Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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1 - 10 of 2070
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ItemAssessing the opportunity for producing hemp-based insulation in the Australian market(EJSE International, 2024-04-29)By-products (wastes or residues) of renewable materials have the potential to be manufactured into higher value fibre insulation products for the Australian market. Currently, such products have been imported for servicing the Australian market. This presents a potential opportunity to divert considerable quantities of waste from landfill and produce a high performance, locally made, low carbon, natural fibre insulation product for the Australian domestic and commercial building industry. This article assesses the hemp-based bulk insulations available in the Australian market.
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ItemModelling interest in co-adoption of electric vehicles and solar photovoltaics in Australia to identify tailored policy needs.(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2024-04-24)Electric vehicles (EVs) and solar photovoltaic systems (PVs) are two technologies that are gaining popularity in households as a means of reducing carbon emissions and improving energy security. However, little is known about the characteristics of households that adopt these technologies jointly. This study investigates the adoption patterns of electric vehicles and solar photovoltaics in Australia. We explain the likelihood of consumers belonging to four distinct groups (those who adopt both PVs and EVs, those who only adopt EVs, those who only adopt PVs, and those who adopt none) based on demographic and attitudinal factors. Using survey data from a representative sample of 2219 Australian heads of households, we found that dwelling ownership, ownership of a home energy management system, gender, and household size were significant predictors of the joint adoption of EVs and PVs. While both pro-environmental and pro-technology attitudes demonstrated a significant role in shaping PV-EV co-adoption patterns, the latter has a much stronger effect than the former. Based on the results, we identified that actions are needed in three key areas to encourage co-adoption: reducing technology adoption constraints associated with living arrangements (such as dwelling type and ownership), providing bundled financial incentives for both technologies, and fostering technology awareness and perceived usefulness among consumers.
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ItemMechanical properties and life cycle greenhouse gas analysis of textile waste fibre-based concrete(Elsevier BV, 2024-05-17)The application of textile waste as an aggregate in concrete enhances sustainability in construction and promotes circular economy. This work develops a novel fibre-based concrete incorporating textile waste fibres. The experiments showed that including textile waste fibres reduces flowability of concrete and improves its tensile and compressive strengths, alongside strain resistance. The fibres enhance concrete’s ductility and resilience against environmental damage. Textile waste fibre exhibits a lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to other non-polymer fibres. This work emphasises the benefits of textile waste in enhancing construction sustainability and highlights the need for expanded exploration.
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ItemA Review on Cementitious and Geopolymer Composites with Lithium Slag Incorporation(MDPI, 2024-01)This study critically reviews lithium slag (LS) as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM), thereby examining its physiochemical characteristics, mechanical properties, and durability within cementitious and geopolymer composites. The review reveals that LS's particle size distribution is comparable to fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), which suggests it can enhance densification and nucleation in concrete. The mechanical treatment of LS promotes early hydration by increasing the solubility of aluminum, lithium, and silicon. LS's compositional similarity to FA endows it with low-calcium, high-reactivity properties that are suitable for cementitious and geopolymeric applications. Increasing the LS content reduces setting times and flowability while initially enhancing mechanical properties, albeit with diminishing returns beyond a 30% threshold. LS significantly improves chloride ion resistance and impacts drying shrinkage variably. This study categorizes LS's role in concrete as a filler, pozzolan, and nucleation agent, thereby contributing to the material's overall reduced porosity and increased durability. Economically, LS's cost is substantially lower than FA's; meanwhile, its environmental footprint is comparable to GGBS, thereby making it a sustainable and cost-effective alternative. Notwithstanding, there is a necessity for further research on LS's fine-tuning through grinding, its tensile properties, its performance under environmental duress, and its pozzolanic reactivity to maximize its utility in concrete technologies. This study comprehensively discusses the current strengths and weaknesses of LS in the field of building materials, thereby offering fresh perspectives and methodologies to enhance its performance, improve its application efficiency, and broaden its scope. These efforts are driving the sustainable and green development of LS in waste utilization and advanced concrete technology.
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ItemManaging risks associated with environmental water delivery: a case study of the Goulburn River, Australia(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2024-01-01)
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ItemBehaviour of bio-inspired grouped battered minipiles under lateral loading in clay(SPRINGER HEIDELBERG, 2024-03)Abstract The field of bio-inspired geotechnics has been growing in response to the demand for foundations that are sustainable and yet have improved load-bearing capacities. This study aims to address the gap in a specialised adaptation of root system architecture for designing resilient foundations. The lateral load behaviour of one such novel grouped battered minipile configuration is evaluated in this study based on full-scale field testing and numerical modelling to report the unknown increase of load capacity caused by shape modification. First, three single minipiles battered at 0° and 25° were subjected to static lateral loading in fine-grained soil. The strain profiles along the individual minipile shafts were obtained using optic fibre sensors. Consecutively, full-scale lateral load tests on two types of minipile groups were also performed; one group had a configuration of two 25° battered minipiles perpendicular to the direction of loading mimicking a tree-root system, and another conventional group had two positive and negative battered minipiles. A numerical model was developed to investigate the effect of pile spacing and obtain soil pressures, bending moments and axial forces of the battered minipile groups. Results show that increased bearing area and higher engagement of soil volume for the novel minipile group with two perpendicular battered minipiles were larger than the conventional minipile group; thus, the former offered higher lateral resistance. The deflection pattern, bending moment and p-y curves showed a shadowing effect in stiff clay for battered minipile groups at a pile head spacing of three times the minipile diameter.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableManaging underground legal boundaries in 3D-extending the CityGML standard(KEAI PUBLISHING LTD, 2024-02)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAssessment of surrogate models for flood inundation: The physics-guided LSG model vs. state-of-the-art machine learning models(PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2024-03-15)Hydrodynamic models can accurately simulate flood inundation but are limited by their high computational demand that scales non-linearly with model complexity, resolution, and domain size. Therefore, it is often not feasible to use high-resolution hydrodynamic models for real-time flood predictions or when a large number of predictions are needed for probabilistic flood design. Computationally efficient surrogate models have been developed to address this issue. The recently developed Low-fidelity, Spatial analysis, and Gaussian Process Learning (LSG) model has shown strong performance in both computational efficiency and simulation accuracy. The LSG model is a physics-guided surrogate model that simulates flood inundation by first using an extremely coarse and simplified (i.e. low-fidelity) hydrodynamic model to provide an initial estimate of flood inundation. Then, the low-fidelity estimate is upskilled via Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) analysis and Sparse Gaussian Process models to provide accurate high-resolution predictions. Despite the promising results achieved thus far, the LSG model has not been benchmarked against other surrogate models. Such a comparison is needed to fully understand the value of the LSG model and to provide guidance for future research efforts in flood inundation simulation. This study compares the LSG model to four state-of-the-art surrogate flood inundation models. The surrogate models are assessed for their ability to simulate the temporal and spatial evolution of flood inundation for events both within and beyond the range used for model training. The models are evaluated for three distinct case studies in Australia and the United Kingdom. The LSG model is found to be superior in accuracy for both flood extent and water depth, including when applied to flood events outside the range of training data used, while achieving high computational efficiency. In addition, the low-fidelity model is found to play a crucial role in achieving the overall superior performance of the LSG model.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableThe influence of spatial arrangement and site conditions on the fate of infiltrated stormwater(Elsevier BV, 2024-02-01)
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ItemNo Preview Available