Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableUpcycling opportunities and potential markets for aluminium composite panels with polyethylene core (ACP-PE) cladding materials in Australia: A review(ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2022-11-28)Many buildings worldwide have high fire-risk materials as part of their cladding. As governments in Australia strive to make buildings safer, it is expected that a large volume of end-of-life dangerous cladding will be replaced with safer materials. This high volume of hazardous materials might be upcycled into value-added products. This article presents a systematic market analysis and literature review in identifying current and potential uses for the raw materials used in hazardous ACP-PE cladding. The most promising areas were identified to be non-food-contact packaging (US$228 M p.a.), non-pressure pipes (US$30 M p.a.), footwear (US$5.29 M p.a.) and 3D printer filament (US$2.73 M p.a.)
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ItemNew normal remote communication for collaboration (presentation)( 2021-12-19)Presented at the 12th International Conference on Structural Engineering and construction Management (ICSECM) 2021, Kandy, Sri Lanka (17-19 December)
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ItemDesigning Post COVID-19 Buildings: Approaches for Achieving Healthy Buildings(MDPI AG, 2022-01-12)The COVID-19 pandemic forced the accessibility, social gathering, lifestyle, and working environment to be changed to reduce the infection. Coronavirus spreads between people in several different ways. Small liquid particles (aerosols, respiratory droplets) from an infected person are transmitted through air and surfaces that are in contact with humans. Reducing transmission through modified heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and building design are potential solutions. A comprehensive review of the engineering control preventive measures to mitigate COVID-19 spread, healthy building design, and material was carried out. The current state-of-the-art engineering control preventive measures presented include ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), bipolar ionization, vertical gardening, and indoor plants. They have potential to improve the indoor air quality. In addition, this article presents building design with materials (e.g., copper alloys, anti-microbial paintings) and smart technologies (e.g., automation, voice control, and artificial intelligence-based facial recognition) to mitigate the infections of communicable diseases.
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ItemAirborne and impact sound performance of modern lightweight timber buildings in the Australian construction industry(Elsevier BV, 2021-12)Timber usage in the Australian construction industry has significantly increased due to its strength, aesthetic properties and extended allowances recently introduced in building codes. However, issues with acoustic performance of lightweight timber buildings were reported due to their inherit product variability and varying construction methods. This article reviews the recent literature on the transmissions of impact and airborne sounds, flanking transmission of timber buildings, and the state of computer prediction tools with reference to the Australian practice. An in-depth analysis of issues and an objective discussion related to acoustic performance of timber buildings are presented. Timber is a lightweight material and shows low airborne sound resistance in low frequency range. Attenuation of sound transmission with addition of mass, layer isolation, different products like cross-laminated timber and prefabrication are discussed. Challenges in measuring sound transmissions and reproducibility of results in low frequency ranges are discussed. Well-defined measurement protocols and refined computer simulation methods are required. The serviceability design criteria for modern lightweight timber applications in Australia need to be re-evaluated in the area of impact generated sound. Developing computer tools to predict airborne and impact sound transmission in lightweight timber buildings is quite challenging as several components such as timber members and complex connections with varying stiffnesses are non-homogeneous by nature. Further, there is a lack of experimentally validated and computationally efficient tools to predict the sound transmission in timber buildings. Computer prediction tools need to be developed with a focus on mid-frequency transmission over flanks and low-frequency transmission of timber and prefabricated buildings.