metre scale titanium parts used in the aerospace industry produced through forging and machining

are generally extremely expensive due to the very high buy-to-fly (BTF) ratio of the parts (Lütjering

& Williams, 2007) and the high cost of machining titanium (Choragudi, et al., 2010). Additive

manufacturing can produce near net shape parts, therefore achieving a lower BTF than forging and

machining (Donoghue, et al., 2016). However, a manufacturing process has yet to be developed

which can can match the mechanical properties of wrought titanium while preserving the design

freedom and BTF of additive manufacturing. This project aims to investigate the feasibility of using

a novel method of interlayer deformation during Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) of

the titanium alloys Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-3Al-8V-6Cr-4Mo-4Zr to achieve wrought properties and reduce

the BTF of titanium parts. A range of deformation degrees were trialled, and the resulting

microstructure has been compared to undeformed samples. A moderate degree of cold work (25%

vertical deformation) achieved a grain size in Ti-6Al-4V which has previously been shown to achieve

greater strength and ductility than wrought titanium (Hönnige, et al., 2017) and achieved a

comparable grain size to rolled titanium plate for the Ti-3Al-8V-6Cr-4Mo-4Zr alloy. The interlayer

deformation also reduced porosity and eliminated anisotropy in the microstructure of both alloys.

These results show that interlayer deformation during WAAM is a promising manufacturing process

to achieve wrought properties in additively manufactured titanium parts.

REFERENCES

Choragudi, A. et al., 2010. Investigation of the Machining of Titanium Components for Lightweight

Vehicles. SAE Technical Papers, April.

Donoghue, J. et al., 2016. The effectiveness of combining rolling deformation with Wire–Arc

Additive Manufacture on β-grain refinement and texture modification in Ti–6Al–4V. Materials

Characterization, Volume 114, pp. 103-114.

Hönnige, J. R., Colegrove, P. & Williams, S., 2017. Improvement of microstructure and mechanical

properties in Wire + Arc Additively Manufactured Ti-6Al-4V with Machine Hammer Peening.

Procedia Engineering, Volume 216, pp. 8-17.

Lütjering, G. & Williams, J. C., 2007. Titanium. Second ed. Berlin: Springer.



Synopses A6

Isolation of a Trailer Tow Hitch Connection

Samuel B. Rankin

Supervisor: Dr. William Daniel

A small family owned company named Oz Glide (the client) founded the first 3.5 tonne gross vehicle

mass Oz Glide hitch and is seeking to expand their range to include a 4.5 tonne hitch (the products),

whilst improving their existing design for manufacturability, mass and fatigue. The Oz Glide hitches

include a rigid frame that connects a tow hitch coupling to an air spring and viscous damper rods,

resulting in significant improvements to driveability of large trailers in the pitching plane. The new

product designs are engineered to relevant imposed loads and Australian Standards and Regulations

through engineering principles, past experience and engineering theory in the form of hand

calculations. Detailed static and fatigue analyses are performed using the Finite Element Method.

Continuous liaison with qualified manufacturing and testing personnel is carried out to ensure product

quality and compliance with the standards. Majority of the project requirements are successfully

fulfilled to date – but only after numerous unexpected roadblocks to the design process are surpassed.

Throughout university, project focus tends to be limited to the conceptual and preliminary design

phases of an engineering project lifecycle and does not extend to serve the community in actual form.

This project encompasses the whole engineering project lifecycle over an extended timeframe,

resulting in real world complications and development of knowledge by being exposed to such

conditions.


Feasibility of Regenerative Dampers in Commercial Vehicle Suspension

Noah R. Murua

Supervisor: Dr. Bill Daniel

With such a large world drive towards Earth preservation, the automotive industry seeks new and

innovative solutions to cleaner transportation. Innovations such as electric vehicles and regenerative

braking are just two of the methods that have been commercialised in the 21st century (Soumik,

2018). This thesis aims to build on the currently researched solution of regenerative vehicle

suspension. It does this by exploring which vehicle type and suspension configuration has the largest

impact of the CO2 reduction as well as the commercialisation of this energy regeneration method.

To achieve these aims, multiple rigid body dynamic models were constructed; a linear 2D model, a

non-linear 2D model and a non-linear 3D model. To compare the effect of energy regeneration due

to configuration and vehicle type, a Holden Cruze and Ford Ranger were analysed. Both 2D models

were built using MATLAB’s Simulink software, with the 3D model being built in MSC ADAMS, a

multibody dynamics software. These models will be used to output the spring-damper effects to road

inputs, allowing the energy regeneration to be calculated.

The current findings of the project show that the Ford Ranger, being a utility vehicle, results in greater

energy regeneration than the Holden Cruze if used in rougher road conditions. With both utilising

‘softer’ springs, the spring velocities are minimised, resulting in a lower amount of regenerated

energy. This concludes that springs with a higher stiffness and less dampening provide a greater

energy regeneration and thus a compromise between comfort and desired energy regeneration must

be determined.

Fuel consumption plays an integral part in the longevity of life on earth. Not only is it a finite recourse,

burning it through internal combustion engines produces harmful gases that are further reducing the

planets longevity. Therefore, it is important to research all methods of producing more efficient

vehicles. With the population on the rise and the number of cars on the road increasing, every little

bit ‘adds up’ and has a large impact over time (Voelcker, 2014). Being able to determine the most

optimal configuration for energy regeneration in terms of vehicle type and damper configuration helps

automotive companies know which of their vehicles will have the largest impact using regenerative

dampers.

REFERENCES

Soumik, R. (2018). What does the future of the automotive industry look like?. [online] Available at:

https://techwireasia.com/2018/10/what-does-the-future-of-the-automotive-industry-look-like/

[Accessed 11 Sep. 2019]

Voelcker, J. (2014). 1.2 Billion Vehicles On World's Roads Now, 2 Billion By 2035: Report.

[online] Green Car Reports. Available at: https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093560_1-2-

billion-vehicles-on-worlds-roads-now-2-billion-by-2035-report [Accessed 13 Mar. 2019].

https://techwireasia.com/2018/10/what-does-the-future-of-the-automotive-industry-look-like/

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093560_1-2-billion-vehicles-on-worlds-roads-now-2-billion-by-2035-report

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093560_1-2-billion-vehicles-on-worlds-roads-now-2-billion-by-2035-report


Finite Element Analysis of the Structural and Acoustic Resonances of Cajons

Dante WAUGH

Supervisor: Dr. Bill DANIEL

A cajon is a percussive instrument with origins from 18th century Peru (Feldman, 2006) that has

gained popularity in recent years for its portability and sound. The instrument is in the shape of a box

where the player sits on top of it and strikes a thin front surface called the tapa. The reverse side of

the box has a hole allowing for acoustic responses as well.

The current research aims to identify the main structural and acoustic resonances in cajons and

simulate them accordingly. For simplicity, a cajon can be described to have three main tones

(Ludwigsen, 2015). A bass tone, a high tone – often associated with a snare attached to the tapa, and

a slapping sound associated with the edges slapping against the body.

Impact hammer testing and acoustic recording tests were conducted on a sample cajon. The results

and dimensions were used to influence and guide the finite element analysis.

The bass tone was found to be dominated by the most fundamental resonances of the instrument.

These are found to be coupled acoustic structural modes based on the cavity Helmholtz resonance

and the 1st and 2nd resonance of the front plate. These can be approximated by a simplified 2 degree

of freedom system mathematically (Christensen & Vistisen, 1980) or through finite element analysis

(FEA).

The high tone was investigated without the snare. It is dominated by the 2 higher lengthwise

resonances of the front plate as well as several other acoustic and structural resonances. The shape of

these resonances compared to the bass tone isolates the snare sound when it is attached.

The slapping tone relates to contact sounds and was considered out of scope for this investigation.

Further research can be conducted on the effect of different snare designs, material selection, foot

sliding, playing techniques, sound directionality, and sound decay.

REFERENCES

Christensen, O. and Vistisen, B. 1980, Simple model for low‐frequency guitar function. The Journal

of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 68(3), pp. 758-766.

Ludwigsen, D. 2015, Acoustic and Structural Resonances of the Cajon, Acoustical Society of

America, vol. 25, doi: 10.1121/2.0000516.

Feldman, H. C. 2006, Black Rhythms of Peru, Wesleyan University Press, pp. 21–22.


Method of Determining the State of Health for Lithium Ion Batteries

Anthony Z. ZHANG

Supervisor: Dr. Ruth Knibbe

Lithium ion battery (LIB) technology is in the forefront of modern battery technology and improving

its performance and lifespan has consistently remained one of the many open challenges that this

technology faces. A step towards overcoming this challenge is improving the way we monitor and

measure the state of health of a lithium ion battery. By being able to accurately predict when a battery

might fail, the implementation and reliability of LIB operated devices improves.

There are various methods that can provide a measure of state of health for LIB’s and they can be

categorized as online and offline approaches. In real-life applications, it is common to deduce that a

single offline state of health estimation method may not accurately predict the remaining operating

life of a LIB. In such cases, online estimation methods are combined to refine the estimation algorithm

(Dong Zhang, 2019). Online estimation methods operate using real-time measurements and were

analysed using the Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) in this project.

It is found that using real-time measurements means higher accuracy in ageing estimation as

degradation effects will be shown within the data. By implementing the GPR for determining the state

of health for LIB’s, it is possible to increase the accuracy of predicting battery characteristics in the

future.

REFERENCES: (2015). In H. Berg, Batteries for Electric Vehicles. Cambridge Printing House.

Dong Zhang, S. D. (2019). Retrieved from Real-Time Capacity Estimation of Lithium-Ion:

https://ecal.berkeley.edu/pubs/TCST_Cap_Est_Thermal.pdf

https://ecal.berkeley.edu/pubs/TCST_Cap_Est_Thermal.pdf


Machine Learning for High Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cathode

Development

ZHIYUE WANG

Supervisor: Dr Ruth Knibbe

This project aims to establish a relationship between the performance (for example: ionic

conductivity) of a cathode material for high temperature solid oxide fuel cells (HT-SOFC) and its

perovskite compositions, and ultimately an optimised cathode material. This relationship can be a

guide to develop a proper cathode material for SOFC to improve its performance to a more satisfying

level to be applicable. Using machine learning method is a more efficient and relatively cheap way

looking through wider range of different materials, compared with traditional design methods which

typically use costly experiments. Although it is a new method in Fuel Cell development, there are a

few successful examples using machine learning in similar material performance researches (Xu,

Wencong, Chunrong, Qiang, & Jin, 2009; Xue et al., 2016).

The first challenge is to collect data of atomic attributes, and performance for specific formula of a

perovskite structure. These were collected from several online databases and literatures respectively.

The collected data was then combined with an ABO format which is also the most common format

of a perovskite structure. First step is to find out the relationship between perovskite formula and

perovskite structures, e.g. tetragonal, orthorhombic, cubic or rhombohedral. Then a further machine

learning algorithm is conducted, such as neural network, to find out the connection between structures

and performances.

The current neural network algorithm finds out that it has an 0.346 accuracy to predict a crystal

structure of a perovskite given its composition. This indicates that while a more accurate algorithm

is to be developed, it is meaningful and worthwhile to further study the relationship between the

perovskite formula and its cathode performance.

REFERENCES

Xu, L., Wencong, L., Chunrong, P., Qiang, S., & Jin, G. (2009). Two semi-empirical approaches

for the prediction of oxide ionic conductivities in ABO 3 perovskites. Computational

Materials Science, 46(4), 860–868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2009.04.047

Xue, D., Balachandran, P. V., Hogden, J., Theiler, J., Xue, D., & Lookman, T. (2016). Accelerated

search for materials with targeted properties by adaptive design. Nature Communications, 7,

11241. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11241


Sulfur Sublimation in preparation of Cathode in Li-S battery

Zulkhilmy KMAROL ZAMAN

Supervisor: Dr. Ruth Knibbe

Over the past few decades, lithium-ion batteries (LIB) are widely used in portable electronic devices.

Since then, LIB has nearly reached its potential energy density limit. As a promising alternative,

lithium sulfur batteries (LSB) have gathered intensive attention. Due to the abundance and chemical

properties of sulfur, it significantly reduces the cost and makes LSB environmentally friendly to the

consumer. LSB from providing much higher specific capacity of 1672 mAhg-1 which is 3-4 times

higher than that of LIB. (Cheng et al., 2014) To ensure the high quality of the LSB, its cathode making

process needs to be carefully assessed. However, the elemental sulfur, the active material in LSB

cathode, can readily sublimates during the cathode production.

Theoretically, according to the sulfur’s phase diagram, the solid rhombic sulfur can change its phase

to gas when the temperature and is lower than the equilibrium vapor pressure of the rhombic sulfur.

Therefore, this phenomenon can impact the performance of LSB as specific capacity can decreases

due the sublimated loss of active material.

An experiment was conducted to identify the temperature that have significant impact on the

sublimation of sulfur particles in the cathode. The weight difference of the samples produced were

evaluated and the samples were analysed using scanned electron microscopy (SEM). Then, several

batteries were manufactured using the cathode prepared at parameters found at the first experiment.

All of the results obtained from both of the experiments were compared analytically to study the

correlation of each parameter towards the sublimation of sulfur during the preparation of LSB

cathode.

Therefore, from initial results, the cathode placed in a vacuum conditioned at temperature of 70oC

has much decrease in weight after a period of 4 days compared to the same condition of 60oC. Then,

from the comparison of the manufactured batteries, it was found that the battery performance also

decreases.

REFERENCES

Cheng, X., Huang, J., Zhang, Q., Peng, H., Zhao, M. and Wei, F. (2014). Aligned carbon

nanotube/sulfur composite cathodes with high sulfur content for lithium–sulfur batteries. Nano

Energy, 4, pp.65-72.



Synopses A8

The investigation on impact property of glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite

laminates with non-destructive ultrasonic testing and optical microscope

Student name: Guan Haoxiang

Supervisor: Associate Professor Martin Veidt

This research investigates the impact property of the glass fiber reinforced epoxy composite

laminates. The impact damage is one of the common damages in practical applications. In this

research, I use Matlab software, non-destructive ultrasonic testing and optical microscope to analyze

the impact damage. Firstly, I did the impact testing with two variables, namely energy level (8J, 14J,

20J, 26J, 32J, 38J) and the mass of the impactor (3.5kg, 4.5kg, 5.5kg). It shows that with the

increasing of the energy level, the ratio of absorbed energy and total energy increases and with the

increasing of the mass of the impactor, the ratio of absorbed energy and total energy decreases.

Meanwhile, based on the regression equation, the estimation of the penetration threshold (the

absorbed energy is equal to the total energy) is at least 40J. Secondly, I did the non-destructive

ultrasonic testing and found that the expansion of the impaired area is in the shape of rhombus with

the increasing of energy level. Thirdly, through the observation of optical microscope, I found that

the fracture of composite layer and the crack of sample (20J) is obviously more severe than that of

sample (14J). At the end, this research would help us to evaluate the safety to use glass fiber reinforced

epoxy composite laminates in practice, especially in aircraft and the gas/liquid tank.

REFERENCES:

(1) Materials, D. C. (2012). Standard Test Method for Measuring the Damage Resistance of a Fiber-

Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composite to a Drop-Weight Impact Event.

(2) Belingardi, G. and R. Vadori (2002). "Low velocity impact tests of laminate glass-fiber-epoxy

matrix composite material plates." Pergamon Press plc, International Journal of Impact

Engineering (UK) 27(2): 213-229.

(3) Hosseinzadeh, R., et al. (2006). "Damage behavior of fiber reinforced composite plates subjected

to drop weight impacts." Composites Science and Technology 66(1): 61-68.

(4) Thodsaratpreeyakul, W., et al. (2018). "Damage behavior of low velocity impact test on glass

fiber reinforced poly (ethylene terephthalate) composites." Materials Today: Proceedings 5(3):

9569-9578.

(5) Xiao, S., et al. (2014). "Prediction of damage area in laminated composite plates subjected to low

velocity impact." Composites Science and Technology 98.

(6) Hsu, D. K. (2008). "Nondestructive inspection of composite structures: methods and practice."

(7) Aymerich, F. and S. Meili (2000). "Ultrasonic evaluation of matrix damage in impacted

composite laminates." Composites Part B 31(1): 1-6.

(8) Satyanarayan, L., et al. Ultrasonic Phased Array for Defect Characterization. Int. Symposium of

Research Students on Material Science and Engineering, Chennai, India (Dec. 20-22, 2004).

(9) Thomason, J. L. (1995). "The interface region in glass fibre-reinforced epoxy resin composites:

1. Sample preparation, void content and interfacial strength." Composites 26(7): 467-475.

(10) Pritchard, G. and Q. Yang (1994). "Microscopy of impact damage in particulate-filled glass-

epoxy laminates." Journal of Materials Science 29(19): 5047-5053.


Manufacturing and Characterization of Fibre-reinforced Aluminium Castings

Eric Zheng Wei KANG

Supervisor: Associate Professor Martin VEIDT

Objective

The aim of the project is to develop fibre-reinforced aluminium alloy by using the combination of High

Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) technique and Vacuum casting. Besides that, the focus is to modify a laboratory

scale of Fibre-Reinforced Aluminium Casting (FRAC) manufacturing system to ensure it is ready for

experimental purposes.

Project Synopsis

Fibre-reinforced aluminium casting (FRAC) is a new class type of metal matrix composites that provides

significant values over traditional aluminium alloys. The aluminium matrix is combined with long carbon

fibres as the reinforcement phase. While maintaining the advantages of the usage of aluminium matrix, for

example low-cost liquid-infiltration processing, light-weighting, excellent machinability and joinability,

FRAC alloys promise to have advantages including improved high mechanical performance.

FRAC is a method to reinforce Aluminium Matrix Composites (AMC). The traditional method is using powder

metallurgy as the base of Metal-Matrix Composites (MMCs). Powder metallurgy is a process in manufacturing

that can produce a net shape resultant part and is known for its low processing costs (Deshpande, M., Gondil,

M. R., Waikar, R., & Mahata, T. S. (2016); Torralba, Da Costa, & Velasco, 2003). Previous FRAC experiments

were done using similar processes such as squeeze casting and hot isostatic pressing.

This project is mainly focusing on building and improving a casting method to produce FRAC alloys as a new

method of manufacturing process. The casting method for FRAC is done in a vacuum condition and HPDC.

HPDC has the advantages of higher dimensional accuracy. It is because a high force pushes the molten metal

into every detail and edge of the die which will give a full geometrical accuracy. Besides that, by using vacuum

casting the oxide layer on the aluminium will be reduced as the system is under vacuum, the air in the chamber

will be reduce. This process is similar to vacuum casting which uses vacuum to draw the liquid metal into the

mould. As mention above, both of these casting methods are combined in order to perform this thesis project.

Vacuum casting is done for this project and first testing shows that the molten metal solidifies in the tube. The

reason is because the original inlet diameter of the tubing and the vacuuming pressure is small. The second

testing is carried with a larger inlet diameter of the tube that creates a higher flow rates and a higher vacuuming

pressure by storing the pressure in a vacuum tank. The result shows that vacuum casting is successful as the

molten metal able to flow into the mould. Further procedures of the experiment by combining the process of

high-pressure application will be carried out.

As a conclusion, FRAC can be apply into defence applications with a higher strength and lower weight while

still ensuring that cost effectiveness is retained.

REFERENCES

Deshpande, M., Gondil, M. R., Waikar, R., & Mahata, T. S. (2016). Processing of Carbon fibre reinforced

Aluminium (7075) metal matrix composite. Paper presented at the International Conference on Renewable

Energy and Materials for Sustainability.

Torralba, J. M., Da Costa, C. E., & Velasco, F. (2003). P/M aluminum matrix composites: an overview.

Journal of Materials Processing Tech., 133(1-2), 203-206. doi: 10.1016/s0924-0136(02)00234-0


Improving The Toughness of A Glass/Epoxy Using PEI Thermoplastic

Syamir Sahlan SULAIMAN

Supervisor: A/Prof Martin Veidt

The innovation of new advance material is essential in the aerospace and automotive industries due

to the needs of improving safety feature and quality of the product. Hybrid composite is one of the

great techniques to produce material with various properties by combining two or more materials a

single system (Ashby and Bréchet 2003). Typically, thermoset materials are combined with glass

fibre as the reinforcement to produce high strength material that can withstand heat and pressure

without plastic deformation. However, thermoset is susceptible to brittle fracture when exposed to

high-velocity impact, and it can be a catastrophic, especially for aeronautic application.

