engineering, computing and mathematics · web viewa pile group is often used as supporting frame...

ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS

Bachelor of Engineering & Master of Professional Engineering

Final Year Project Descriptions

Semester 1, 2016

To find a project description, search (Ctrl + F) using the Supervisors surname. The project title and description are listed below each

Academic’s name. Please ensure that the project is applicable to your discipline.

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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS

Aman, Zachary, DrCo-Supervisors: May, Eric, Professor; Johns, Mike, Professor; Stanwix, Paul, Dr; Graham, Brendan, Dr

Flow Assurance and Natural Gas Hydrates

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Mechanical, Oil & Gas.

Natural gas hydrates are ice-like solids that form and can often suddenly stop the flow during oil and gas production. The cost of their prevention during design and production is high and the removal of hydrate plugs is expensive and dangerous. Today hydrates are still a major flow assurance concern especially as production moves to deeper water, and many of Australia’s major new gas field developments are considering innovative approaches to this long-standing problem.

These projects aim to provide the knowledge needed for a risk-based approach to hydrate management by establishing quantitative model to assess plugging potential, optimize inhibitor doses, and develop methods to detect hydrate formation and location. The outcomes will help reduce chemical use by the industry, provide better methods to locate plugs and provide safer methods for their remediation, ultimately allowing for the reliable and economic development of marginal oil and gas fields. Students working on these projects will measure and/or model hydrate formation, agglomeration and dissociation processes. Naturally-occurring gas hydrates also represent a tremendous energy reserve: in 2013, first production was reported from a naturally occurring hydrate reserve located offshore the coast of Japan. Projects will also be available in which various properties of these natural hydrates are quantified, such that more informed decisions regards the exploitation of natural hydrates can be made.

An, Hongwei, Dr

Tidal current induced local scour around pile groups

Disciplines: Mechanical, Oil and Gas, Civil, Environmental.

A pile group is often used as supporting frame for offshore strictures. The scour around pile group due to tidal current is an important issue for pile groups installed in sandy seabed. This topic will be investigated through this project. A series of physical model tests will be conducted using the O-

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tube facility to measure the scour process. The equilibrium scour depth and scour time scale will be examined. The project outcome will potentially provide improved methods about scour protection for pile groups.

This project gives students an opportunity to access to multi-awards winning research facility (the O-tube) and to gain experience on research about sediment transport around offshore structures.

Baillie, Caroline, Professor

Reconstruct: Western and Noongar engineering education

Disciplines: Chemical and Process, Materials, Mechanical, Oil and Gas, Civil, Petroleum, Mining, Environmental, Ocean Systems.Pre-requisite skills: At least one social science elective relevant to the topic.

In 2015 UWA was approached by The Noongar Institute of WA (NIWA) for assistance in developing its teaching and learning resources for DIDARA WALGINER BURA MOGANG GUDJIR BALJARRA NIWA Centre for Excellence in Science and Technology. NIWA is an inclusive centre for community advancement promoting Noongar excellence, leadership and innovation of the Noongar Nation. Reconstruct was thus launched as a program of community service, through which UWA students work with local NIWA members, to understand Noongar culture, to share ideas about science and to develop new ways of thinking about engineering on country and in the classroom.

Baillie, Caroline, Professor

Mining and communities: who is at stake?

Disciplines: Chemical and Process, Materials, Mechanical, Oil and Gas, Civil, Petroleum, Mining, Environmental, Ocean Systems.

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Pre-requisite skills: At least one social science elective relevant to the topic.

The project team, an anthropologist, filmmaker, and engineering educator recently conducted an ethnographic study of key stakeholders affected by mining in WA and in Peru. Interviews were open-ended, intended to elicit wide-ranging responses to the basic question: how has mining affected your life and your community? The resulting documentary is not intended to provide neat models of understanding but to act as a pedagogical platform for posing further questions, which may be uncomfortable but allow future engineers to imagine alternatives for their profession. The film will provide a novel view of the impact of mining in WA, enabling engineers to take a critical stance on whether mining is a form of materialized ideology or an inevitable practice. Students in this project team will contribute to the film as an exploratory form of visual anthropology and will study the potential of film as an education medium for students and to transform stakeholder views.

Basarir, Hakan, DrCo-supervisor: Durham, Richard, Professor

Variability of material property on stability of underground openings

Disciplines: Mining.Pre-requisite skills: MINE4401, MINE4404.

The stability of an underground opening is affected by a number of factors, eg geometry, stress and rock properties. In deterministic approaches the factors affecting the stability are considered as deterministic variables characterized by a single value. However, for a realistic design the variability of the rock properties must be adequately considered with probabilistic approaches. The purposes of this project are the quantification of the variability of the rock mass properties and the integration of probabilistic approaches into opening stability analysis. Conventional deterministic approaches will also be applied. The difference between deterministic and probabilistic approaches will be presented. For this purpose real data from exploration drilling studies will be used.

Bluteau, Cynthia, DrCo-supervisor: Ivey, Greg, Professor

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Interpreting turbulence field measurements

Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Ocean Systems.Pre-requisite skills: Comfortable in using matlab, particularly for plotting and visualizing data.