Therefore, the hybridisation of thermoset with the with high strength and ductility materials is an

excellent idea to increase the mechanical properties of the composite material. This project mainly

focused on improving the toughness of glass fibre/epoxy by adding the PEI thermoplastic film

interleaves the composite. Plenty of studies prove that thermoplastic is sufficient to improve the

fracture toughness in epoxy when inserted in the composite either as blended material or interleaves

sequence(Chen, Tao et al. 2011).

This project shows the composite with additional thermoplastic layer was able to absorb more energy

compared to the unmodified epoxy without thermoplastic. The sample was manufactured using pre-

impregnated multi-axial glass fibre by simple hand layup process. An adequate bonding between

prepreg and PEI film was achieved after one-hour curing process at 120 ˚C with the increment rate

of 1 °C per minute. The samples underwent low-velocity impact testing at 6 Joule, but there was no

significant effect can be seen. Moreover, adequate damage can be observed through microscopic

imaging when the energy level was increased up to 12 Joule.

The additional thermoplastic layer in the tension region during the impact indicated to be more

effective for energy absorption than the midplane. It is preceding that this research has great potential

to be developed and used in the automotive and aeronautic industries. The hybridisation of

thermoplastic in thermoset system can be good material in the future for lightweight and high strength

application.

REFERENCES

Ashby, M. F. and Y. J. M. Bréchet (2003). "Designing hybrid materials." Acta Materialia 51(19):

5801-5821.

Chen, W., Z. Tao, L. Fan, S. Yang, W. Jiang, J. Wang and Y. Xiong (2011). "Effect of

poly(etherimide) chemical structures on the properties of epoxy/poly(etherimide) blends and their

carbon fiber-reinforced composites." Journal of Applied Polymer Science 119(6): 3162-3169.


APPLICATION OF TIME OF FLIGHT DIFFRACTION TO INSPECT

ADHESIVE JOINTS

Ponsankar Nagarajan

Supervisor: Dr Martin Veidt

HDPE pipes are high density, flexible pipes composed of polyethylene used in a wide range of

applications such as marine, underwater and nuclear industries. To use HDPE pipes for industrial

applications, HDPE pipes are joined through the butt fusion welding process. The butt fusion involves

numerous processes which can lead to the deterioration of the weld requiring a reliable inspection

technique for safety during the industrial operations. The common methods of inspection of HDPE

pipes are i) Visual inspection ii) Hydrostatic pressure testing. These techniques cannot detect the

embedded defects which makes ultrasonic testing an ideal choice. “Tremblay.et al.”, (2014) argue

that Time of Flight Diffraction is most suitable for inspection in HDPE pipes compared to

conventional ultrasonic testing, Phased array ultrasonic testing techniques due to its low time and cost

for setup of the equipment and the ability to detect transverse cracks.

The primary objective of the project is to localize and detect the defects using the TOFD equipment

design. “Brillon et al.” , (2008) state that the major problem faced while inspecting HDPE pipes are

i) Lateral wave dead zone ii) Resolution errors. The dead zone is the area under the surface of the

weld and the defects in the area are hard to detect due to the interference with the surface wave. The

lateral wave dead zone can be minimized by specifying the near field distance according to the

transducers used. The resolution can be increased by various factors such as the transducer angle and

by using high-frequency probes. “Al-Ataby et al.”, (2010) insist to choose an optimum transducer

angle since higher angles provide high coverage, low resolution and vice versa. The high and low

pass filters are used to reduce noises and to improve the resolution to facilitate the detection of defects.

This project would help to set up the TOFD system with the design considerations which can readily

test the defects in the butt fusion welds of HDPE pipes. With the use of the setup, the TOFD process

can be initiated in a short period of time to detect the defects in the butt fusion weld.

REFERENCES

BRILLON, C., ARMITT, T. & DUPUIS, O. TOFD inspection with phased arrays. 17th World

Conference on Nondestructive Testing, 2008. 25-28.

AL-ATABY, A., AL-NUAIMY, W. & ZAHRAN, O. 2010. Towards automatic flaw sizing using

ultrasonic time-of-flight diffraction. Insight-Non-Destructive Testing and Condition Monitoring, 52,

366-371.

TREMBLAY, P., ENENKEL, L., BERLANGER, J., MAES, G. & POIRIER, J. A Turnkey Weld

Inspection Solution Combining PAUT & TOFD. NDT in Canada 2014 Conference, Toronto

(Canada), 2014.


Evaluating the effect of moisture content over timber’s self-extinction capabilities

Muhamad Amirul Haikal MOHD NIZA

Supervisor: Dr Cristian Maluk Zedan

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) known to be a highly fire-resistant engineered timbered due to its sequential

timber layers which allow more extended structural capacity during fire exposure (2013). However, when these

structures are exposed too long to fire, their structural capacity becomes vulnerable. When this happens, the

self-extinction behaviour of timbers comes into picture as a last resort. There have been a few available

researches on other conditions of self-extinction of timbers such as critical heat flux and the airflow during

combustion, but there are no known findings on the effect of moisture content over the timbers self-extinction

capabilities (Bartlett et al., 2019).

The aim for this thesis is to investigate the effects of varying moisture content in timbers over their self-

extinction conditions, which are the critical mass loss rate of extinction and the temperature profile of during

combustion until extinction is reached (Emberley et al., 2017). Through this, the importance of managing the

moisture content of timbers especially during construction which can be affected by naturally changing

temperature and humidity throughout the year.

Changing moisture content involves sample conditioning inside an environmental test chamber which can alter

the equilibrium moisture content of timbers by setting temperature and humidity which the desired moisture

content can be achieved. From there, the Fire Propagation Apparatus is used to examine the mass loss rate and

the temperature-depth profile by burning the samples under varying external heat fluxes exposures until self-

extinction occurs. According to literature, the moisture content of CLT at room temperature and the average

humidity is around 10.7% (Inghelbrecht, 2014). To investigate the effect of moisture content to the self-

extinction capabilities, designed experiment uses Radiata pine CLT samples with 7% and 14% moisture

content.

Through sample conditioning in the test chamber, the variabilities of moisture content in timbers are observed.

After more than three weeks of conditioning, the moisture content of the samples is not equal for all samples.

CLT Radiata Pine samples with 7% moisture content and a few of 14% tests have been conditioned and tested

under 50kW/m2 external heat flux dropped to 40, 35, 32.5 and 30 kW/m2 for mass loss rate and temperature

profile test.

The plot of mass loss rate and temperature-depth profile from the tests shows comparably similar curve profile

from self-extinction at normal moisture content. Through rough observation from the tests done, the behaviour

of self-extinction under different moisture content shows slight difference in the capabilities of timber’s self-

extinction. Through this, the uncertainty in the effects of one of the extrinsic factors that could affect the self-

extinction capabilities of timber can be determined which can be projected into structural performance during

long exposure of fire.

REFERENCES

2013. CLT HandBook, Pointe-Claire,QC, FPInnovations.

BARTLETT, A. I., HADDEN, R. M. & BISBY, L. A. 2019. A Review of Factors Affecting the Burning Behaviour of

Wood for Application to Tall Timber Construction. Fire Technology, 55, 1-49.

EMBERLEY, R., DO, T., YIM, J. & TORERO, J. L. 2017. Critical heat flux and mass loss rate for extinction of flaming

combustion of timber. Fire Safety Journal, 91, 252-258.

INGHELBRECHT, A. 2014. Evaluation of the burning behaviour of wood products in the context of structural fire

design. Master, The University of Queensland, Ghent University.



Synopses B5

Engineering and Technology in China: Current Status and Future Prospect

Quan Gong

Supervisor: A/Prof Alexander Klimenko

At the end of 20th century, the China Government attached great importance to investment,

reformation, and the development of engineering and technology application as the essential

components of the country's socio-economic development and national prestige. "863 Program (Zhu

1986)" and 'the strategy of revitalizing China through science and education" had been carried out,

which then changed the pattern of Chinese engineering application and China became 'The World's

Factory.'

In the last decades, China remained to invest lots of resources in scientific research. In 2015, "Made

in China 2025" has been issued, which aimed to change the nature of china industry from producing

low-quality product to high-value product (Max and Anna 2019). It then made rapid advances in areas

such as information technology, aeronautical engineering, biological engineering,

telecommunications engineering, high-speed rail, infrastructure construction, and advanced

materials. Some areas of those is a world leader in some way. China replaces the label of the world's

factory to science and technology powerhouse step by step (Reinhilde 2017). However, China still

has limited progress in various engineering technologies such as renewable energy, engine

production, mechanization, automation, artificial intelligence, and integrated circuit board compared

to developed countries, some of the engineering technologies are being monopolized.

The paper aims to analyze current engineering technology in China through comparison to developed

countries. Two criteria will be classified to discuss their current challenge and future prospect. They

are the high-value engineering technology application and developing engineering technology

application. The former one is included aeronautical engineering, high-speed rail, aeronautical

engineering, and telecommunications engineering. This aims to determine the advanced engineering

technologies in China can be ranked in international level and chance to lead in the future. The latter

one is included integrated circuit board, renewable energy, mechanization, and biomedical

engineering, which is utilized to discuss the problems shown in the current circumstance, whether

they can be fixed by inducing foreign technologies or self-innovation in the future.

All in all, Chinese engineering technology application will keep up with internalization along with

the rise of international status, so that it can offer help and services to other countries who are in need

of chinses engineering technology.

REFERENCES [1] Max, J & Anna, H 2019, Evolving made in China 2025: China’s industrial policy in the quest for global

tech leadership, Mercator Institute, Report No.8.

[2] Reinhilde, V 2017, Innovation and Competition Policy: China is the world’s new science and technology

powerhouse, Brink Asia.

[3] Zhu, GY 1986, National High-tech R&D Program (863 Program), Ministry of Science and Technology of

the People's Republic of China


Quantifying the Impacts of Over-Break on the Underground Development Cycle

Gracie LIAO

Supervisor: Associate Professor M. Kizil

Every stage of a mine must be performing at peak efficiency in order for highest return. There are

multiple stages within a mine, both in development and production, that must be critically analysed

by engineers to ensure optimal production. It is important that production begins so that the mine can

generate cash flow as early as possible. As development must begin before production, it is vital that

the development cycle performs at optimal efficiency. However, there are several factors that

contribute to the inefficiency of the development cycle. One of the main factors include the over-

break that occurs in underground metalliferous mines, which plays a key risk in the productivity of

the mine (Urli 2015). It is thus essential to have a deeper understanding on the cause, impact, and

control of over-break in order to further optimise productivity in underground mines.

The main objective of this research project is to investigate the impacts of over-break on the

underground development cycle. A common question within the mining industry is whether over-

break is caused by blast damage or if it’s caused by the quality of the rock mass itself. A

comprehensive study of rock mass classification, the drilling process, blasting and rock

fragmentation, underground development cycle, and ultimately, the causes, impacts, and control of

over-break were carried out. It was found that the rock mass properties are what determine the extent

of blast damage to the excavation, and sufficient knowledge of these characteristics can result in the

most optimal explosive selection as well as blast design parameters (Singh and Xavier 2003).

REFERENCES

Singh, P, Xavier, P. 2003, Causes, impact and control of overbreak in underground excavations,

Laurentian University, Canada.

Urli, V. 2015, Ore-Skin Design to Control Sloughage in Underground Open Stope Mining, Graduate

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto.


Mine Planning Impacts of at Face Sorting in Underground Hard Rock

Operations

Lachlan M. Munro

Supervisor: Dr. M Nehring

This thesis aims to explore the mine planning impacts associated with separating ore and waste at an

underground crushing station, using ore sorting technology. Decreasing ore grades is one of the

biggest issues currently facing the minerals industry. This trend can be observed in the gold sector

where the gold grade has reduced from 10g/t in 1970 to 3g/t in 2010 (Lubin, 2011). Increasing ore

grades through pre-concentration can improve the value of current brownfield operations and make

potential low grade greenfield deposits economically feasible.

A base case mine plan has been developed based on a block model indicative of real world examples

with appropriate upgrade factors. These upgrade factors represent the grade increase of the ore into

the mill following the rejection of waste by the ore sorter. A financial model and schedule have been

constructed to evaluate the value impacts of ore sorting at different acceptance rates against the base

case mine plan.

This thesis has discovered that there is significant value increasing potential if ore sorting is integrated

effectively into a mining operation. The optimal case is characterised by an increase in overall Net

Present Value for the operation and a reduced mine life.

These findings aim to assist in increasing the profile and considerations for ore sorting technology in

the industry. Widespread implementation of ore sorting in the future can reduce the costs and

environmental footprint of an operation, along with increasing the ore reserves and mine value.

REFERENCES

Lubin, G., 2011. UN: Global Resource Consumption Will Triple By 2050. [Online]

Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/un-global-resource-consumption-will-triple-by-

2050-2011-5

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/un-global-resource-consumption-will-triple-by-2050-2011-5

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/un-global-resource-consumption-will-triple-by-2050-2011-5


IMPLICATIONS OF THE IMPENDING GLOBAL ELECTRIC VEHICLE

(EV) ON THE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY

Pitamber MUTUM

Supervisor: Dr. Micah Nehring

The primary aim of this research is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the implications the

uninterruptedly growing Electric Vehicle (EV) market will cause on the demand-supply of mined

commodities used in batteries such as cobalt, lithium and nickel, predominantly for the Australian

mining industry. It is important to acknowledge the resources available in Australia and how we

manage to use them effectively.

Various forecasted data for the EV market are collected, and a rate of EV adoption until 2040 using

three different models (fast, medium and slow approach) were analysed. Respectively, battery

minerals used in Tesla Model S were examined as a reference and correlated with the three approach

of predicted adoption.

It is found that highly intensive battery minerals such as Nickel and Lithium, were relevant to the

Australian Industry. Australia holds the largest reserves of Nickel in the world, largest production of

Lithium in the world (The Lithium-Ion Battery Value Chain: New Economic Opportunity for

Australia, 2018). With an estimated 340 million EV by 2030, fast paced approach of EV adoption

determines a price fluctuation of such minerals to meet demand response.

There is also a continuous ongoing change in the battery chemistry, Nickel-intensive batteries are

expected to experience a demand boost, pushing production by a factor of 17 from ~30kt to ~570kt

by 2030 (Campagnol, et al., 2018). As a result, the Nickel prices will elevate and a likely shift in

production to Brazil and Russia to accommodate prices is projected (Hosie, Global lithium production

set to double in five years to meet EV demand, 2018

Overall, Australian Lithium and Nickel industry will remain reasonably stable, although it is

recommended to plan for an upcoming pricing issue led by demand-response not only from the EV

battery market but from home storage batteries.

REFERENCES

Campagnol, N., Eddy, J., Hagenbruch, T., Klip, D., Mulligan, C., & van de Staaij , J. (2018). Metal mining constraints on the electric

mobility horizon. Oil and Gas. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-

insights/metal-mining-constraints-on-the-electric-mobility-horizon

Hosie, E. (2018, October 24). Australian nickel sector stepping up to meet global change. Retrieved from Australian Mining:

https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/australian-nickel-sector-prepared-transition/

(2018). The Lithium-Ion Battery Value Chain: New Economic Opportunity for Australia. Resources and Energy. Australian Trade

and Investment Commission. Retrieved from https://www.austrade.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/5572/Lithium-Ion Battery Value Chain

report.pdf.aspx

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-insights/metal-mining-constraints-on-the-electric-mobility-horizon

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-insights/metal-mining-constraints-on-the-electric-mobility-horizon

https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/australian-nickel-sector-prepared-transition/

https://www.austrade.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/5572/Lithium-Ion%20Battery%20Value%20Chain%20report.pdf.aspx

https://www.austrade.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/5572/Lithium-Ion%20Battery%20Value%20Chain%20report.pdf.aspx


The Potential of a Reduction in Operating Space in Open Pit Metalliferous

Operations due to Autonomous Haulage Trucks

Justin Groeneveld

Supervisor: Dr Micah Nehring

In the modern mining era as more prosperous deposits are depleted, the minimisation of costs through

efficient and optimised operations is the most important factor effecting the success of a mine

(Guiomar et al, 2016). The introduction of autonomous haulage trucks has already been proven

successful at achieving this in operations across the world, however these operations have continued

to use mining design parameters based around traditional manned trucks. By exploiting the changes

in the working parameters of cab-less haulage trucks in particular and their ability to drive in both

directions with the same productivity, the efficiency of traditional open pit metalliferous mines can

be improved.

To explore the benefits of these changes, the working parameters of possible cab-less truck designs

were found and their associated benefits in operating space reduction calculated. Based off this, the

impacts of these changes were quantified by comparing the effect these calculated values had on an

example open pit model compared to traditional mining parameters.

The results showed that as expected, noticeable reductions in operating space were achievable with

cab-less autonomous trucks as well as additional productivity in confined areas of the mining process.

The subsequent changes in mine design parameters showed that due to steeper inter-ramp angles

caused by smaller pushback widths, greater pit depths could be achieved earlier in the mine life. This

improved the mine value by recovering ore earlier in mine life, whilst delaying overburden removal.

It is important to note that the benefits of a reduction in operating space limits are increased in deeper

deposits, which are becoming more prevalent in the industry.

These findings highlight the need of further research into the secondary benefits achievable by

autonomous haul trucks and the importance of designing mining operations to suit the technology

available.

REFERENCES

Guiomar, C., Gavin, M., Alicia, V., & Antonio, V. (2016). Decreasing Ore Grades in Global

Metallic Mining. Resources 2016 5th Edition, 36.



Synopses C4

Thrust Profile Optimisation for Smallsat Hybrid Launch

Kieran MACKLE

Supervisor: Dr. Ingo Jahn

Recent technological advancements have led to a reduction in satellite sizes, giving way to a class of

satellites known as “smallsats”. This has contributed to the increase in demand for a dedicated small

launch vehicle, with a 6-fold increase in smallsat launches in 2018 when compared to 2012 (Bryce

Space and Technology 2019). Although the technology was first developed in the 1930’s, hybrid

propulsion systems have been gaining more and more attention as they show promise to become the

power behind the next-generation of launch vehicles. In addition to several safety and environmental

benefits, hybrid motors possess the ability to control the amount of thrust produced at any given time

and are even capable of stopping and restarting during flight (Nguyen et al. 2017). However, the

performance potential a hybrid propulsion launch vehicle has to offer has not yet been explored in

great depth.

When compared to solid-propellant motors, hybrid motors allow a greater freedom when designing

an ascent trajectory due to the ability to throttle thrust. Thus, the overarching goal of this project is to

explore the performance potential of hybrid rockets via the optimisation of their launch trajectory,

and to quantify improvements that can be attained through throttling. By minimising the fuel burnt

during ascent, the cost-per-kilogram to orbit can be reduced. The optimal trajectory and throttling

strategies are developed using Optimal Control theory in the MATLAB-based software package

GPOPS-II. This software implements variable-order Gaussian quadrature methods and

pseudospectral mesh refinement methods (Patterson & Rao 2014).

The results obtained to date support the hypothesis that the performance of a satellite launch vehicle

may be improved by controlling the thrust profile. Theoretical total propellant mass savings of 11%

have been observed following the trajectory optimisation of a parameterised three-stage vehicle

injecting into a 110 km orbit. These results have been obtained using a 6-degrees-of-freedom

dynamics model that has been restricted to a trimmed 3-degrees-of-freedom reference frame.

REFERENCES

Bryce Space and Technology 2019, Smallsats by the Numbers 2019, Alexandria

Nguyen, Bao; Faruqui, Khulood; Robles, Luis R.; Ho, Johnny; Wagner, Geoffrey; Carter, Jeremy

Surmi Ashley; Hinz, Tom; Kakish, Fady; Zousel, Zachariah; Matthys, Kory; Piacenza, Dr. Joseph,

Overview of Current Hybrid Propulsion Research and Development, California State University,

Fullerton

Patterson, Michael A. & Rao, Anil V. 2014, GPOPS-II: A MATLAB Software for Solving Multiple-

Phase Optimal Control Problems Using hp-Adaptive Gaussian Quadrature Collocation Methods and

Sparse Nonlinear Programming, ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS), Volume 41

Issue 1, Article No. 1


Design of a Wind Tunnel Experiment to Probe Coupling Between Fluid

Dynamics and Nonequilibrium Thermochemestry

Austen Pane

Supervisor: Dr Rowan Gollan

In the design of hypersonic vehicles, it is important to understand and accurately model the separated

flow due to the critical heat transfer at reattachment. Previous experiments have hinted at an unsteady

element to the flow, with rigorous numerical simulations that reinforced the claims. Initial hypotheses

believed that a coupling between the shock wave/ boundary layer interaction of the vehicle and

nonequilibrium effects created through excitation of energy modes Nitrogen and Oxygen may be the

cause.

The University of Queensland’s Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software ‘Eilmer4’ was used

to create build and test a 25-55-degree double cone geometry. In previous experiments, a 25-55-

degree double cone created a complex flow structure that caused shock wave/ boundary layer

interaction. In 2001 Harvey et al. (2001) performed a series of double coned experiments to

investigated CFD as a validation method for laminar shock/boundary layer and shock/shock

interaction in hypersonic flow. One of the tests performed, was considered a low-enthalpy test

(3.82MJ/kg), where no unsteady effects were observed (Harvey J.K. et al, 2001). As there were no

observed unsteady effects observed, the low-enthalpy test conditions were used to validate the

Eilmer4 code. Validating the CFD program against thorough experimental data ensured the code

fundamentally built an accurate simulation of the flow structure and interaction. Validation of the

CFD model in steady state conditions ensure any unsteady behaviour in a higher enthalpy flow was

accurately modelled.

Harvey et al.’s (2001) medium enthalpy test at 5.28 MJ/kg were where unsteady effects were hinted

at (Harvey J.K. et al., 2001). It is speculated that when the test is run with the higher enthalpy that the

excitation of higher modes within the Nitrogen will cause unsteady behaviour. If a perfect gas model

were to be assumed in the CFD model, then there would be an over prediction to the heat transfer

amount and an incorrect prediction to the reattachment zone.

REFERENCES

Harvey J.K., Holden M.S., Wadhams T.P., 2001. Code Validation Study of Laminar

Shock/Boundary Layer and Shock Interaction In Hypersonic Flow. 39th Aerospace Sciences

Meeting and Exhibits, pp. 1031-1058.


Per-Seat, On Demand Air Transportation – Fragment Based Flight Schedule

Optimization

Dalton T. COX

Supervisor’s: Dr. M. Forbes, Dr. R. J. Gollan

An airline business model providing ride-sharing air chartering services termed “Per Seat, On

Demand Air Transportation” allows customers to request a flight within a set timeframe on a light

private jet carrying up to 5 passengers. Passengers from different travel requests may share the same

planes and may be required to visit a single intermittent airport before arriving at their destination.

All passengers within a group travel together and are not required to change planes during transit.

The business case sets up the basis for the dial-a-flight problem that requires the optimization of a

flight schedule to complete the delivery of all passengers within requested timeframes. Espinoza,

Garcia and Goycoolea (2008) present a multi-commodity network flow model for optimizing the

flight scheduling. Alyasiry, Forbes and Bulmer (2019) present a fragment based algorithm for solving

a vehicle routing problem similar in nature to the dial-a-flight problem. Within the algorithm,

fragments represent sets of pick-ups and deliveries that are legal regarding timeframe and loading

constraints.

The aim of this thesis is to present a fragment based approach for flight schedule optimization within

the dial-a-flight problem. The contribution of this thesis it to provide development in techniques for

optimization within the field of operations research. The thesis develops a module for recursively

generating the legal fragments and presents two models for solving the dial-a-flight problem.

The first model considers a multi-commodity network flow model wherein nodes represent airports

at discrete points in time. Variables within the model represent a plane travelling between the space-

time airport network through arcs representing waiting, empty movement or fragment execution that

collects and delivers passengers within a legal fragment. The second model presents a multi-

commodity network flow model wherein nodes represent a legal set of fragments being completed.

The arcs within this model represent the start and end of a plane’s flight schedule or the connection

of two legal fragments by a respective plane. The models are developed within Python and solved

using the Gurobi MIP solver.

The two models are tested over a range of generated data instances for a maximum solve time of 4

hours on each instance. Instances solved to optimality provide the same optimal solution by the two

respective models thus justifying their validity. Testing resulted in the second model generally

providing improved solve efficiency in comparison to the first model due to less variables and

constraints within the MIP formulation.

REFERENCES

Alyasiry, A. M. & Forbes, M. & Bulmer, M. 2019, An Exact Algorithm for the Pickup and Delivery

with Time Windows and Last-in-First-out Loading, Transportation Science

Espinoza, D. & Garcia, D. & Goycoolea, M. 2008, Per Seat, On-Demand Air Transportation Part I:

Problem Description and an Integer Multicommodity Flow Model, Transportation Science


Adjoint-based Grid Adaptation for CFD of High-speed Flows

Reece B. OTTO

Supervisor: Dr. Rowan GOLLAN

The process of creating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations involves iterative manual

refinement and a high amount of user input. Grid adaptation can provide a means to automate this

process without sacrificing accuracy. Grid adaptation usually takes the solution of a coarse mesh and

indicates cells that require refinement based on a specified criterion; it then sub-divides those cells

with a cell refinement method. Most grid adaptation tools are driven by feature-based strategies that

refine the mesh in regions of high solution gradients (Roy 2009). Adjoint-based mesh adaptation is

more robust as it estimates the discretisation error in each cell based on any solution residual of

interest (Park, 2004). The aim of this project is to create a two-dimensional unstructured adjoint-

based grid adaptation tool for UQ’s in-house compressible CFD solver: Eilmer4. This tool will take

a user-created uniform unstructured mesh and will provide a converged solution after automatic

iterative refinement.

A cell refinement tool, using the h-method, has been implemented into Eilmer4. This will sub-divide

cells that have been identified with high error from the adjoint estimate. A database of CFD

simulations has been established that will be used to verify the results of the mesh adaptation tool.

The adjoint-based error estimation has been formulated, and once implemented, will drive the cell

refinement tool. Once this tool has been implemented into Eilmer4, it will significantly reduce the

amount of user input required to generate certain CFD simulations. This tool can become more

sophisticated in the future by adding three-dimensional and structured grid capability.

REFERENCES

Roy, C. J. 2009, Strategies for Driving Mesh Adaptation in CFD (Invited), 47th AIAA Aerospace

Sciences Meeting.

Park, M.A. 2004, Adjoint-Based, Three-Dimensional Error Prediction and Grid Adaptation, AIAA

Journal, Vol. 42, No. 9.


Hybrid Rocket Motor – Simulation of Combustion Ballistics for a Wax Hybrid

in Eilmer

Yu Shen Chia

Supervisor: Dr. Ingo H. Jahn

In a hybrid rocket motor, the solid fuel and liquid oxidiser are stored separately (Karabeyoglu M. A.

et al., 2010). Therefore, this configuration improves safety during the manufacturing and operation

phases as the risks of explosions are reduced (Karabeyoglu M. A. et al., 2010). Besides that, this

configuration allows motor throttling by providing a possibility of controlling the oxidiser mass flow

rate (Karabeyoglu M. A. et al., 2010). In applications, the solid fuel is cylindrical and has either a

singular port or multiple ports through its cross-section (Karabeyoglu M. A. et al., 2010). In

operations, the oxidiser is injected axially through the ports of the solid fuel. A diffusion flame front

will form at the interface between the oxidiser rich core flow and the fuel-rich layer formed along the

parameter by the ablating fuel surface (Karabeyoglu M. A. et al., 2010). Understanding the mass and

heat transfer processes inside the motor is essential when analysing and optimising motor

performance. For liquefying hybrid rocket fuels, such as paraffin wax, attempts to understand this

process is complicated by the formation of a low viscosity fuel melt layer on the fuel surface. This

project aims to develop a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to simulate the internal

combustion ballistics of a canonical hybrid rocket motor, using the CFD code Eilmer 4. Eilmer 4 is

an open-source compressible transient flow solver developed at the University of Queensland (Jacobs

P.A. and Gollan R.J., 2019).

The work discussed the implementations of the pyrolysis boundary condition to model the

vaporisation process of non-liquefying solid fuels such as HTPB, the loose coupling mechanism for

the heat transfer process between the fluid domain and solid fuel, the transient solution of the thermal

energy balance in the receding fuel grain by the integer system identification method, the selection

of appropriate finite rate chemistry models for the combustion, the radiation model source term, and

the implementation of a thin-film model to simulate the melt layer effect.

The results included in the work are the simulated internal combustion ballistics of HTPB solid fuel

that is loaded in a slab hybrid rocket motor and the validation cases for the transient heat conduction,

finite rate chemistry, and thin-film models. The research outcome implies that Eilmer 4 is capable to

perform a predictive CFD analysis in the design process of a hybrid rocket motor. In addition, the

research work provides a strong framework to study the internal combustion ballistics of liquefying

solid fuel by using Eilmer 4 in the future.

REFERENCES

Jacobs P.A. and Gollan R.J., 2019. The Eilmer 4.0 flow simulation program: Guide to the transient

flow solver. [Online]

Available at: http://cfcfd.mechmining.uq.edu.au/eilmer/

Karabeyoglu M. A., Cantwel B.J. and Altman D., 2010. Recent Advances in Hybrid Propulsion.

International Journal of Energetic Materials and Chemical Propulsion 9(4), pp. 305-326.



Synopses D3

Numerical Model of Heat Transfer Characteristics of Fuel Bed Particle Size

Siddhant. P. More

Supervisor: Dr. Juan Hidalgo Medina

Bushfires are a significant natural disaster in Australia impacting both the environmental and

socioeconomic landscape, as well as directly affecting the lives of many (Middelman ed. 2007).

Despite the large burden of bushfires in the Australian community, there is still little understanding

about the heat transfer characteristics involved in the ignition and spread of bushfires.

In a bushfire, there is a natural fuel bed which is composed of diverse vegetation on the bush floor.

This superficial layer is a key component of the ignition and spread of surface fires. Particle size

particularly, plays an important role in the energy balance of fuel particles, with smaller particles

generating larger heat losses. Furthermore, current literature regarding wildland fire spread have

proposed various models of heat transfer as being involved, with radiation heat models being popular

(Ellis 2000). However, there is a lack of consensus in the most appropriate model, with convective

heat transfer also being hypothesised to be a crucial factor (Yedinak et al. 2010).

The objectives of this project are 1) to validate how particle size affects the heat transfer

characteristics of a fuel bed and 2) which models of heat transfer are predominately involved in the

spread of bushfires. To investigate these factors, we used a Fire Dynamic Simulation method to create

a numerical model of a simulated fuel bed which encompasses a combination of physical fuel

characteristics.

This project validates how particle size affects the heat transfer characteristics of a fuel bed and shows

the importance of both convective and radiative heat transfer in the spread of bushfires. Results from

this project give us a greater understanding about heat transfer characteristics involved in bushfires

and will also allow for future exploration of the role of other fuel bed characteristics on the ignition

and spread of bushfires.

REFERENCES

Middelmann, MH (ed.) 2007. Natural Hazards in Australia: Identifying Risk Analysis

Requirements. Geoscience Australia, Canberra.

Ellis, P. 2000. Review of current methodology of assessment of bushfire hazard and the

prescription of appropriate separation distances and building standards. CSIRO Forestry and

Forest Products Client Report.

Yedinak, KM, Cohen, JD, Forthofer, JM. & Finney, MA 2010. An examination of flame

shape related to convection heat transfer in deep-fuel beds. International Journal of Wildland Fire.

19, 171-178.


CuO based photocathode fabrication for solar water splitting

Yiqun Xu

Supervisor: Prof. L.Z. Wang

In order to achieve industrialized large-scale hydrogen production, a lot of research work has focused

on the use of sunlight in water decomposition. The typical single cell used for water decomposition

consists of one photovoltaic (PV) cell and one electrolysis cell. Electrons are excited in the PV cell

firstly and transferred to the electrolysis cell, while electrochemical decomposition occurs in the

electrolysis cell and generates hydrogen and oxygen (Eftekhari et al., 2017). However, cost and

efficiency are still two decisive factors that impede the industrialized large-scale hydrogen

production.

My work is mainly focus on photocathode fabrication of cupric oxide (CuO) on the fluorine-doped

tin oxide (FTO). CuO is generated in the copper (Ⅱ) acetate by the electrodeposition method (Izaki et

al., 2011). The first part is to measure the optimal preparation parameters (calcination temperature

and time). Then, the second part is to analyze the effect of sodium and its group elements (lithium

and potassium) on the photocathode by the spin-coating method. Finally, further improvements on

the as-prepared sodium-doping CuO/FTO are implemented by ruthenium-containing precursors.

In conclusion, CuO/FTO is prepared and calcined under 500 ℃ for 1 hour. Sodium and its group

elements all have positive impacts on the photoelectrochemical performance. Largest dark-light

current density has reached around 2.5 mA·cm-2 by sodium. Last but not least, the doped ruthenium

combines with CuO and forms reaction centers that could further improve the photoelectrochemical

performance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

EFTEKHARI, A., BABU, V. J. & RAMAKRISHNA, S. 2017. Photoelectrode nanomaterials for

photoelectrochemical water splitting. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 42, 11078-

11109.

IZAKI, M., NAGAI, M., MAEDA, K., MOHAMAD, F. B., MOTOMURA, K., SASANO, J.,

SHINAGAWA, T. & WATASE, S. 2011. Electrodeposition of 1.4-eV-bandgap p-copper

(II) oxide film with excellent photoactivity. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 158,

D578- D584.


Improved Accuracy for Measuring Upward Flame Spread in a Cost-Effective

Manner

Lachlan P. KNIGHT

Supervisor: Dr. Martyn MCLAGGAN

The technical aims of this project are to improve the measurement of flame spread; more specifically

in the vertical orientation. A common apparatus for measuring flame spread, the Lateral Ignition and

Flame spread Test (LIFT) apparatus, will be adapted and modified to find a method to accurately

measure upward flame spread.

The way in which this will be achieved will be through conducting a series of experiments with

varying set-up conditions and orientations. Horizontal and vertical orientations will be used as well

as a variety of methods to improve the accuracy and precision. These methods include using blue

LED lighting and optical bandpass filters to enable clearer measurements of the pyrolysing solid

material.

The main findings have quantified how the upward flame spread velocity is increased compared to

the opposed horizontal velocity for two materials, plywood and an aluminium composite panel. The

upward flame spread however has substantial error margins due to the complexity of the problem and

applying the proposed improvements to the apparatus can reduce the error but not completely

eliminate it.

As the cladding crisis is a major issue that effects the safety of buildings and people lives, the work

done in this project is crucial. The data obtained through this study can be put towards designing

better buildings made from safer materials in a cost-effective way and lead to saving lives.


Increase Contribution of Renewable sources in the main electricity grid of

Punjab, India

Shubham Sharma

Supervisor: Dr Simon Smart

The project is set in the state of Punjab, India, which is a major agricultural producer for the nation

and has a high potential for solar energy. The aim of the project is to increase the contribution of

renewable electricity sources, specifically Solar and Biomass considering the abundance of these

resources. This project will also help reduce Punjab’s dependence on other sources for energy,

hopefully making it energy independent or even a power exporter; and reduce their carbon footprint.

After a detailed literature review of similar projects, the strategy was devised to analyse the solar

resources of the state. The potential energy was calculated using Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI)

and scrubland areas of seven cities chosen to meet the demand for all of the state. From this, the

design and size of the necessary solar PV plants were calculated and cost. The calculated solar output

was then compared with current demand curves to infer the amount of biomass required to

compensate for night time and offseason losses. With knowledge of the required amount of biomass,

a plan for using the surplus from the agricultural waste could be formulated to design appropriate

biomass plants. With this information, we calculated an approximate system cost for the Punjab

electricity price.


EFFECTS OF FREE NITROUS ACID AND INORGANIC CARBON ON THE

NITRITE OXIDATION RATE OF ACTIVATED SLUDGE

Karthik Pranesh Manivasagan

Supervisor: Dr. Shihu Hu

Twenty years ago, mainstream partial nitritation was a conceptual idea proposed as vital for more

sustainable treatment of municipal wastewater. Since the early 2010s, significant efforts have been

made on the research and development of mainstream partial nitritation and anaerobic ammonium

oxidation (anammox) (PN/A). To date, various experiments have been demonstrated to prove the

feasibility of PN/A at various scales. But Anammox process has been majorly successful in treating

ammonium-rich streams and mainly side-stream wastewater, while the use of Anammox technology

to achieve mainstream partial nitritation in low-ammonium wastewater streams has not been

successful because of the biomass washout. So, in order to achieve stable mainstream partial

nitritation, Nitrospira sp. and Nitrobacter sp., the major NOB bacteria species in wastewater treatment

plants (WWTPs) must be stably suppressed or washed out while selectively retaining AOB (Duan et

al., 2018). Previous studies involved in wastewater proved that there are several parameters such as

dissolved oxygen(DO), PH, temperature, aeration control, ultrasonic treatment of activated sludge,

sludge retention time (SRT), sulfide, free ammonia (FA) and free nitrous acid (FNA) affect the AOB-

NOB growth kinetics (Duan et al., 2018). Out of those, FNA sludge treatment has been recently

shown to be effective in treating municipal wastewater to achieve partial nitritation, where a portion

of the activated sludge is recirculated through a side-stream sludge treatment unit and is treated with

FNA (i.e. HNO2). Since FNA has been found highly effective in the elimination of NOB organisms,

a novel strategy of using FNA with activated sludge for pretreatment was implemented at a pilot plant

scale WWTP in the Queensland Urban Utilities. Currently, the challenging issue in using Anammox

in the mainstream wastewater treatment is the stable suppression of Nitrite Oxidizing Bacteria (NOB)

while retaining AOB using the Free Nitrous Acid (FNA) produced from the anaerobic sludge

digestion liquor.

In this project, the effects of Free Nitrous Acid (FNA) and Inorganic Carbon on the Nitrite Oxidizing

Bacteria (NOB) were studied. The performance of FNA in the pilot-plant WWTP was studied on a

weekly basis for a certain period by conducting activity tests using base and acid to stabilize the pH

and check the NOB growth. During this activity tests, the Inorganic Carbon content present in the

activated sludge affecting the NOB growth cannot be identified. So lab-scale tests were performed

for different pH by adding sodium bicarbonate to find out the effect of Total Inorganic Carbon (TIC)

on the NOB growth. From the results obtained, it is concluded that the TIC did not have any effect

on the NOB growth.

REFERENCES

DUAN, H., WANG, Q., ERLER, D. V., YE, L. & YUAN, Z. 2018. Effects of free nitrous acid

treatment conditions on the nitrite pathway performance in mainstream wastewater treatment. Science

of the Total Environment, 644, 360-370.


Investigation of the effect of 2D nanomaterials on the concrete matrix.

Zheng Han

Supervisor: Dr Shujian Chen

Nanotechnology is one the advanced technology used in the field of Civil Engineering (Amundhavalli

et al. 2019). This project aims to use simulation techniques to study the interaction between 2D

nanosheets and the concrete matrix. The application of the 2D nanomaterials in concrete can

significantly improve the mechanical properties especially or durability of the concrete.

In this project, the mechanical properties of the concrete at early age is generated with the difference

dosage of the 2D nanomaterials by using simulator to collect data. The data has compared the

mechanical properties during the early age.

Singh et al. (2017) researched that the application of the nano carbon materials (NCMs) in to the

concrete can significantly improve or modify the mechanical properties durability and functional

properties such as high strength and high conductivity.

The particle of the 2D nanomaterial into the concrete matric has the ability to improve the properties

of the concrete with high durability. Furthermore, the properties is different with the different dosage

2D nanomaterials participate in.

REFERENCES

Singh, N., Kalra, M & Saxena, S. (2017). Nanoscience of Cement and Concrete. Materials Today:

Proceedings, 4(4), pp.5478-5487.

Amudhavalli, N.K. and Ravi, C. (2019). A Review on Nano Technology in Concrete. IAEME,

10(01), pp. 2990-2997.



Synopses A3

Heat Treatment of High Strength Titanium Alloy produced by Additive

Manufacturing

Reshabh AGARWAL

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Bermingham

The main aim of this project was to develop a hybrid Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM)

with ultrasound vibrations in tandem to control and produce more favourable microstructures of high

strength titanium alloys. Current additive manufacturing processes alone produce large columnar

grain and it is desirable to obtain small equiaxed grains.

To test this, the WAAM process was conducted in a safe chamber with the ultrasound setup to vibrate

the bead when required. The samples were then cut, polished and observed carefully under a

microscope to look for microstructural changes.

After continuous monitoring and design improvements, the experiment was conducted on grade 19

Titanium with controlled parameters. It was observed that extremely small and equiaxed grains were

found immediately surrounding the wire. However, all the other grains were still large, coarse and

columnar.

The experiments were a success as small and equiaxed grains were obtained. However, it would be

more desirable to obtain them over the entire bead rather than just in a small section. This indicates

that the hypothesis is promising and the experiment could be further pursued by using a larger wire

for the WAAM process or varying other parameters.


Grain refinement of titanium alloy produced by additive manufacturing

Tze Sheng LEE

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Bermingham

Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is additive manufacturing method whereby a layer of

metal is deposited by melting a wire feed with an electric arc. The utilization of WAAM for producing

large components made of costly material, such as titanium wing spar, is advantageous as WAAM

has high deposition rate, reduces material wastage and has relatively low cost (Williams et al., 2016).

Unfortunately, the production components made of titanium alloys using WAAM results in the

formation of large columnar grains in the component. These large grains compromise the mechanical

properties of the titanium component by lowering its strength and introducing anisotropy (Donoghue

et al., 2016). Ultrasonic grain refinement has been shown to be effective in refining grains in metal

castings (Eskin and Eskin, 2014), however, the effects of direct ultrasound transmission into a weld

remains unexplored.

The aim of this project is to study the effects of ultrasonic grain refinement on a weld produced by

WAAM. Methods of transmitting the ultrasonic vibration into the weld that were explored includes

vibrating the substrate of the weld and vibrating the wire feed. The effectiveness of ultrasonic grain

refinement is determined by observing the grain size under an optical microscope.

Transmission of ultrasonic vibration to the weld through the substrate was found to be ineffective and

difficult to achieve. Columnar grains were found in these samples. Equiaxed grains were observed in

a stationary weld made of Ti-6Al-4V alloy with ultrasonic vibration transmitting through the wire

feed. Welds made of Grade-19 titanium alloy with a vibrating wire feed produced localized regions

of very fine grains that have dimensions less than 100µm.

As a conclusion, ultrasonic vibration has an effect on refining the grain size of a weld made of

titanium alloys. Further study is to be carried out to achieve grain refinement throughout the weld

profile.

REFERENCES

Donoghue, J., Antonysamy, A. A., Martina, F., Colegrove, P. A., Williams, S. W. & Prangnell, P. B.

2016. The effectiveness of combining rolling deformation with Wire–Arc Additive Manufacture on

β-grain refinement and texture modification in Ti–6Al–4V. Materials Characterization, 114, 103-

114.

Eskin, G. I. & Eskin, D. G. 2014. Ultrasonic Treatment of Light Alloy Melts, Second Edition.

Williams, S. W., Martina, F., Addison, A. C., Ding, J., Pardal, G. & Colegrove, P. 2016. Wire + Arc

Additive Manufacturing. Materials Science and Technology, 32, 641-647.


Mechanisation of planting seed germination units

Ned P. Jackson

Supervisor: Dr. M. Heitzmann

Mechanical planting systems are used to increase the efficiency of planting activities in large scale

agriculture. They consist of mechanical systems to store, meter and deliver the planting subject to the

soil. The Plant Science department at UQ has developed a seed germination unit that utilises a

treatment improving a plant’s extreme weather resilience in its juvenile stages of growth. The unit is

not directly compatible with any planting mechanisms currently available on the trail farm and

therefore is not easily tested on a commercial scale.

The limitations of existing technology were tested in a field trail conducted on a commercial farm in

Gatton. The findings of this experiment determined which components required redesign and what

other design features would be favourable.

The aim of this project is to design a prototype mechanism to store, meter and plant the seed

germination units. The system will integrate into existing agricultural technology to reduce the cost

of adopting the seed germination technology. This will allow the seed germination unit to be tested

and implemented on a commercial scale, improving the commercial viability of the product.

The product development process included an ideation, concept and prototype phase. The ideation

phase involved the production of many potential design solutions. These design solutions were

condensed in the concept phase. A detailed analysis of the most viable options based on

manufacturability, cost and performance determined the concept to proceed into a prototype phase.

The prototype phase has included the development of an experimental test rig to optimise the detailed

design parameters. The design parameters are optimised through a Taguchi analysis. The Taguchi

analysis will determine the relationships between design parameters and performance criteria

allowing for the optimal dimensioning of the system to attain the greatest performance of the system.

The prototype will adhere to the Australian Standards for seed planting machinery [1].

Overall the project has developed a viable mechanism to store, meter and deliver the seed germination

units into the soil. The system integrates easily into existing transplant machinery with minimal

modification required and operates at a viable performance level for commercial implementation.

REFERENCES [1] Standards Australia (1997). Tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry – technical means

for ensuring safety Part 9: Equipment for sowing, planting and distributing fertilizers Sydney: SAI

Global Limited


Zener Pinning of WAAM Titanium Beta Alloys

Student: Lachlan Aspinall

Supervisor: Dr Michael Bermingham

Wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) of Titanium Beta alloys has become an area of

development in the aerospace industry because beta alloys can achieve higher yield strengths with

greater ductility compared to that of alpha and alpha-beta alloys (Lutjering et al. 2007). When WAAM

is combined with a cold-working step, finer grain structures can be achieved but with each layer of

material deposition, grain growth occurs in the heat-affected zone of the lower layer, reducing the

strength of the part. Lanthanum Oxide, when introduced at the point of material deposition has been

shown to prevent this grain growth for standard, non-cold-worked WAAM previously by

Bermingham et al. (Bermingham et al. 2019). The titanium is then more resistant to all forms of grain

growth and can endure far higher temperatures with minimal grain growth (Ueda et al. 2013).

The aim of this project was to combine the WAAM-forging process with the introduction of

Lanthanum Oxide to achieve a more refined grain structure, indicative of higher tensile strengths.

Applying the Lanthanum Oxide after the compaction of each WAAM layer and before the deposition

of more material achieved an average beta grain size reduction of approximately 25% for the as-built

sample. After solution treating these cold-worked WAAM samples at 1100°C, the difference in grain

sizes was stark to that of the control. The control sample, without Lanthanum Oxide. had an average

beta grain size of 385µm after solution treatment, while the forged sample with ~0.5wt% Lanthanum

Oxide additive had a beta grain size of just 164µm. This is a reduction in grain size, after solution

treatment, of approximately 55%. This resistance to grain growth is crucial to produce multi-column,

complex WAAM parts with ultra-high tensile strengths for aerospace applications.

REFERENCES

Bermingham, M. et al., 2019. Promoting the columnar to equiaxed trasnition and grain refinement

of titanium alloys during additive manufacturing. Acta Materialia, Volume 168, pp. 261-274.

Lutjering, G. et al., 2007. Titanium. 2nd ed. Berling: Springer.

Ueda, K., Nakaoka, S. & Narushima, T., 2013. B-Grain Refinement of a+B Type Ti-4.5Al-6Nb-

2Fe-2Mo Alloy by Using Rare-Earth-Oxide Precipitates. Materials Transactions, 54(2), pp. 161-

168.



Synopses B1

Semiautonomous Performance Monitoring and Diagnostics of Underground

Development Blasting

William LAMBRE

Supervisor: A/Prof I. Onederra

Underground development blasting involves the sequential detonation of multiple explosive charges

to excavate a rock face (Zhang, 2015). Current techniques for monitoring blast performance involve

the use of expensive equipment and complex installations; data analysis is also tedious as no fit for

purpose software application exists to support the process (Spathis, 2012). Blast performance

diagnostics allows mine operators to optimise their designs thereby reducing drilling and explosive

costs amidst other production improvements (Gonzales, 2016). Recent technological advancements

in wireless accelerometers provide the opportunity to quickly and cost effectively monitor

underground development blasts (Hons, 2008). When combining this technology with fit for purpose

analysis algorithms, mining operations could evaluate blast performance as part of their standard

operating procedures without the need of field specialists.

A review of existing commercially available wireless accelerometer dataloggers identified several

devices with suitable specifications with two selected for this project. Protective cases were designed

to allow for quick installation and to ensure that the sensor could survive the harsh underground

environment. The coupling and functionality of the devices was tested in laboratory conditions before

being deployed and trialled in production scale underground development blasts. As part of this

project, a prototype program was also developed to perform semi-autonomous analysis. This

application is currently able to detect potential issues within the blast, such as missing holes, holes

firing out of sequence and holes with a significant variation in the energy released. In summary this

research project has demonstrated that mine operators could cost-effectively monitor and analyse

blast performance as part of standard operating procedures and consequently improve continuous

improvement strategies.

REFERENCES

Gonzales, A. (2016). The Continuous Improvement of Development Blasting at Ernest Henry Mine.

The University of Queensland.

Hons, M. S. (2008). Seismic Sensing: Comparison of geophones and accelerometers using

laboratory and field data.

Spathis, A. (2012). Innovations in blast measurement: Reinventing the past. Rock Fragmentation by

Blasting. London: CRC Press.

Zhang, Z.-X. (2015). Rock Fracture and Blasting. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.


The Impact of an Advanced Dispatch Algorithm on the Economic Feasibility of

Hybrid Off-Grid Renewable Energy Systems in Remote Australia

Makenzie A MOOR

Supervisor (Academic): Prof. L. Kavanagh

Supervisor (Industry): Trevor Gleeson, Senior Project Engineer, EDL

Australia’s remote off-grid areas rely heavily on conventional fuel resources, such as diesel and gas,

for power. Off-grid hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) use a combination of renewable and

conventional generation and storage to supply power and reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. The

design and operation of a HRES is highly dependent on many aspects including the project’s location,

customer (residential or commercial) and renewable resource availability. The use of advanced

dispatch algorithms which consider these aspects may reduce operating costs through improved fuel

consumption. Modelling of HRES with advanced dispatch algorithms may also help optimise the

system design, prevent component over-sizing and improve economic feasibility.

The Gold Fields’ Agnew hybrid renewable energy system is an Australian-first project being

delivered by EDL, a global distributed energy producer. The 45MW project, on track for completion

in 2020, will incorporate diesel and gas generation with solar, wind, battery storage and an advanced

micro-grid control system.

Current modelling methods for this project have limited capacity to model the impact of different

generator dispatch algorithms on the system’s economic performance and renewable contribution. In

this thesis, an advanced dispatch algorithm, tailored to the operating requirements of the Agnew

project, was developed in MatLab and linked to HOMER. The algorithm was modified and tested to

explore a range of different generator operating strategies to optimise for capital and operating costs,

fuel consumption, generator loading and renewable contribution.

Results show the advanced algorithm impacts both diesel and gas consumption and renewable energy

contribution for different battery sizes for the Agnew project. The algorithm can be used as a

modelling tool in the early design phases of a HRES project to select an appropriate generator

configuration and battery size for optimised renewable contribution, capital and operating costs. The

aim is for the algorithm to ultimately be implemented in the micro-grid control system to reduce

operating costs through optimised generator dispatch, although this will require further investigation

to verify and test real world limitations.


Is it viable to update cutting tool industries in India?

Vijay Vimal

Supervisor: Lydia Kavanagh

Machining productivity can simply be improved by resourceful and innovative decisions in regard to

type of cutting tools, machine type and machining methods. With these considerations in mind when

designing, up to 15% of overall machining costs can be cut (drori, 2015).

Manufacturing industries contribute 16-18% to Indian Economy (Association I. M., 2017). Due to

this, India, one of the leading machine tool producers and consumers, would benefit considerably

from the findings of this research paper.

To find differences in metal working manufacturing industries, a comparison between Australia, a

first world country, and India was carried out. The comparison, between methods, tool types and

machine type, was made analytically and experimentally with Australia set as the standard protocol.

Viability of this comparison was determined through using both analytical and experimental and

experimental results.

It was found through this research that medium and small scaled metal-working Indian industries

need updated metal-cutting methods and tooling machines. Whilst cutting tools used in India and in

Australia are similar, with carbide being used more than high-speed steel tools in both the countries,

the heat treatment processes is a problem in need of correction. These findings can potentially help

medium and small scaled metal-working industries which, in return, would increase the Indian

economy due to the significance of small and medium scaled metal-working manufacturing

companies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Association, I. M. (2017, 8 16). Spine of Indian Manufactuirng. Retrieved from IMTMA:

https://www.imtma.in

drori, G. (2015, 10 20). proper cutting tool choices is vital to productivity. Retrieved from PM

Production Machinig: https://www.productionmachining.com/columns/proper-cutting-tool-

choice-is-vital-to-productivity


Designing a Backyard Vertical Farm in Brisbane

Wei Juen, Wang (Jeremy)

Supervisor: Professor Lydia Kavanagh

The main aim of this thesis is to find a sustainable solution for farming through the development of a

backyard farm by helping Australians experiencing food scarcity achieve food security and designed

to cut down water use for agriculture purposes.

The research includes the following method to achieve a sustainable backyard farm. Firstly,

researching suitable type of existing design for vertical, hydroponics system and fertiliser for

assessment. Secondly, access the feasibility of Brisbane weather for residents to adopt backyard

vertical farms. Lastly, to design a backyard vertical farm that suits Brisbane subtropical climate and

with sustainability in mind.

The results show that one backyard vertical farm can produce enough food to feed families or a small

community [27 people/daily].(Health 2013) The backyard vertical farm would reduce 8672160

litres of water per year compared to traditional farming, that is about 90% reduction in water

use.(Health 2015)

This research has potential to permanently reduce the population experiencing food insecurity by

improving food accessibility and availability by installing it in communities that cannot afford food,

to grow vegetable for personal consumption. The backyard vertical farm efficient use of water would

reduce agriculture dependence on water. If the backyard vertical farm had widespread adoption, it

would potentially help alleviate the effects of droughts in Australia.

REFERENCES

Health, D. o. (2013). "Australian Dietary Guidelines." from

http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/national/resource/australian-dietary-guidelines-recommended-

daily-intakes.

Health, I. J. E. R. P. (2015). "Comparison of Land, Water, and Energy Requirements of Lettuce

Grown Using Hydroponic vs. Conventional Agricultural Methods."


http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/national/resource/australian-dietary-guidelines-recommended-daily-intakes

http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/national/resource/australian-dietary-guidelines-recommended-daily-intakes


Synopses B3

Using Cumulative Risk Profiles to Smooth Component Changeout Resource Utilisation

Jack Pianta

Academic Supervisor: Prof. Peter Knights

Industry Supervisor: Doug Eady

The purpose of this project is to develop a proof-of-concept tool to consider cost-based risk on component

changeouts, when smoothing workload through re-scheduling jobs in overloaded workshops. This is a

collaboration between the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering and Hastings Deering Australia

Limited.

With the rise of autonomy and big data, smart systems are being developed by companies including AMT

(RPM Global, n.d.) and CAT Global (CAT, n.d.) to increase efficiency of existing maintenance practices,

vying to provide the analytical services expected throughout industry by miners including Rio Tinto’s Mine of

The FutureTM venture (Rio Tinto, n.d.), and Anglo American’s FutureSmart MiningTM (Anglo American,

n.d.).

A client case-study site - Dawson Mine, and respective truck fleet were selected. This allowed for

accompanying research to be performed into interactions of processes between the client (Anglo American)

and the dealer (Hastings Deering Australia Limited).

Once necessary inputs, outputs and parameters were selected an appropriate optimisation method could be

constructed that provided reliable, usable data for both client and dealer.

The integration of cost curves: local representations of the cost-consequence of premature or delayed

changeouts of a haul truck component, were the fundamental dataset allowing comparison and therefore

optimisations of similar job-types. A cost function that allows global comparison of every planned component

changeout, at every potential timepoint, allows data-driven selection of jobs to the required workshop

threshold. This produces a dataset of dates for required component changeouts to be feasibly completed.

Two key learnings from this project include:

1. Data-driven decisions require comprehensive accumulation of reliable data, often crossing borders on

information ownership in the dealer-client network to progress this tool further.

2. Differences in KPI’s between client and dealer will be necessary to be managed, to ensure that strong,

trust-based relationships are maintained through transparent optimisation systems.

REFERENCES Anglo American, n.d. FutureSmart Mining. [Online]

Available at: https://www.angloamerican.com/futuresmart

[Accessed 9th September 2019].

CAT, n.d. MINING TECHNOLOGY - CAT® MINESTAR. [Online]

Available at: https://www.cat.com/en_US/by-industry/mining/mining-solutions/technology-new.html


Rio Tinto, n.d. Mine of the Future. [Online]

Available at: http://www.riotinto.com/australia/pilbara/mine-of-the-future-9603.aspx


RPM Global, n.d. AMT: Mine, Asset & Equipment Maintenance. [Online]

Available at: https://www.rpmglobal.com/softwares/amt/



A Study of Campaign Life Assurance for Automated Mining Equipment

Renee M. TERZ

Supervisor: Prof. P. Knights

As autonomous equipment is integrated more into the operation of both open pit and underground

mining operations, there is an opportunity to re-evaluate the maintenance strategies of mobile

equipment and take advantage of minimizing the downtime associated with manned equipment.

Currently, manned equipment is limited in the amount of time they can operate by the time required

for shift changes and any other breaks taken by operators, the limits of human cognition and the

interaction between manned and autonomous equipment, regardless of the equipment availability.

Campaign life assurance refers to maintaining equipment for it to operate continuously for an

extended period of time (campaign) and having less frequent downtimes for planned maintenance

(Knights and Yeates, 2019). The success of operating equipment for extended missions, as opposed

to performing intermittent maintenance, in other industries and applications (e.g. aerospace, military,

etc.) has been explored to understand the full potential of its implementation.

The use of campaign life assurance for autonomous equipment results in value creation through

increasing the utilisation of the equipment, improving the working conditions and safety of operations

and reducing maintenance costs (Castro, 2015). To assess the feasibility of implementing campaign

life assurance for autonomous equipment, data was collected for relevant mobile equipment regarding

their availability, utilisation and downtime. This data was used to conduct a quantitative analysis to

determine that applying a campaign life assurance model to autonomous mine technology would be

beneficial.

To replicate the success in other industries for operating equipment continuously, there needs to be

significant developments in the area of reliability centred maintenance in order to increase the period

of operation before failure. Additionally, since there is a step change in value when fully autonomous

areas of operation are introduced, further research into the capability of the autonomous equipment

available to mines is necessary to determine the scale of equipment redesign that would be required

to realise the full value of campaign maintenance strategy.

REFERENCES

Castro, R., et al., Automation fundamentals of continuous mining system. International Journal of

Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 2015. 29(5): p. 419-432.

Knights, P. and G. Yeates, The Business Case for Zero Entry Mining, in IEEE International

Conference on Industrial Technology. 2019: Melbourne, Australia.


Benchmarking of Haul Truck Fleets Using Equivalent Flat Haulage Distances

William J. Leech

Supervisor: Prof. Peter Knights

This project aims to develop a method of utilising Equivalent Flat Haulage Distances and Fuel Usage

in Haul Truck Fleets to effectively benchmark their performance, which can be used to improve

efficiency in Fleet operations. Costs associated with the movement of material in mining operations

have historically been a large contributor to overall operational costs in Australian Open Cut Mines

(Ghojel, 1993), and as such any method to increase the efficiency of material movement, such as

reduction in fuel usage, can provide great benefits to cost reductions.

To create the appropriate benchmark, data collected using the Caterpillar VIMS system has been

brought into a Python script which identifies the characteristics of an ideal haul profile for each truck.

Following on from this, Haul Route Analysis Software (TALPAC) is used to identify an Equivalent

Flat Haulage distance, which is combined with payload and fuel usage to give an approximation of

the work done by the truck.

From initial data analysis, Equivalent Flat Haulage Distances provide a better approximation for the

total work done by a Haul Truck as opposed to using raw travel distance due to the large impact of

variables such as incline and rolling resistance. Traditional methods can neglect these factors which

are seen to greatly affect the overall performance of a Haul Truck.

This benchmarking method has the potential to be built directly into fleet productivity analysis tools

and provide a way of effectively monitoring the performance of each vehicle over the haul cycle, and

fast identification of operational or environmental factors which are affecting this performance.

REFERENCES

Ghojel, J., 1993. Haul Truck Performance Prediction in Open Mining Operations. Yeppoon,

Institution of Engineers, Australia, pp. 99-104.


Development of Quality Control Process and Procedures

Michael Day

SUPERVISOR: Professor Peter Knights

Australian Innovative Solutions (AIS) is an award winning Australian company with over 25 years

of production experience. The company produces electrolytic pool chlorinators for residential and

commercial applications. AIS has developed a system capable of working in low salinity

environments (1200 – 4000PPM NaCl) like Olympic competition pools (<3000PPM (FINA, 2017)).

The commercial equipment in this market is high value low volume; establishing a thorough quality

control system is essential to the company’s profitability.

Existing systems in use at AIS are limited in scope, do not catch all faults and fail to measure long

term trends. There is also a significant lack of documentation and no central policy defining how

quality should be checked. Externally a significant body of literature regarding quality control exists.

Six Sigma methods were used to identify existing deficiencies and possible improvements. As

discussed by Jiju et al (2006) Six Sigma is a methodology that identifies opportunities for defects to

arise. It also focus on measuring and quantifying the financial benefits introduced by quality (Antony

et al., 2006). This last point is particularly important to AIS’s management.

Several sections of the manufacturing process have been identified as having a significant impact on

overall quality. There areas have been the focus of the work performed and documentation has been

improved. A system to electronically record data is also being established. These improvements will

also act as a template to be expanded to other areas of the plant. It is expected there will be a

significant decrease in returns and warranty climes once all areas of improvement have been

addressed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ANTONY, J., AŚOKA, K. & BAÑUELAS, R. 2006. World class applications of Six Sigma / edited

by Jiju Antony, Ricardo Bañuelas, Ashok Kumar, Oxford ; Burlington, MA, Oxford ;

Burlington, MA : Butterworth-Heinemann.

FINA, I. S. F. 2017. SWIMMING 2017 –2021. In: FINA, I. S. F. (ed.).


Investigation of the Cause of Locked Charges Within Ball Mills

Harry T. KIPPEN

Supervisor: Associate Professor S. Aminossadati

Locked charges are events that occur within ball mills which can lead to a charge drop. White (2012)

explained a charge drop is when a charge sticks to the shell and does not drop until 90 degrees of

rotation. Charge drops have the potential to cause catastrophic damage to the mill associated

equipment. The aim of this investigation was to gain a better understanding of the causes of locked

charges within ball mills. This is done by investigation start-up procedures, media to ore ratio on the

development of these locked charges. To investigate these factors two methods were used. The first

was a two-way coupled DEM-CFD simulation that simulated the start up of a settled charge. The

second method was through experiment, an experimental rod mill was repurposed and used to conduct

experiments that measured the effect of mill fill level and particle mixture on the locking of a charge.

The findings from the simulation and experiments will provide colorations between mill overload and

particle mixtures have on the possibility and severity of locked charges in ball mills. These finding

will have major implication on industry as it will allow for mineral processing plants to be more

aware of the risk of a locked charge occurring in their plant. The DEM-CFD analysis will also offer

a base for further more in depth analysis that can take in more possible factors contributing to locked

charges. For example temperature, ore type, fluid content, and specific liner types.

REFERENCES

White, L. (2012, September). LOCKED CHARGE STARTS AND YOUR GRINDING

MILL. OUTOTEC SEAP, 31.



Synopses C1

Design and Costing of Natural Draft Dry Cooling Towers for sCO2 cycle

concentrated solar thermal power plants

Alexander I. MOORE

Supervisor: Associate Professor Kamel Hooman

Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) power plants are being seen more so than ever as a sustainable

and effective power generation option. Aided by advances in thermal energy storage systems and the

application of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) Brayton power cycles. Due to the nature of the

sCO2 Brayton cycle the heat rejection process favours a dry cooling method for which Natural Draft

Dry Cooling Towers (NDDCTs) are an applicable alternative to forced convection systems that

experience parasitic energy consumption. As NDDCTs are also low maintenance intensive designs

the capital cost price gives a good indicator on the viability of the tower’s use in future plants.

A dynamic capital cost model is developed from research on the performance optimization of dry-

cooling systems (Conradie, et al., 1998) along with the use of cost algorithms for dry cooling tower

systems (Ard, et al., 1976) and updated to reflect current expenses for capital costs. NDDCT

geometric design parameters (Kröger, 2004) were analysed while sizing and performance calculations

were verified and performed by a newly developed sCO2 heat exchanger model (Lock, et al., 2019)

integrated with a NDDCT model. Geometric outputs are related to the capital cost model and analysed

with regards to plant performance.

The main findings of the project indicated a cost optimal aspect ratio for directly cooled NDDCT in

an sCO2 Brayton cycle. The findings also represent capital cost estimates for NDDCT as a function

of CST power plant electrical capacity.

With increased regulatory pressure on the use of fresh water for power generation these findings will

help to indicate a performance and cost-effective solution in the form of dry cooling for sCO2 Brayton

cycle CST power plants. The findings will also help to indicate to designers and developers of sCO2

Brayton power cycles the techno-economics of dry-cooled solutions for sCO2 cycles.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ard, P., Henager, C., Pratt, D. & Wiles, L., 1976. Costs and cost algorithms for dry cooling tower systems.

Washington, USA: Pacific Northwest Laboratory.

Conradie, A., Buys, J. & Kröger, D., 1998. Performance optimization of dry-cooling systems for power

plants through SQP methods. Applied Thermal Engineering, 18(1), pp. 25-45.

Kröger, D., 2004. 7 Natural Draft Cooling Towers. In: Air-cooled heat exchangers and cooling towers.

s.l.:PennWell Books, pp. 37-131.

Lock, A., Hooman, K. & Guan, Z. (. p., 2019. A Detailed Model of Direct Dry-Cooling for the Supercritical

Carbon Dioxide Brayton Power Cycle. Applied Thermal Engineering.


HEAT RECOVERY IN CARS

Arun Divakar

Supervisor: Dr. Kamel Hooman

The Thesis explores the scientific approaches to increase the overall efficiency of an existing hybrid

system by refining and redesigning. Heat dissipated by the Internal Combustion engine is being taken

into account while concocting the evidence of exploration.

Only one-third of the heat engendered is used by the car to propel and the rest of the heat energy is

being bare to the atmosphere as a “WASTE”. This is an enormous loss to any automobile

manufacturer who would want his car to be more efficient in terms of fuel and power. To eradicate

this issue many manufacturers have come across different forms of engines and that didn’t improve

fuel efficiency. In the 20th century new form of an energy-efficient system called “Hybrid” came into

the market and have been hitting the roads to date delivering higher fuel efficiency to users. The

Hybrid system uses both fuel and electric energy to run the vehicle which they call it “Hybrid

Synergy”(Rohit et al., 2017). During the initial run(high power required) say first, second and third

gear the vehicle uses electric energy stored in the battery. When the vehicle is cruising at higher

speeds(low power required) the system utilizes fuel as a primary source. In this hybrid system, the

car charges the battery with the help of the Brake Energy Regeneration technique.

For my thesis, the aim is to add one more power source to charge the battery consistently and

efficiently using Thermo-electric generators. This device converts heat energy into electrical

energy(Burress et al., 2011) and in the procedure, this TEG set up is mounting on the engine

component to harness heat energy. The subject took is Toyota corolla which uses the Hybrid Synergy

drive in this era to provide higher fuel efficiency. The thesis aims to incorporate the TEG module

along with brake energy regeneration to provide constant charging to the system. This, on the other

hand, should decrease the size of the battery used in the vehicle which reduces the cost of replacing

the battery.

In conclusion, the objective of this set up is to balance the cost TEG assembly and diminish the size

of the battery by efficient charging.

REFERENCES

Burres, 2011, EVALUATION OF THE 2010 TOYOTA PRIUS HYBRID SYNERGY DRIVE SYSTEM,

U.S. Department Of Energy, DE-AC05-00OR22725

Rohit G, 2017, Performance study of thermoelectric generators, AIP conference proceedings, DOI:

10.1063/1.4990247


Design of Phase Change Material Reservoir for Intermittent High Intensity Heat

Loads

Luke E. BARTHOLOMEW

Supervisor: Dr. K. Hooman

The project aim was to develop a phase change material (PCM) thermal reservoir capable of handling

a 24kW heat load over a maximum operating time of 150 seconds. The system must also not exceed

a maximum mass of 40kg.

As there has been little research into the application of PCMs for high intensity heat loads, a simple,

yet intuitive design was chosen. This design was then parametrised, and constraints were applied to

restrict the design space. These constraints were derived from the performance requirements, physical

constraints and performance optimisation methods. Trends in the feasible designs were found, and a

design was selected that satisfied all constraints, as well as incorporating off-the-shelf products and

additional manufacturing considerations. This design was then manufactured and tested.

After implementing the design space constraints, it was found that the only designs capable of

satisfying the performance requirements were extremely dense heat exchangers with very thin

aluminium pipes. This was expected as the PCM is approximately 1000 times less conductive than

aluminium. To enhance the effective thermal conductivity of the system, perforated aluminium sheets

were incorporated into the design. These sheets also provide the water-carrying pipes with structural

support.

This investigation found that there are both positives and negatives to replacing the current active

cooling method with a passive thermal reservoir. The main consequence was that the resultant design

is far more complex than the simple active refrigeration system, however, the design that was

produced had a mass of approximately 32kg, far less than the current 40kg solution. Furthermore, the

constraints that were generated were for arbitrary heat loads, flow rates and phase change materials,

so they can be used in far more applications than just the design specifications that were given.


A Feasibility Study on Ground Source Heat Pumps Coupled with

Dehumidification for the North-Eastern Coastal Regions of Australia.

Phong D.H. Pham

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof K. Hooman

This thesis investigates geothermal heat pump system designs with the introduction of a

dehumidification control unit in areas of high relative humidity ambient air conditions. This topic is

important since building design to include moisture control is becoming more of a concern since high

moisture levels are attributed to the increase in mould growth which is associated with health

problems including asthma, eczema and headaches. In addition, there is an increase in responsiveness

towards renewable energies and environmental awareness within the building industry in Australia.

The implementation of the proposed system is most applicable to the medical sector with

considerations for hospitals and age-care facilities where the effects of high relative humidity is most

relevant. Thus, a reference age-care facility was modelled on ACADS-BSG Camel to calculate the

heat loads of the building to design a variable refrigerant flow DX system and one with a

dehumidification for comparison. Furthermore, IES-VE was used to model and analysis the yearly

electrical consumption of these systems and for a ground source heat pump design. Finally, a financial

model of initial cost and potential payback was created to compare the feasibility of the systems.

From the analysis of the heat load calculations and system designs, it indicates that there was a

decrease in peak building load, but a significant increase in initial capital cost and yearly electrical

consumption from implementing a dehumidification unit. However, by coupling with a geothermal

system, the electrical load is able to be offset and has a positive potential payback at the expense of

an increase to capital cost.

Thus, this thesis provides an economic model of these systems that determines the feasibility of

implementing ground source heat pumps with dehumidification and had provides further information

to the future adoption of this technology to the building industry market in Australia.

REFERENCES

Kavanaugh, S. P., & Rafferty, K. D. (2014). Geothermal Heating and Cooling: Design of

Ground- Source Heat Pump Systems. Atlanta: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating

and Air- Conditioning, Engineers (ASHRAE)



Synopses C5

Nozzle Optimisation for High Powered Rockets

Jeremy J. NAK

Supervisor: Dr. Chris JAMES

“Shoot for the moon, if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” Nozzles on rockets are incredibly

important for the maximisation of the thrust produced by these motors. The thrust produced by a

rocket motor comes from parts, the pressure force, as well as the momentum of the expelled gasses.

The large motors used by UQ Space generally utilise conical nozzles which are easy to design and

manufacture but suffer from losses as a portion of the flow’s momentum exits the nozzle

perpendicular to the direction of motion.

To minimise these losses the use of elliptical nozzles is proposed with the nozzle exit being parallel

to the rocket’s direction of motion. This nozzle was optimised for chamber conditions of 5 Mpa and

3000 K, values found typical of the combustion chamber of a large solid rocket motor. With CFD

Simulations in Siemens Star-CCM+, an increase in thrust of up to 8% was observed which is

consistent with an analytical divergence factor. The thrust increase depends on the length of the

elliptical nozzle utilised, with flow divergence still observed for short nozzles.


CFD Simulation of Time Resolved Radiative Flows for Earth Re-entry Tests in

an Expansion Tube

Arlo LECKIE

Supervisor: Dr. C.M. James

Several recent studies by James et al. (2017) James et al. (2018) and Millard and James (2018) have

shown, experimentally and computationally, that the levels of oxygen and nitrogen radiative emission

levels in the test section of the X2 Expansion Tube unexpectedly drop during test time, even when

pressure levels remain constant. This thesis aims to qualitatively investigate the cause these unsteady

radiation levels and the potential effects they have on useful test time. This qualitative analysis has

been performed by using a combination of one-dimensional simulations (using L1d3) and two-

dimensional simulations (using Eilmer3). The one-dimensional study has been performed to

determine the effect of the experimental setup on the radiative emission levels, whilst the two-

dimensional study was conducted to determine the effect of the facility’s hypersonic nozzle. Overall,

these simulations showed that many post-shock and freestream properties, including radiative

emissions, are not all constant during test time. It also showed that the experimental parameters,

including initial tube pressures and acceleration tube length affected the steadiness of these

parameters. This suggests that radiative emission levels in tests performed within X2 should not be

assumed to be constant. Thus, it also suggests that more rigorous methods of determining emission

levels during tests are required to ensure the accuracy of experimental results.

REFERENCES

James, C, Cullen, T, Wei, H, Lewis, S, Gu, S, Morgan, R, McIntyre, T: Improved test time evaluation

in an expansion tube. Experiments in Fluids 59(5) (2018). DOI 10.1007/s00348-018-2540-1

James, C, Smith, D, McLean, C, Morgan, R, Lewis, S, Toniato, P: Improving high enthalpy expansion

tube condition characteristics using high speed imagery. AIAA conference paper (2018). DOI

10.2514/6.2018-3805

Millard, T, James, C: Simulation of time resolved radiative emission in the X2 expansion tube.

Unpublished Manuscript (2018).


Computational study of atherosclerosis in the carotid artery utilising a coupled

LBM-DEM model

Kleber Balladares Orellana

Supervisor: Dr Christopher Leonardi

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major issue worldwide. In fact, it is one of the leading causes of

mortality in Australia. Atherosclerosis is one of the major forms of CVD, where the artery is blocked

by a build up of fats, cholesterol, lipids, and calcium (Rippe, 2012). When left untreated, this build

up will and causes arterial blockage. When this occurs, the chances of a stroke or heart attack

(Versluis et al., 2006) will increase. After countless studies to discover the cause of rupture, the

understanding of why this failure occurs is still limited. Current information available comes from an

autopsy of a patient that has experienced a rupture. However, there is still knowledge gaps, on why

the arterial failure occurred. One major breakthrough though, is that there is currently no precise

method of predicting cardiac complication (Xue et al., 2015). For this reason, using computational

fluid dynamics, a more accurate model of the atherosclerosis can be simulated more accurately. As a

result, this will provide a new understanding of the conditions that the plaques exposed prior to failure.

A coupling model of the LBM and DEM was chosen as the computational technique to have an in-

depth look in to the problem. The study requires to find out the appropriate combination parameters

to couple these two techniques without instabilities, without abusing the computational resources

available. The LBM model will be used to represent the blood rheology while the DEM will be used

to model stenosis plaque within the artery. The result of this project will provide a beneficial model

to study the interaction between blood and the stenosis plaque over different conditions.

REFERENCES

RIPPE, J. M. 2012. Atherosclerosis.

VERSLUIS, A., BANK, A. J. & DOUGLAS, W. H. 2006. Fatigue and plaque rupture in myocardial

infarction. Journal of Biomechanics, 39, 339-347.

XUE, S., YUAN, L., WANG, J., WANG, Y. & XIE, J. 2015. A coupled DEM and LBM model for

simulation of outbursts of coal and gas. International Journal of Coal Science & Technology,

2, 22-29.


Finite Element Analysis of X3R Buffer Impact

Lachlan Dahler

Supervisor: Dr David Gildfind

The University of Queensland utilises impulse facilities for research and development of Hypersonic

aerospace systems. These impulses facilities require a rapid compression of fluid to achieve test flow

velocities of Mach 5 and above. The X3 expansion tube utilises the acceleration of a piston down a

compression tube and has many operating modes. This motion is currently halted by a buffer which

has been engineered for the piston to land softly to minimise damage. It consists of six aluminium

bars and accompanying nylon studs. The X3R operating condition uses a reflected shock which will

travel back toward the piston at rest on the buffer causing it to rebound. The force from the back

pressure used to accelerate the piston opposes the reflected shock and causes the piston to impact the

nylon studs causing evident plastic deformation [1].

The aims of this thesis are as follows:

• To understand the nylon buffer impact in more detail to facilitate experimental design and

impulse facility data analysis.

• Development of reusable practical capabilities for impact load cases at varying strain rates

using varying measurement techniques.

• Development of validated predictive modelling capabilities in the form of a Finite Element

Analysis (FEA).

A computational predictive tool for solid mechanics requires a strength model to be defined for a

specified material. Nylon the material of interest is a hard and tough plastic which may be affected

by strain hardening under certain loads causing plastic deformation [2]. Piston trajectory data

previously obtained and experimental drop tests allowed for a stress-strain relationship to be defined

for high strain rates while static INSTRON compression testing defined lower strain rates. Results

showed that the deformation of the nylon was dependant on the strain-rate and a strength model that

accounts for this would be essential in developing an accurate FEA.

A Johnson-Cook strength model was defined and applied in ANSYS INC FEA software which

accounts for the effects of strain-rate and strain hardening. Validation of the model using static

compression and drop test data allowed for the optimisation of a model to be applied directly to the

buffer impact during X3R operation. Due to symmetry a 2D axisymmetric model could be used with

accuracy to reduce computational expense.

Strain rate dependant material data has been obtained and a single predictive model has been formed

to describe the deformation state of the nylon buffer. The predictive model can be used to analyse

impact systems and possibly aid in future buffer optimisations. For attempt to increase accuracy of

computations the acquired data could be applied to varying strength model techniques. A similar

process could be applied to varying materials and systems to produce predictive capabilities.

REFERENCES

1. D. E. Gildfind, T.H., P. A. Jacobs, S. Stennett, I. Dimitrijevlc, Use of Acceleration and Optical Waypoint

Measurements to Estimate Piston Trajectory in an Impulse Facility. 2018: p. 3-29.

2. I. M. Ward, J.S., Mechanical Properties of Solid Polymers. Third ed. 2012: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Hypersonic Vehicle for Space Access Using Hydrocarbon Fuel

Reilly A. PALMER

Supervisor: Professor Michael SMART

Current rocket technology is extremely efficient and operates close to theoretical performance limits.

In order to further increase the efficiency of small satellite launches, alternative propulsion methods

must be investigated. The University of Queensland Centre for Hypersonics has been developing a

three-stage access to space system, with the hydrogen-fuelled second stage named the Scramjet

Powered Accelerator for Reusable Technology Advancement (SPARTAN) (Jazra et al. 2013). The

system has been designed as an alternative to using rockets to launch small satellites. Scramjets have

a higher specific impulse than rockets, and an aircraftlike design allows for reusability, which is

proving to be an important factor in the industry.

This project investigates the use of hydrocarbon fuel, specifically ethylene, as the scramjet propellant

used by SPARTAN. Hydrocarbon fuels have up to 11 times the energy density of hydrogen (Lewis,

2001), which allows for smaller storage tanks on the vehicle. In turn, the vehicle can be made smaller,

reducing manufacturing costs and thus increasing viability of the design. A high-fidelity CAD model

of the vehicle has been produced, to determine the overall mass of the vehicle and propellant at any

given parameters. The model has been used to generate a dataset including centre of gravity

information. The ethylene-fuelled system has been simulated using this dataset, to determine the flight

trajectory, and maximum mass to orbit of the third stage payload. It is hoped that the ethylene-fuelled

vehicle will be capable of launching an equivalent payload to low earth orbit as the hydrogen-fuelled

variant, with a lower structural mass. This would increase the possibility of scramjet propelled

vehicles becoming a key factor in the space launch industry. The findings of this project aid the

progression towards the overall goal of more efficient satellite launches.

REFERENCES

Jazra, T., Preller, D. and Smart, M. K. 2013. Design of an Airbreathing Second Stage for a Rocket-

Scramjet-Rocket Launch Vehicle. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 50, 411-422.

Lewis, M. J. 2001. Significance of Fuel Selection for Hypersonic Vehicle Range. Journal of

Propulsion and Power, 17, 1214-1221.



Synopses D4

Optimisation of the mechanical motion of a wave energy converter

Francisco Javier RANGEL MACIAS

Supervisor: Dr. Joshua Keep

More than 80% of energy generation in the world depends on non-renewable sources that release

large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere nowadays (Greaves & Iglesias, 2018).

Ocean wave energy has attracted attention as a cleaner source due to the vast resources available for

its production worldwide, which have been estimated at approximately 32,000 TWh per year

(Greaves & Iglesias, 2018) The devices used to harvest and convert the energy contained in ocean

waves are called Wave Energy Converters (WECs). The most traditional classification of WECs

refers to their relation and orientation to the wavelength, but they are also classified by their principle

of operation and their distance to the coastline. This thesis project builds on a proposal made by Gale

(2017): a solenoid wrapped around a curved tube with a spherical permanent magnet inside that

moves freely and generates electricity through electromagnetic induction. In order to study several

design configurations in a shorter period of time, a computer model of the system is created, allowing

the modification of a wider range of parameters compared to laboratory experiments. Using the

principles of linear wave theory, traditional physic dynamics and electricity, a Python model for the

design was created that simulates the mechanical motion of the spherical magnet and the power output

with a 1:10 scale of wave height. The model was used to simulate different geometries and wave

conditions to see their effects on sphere trajectory inside the tube, number of full-length oscillations,

and power output. The Buckingham theorem was used to conduct a dimensional analysis on the

scaled parameters and geometries. At the same time, experimental tests were carried out at the wave

flume tank facility in The University of Queensland to validate the simulation and compare the

results, using three different tube lengths and two different magnet diameters. An extensive research

to determine the large-scale analysis of the manufacturability of the spherical permanent magnet was

also undertaken. Two mooring systems were assessed, and three real-life applications were proposed.

REFERENCES

Gale, J., 2017. Investgation into Wave Energy Converters and Relevant Power Take-off Systems,

s.l.: The University of Queensland.

Greaves, D. & Iglesias, G., 2018. Wave and Tidal Energy. West Sussex, UK: Wiley.


The environmental impact of surf wax

Name: Onkar Khanolkar

Supervisor: Dr. Tom Rufford

The thesis explores the implications of surf wax production and transport, pertaining to the emissions

released during manufacture and transport. Emissions released during the product life cycle, surf wax

analysed include paraffin wax, soy wax and beeswax, based product. The methods used during project

execution includes carbon footprint analysis of the product, throughout its life cycle. Calculation of

scope 1, scope and scope 3 emissions calculated using national greenhouse accounting factors

provided by the government of Australia. Process flowsheet analysis for the production process and

life cycle assessment for the product life cycle.

Certain assumptions were made including the amount of distance travelled and the emission factors

used for calculation of scope 3 emissions. The thesis explores the various emissions released during

processing and post manufacture of products.


Low-Temperature Ammonia Cracking Reactor

Xia Shi

Supervisor: Dr. Xiaoyong Xu

Cracking of ammonia has been a hot research area in recent years due to an explosion of research into

fuel cells. Ammonia is a carbon-free resource as a hydrogen source. Furthermore, ammonia is safer

in delivery and storage, and with well-developed production infrastructure. As a hydrogen carrier, it

shows a viable and cost-efficient merits for fuel cells (Denver, 2012). This study aims to obtain the

lowest temperature in cracking ammonia to generate more hydrogen used for fuel cells by metal-

organic frameworks (MOFs) catalysts. It could open a door for ammonia application on vehicle fuel

cells.

The thesis is devoted to catalyst synthesis and ammonia cracking reactions. Co-MOF-74 and Fe-

MOF-74 are two catalysts used in the study. Synthesis methods of two catalysts are modified from

literature procedures (Bhattacharjee, 2010, Caskey et al., 2008). Hydrogen is generated from

ammonia cracking in a fixed bed reactor at lower temperatures (200 °C~500 °C). The characterization

and properties of catalysts were investigated by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption/desorption,

thermogravimetry-mass spectrum analysis and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Then,

catalytic activities were evaluated for ammonia cracking reactions using gas chromatography to

measure hydrogen yield.

Here are several key findings. Firstly, synthetic Co-MOF-74 performs an extremely large surface area

(1586 m2/g) which is good for catalysis, while Fe-MOF-74 performs smaller surface areas (140

m2/g). Other physical and textural properties results, such as high porosity and stable frameworks,

also show catalytic merits of MOFs for cracking ammonia at low-temperatures. Both catalysts worked

on ammonia cracking at low temperatures. Ammonia started to be cracked at 300 °C clearly with

relevantly amount of hydrogen yield. When the temperature increases, hydrogen production grows

as well.

These findings implicate that the application of MOFs as the catalyst has the high potential to realize

the ammonia cracking at low-temperatures. Notably, MOFs show high surface areas, highly dispersed

and exposed metal sites and stable frameworks, indeed play an important role in low-temperatures

ammonia cracking.

REFERENCES

BHATTACHARJEE, S. C., JUNG-SIK; YANG, SEUNG-TAE; CHOI, SANG BEOM; KIM,

JAHEON; AHN, WHA-SEUNG 2010. Solvothermal Synthesis of Fe-MOF-74 and Its

Catalytic Properties in Phenol Hydroxylation, American Scientific Publishers.

CASKEY, S. R., WONG-FOY, A. G. & MATZGER, A. J. 2008. Dramatic tuning of carbon dioxide

uptake via metal substitution in a coordination polymer with cylindrical pores. Journal of the

American Chemical Society, 130.

DENVER, C. 2012. Ammonia as a Hydrogen Source for Fuel Cells: A review. Hydrogen Energy –

Challenges and Perspectives. IntechOpen.


IMPACT OF MEMBRANE PRESERVATION ON THE REJECTION OF

BORON, SULFATE, NITRATE, RHODAMINE AND NATURAL ORGANIC

MATTER

Ashwin Vijayan Premavally

Supervisor: Dr. Marie-Laure Pype

According to International Water Association 2015, Reverse Osmosis (R0) is a worldwide applied

technology. Advanced water treatment plant employs RO as one of the potential unit operation for

high quality water recycling. The commissioning of treatment plant is variable due to climate change

and availability of water. In spite of that, the integrity of the RO membrane must be protected and

maintained.

The current project utilizes used, unused and new hydranautics ESPA2 and Torray (TML-20)

membranes to estimate the functionality and performance of membrane. Water permeability and salt

rejection test are performed to establish the baseline performance data of membrane. However, the

integrity of the RO membrane is estimated by analysing the rejection of indicator chemicals and

surrogates such as Nitrate, Ammonia, Sulfate, Chloride, Boron, Rhodamine, Carbamazepine,

diclofenac, trimethoprim, Proponolol and Disinfection by products (Linge et al., 2014).

A cross-flow filtration mode is set-up to study the effect of RO feed on chemical organic indicators

at a pressure of 7.5 bar and concentrate flow of 30L/h. The system is run for 7 days by measuring and

maintaining the temperature, pH, pressure, flow and electrical conductivity parameters. Feed and

Permeate sampling is done to analyse the Boron, Sulphate, Nitrate and Natural Organic Matter

rejection by Inductively coupled plasma, Ion Chromatography, Flow Injection Analysis, Ultra violet

Spectroscopy and Fluorescence excitation emission data respectively. This research project will shed

more light on the impact of membrane preservation by rejection analysis by indicators and surrogates.

REFERENCE

Linge, K., Liew, D., Edwards, B., Blair, P., Trolio, R., Cadee, K. and Charrois, J. (2014) Using

Indicator Chemicals and Online Surrogates to Manage the Chemical Risk of Recycled Water. Water

41(6), 77-82.



Synopses A4

Sucker Rod Wear Guides Product Development

Brooklyn P. DODD


The aim of this investigation is to provide a simulation methodology for parametric optimisation and

conclude on the optimal geometry for a wear guide operating within a progressing cavity pump (PCP)

driven coal seam gas (CGS) well. CSG is now one of the main sources of energy across the world

and offers highly lucrative export opportunities for Australian developers (Mazzarol, 2013). CSG

exploration in Australia is mature, therefore the primary focus within this industry is on improving

productivity and extending the life of current wells.

Sucker rod wear guides are injected moulded directly onto the rod (drives the downhole PCP) to

minimise the wear between the tubing and rod (Murtha, 1987). Optimising the flow across the wear

guides will boost productivity and may potentially increase service life of the well components. This

project is conjunction with the Australian company Oilfield Piping Systems (OPS).

The methodology involves utilising the Siemens PLM software Star-CCM+ to analyse the wear

guides performance while varying the operating conditions specified by OPS. The results of these

designs are compared to the currently operating wear guide to analyse the benefits and limitations of

the altered geometry and which flow states they are most beneficial.

Currently, the main findings from the project are the pitch of the vanes and length of the wear guides

have the most influential impact on the pressure drop over simulated tubing section. The results show

that varying the wear guide geometry can improve the flow (decrease pressure drop) by 0.2% over a

2-meter section of tubing compared to the current design. This pressure drop will have a significant

impact as CGS wells can reach depths up to 1.5km (Huddlestone-Holmes, Measham, Jeanneret, &

Kear, 2018).

Due to software complications and availability, the automatic optimisation has not yet been

developed. However, the current methodology is suitable for inputting and analysing designs.

REFERENCES

Huddlestone-Holmes, C. R., Measham, T. G., Jeanneret, T., & Kear, J. (2018). Decommissioning

coal seam gas wells. CSIRO. Retrieved September 18, 2019, from

https://gisera.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Social-9-Final-Report.pdf

Mazzarol, T. (2013). Coal Seam Gas and the future of manufacturing in Australia. The

Conversation, 1. Retrieved September 17, 2019, from http://theconversation.com/coal-seam-

gas-and-the-future-of-manufacturing-in-australia-18840

Murtha, T. (1987). New High-Performance Field-Installed Sucker Rod Guides. SPE Annual

Technical Conference and Exhibition. Retrieved September 19, 2019.


Sucker Rod Wear Guide Product Development

Ambika Harikumar Akshay Krishna

Supervisor: Dr Michael Heitzmann

This project focuses on improving the manufacturing process and performance of sucker rod guide

widely used in the progressive cavity pump for Coal Seam Gas extraction, which enables to eliminates

the excessive wear generation, occurs due to the direct contact between sucker rod string and

production tube. This thesis aims at analysing different injection moulding software and selecting the

best based on their technical advantages, perform injection moulding simulation to visualise the

defects in the guides and Ansys static structural simulation to analysis the shrink fit between the

mould guide and sucker rod string.

Firstly, a detailed comparison has been done on three different injection moulding software and based

on the findings Autodesk’s MoldFlow Adviser software is chosen as it provides detail information

about how changing the gate location and design can reduce the defects. Secondly, Moldflow

simulation has been conducted on the guides that are provided by project partner oilfield piping

systems. Simulation results were performed and validated with experimental CT-Scanning tests. It

was found that the vanes are susceptible to voids. The effect of different injection locations was

investigated. It was found that by changing the injection location the void content can be reduced and

moved away from the wear-critical vane area. Finally, a new guide has been designed by keeping the

same cross-section and increasing the number of vanes on the guides, the width of the vane is reduced

to decrease void contents and other possible defects. The following guides will be tested with CFD

simulation to analyse the pressure drop when changing the number of vanes.


Design & Commission of Thermal Element Test Apparatus

Julian EBERT


Tempering Valves, Thermostatic Mixing Valves and Thermal Balancing Valves are mechanical

devices that mix hot and ambient temperature water to a safe and desirable temperature for end users.

These devices control the mix of hot and cold water using wax filled thermal elements. Reliance

Worldwide Corporation (RWC) are a manufacturer and global provider of water control systems,

using over 650,000 externally supplied thermal elements in their products each year.

The aim of this project is to design and commission a thermal element testing apparatus for use in

RWC product testing laboratory. The element performance data generated will allow the company to

validate and expand on the data currently supplied by the thermal element manufacturers. The

transient and steady state performance of thermal valves must meet strict safety requirements as

outlined in Australian Standards [1]. The design process is currently an iterative process relying on

the creation and testing of fully assembled prototypes. Having access to reliable and detailed

performance data for the thermal elements will significantly reduce the time and cost required to get

new products ready for production.

To simulate the performance of the elements during a cold or hot water shutoff, the apparatus needs

to be able to measure the response to a step change in the mix temperature. This is achieved by

pneumatically rotating the element between two water baths at carefully maintained predetermined

temperatures. A linear actuator is then used to measure the change in the elements stroke length while

maintaining the required preload specified for that element. The other function of the testing apparatus

is measuring hysteresis effects while gradually increasing and decreasing the mix temperature. This

is done by measuring the stroke length of an element as one of the water baths is slowly ramped

through the full temperature response range for the particular element.

The testing apparatus has been housed on a mobile, compact workbench, with the ability to connect

the externally supplied air, water and electricity as required. This allows easy access for testing and

maintenance, while reducing the overall footprint required. Subsystems have been designed as

modular pieces, allowing easier component testing, maintenance and future modification. The system

also considers operator safety by enclosing all moving parts and hot water within polycarbonate

casing and featuring emergency shutoff triggers.

Overall, the apparatus stands to save RWC money in their research and development and reduce the

time to market for new water control solutions.

REFERENCES

[1] Standards Australia (2005). Thermostatic mixing valves - materials design and performance. In

Water supply - Valves for the control of heated water supply temperatures. Sydney: SAI Global

Limited


Reducing Powder Depletion for Laser Cladding of Ti6Al4V Alloy with Titanium

Oxide Powder

Courtney E. GRAYMORE

Supervisor: Dr. Mingyuan Lu and Prof. Han Huang

This project aimed to develop methods of reducing powder depletion during the process of laser

cladding Ti6Al4V alloy with TiO2 powder to create a wear resistant coating, based on the method

developed by Lu et al (Lu et al., 2018). This facilitated the production of a layer with multiple

consistent tracks to create a 2D sample. This sample can be used for more rigorous materials testing

and further development and application of this process.

Several methods were investigated which included the application of two types of adhesives, a

polymer and flux binder with varying ratios, the application of pressure to compress the powder, and

a combination of the two methods. These samples were compared to a control made using the current

method of applying loose powder to the substrate. The scan parameters were kept consistent with a

scan speed of 300 mm/s and laser power at 100W, however after initial testing, the laser power was

increased to 200W.

The main findings of the project showed that adhesives were more effective in the smaller ratio of

1:9 than 1:3. The PVA binder was shown to be the more effective adhesive, producing tracks that

showed similar fusion with the substrate as the control sample. Compression packing reduced the

quality of tracks with the adhesive and required a higher laser power to attain the same track adhesion

as the control. The sample that produced the best qualities was the compressed sample with no

adhesive at the increased laser power. Finally, multi-track scanning with scan spacing of 1mm showed

that powder compaction is an effective way to decrease powder depletion and produce an even

surface.

The results of this project will facilitate further research into the effectiveness of this method of laser

cladding of titanium to improve its tribological properties.

REFERENCES

LU, M., MCCORMICK, P., ZHAO, Y., FAN, Z. & HUANG, H. 2018. Laser deposition of

compositionally graded titanium oxide on Ti6Al4V alloy. Ceramics International, 44, 20851-

20861.


Manufacture of PHBV Scaffold that Mimics Femoral Bone Microstructure

using Selective Laser Sintering

Matthew ONG


The proximal femur is the strongest and largest bone in the body and a recent increase in bone defects

and fractures has prompted an increase in research and development of biodegradable bone scaffolds.

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a promising AM technique for fabricating precise parts with high

geometric complexity that are applicable within the field of tissue engineering. In this study, SLS was

utilised to manufacture a Polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV) scaffolds with a porous

structure that resembles a bone structure. The processing parameters (laser power and scan spacing)

were optimised to produce porous architecture that mimic the anisotropic microstructure of a femoral

bone, more specifically, the cancellous and cortical bone.

Preliminary experiments were first conducted to explore the suitable SLS parameters for processing

PHBV powders. When the laser power was too low (<25%), scaffolds that were not fully sintered,

whilst a high laser power (30-35%) would lead to distortion of scaffolds due to over-sintering. Scan

spacing is known as the distance between two laser scan lines and varying those distances would

result if different densities. Different scanning strategies were then experimented to produce scaffolds

with microstructures to mimic the dense structure of the cortical shell and the soft porous structure of

the cancellous core.

Microstructure characterisation was conducted to observe the change in porosity for different

microstructures. The results verified that the higher the scan spacing, the higher the porosity. The

porosity of the cancellous core of each sample was observed to be higher than the cortical shell as the

scan spacing of the cancellous core was consistently 0.25mm larger for each sample. These results

were reinforced through mechanical testing conducted, results shown that the cortical shell failed in

a brittle fashion due to its higher density and cracked under mechanical compression. The cancellous

core however, displayed spongy characteristics as it subdued to compression without cracking.



Synopses B2

Review of dust-related health and safety issues in underground coal mines

Claire CHAMBON

Supervisor: Professor Mehmet KIZIL

The thesis aims to review dust health and security issues in underground coal mines in the state of

Queensland. A complete literature review thoroughly examined dust content and generation, dust

source and control techniques, and Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis disease development and treatment

rehabilitation, in underground coal mines operations. Over 30 years, Queensland regulators were

convinced that the Coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) pathologies were eradicated. However, in

May 2015, for the first time in 30 years, some new cases of CWP health problem have re-emerged,

questioning the regulator and the health surveillance system. Current as at the 30th of April 2019, the

Queensland Government has recorded 36 cases of CWP since 1984 (Queensland Government, 2019).

Findings underlined a significant failure of the regulatory system designed to ensure the preservation

and protection of the health of coal miners, neglected or inadequate periodic health evaluations, and

insufficient attention given to the levels of coal dust to which underground coal mine workers were

exposed (Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Select Committee, 2017). Safety measures such as

Occupational Exposure Limit to coal dust and effective control, including protective equipment (PPE)

and respiratory protective equipment (RPE), and real-time monitoring devices for respirable dust are

essential to effectively prevent CWP diseases and need to be included again as a mandatory part of

mine management risk (Department of Natural Resources and Mines, 2016). Changes in the

regulatory system and inspection have been recommended by various organisations, and new

monitoring technologies will be incorporated in underground coal mines, however this process will

take time and CWP may appear again. The importance of this thesis is to compile information on the

reappearance of CWP, associated system failures, and the effective technical and regulatory resources

that must be implemented to regulate health issues associated with underground coal mining

operations.

REFERENCES

Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Select Committee, 2017. Inquiry to the re-identification of Coal

worker's Pneumoconiosis in Queensland, Parliamentary Committees, Queensland.

Department of Natural Resources and Mines, 2016. Submission to the Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis

Select Committee. https://www.dnrme.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/976612/dnrm-

submission.pdf.

Queensland Government, 2019. Mine dust lung diseases [online], Available from:

<https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/mining-energy-water/resources/safety-

health/mining/accidents-incidents/mine-dust-lung-diseases> [Accessed: 17 March 2019].

https://www.dnrme.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/976612/dnrm-submission.pdf

https://www.dnrme.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/976612/dnrm-submission.pdf

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/mining-energy-water/resources/safety-health/mining/accidents-incidents/mine-dust-lung-diseases

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/mining-energy-water/resources/safety-health/mining/accidents-incidents/mine-dust-lung-diseases


An Economical and Technical Analysis of Autonomous vs Traditional Trucks

Jordan VIEIRA

Supervisor: A/Prof Mehmet Kizil

Currently across the world there is a great push for mine sites to increase productivity. With up to

60% of total mine costs being funneled into the haulage sector, it is extremely important to find the

most efficient and profitable means to complete the task at hand. [1]

Before the body of the thesis was started, the main topic aims and goals were brainstormed. These

included understanding the day to day operations of an open pit mine and how haulage trucks are

crucial in this system. Another aim included finding the set up and operational costs associated with

the autonomous operations and then comparing this to the traditional methods. The scale at which

these haul trucks are operated on means any small development/improvement will result in

exponential savings in resources, time and money. Widespread research was conducted during the

literature review in order to grasp the full understanding of the topic and ensure a good foundation

was achieved.

During the results phase of the project, a simulation software was utilised called TALPAC in order

to quantify the data. This software package created an in-depth comparison between both methods

splitting each sector of loading phase, hauling phase and the dumping phase to find the key areas

where improvements could be made. When comparing the autonomous and traditional methods, the

main factors that were altered included the start up and operational costs along with operational hours

during the shift.

Ultimately, using both the information from the literature review along with some of the preliminary

findings, autonomous haulage trucks are far superior when it comes to increasing productivity. When

it comes to the economical comparison the margin is a lot smaller, due to the high set up costs of

automation. However, over time the autonomous technology still holds greater benefits. Over the

remaining weeks this comparison will produce in-depth quantitative data.

Autonomous systems propose a multitude of benefits compared with traditional systems, particularly

when introduced to large scale open pit mines. In an ideal future projection, autonomous technology

will be used in a wide range of tasks. It is proposed that the information contained in the thesis will

be able to support mining companies when investigating the decision to implement and or expand

autonomous technology in any given open put mine.

REFERENCES

[1] Alarie, S. and Gamache, M. (2002). Overview of Solution Strategies Used in Truck Dispatching

Systems for Open Pit Mines. International Journal of Surface Mining, Reclamation and

Environment, 16(1), pp.59-76.


Development of an Artificial Intelligence System to Optimize Dragline

Productivity

Sushil Sivanesh ESWARA SUBRAMANIAN

Supervisor: Associate Professor Mehmet Kizil

In this fast-growing world, many decisions are becoming data driven. As these decision-making

growth progresses rapidly, the application to mining industry provides great opportunities. Globally,

the mining industry production growth is projected to be 20.5 Billion tonnes by 2022 with an annual

increase of 3.1% (Mining Technology, 2018). Data processing has a significant potential in aiding

the decision making in mine planning, effectively optimizing production, forecasting maintenance,

and other safety and environmental considerations. Draglines utilised in open cast mines play a

critical role in overall mine productivity. Dragline is a massive and expensive piece of machine which

costs around US$50-120 Million. The main work of dragline is to remove the overburden after

blasting to uncover coal in strip mines. However, any delay due to internal and external factors in

using the dragline will cause heavy economic and productivity losses.

The main aim of this research project is to apply artificial intelligence system to optimize the waste

material fragmentation through blast design and dragline productivity. To optimize the productivity,

Kizil’s diggability index (Kizil, 2010) is used as an indicator to improve the dragline productivity. In

this project, an artificial neural network has been developed to optimize the dragline productivity

using neural designer software.

The methodology is to identify the important input parameters that affect the dragline productivity,

develop a regression model using the artificial neural network. To develop the perfect neural network,

the selected input parameter datasets were trained, validated and tested. After the artificial neural

network was created, it was targeted with unbiased input parameters to generate the regression model.

The key findings of this project is to identify the most influencing input parameters of diggability

index and productivity. Fill time, drag length, dragline energy and payload have been identified as

the important parameters that influence the diggability index, while cycle time and payload were

critical to identify productivity. Thus by identifying the main input parameters, the artificial neural

network was developed using these input parameters and the regression model was plotted. As

dragline is an expensive machine, this development of artificial neural network using the key input

parameters optimize waste material fragmentation to achieve better diggability through optimised

blast design and enhance the productivity.

REFERENCES Kizil, M. 2010. Improving dragline productivity using a diggability index as an indicator. In: Jurgen Brune,

Extracting the science: A century of mining research. 100 Years of Mining Research (in conjunction with

2010 SME Annual Meeting & Exhibit), Phoenix, Arizona, United States, (134-141). 28 February - 3

March 2010.

Mining Technology, 2018. global-mining-production-growth-support-mets-sector-recovery. [Online]

Available at: https://www.mining-technology.com/comment/global-mining-production-growth-support-

mets-sector-recovery/ [Accessed 16 September 2019].

https://www.mining-technology.com/comment/global-mining-production-growth-support-mets-sector-recovery/

https://www.mining-technology.com/comment/global-mining-production-growth-support-mets-sector-recovery/


Development of a Drone Module for Mine Environmental Monitoring

Chun Peng CHEONG

Supervisor: Assoc. Professor Mehmet Kizil

Drone, technically known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are getting more popular around the

world and many different industries have put in effort to develop the applications. A report made by

a US investment banking company, Goldman Sachs, in 2016 emphasized the rise of drones and also

showed that nearly 40 million US dollar will be spending on drones in the mining industry in recent

years (Goldmansachs, 2016).

The aims of this project are developing multifunctional drone module to monitor the mining

environment by measuring the environmental parameters and emphasize the advantages of these

applications. The applications can improve the management of worker and site safety and also reduce

the cost of site inspection with faster and easier way. The following objective have been completed

to achieve the aim, which are understanding the current drone application in monitoring mining

environment, compare and select the suitable module to install on the drone for best performance.

In mining industry, a lot of drone’s applications have been developed and benefits huge to the industry

such as low cost with inexpensive drone, easier to collecting data repeatably and improve safety

management. Environment monitoring is crucial to the mining industry because the mining site is

dangerous. Current application that have been developed and used to monitor environment in mining

industry such as terrain surveying and 3D modeling, land damage assessment and ecological

environment monitoring, geological hazards and pollution monitoring, as well as land reclamation

and restoration assessment (Ren, H., Zhao, Y., Xiao, W. et al. 2019).

Furthermore, flammable and toxic gases, that caused death and harmful to human being, can be found

in the site. Also, explosion in underground mining site and surface processing equipment will cause

death and injuries. Therefore, the temperature, humidity and the gas concentration must be observed

and surveyed to make sure the safety of mining site. In order to develop a multifunctional module to

surveyed the mining site, the research about microcontroller, different kind of sensors, and data

acquisition have been done. The sensors used in this project including humidity sensor, temperature

sensor and multichannel gas concentration sensor. The multichannel gas sensor can survey different

hazardous gasses, which are Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Methane (CH4).

Methane is the most common combustible gas, it will explodes at concentrations between 5% and

15% (Knee, Martin. 2005).

In conclusion, this project can improve the management of worker and mining site safety in low cost,

easier and faster way with the ability of drone. Besides, the drone can provide a lot of benefits to the

mining industry and others with the development of the drone applications.

REFERENCES

Knee, Martin. 2005, Explosive gasses associated with mining, Department of Consumer and

Employment Protection, Government of Western Australia.

Ren, H., Zhao, Y., Xiao, W. et al. 2019, A review of UAV monitoring in mining areas: current status

and future perspectives, Int J Coal Sci Technol.


Dynamic Modelling of Mining Operations to Identify the Vicious Cycle

Daniel J. SIMPSON

Supervisor: Dr. P.F. Knights

The vicious cycle is a phenomenon that commonly occurs in mining operations when an economic

downturn leads to a drop in commodity prices (Campbell & Reyes-Picknell, 2016). Furthermore,

large equipment downtimes can be caused in times of good commodity prices from operators wanting

to bypass time-based maintenance to create more equipment uptime (Moore, R, 2004). Due to the

vicious cycle’s impact on profit margins, and productivity, an attempt was made to replicate the

conditions under which it would be expected to occur and understand how these parameters can be

controlled.

To replicate the conditions that would lead to a vicious cycle, a python base script was created to

replicate the day-to-day operations of a mining plant. This script would allow the plant to process

throughput, produce equipment failures based on their maintenance statistics, and control the

resources available to repair that equipment.

Currently, this program has been able produce a backlog of equipment repairs based on restricted

resources, as was expected from the outset. It is still currently producing results on the effect results

from neglecting time-based maintenance in periods of high commodity prices, and low production.

Ultimately, capturing the effect that neglecting Time-Based Maintenance has on long term production

will ultimately allow management and operators to take the necessary steps to capture the highest

level of production. Furthermore, disallowing time-based maintenance to be by-passed will decrease

the risk of equipment repairs being backlogged, and potentially letting the plant slip into the vicious

cycle.

REFERENCES

Moore, R. 2004, Making Common Sense Common Practice. Boston: Elsevier/Butterworth-

Heinemann

Campbell, J. D., & Reyes-Picknell, J. 2016, Uptime: strategies for excellence in maintenance

management. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.



Synopses B4

Numerical Simulation of Aerodynamic losses of Nozzle Guide Vanes

Kynan Schilling

Supervisor: Dr. Saiied Aminossadati

This research project aimed to determine the influence of coolant ejection rate and ejection angle

from the trailing edge of a nozzle guide vane on the overall aerodynamic loss of the guide vane. The

analysis was performed using a numerical approach using ANSYS fluent computational fluid

dynamics modelling software. The simulation results point to the presence of an optimum coolant

ejection rate where the loss drops below that of a guide vane with no ejection. Varying the angle from

parallel to the flow showed an overall increase in loss compared to the parallel results for the same

conditions. These results, validated with experimental results, will assist in the design of the internal

cooling mechanisms of modern gas turbines by improving cooling efficiency while reducing overall

turbine loss.


Heat Transfer Performance of Nanofluids in Natural Convection Cooling of

Electronic Components

Niki H. CHENG

Supervisor: A/Prof S.M. Aminossadati

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the natural convection cooling of electronic components with

nanofluids through numerical simulations. High temperatures can be detrimental to the component’s

performance and its life (Aminossadati & Ghasemi 2009), while traditional cooling methods such as

the use of heat sinks and forced convection air cooling are widely used, they may not be sufficient

for high power components. Water cooling is much more effective due to its high thermal

conductivity compared to air. The addition of nanofluid particles further increases the liquid’s thermal

conductivity and dissipates heat more effectively (Nguyen et al. 2007).

The model is a two-dimensional cross section of a 1cm square enclosure filled with copper-water

nanofluid. The top surface is maintained at the room temperature while the other surfaces of the

enclosure are in contact with the heat sources at a fixed heat flux to model the electronic components.

The three parameters investigated were Raleigh number, volumetric concentration of nanoparticles,

and width of the heat sources.

The main findings are:

• For low Rayleigh numbers, the bottom heat source has a higher maximum temperature than

the heat sources on the side walls, the inverse effect is observed for high Rayleigh numbers.

• As the length of the heat sources increase, the maximum temperature of the bottom heat source

becomes lower than the other two heat sources, the inverse effect is observed when the heat

source length is decreased.

• The maximum temperature of the heat sources decreases linearly with increasing volumetric

concentration.

The findings show that orientation and position of the heat source is important in cooling applications.

The parameters must be carefully chosen to ensure effective cooling of all three heat sources.

REFERENCES

Aminossadati, SM & Ghasemi, B 2009, "Natural convection cooling of a localised heat source at the

bottom of a nanofluid-filled enclosure", European Journal of Mechanics - B/Fluids, vol. 28, no. 5,

pp. 630-640.

Nguyen, C, Roy, G, Gauthier, C & Galanis, N 2007, "Heat transfer enhancement using Al2O3–water

nanofluid for an electronic liquid cooling system", Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 27, no. 8-9,

pp. 1501-1506.


Computational Modelling of Proppant Embedment and Fracture Permeability

in Queensland Coal Seams

Robert Dendle

Supervisor: Dr. Christopher Leonardi

In Queensland, Coal Seam Gas (CSG) production has seen rapid growth over the last two decades

and now accounts for over 95% of the state’s gas production (Department of Natural Resources and

Mines, 2016). The natural permeability of Queensland coal seams in areas of the Bowen and Surat

basins (Queensland’s major oil and gas fields) is often too low for economic production of natural

gas from the reservoir (Department of Natural Resources and Mines, 2016). Hydraulic fracturing is

commonly employed to produce high-conductivity fractures in the formation with improved

production achieved by injecting propping agents into the fractures to increase permeability.

However, cyclic closure stresses in the basins compress the proppants, causing them to embed in the

coal surface over time. Proppant embedment leads to a reduction in fracture width, resulting damage

to the surface, and coal fine generation (Fan, Han, McClure, & Chen, 2017). The cumulative effect

of proppant embedment causes reduced fracture conductivity, with Lacy et al. reporting that a 20%

reduction in fracture width may decrease fluid flow and recovery by 50% (Lacey, Rickards, & Bilden,

1998).

This thesis project has studied the effect of proppant embedment on fracture permeability for various

packing densities. The deformed geometry from the proppant-coal interaction has been modelled

using Elfen, which accounted for the elastoplastic behaviour of the formation. The resulting geometry

was then input into a fluid-flow modeller, TCLB, to determine the resulting permeability reduction

compared to a Poiseuille flow. Notably, permeability reduction factors were determined for several

packing densities ranging. Repeating the above steps using properties from several different

Queensland coal seams will allow the current permeability-packing density results to be extended.

This embedment-permeability relationship can then be mapped out as a function of the state’s coal

types.

Fulfilling the project objectives highlighted above will increase understanding of the relationship

between proppant embedment and fracture permeability in Queensland unconventional reservoirs.

Beyond academia, the project results will provide permeability reduction factors for several of the

state’s coal types, allowing changes to a well’s productivity index to be more reliably predicted by

Queensland oil and gas developers.

REFERENCES

Fan, M., Han, Y., McClure, J., & Chen, C. (2017). Hydraulic Fracture Conductivity as a Function

of Proppant Concentration Under Various Effective Stresses: From Partial Monolayer to

Multilayer Proppants. Austin, Texas: Unconventional Resources Technology Centre.

Lacey, L., Rickards, A., & Bilden, D. (1998). Fracture Width and Embedment Testing in Soft

Reservoir Sandstone. Society of Petroleum Engineers.

(2016). Queensland’s petroleum and coal seam gas 2015-16. Canberra: Department of Natural

Resources and Mines.


Quantifying Pipe Light Risk during Underbalanced Workovers of Coal Seam

Gas Wells

Gerrit C. DE WAARD

Supervisor: Dr. C.R. Leonardi

During the installation and removal of tubing, drill pipe, well casing or liner in coal seam gas wells,

there are a number of forces that act upon the suspended string of steel. Pipe light describes the point

where the total upwards force generated by the flow of gas and water from the well is equal to the

weight of the string, which may lead to violent ejection (Timms et al., 2005). If there is a risk of pipe

light, mitigation is achieved by pumping fluid into the well to halt the flow (known as overbalanced

operations) (Ramalho et al., 2006). This is not preferable, as it leads to irreversible formation damage

(Suryanarayana et al., 2007). Current pipe light estimation methods typically do not take into account

the shear force applied by the flow to the string (Rehm et al., 2013). The aim of the project is to

develop a practical tool for pipe light risk estimation that takes into account all significant forces, to

be used for completions and workovers by the industry partner.

The tool will be based on values obtained from a semi-analytical fluid mechanics model implemented

in Python, initially assuming a single-phase turbulent gas flow (Bennett and Hohmann, 2017). Further

refinement to the accuracy of the results may be achieved using ANSYS Fluent to estimate the shear

force on the pipe in a multiphase turbulent flow scenario, as well as correlation with experimental

data from live wells.

Subject to further testing and correlation, the tool presents an easy-to-use, practical approach to

estimating pipe light risk and informing the risk assessment process. While there is only limited

information available about a particular well’s characteristics when the operation commences, the

tool is nonetheless capable of generating a high-fidelity assessment of pipe light risk. This tool will

grant the industry partner an improved understanding of pipe light risk during their operations. In

particular, it will enable them to operate in an underbalanced environment more frequently, which

has significant cost advantages over overbalanced operations, due to not needing to pump fluid and

avoiding the associated damage to the hydrocarbon-bearing formations (Suryanarayana et al., 2007).

REFERENCES

Bennett, C.A., Hohmann, R.P., 2017. Methods for Calculating Shear Stress at the Wall for Single-

Phase Flow in Tubular, Annular, Plate, and Shell-Side Heat Exchanger Geometries. Heat

Transfer Engineering 38, 829–840.

Ramalho, J., Suryanarayana, P.V., Vaidya, R., Wu, Z., 2006. Qualification of Overbalanced-Induced

Invasive Damage and the Estimation of Equivalent Skin Effect on Production. Presented at

the SPE/IADC Indian Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition, Society of Petroleum

Engineers.

Rehm, B., Schubert, J., Haghshenas, A., Paknejad, A.S., Hughes, J., 2013. Managed Pressure Drilling.

Elsevier.

Suryanarayana, P.V., Wu, Z., Ramalho, J., Himes, R.E., 2007. Dynamic Modeling of Invasion

Damage and Impact on Production in Horizontal Wells. SPE Reservoir Evaluation &

Engineering 10, 348–358.

Timms, A., Muir, K.J., Wuest, C., 2005. Downhole Deployment Valve - Case History. Presented at

the SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Society of Petroleum Engineers.


Computational Assessment of Wellhead Erosion in Queensland CSG Fields

Angus B. Armstrong

Supervisor: Dr. Christopher Leonardi

At present, the erosion rates experienced by Santos Ltd. in the Bowen basin (Queensland) are lower

than that experienced by other companies with operations in the surrounding regions, which currently

use alternate wellhead design geometries. As such, the primary goal is to determine whether or not

the wellhead geometric design is causal to the increase or decrease in erosion rates.

The technical project aim is to determine the comparative rate of wear in a range of different

geometrical configurations of a coal seam gas (CSG) wellhead. This will be achieved via the

completion of the following technical objectives:

• Developing an understanding of the variables which influence erosion rates in CSG

production

• Comparing the flow fields of multiple wellhead configurations within a CFD model

• Combining the flow predictions and expected particle loading to estimate comparative erosion

rates

• Identifying the key design parameters influential to the rate of erosion within a CSG wellhead

Via the application of ANSYS Fluent, a computation fluid dynamics model was developed for a

detailed 3D model of a wellhead, to predict and illustrate the turbulent flow behaviour of CSG as it

flows through the wellhead. Once a converged solution was achieved through the tuning of mesh

characteristics, solution methods and turbulent models, a discrete phase model (DPM) was applied

within Fluent in order to introduce particle loading and subsequent particle tracking. This then

allowed for the activation of Fluent’s inbuilt erosion model to calculate a rate of erosion based on

particle collisions with the fluid boundary domain. This process was repeated a range of sand mass

rates and gas flow rates across the three CSG wellheads of interest.

At present, one of the three geometries have been modelled, which illustrated areas of erosion damage

as per predictions concurrent with findings in literature. Following the modelling of the remaining

two geometries, the causality of design changes on erosion rates may be determined. The implication

of these findings will assist in the decisions of Production and Drilling and Completions engineers,

faced with selection and implementation of surface and sub-surface equipment for CSG operations.



Synopses C2

Geotechnical Stability Analysis of In-Situ Stopes for In-Place Mining

Yeonjun KIM

Supervisor: Dr. Zhongwei Chen

The project aim is to investigate and identify the geotechnical stability issues involved in stopes used

for in-place mining, which is a relatively new underground mining method developed by Mining3

(2017). Models used for assessing stope stability for conventional mining methods including

empirical and analytical methods were adopted and also numerical modelling was performed using

RS2 from Rocscience. For a fixed stope geometry, the factor of safety was determined to be 3.3 where

the effects of cohesion and friction angle on the stability of stope was similar and it had more impact

than Young’s modulus. The findings of this study have practical implications in designing stopes

used for in-place mining where appropriate stope size and the rock mass conditions should be

considered in the design.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mining3 (2017). "The building blocks to In Place Mining." Retrieved 20 April, 2019, from

https://www.mining3.com/building-blocks-place-mining/.

https://www.mining3.com/building-blocks-place-mining/


Response of fully grouted cable bolts to roof shearing

Namgyu LIM

Supervisor: Dr Zhongwei CHEN

Excavation in underground mines causes redistribution of in-situ stresses, resulting in a strata

movement of rocks. Dynamic failure occurs if surrounding rocks are overstressed. Cable bolts are a

significant support mechanism utilised in the geotechnical and mining industry to prevent such

instability. For laminated coal mine roofs, cables experience quite complex stress conditions, so their

failure mechanisms vary frequently with in-situ stress and roof lithology. To understand its loading

behaviour, double shear test is the most commonly used method to estimate the maximum

displacement and load resistance of the cable bolt prior to failure. The impact of installation angle on

cable loading behaviour is not yet well-documented. This thesis aims to numerically investigate the

shear performance of a fully grouted plain and spiral cable bolt subjected to a double shear test with

varying installation angles.

Megabolt’s MW10 (plain) and MW9 (spiral) cable bolts’ geometry were used as a guide to design

the model to conduct Finite Element Analyses (FEA). All testing models were developed using CREO

Parametric and simulated using ANSYS Mechanical APDL via high-performance computation to

achieve reliable results while minimising computation time. The bolts’ performance were examined

at an angle of 0°, 15°, 20° and 30° with 90kN pretension and without pretension.

The main findings suggest:

- Increasing the installation angle causes the bolt to fail at a smaller shear displacement while

increasing peak shear load.

- Pretensioned cable bolts perform better than without pretension as it fails at a larger

displacement while achieving a higher load resistance.

This project is expected to demonstrate the effectiveness of an installation angle of cable bolts in

underground mine roofs. The project also establishes the importance of pretensioned cable bolts and

grout selection in the industry.


Quantifying Cleat and Matrix Deformation Using Digital Image Correlation

Technique

Zhen Hao Chia

Supervisor: Dr. Zhongwei Chen

It is of critical importance to understand coal mass response to different loading conditions, where

the information can be applied in a number of real-life applications such as pillar design, gas drainage

wellbore stability and ground movement. Thus, the main objective of this project is to determine the

relation between load force and deformation of the coal specimen under compression test. In this

project, a coal prism specimen is prepared with the dimension of 102x90x95 mm3. A random dot

pattern was created on each surface of the coal block, and a high-speed camera (Phantom v2011) is

used to capture and record the entire experiment for digital image correlation (DIC) purposes. Rubber

sheet is used to resolve the uneven surface of the coal specimen as to improve the quality and accuracy

of the result when performing the compression test. Then, run all recorded video in TEMA software

and analyses the elastic deformation of respective dots printed on the coal specimen. Through the

analysis, uniaxial confine stress acting on the coal specimen will create a detailed deformation feature

on each surface where it is important to understand how stress distributes on the coal specimen.


Automated Analysis of Critical Maintenance Activities using Computer Based

Deep Learning

James M. Barrett

Supervisor: Mr. Stephen Gwynn-Jones

Critical maintenance activities within the mining and industrial sectors have a significant impact on

the efficiency and output of plant and equipment, and therefore on the profitability of companies. For

this reason, it is necessary to analyse and evaluate maintenance activities, in order to improve both

maintenance practises and supporting equipment. For mine sites, mill relining is a critical

maintenance activity that involves the removal and replacement of worn liners from within grinding

mills.

Use of machine and deep learning for automated object identification has become increasingly

popular in the last decade, with significant advances in research. Faster R-CNN, as the state-of-the-

art detection method has been shown to out perform human capabilities in detection of objects within

large datasets (Ren et al., 2017). With the use of a Faster R-CNN based detector, a process has been

created to analyse video footage of a mill reline, creating an automated timeline output of key events.

Preliminary training and testing on one reline showed that the process was feasible, however, it was

identified that optimisation of both the detector, and supporting programs was required. Further

testing was completed on detector hyperparameters, and by drawing conclusions from these results,

significant improvements in detector performance were made. The improved detector and supporting

code were then applied to footage of a secondary mill reline, demonstrating ability of the method to

automate data collection for key maintenance activities.

This project aims to develop and demonstrate a methodology for the application of deep learning

detectors to automated analysis of repetitive maintenance activities. Significant value can be created

by using one occurrence of the activity to create a program, which can then be applied to future

activities. By applying this methodology, the cost of activity analysis can be significantly reduced,

allowing for the improvement of practises and supporting equipment, ultimately reducing

maintenance costs.

REFERENCES

REN, S., HE, K., GIRSHICK, R. & SUN, J. 2017. Faster R-CNN: Towards Real-Time Object

Detection with Region Proposal Networks. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and

Machine Intelligence, 39, 1137-1149.


Electrostatic Precipitator for Mitigation of EGR Cooler Fouling and Reduction

of Diesel Particulate Matter

John Milward

Supervisor: Dr. Kamel Hooman

Light duty diesel engines have increased in popularity significantly in the last two decades. Two

highly volatile diesel exhaust emissions are NOx (oxides of nitrogen) and diesel particulate matter

(DPM). Johnson et al. (2017) estimates that 10,000 premature deaths in the EU can be attributed to

excess NOx emissions while Schneider et al. (2005) attributes 21000 premature deaths per year to

DPM in the US.

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a system fitted to diesel vehicles to lower NOx production. EGR

systems are typically fitted with a cooler which becomes fouled by DPM over time, reducing

efficiency and increasing NOx production. This project is a design feasibility study of fitting an

electrostatic precipitator upstream of the EGR cooler. This would serve two purposes; reducing the

fouling of the EGR cooler, increasing its efficiency, and capturing harmful DPM (particularly

nanoparticles).

To fulfil these objectives a tubular type ESP was conceptualised. The collection efficiencies were

calculated using the Deutsch model for voltages ranging from 10kV to 30kV. For this voltage range

collection efficiencies were found to vary from an average of 18% to 58%. It was estimated from the

corona current and voltage that the ESP would require 22 watts of power at 10kv increasing to 2688

watts of power operating at 30kV. The cost was approximated at $1325 AUD using a scaled down

industrial pricing model. CFD was utilised to optimise the distribution of flow and ensure there was

no disruptive back pressure.

The collection efficiency of 58% operating at 22kV represents a majority collection of DPM in the

exhaust. Accounting for particle size this would approximately half the increase in NOx as the EGR

cooler becomes fouled. In numerical terms this would reduce the increase in NOx typically observed

over 50 hours of running from 40% to 20%.

REFERENCES

Jonson, J. E., Borken-Fleefeld, J., Simpson, D., Nyiri, A., Posch, M., & Heyes, C. (2017). Impact of

excess NOx emissions from diesel cars on air quality, public health and eutrophication in

Europe. Environmental Research Letters.

Schneider, C. G., & Hill, L. B. (2005). Diesel and Health in America:. Boston: Clean Air Task

Force.



Synopses D1

Hypersonic Inlet Design

Callum BRETHERTON

Supervisor: Dr R. Gollan

There are several issues with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods, namely the

computational models, fluid dynamic’s uncertainties, and the human element (Heiser & Pratt, 1994).

Adjoint solvers offer an alternative to finite gradient-based methods by supplying gradient

information directly. One of the benefits of adjoint solvers is that the cost of evaluating shape

functions is independent of the number of design variables.

This thesis aims to demonstrate the potential of an adjoint-based optimisation approach for the design

of hypersonic inlets. Appropriate geometry parameterisations for a 2D planar case are to be

determined and utilised to construct an optimised hypersonic inlet geometry.

The test geometry is generated, meshed, and blocked using a LUA script which produces two external

oblique shockwaves which meet at the cowl lip before reflecting as one internal shockwave (shock-

on-lip). Eilmer4’s oblique shock gas dynamic functions allow for the shock-on-lip condition to be

satisfied for each combination of ramp deflection angles and initial ramp length over a range of Mach

numbers.

The benchmark used to evaluate the performance of the test inlets is Smart’s 1999 paper

“Optimization of Two-Dimensional Scramjet Inlets” where the maximum total pressure recovery

(TPR) is calculated over a combination of ramp angles and Mach numbers. The adjoint-based

optimiser can then be used to optimise the test inlet geometry before being revaluated against Smart’s

results. It is expected that the adjoint approach will result in similar final design variables to those

found by Smart (1999).

The design and optimisation of a two-ramp shock-on-lip inlet that offers performance greater than or

equal to conventional methods will demonstrate the potential of the adjoint-based approach for

hypersonic inlet design. The possible benefit of an adjoint solver to hypersonic inlet design is a

decrease in the computational requirement for the geometry optimisation of hypersonic inlets.

REFERENCES

Heiser, W. H. & Pratt, D. T. 1994, Hypersonic Airbreathing Propulsion, Washington, D.C., American

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Smart, M. 1999, Optimization of Two-Dimensional Scramjet Inlets, Journal of Aircraft, 36(2),

pp.430-433.


Effective Simulation of Sound Generation in Supersonic Flows

Chris HOPGOOD

Supervisor: A/Prof. v. Wheatley

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to solve fluid dynamics problems through the aid of

numerical methods and is achieved through obtaining a solution for the different fluxes involved with

a flows fluid state. One of the main problems concerning CFD is the dissipation of low magnitude

fluxes, where small disturbances are ususally ‘smeared’ into those of larger magnitudes, which

inevitably results in a solution that differs from that which is experienced. In order to accurately

simulate the tests of supersonic and hypersonic flight vehicles, a small soundwave, when compared

to the magnitude of the flow velocity, must remain unaffected in a simulation over an infinite cell

domain. These small sound waves and the acoustic loading that result from them lead to devastating

fatigue in an alarming amount of time.

In order to accurately account for these sound waves, a portion of the current Eilmer4 code (Jacobs

et al. 2019) responsible for the ‘smearing’ will be modified to predict the generation of sound waves,

effectively removing the dissipation and leaving the clean sound wave to propagate through the test

cells, and will be tested at subsonic and supersonic velocities. A portion of code to switch between

these two test scenarios will also be incorporated, as to readily test scenarios with and without shocks.

An analysis of a small (Patm/1000) sinusoidal pressure wave was conducted in order to show the

dissipation experienced in the current model, followed by the formulation of a new flux calculator,

before a new ‘Shock Detector’ was implemented in the flux calculator file. A continuous cell domain

was constructed, and the pressure wave was simulated through the domain repeatedly with the

magnitude at the start of the next run was that of the final value of the previous run, in order to show

the extent of this dissipation. Through splitting the vector quantities of each cell, the new flux

calculator was implemented following a system developed by NASA engineers at Langly, Nevada.

(Anderson et al. 1986) The shock detector was introduced through replacing the binary ‘shock-or-

free-flow’ system, with a scaled parameter, a, utilising the Mach number of the previous cell in the

mesh, combined with the Mach number of the following cell. This factor was then applied to scale a

hybrid-blend of flux calculators, which would change between the two, depending on the presence

of a shock wave. The results of the current investigation allow flows to be more acccurately simulated

in the Eilmer4 domain, leading to more realistic design effects and the reduction of acoustic loading

in supersonic systems.

REFERENCES

Peter A. Jacobs et al. 2019. Eilmer4 CFD Code.

W. Kyle Anderson, James L. Thomas, and Bram Van Leer. “Comparison of Finite Volume Flux

Vector Splittings for the Euler Equations”. In: AIAA JOURNAL 24 (1986), pp. 1453–1460.


Optimising Scramjet Combustor Geometry

Justin GINGES

Supervisor: A/Prof V. Wheatley

Scramjets are the class of air-breathing engines that operate at hypersonic speed, Mach (M) greater

than 5. Scramjets promise significantly higher specific impulse than rockets during the hypersonic

phase of low Earth-orbit (LEO) insertion trajectories (Smart and Tetlow 2009). Concepts such as the

SPARTAN are currently in development to produce a three stage launch system, in which the second

stage is powered by scramjet engines. The reusability and reduced costs of this three stage launch

vehicle make it very attractive to a growing small satellite sector (Smart and Tetlow 2009).

Modern scramjet engines contain a linearly diverging combustor, to cool the flow and reduce the

effects of molecular dissociation. This divergence however also reduces temperature and pressure in

the combustor, slowing combustion (Barth 2014). It is therefore desired to design a combustor that

reduces the energy lost to dissociation while sustaining a high enough temperature and pressure in

the engine for combustion. This leads to the purpose of this thesis, to optimise the scramjet combustor

and nozzle geometry to produce the greatest net thrust.

Previous work by Mcdonald (2018), Sihvola (2017) and Taylor (2016) have led to a Quasi-1D Solver

with optimisation to determine the optimum combustor geometry and theoretical thrust produced

quicker than traditional CFD methods. This thesis takes the developed 1D solver and optimisation

routine and modifies it to be able to produce a more robust and adaptable optimisation of combustor

geometries. Adding the capability to optimise in two dimensions, rather than 1, allows the solver to

produce more realistic geometries that can better parallelise the exit flow.

REFERENCES

Barth, J 2014. Mixing and combustion enhancement in a Mach 12 shape-transitioning scramjet

engine, PhD thesis, University of Queensland, School of Mechanical Engineering.

Mcdonald B 2018. Optimising Scramjet Combustor and Nozzle Geometry, Thesis, University of

Queensland, School of Mechanical Engineering.

Sihvola, K 2017. Optimising Scramjet Combustor Geometry: Validating Quasi-One-Dimensional

Flow Solver and Modelling Smooth Area Profiles, Thesis, University of Queensland, School of

Mechanical Engineering.

Smart, M & Tetlow, M 2009. Orbital delivery of small payloads using hypersonic air-breathing

propulsion, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 46(1):117 – 125,

Taylor M 2016. Optimising Scramjet Combustor Geometry, Thesis, University of Queensland,

School of Mechanical Engineering.


Design of an Embodied Simulation Tool for Planetary Rover Development

David J. CORPORAL

Supervisor: Dr. P. Pounds

Boeing Research and Technology – Australia (BR&T-A) outlined a requirement for an embodied

simulation tool to conduct future planetary rover development. The scope of this project included the

electromechanical design and future adaptability, whilst excluded software development related

aspects. The importance of this project lies in the capability it provides BR&T-A for future research

in remote operations. This work was approached with a system engineering mindset. It used several

methods including modelling physical systems, first principals statics and dynamics analysis, and

electromechanical component sizing. Further, analytical simulation tools were used to provide deeper

analysis of the design. Overall a working, adaptable design was produced, as well as documentation

with justification for the design elements. This will allow for future planetary rover development, as

well as modifications to the original design as needed.



Synopses D5

ENGG1200 Additional Learning Resource

Alastair B. WALLIS

Supervisor: Dr R.A. Sutton

The teaching staff of ENGG1200 have identified that student performance in the Young’s modulus

section of the course has historically been poor. Specifically, questions testing Young’s modulus

theory were answered correctly by 39% of students in 2018 and 34% in 2017. The intention of this

thesis is to design an additional learning resource for ENGG1200 which focuses on Young’s modulus.

The success of the resource will be determined primarily by the results for the Young’s Modulus

questions in the week 10 quiz.

ENGG1200 is structured around hybrid based teaching with focus on project based leaning which are

teaching methods proven to be effective in universities (Linder 2017). The course uses a variety of

learning resources for students but these may not remove contributors which encouragement a surface

approach to learning (Biggs 2011). It was suggested by Dr Sutton that an interactive simulation be

designed to illustrate the principle of Young’s modulus such that students can engage with the

content. Research has shown that there is a specific need for and benefit from interactive simulations

(Thomas and Milligan 2004). Phet simulations designed by the University of Colorado are currently

used to teach mathematics and science and provided inspiration for the ENGG1200 simulation.

An interactive simulation was successfully created using the Angular framework to develop a single

page application to be accessed by students. The number of students accessing the simulation is an

ongoing challenge and the success of the resource will become more clear after the week 10 quiz

results. It is expected that usage rates will increase in the lead up to the quiz but initial analysis seems

to indicate that due to low usage of learning resources (both current and new) the simulation tool may

have no measurable positive influence on student results.

REFERENCES

J. B. Biggs, Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does. McGraw-Hill

education (UK), 2011, pp. 21,34.

K. E. Linder, “Fundamentals of hybrid teaching and learning,” New Directions for Teaching and

Learning, vol. 2017, no. 149, pp. 11-18, 2017.

R. Thomas and C. Milligan, “Putting teachers in the loop: tools for creating and customising

simulations,” Journal of Interactive Media in Education, vol. 2004, no. 2, 2004.


Repair of Sports Cars

Angad Singh Virk

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Heitzmann

For an advancement in automotive technology, new age materials such as complex composites are

used in the manufacturing the vehicles (Weatherhead R., 1980). These materials include carbon

composites, aluminium composites, magnesium composites, high strength steel and glass fibres

(Thomas G., 2013). Original equipment manufacturers provide very little information about these

materials and this creates a complexity as far as after sales vehicle maintenance and repairs are

concerned (Chu W. & Ahn S., 2004).

This study proposes to work in collaboration with a local exotic automotive repair company who

struggles with the above-mentioned problems on a daily basis. The purpose of the study is to:

a) Develop a sample repair cost estimator/calculator for enhancing accuracy in cost estimations

based on the initial inspection of the job.

b) Develop a sample service repair manual which will serve as a guide for the technicians

working on the vehicle.

To achieve the purpose of the project, two perspective repair types were studied, 1) Surface Damage

2) Surface and core damage. A repair manual has been developed for the both the repair types. To

provide accurate cost estimation, parametric and expert advice, cost estimation techniques have been

incorporated into a calculator form in MS Excel. This cost estimation calculator work for the above

mentioned two damage types, employing all cost components calculated based upon area of the

damage.

REFERENCES

1. Chu W. & Ahn S. (2004). Internet based composite repair. School of mechanical and

aerospace engineering. Seoul National University. (pp. 827-845).

2. Thomas G. (2013). Materials used in Formula one cars. AZO materials. Retrieved from

https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=8194.

3. Weatherhead R. (1980) Fibre Reinforced Resin Systems. Applied Science Publishers, London.


Basketball Court Monitoring and Information Sharing system

Pin-Chien Pan

Supervisor: Dr. Peter Worthy

With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the development of a smart city has made

considerable breakthroughs in recent years, helping people to resolve some problems and significantly

increasing the quality of lives. In terms of the university campus that can be seen as a small community,

there are also many problems causing inconvenience to campus users including students, faculties,

relevant staffs and community residents. Therefore, based on a people-centric perspective, this research

focuses on resolving a common problem that campus users, especially who like playing basketball, may

face when they are looking for a suitable place to play basketball in the UQ.

To resolve this problem, a basketball court monitoring and information sharing system is proposed, aiming

to help people who have the willingness to go to the UQ basketball courts on providing real-time space

information for better user experience on early planning. By adopting the technology of image capture,

real-time image and related data such as the number of people on the courts can be collected and then

transformed into useful information. Then, the information is shared via the Internet and can be accessed

by people through a platform such as smart phone applications afterwards when they need for early

planning.

However, to actually understand the real problems people are having over the sports venues, a research

approach based on people-centric perspectives is deployed to support the main concept of resource and

information sharing. From the campus interview conducted in the early stage of this project, what users

really require to improve their decision-making experiences are identified that clear and simple

information can be a good reference before they really take the action. Besides, knowing the number of

people playing on the courts is the most functional feature that can help people in decision making while

the availability of other information such as weather condition, court reviews, etc. can also improve their

user experience.

To achieve this goal, a lightweight, un-intrusive and low-cost Raspberry Pi-based system with an accuracy

over 90% on image capturing system is proposed according to the paper developed by Haylock (2015).

Moreover, I developed an iOS-based application that can show the number of people playing on the courts

by the on-site image capturing system. The gathered data was integrated into the application and

demonstrated with a clear and simple map-based user interface (UI). To test user acceptance of this

service, after demonstrating respondents the prototype of the application, a survey based on the technology

acceptance model (TAM) developed by Davis (1989) was completed. The result shows that around 90%

of respondents said it is easier and quicker for them to decide whether to go to play basketball or not.

Also, more than 80% of respondents said that a clear and simple UI is easy to understand and is the main

factor attracting their intention using this service. In conclusion, by adopting the basketball court

information sharing system, user experience and student engagement can be significantly enhanced on

the UQ campus.

REFERENCES Haylock, D 2015, Footfall: A Camera Based People Counting System for under £60, 21 April, Wired

Watershed, viewed 17 September 2019, <https://blogs.wcode.org/2015/04/footfall-a-camera-based-people-

counting-system-for-under60/>.

Davis, F.D. 1989, ‘Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information

technology’, MIS Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 319–340.


Aerodynamic Computational Fluid Dynamic Optimization of Unmanned Aerial

Vehicle (UAV)

Suman GC

Supervisor: Dr. Stephen Hall

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is the vehicle without a human operator which provides a very

convenient platform at almost any altitude to carry cameras, imaging equipment, sensors of all types

and even weapons. There is a broad spectrum of UAV which led to the invention of several types of

UAV with different sizes and weights. Even though UAV has a wide range of use in different fields,

they lack in performance due to their power restrictions and their small payload capacity. The project

defines three UAVs with different shapes and aerofoil.

The first UAV has been designed using the NACA4412 aerofoil to achieve the low lift at a low angle

of attack. The study done by Takasaki and Kohama (2007) shows that NACA 4412 geometry has a

strong effect on the aerodynamic characteristic of the configuration – Lift coefficient and pressure

coefficient. At an angle of attack up to 4 degrees, the lift force decreases due to strong suction effect

on the lower surface of the NACA4412 aerofoil. Due to power restrictions, less thrust is generated to

provide enough lift to the UAV. NACA4412 requires less lift force at a low angle of attack, therefore,

less thrust is required to provide enough lift.

The second UAV has been designed with blended wing type with NACA4412 airfoil to get an overall

reduction in the take-off weight and to achieve low lift force. The study done by R.H. Liebeck (2004)

shows that the Blended wing Body airplanes showed a remarkable performance improvement over

the conventional airplanes that included a 15% reduction in the take-off weight. Reduction in take-

off weight means less fuel will be required during take-off and thus reduction in the thrust required

to take-off from the ground. The third UAV was designed from the data collected from the journal

article to compare the result of the lift force already existing UAV with the newly designed values.

The project uses the verification and validation process to verify and validate the obtained results.

The most efficient way to verify is to refine the grid size and Richardson’s extrapolation can help in

estimating the zero-grid spacing after the asymptotic region is demonstrated. The validation is done

in the computational solution by identifying and quantifying the error. The shape optimization of the

aerofoil is done with the help of HEEDS software.

The project generates the required characteristic behaviour of UAV at different configurations – Low

lift force by using NACA4412 and reduction of the take-off weight by using blended wing. The result

obtained from the project can be used for further research at a higher angle of attack.

REFERENCES

Ahmed, M.R., Takasaki, T. and Kohama, Y., 2007. Aerodynamics of a NACA4412 airfoil in

ground effect. AIAA journal, 45(1), pp.37-47.

Liebeck, R.H., 2004. Design of the blended wing body subsonic transport. Journal of

aircraft, 41(1), pp.10-25.


Assessing the Feasibility of VTOL on a UAV using CFD

Timothy S. MACDONALD

Supervisor: Dr. S. Hall

The project aims to investigate the validity of using 3D scanned data to conduct CFD on a UAV to

determine whether the UAV is capable of being fitted with VTOL capabilities.

As no CAD model was readily available for the chosen UAV a 3D scan was completed using a ‘Faro

Arm’. Using the data from this scan an stl file was be created from the point cloud to provide an

accurate representation of the aircraft. This proved to be an effective method of obtaining a model as

it captures far more intricate details such as imperfections in the manufactured surface, which would

not be present in a traditional CAD model.

A CFD model was then created, focusing first on the wing of the aeroplane. Wind tunnel testing data

was used as a validation method, showing that the CFD model was an accurate representation of the

problem it represents. Finally, a quad copter style VTOL system was affixed to the virtual model and

tested as a valid method of take-off.



Contact details

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