Ocean turbulence is measured with either vertically-falling turbulence probes or, more rarely, from time series at a fixed location, usually close to the bottom. For decades, diverse models have been proposed and used to first calculate quantities such as the rate of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy, and then using this to estimate the vertical eddy diffusivity in the turbulent ocean. This project will apply some recent novel ideas on ocean mixing to analyse data obtained from both methods of collecting data at two ocean sites: one in the Pilbara region, and a second at Scott Reef in the Kimberelys. The overall goal is to quantify mixing in the ocean, a key requirement in ocean circulation models used for prediction and forecasting of ocean behaviour.

Hence, students would participate in the analysis and interpretation of the turbulence data. Most of the data has been to an extent quality controlled and processed. The project would focus on finalizing the quality control of the field measurements, and placing the results in the context of the background oceanic conditions (e.g., identify when increased mixing occurs).

The project will allow the students to gain experience in analyzing environmental field data and understanding the limitations of various sensors.

Boussaid, Farid, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Chan, Simon, Mr; Budrikis, Zigmantis, Adjunct Professor

Evaluation of Lithium battery technologies for energy storage

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Statistical analysis; electrical circuit analysis and design; left-field thinking (!)

For a very long time, Lead Acid battery technologies have dominated the market for electrical energy storage. They are used in vehicles, emergency lighting, UPS backup power solutions, etc. Although they are attractive because of low capital cost outlay, Lead Acid batteries also suffer from poor operating life, especially under demanding and high temperatures working conditions.

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With the proliferation of Solar PV systems, there is a great demand for 'Green' storage solutions that are affordable, energy efficient, and easy to deploy. Unfortunately Lead Acid based energy storage solutions tend to be very complicated to install due to their inherent chemical and electrical shortcomings.

In recent years, a number of Lithium battery chemistries have entered the market. Some of these have extremely high energy density, but have been found to be potentially dangerous due to their ease of combustion under certain conditions. Other Lithium technologies create long term waste disposal problems due to their highly toxic chemistries.

This project will focus on one of the latest Lithium technologies to hit the market. LFP (Lithium Ferro Phosphate = LiFePO4) batteries are very lightweight, energy dense, and are easy to mould into different shapes and sizes for different bespoke requirements.

Students undertaking this project will initially take part in developing a test strategy to compare LFP batteries against other energy storage media (eg Lead Acid, Nickel Metal Hydride) under different simulated operating conditions. This stage will help to build a business case for using Lithium batteries over existing storage media.

The second phase of the project will involve developing low cost and efficient battery charger solutions to simplify power conversion and storage from Solar PV arrays.

Finally, there will be an opportunity to explore the most energy efficient way to use the stored electrical energy in supplying existing household loads such as lighting circuits, home entertainment systems, refrigeration systems, air conditioning systems, etc.

Boussaid, Farid, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Chan, Simon, Mr; Budrikis, Zigmantis, Adj/Professor

Scalable management systems for Lithium Ferro Phosphate batteries

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Statistical analysis; electrical circuit analysis and design; left-field thinking (!)

For a very long time, Lead Acid battery technologies have dominated the market for electrical energy storage. They are used in vehicles, emergency lighting, UPS backup power solutions, etc. Although they are attractive

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because of low capital cost outlay, Lead Acid batteries also suffer from poor operating life, especially under demanding and high temperatures working conditions.

In recent years, a number of Lithium battery chemistries have entered the market. Some of these have extremely high energy density, but have been found to be potentially dangerous due to their ease of combustion under certain conditions. Other Lithium technologies create long term waste disposal problems due to their highly toxic chemistries.

This project will focus on one of the latest Lithium technologies to hit the market. LFP (Lithium Ferro Phosphate = LiFePO4) batteries are very lightweight, energy dense, and are easy to mould into different shapes and sizes for different bespoke requirements.

Students undertaking this project will initially survey existing Battery Management Systems used in LFP batteries, and identify strengths and weaknesses of each solution.

The second phase of this project will explore methods to create a scalable management system to enable large banks of high voltage LFP batteries to be monitored and tracked on a minute-by-minute basis.

The final phase of this project will examine the 'big data' collected and collated by scalable battery management systems to help users in mathematically characterising the energy storage system, thereby giving the possibility of predicting the longevity of the system, as well as providing rapid feedback on potential points of failure in large-scale energy storage solutions.

Boussaid, Farid, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Chan, Simon, Mr; Budrikis, Zigmantis, Adj/Professor

Design for a predictable backup energy storage system

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.

Pre-requisite Skills: Statistical analysis; electrical circuit analysis and design; left-field thinking (!)

For a very long time, Lead Acid battery technologies have dominated the market for electrical energy storage. They are used in vehicles, emergency

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lighting, UPS backup power solutions, etc. Although they are attractive because of low capital cost outlay, Lead Acid batteries also suffer from poor operating life, especially under demanding and high temperatures working conditions.

In data centres, control rooms and hospitals, UPS systems are designed to provide backup power in the event of a mains outage. However, Lead Acid batteries which are used to store this backup energy often fall into poor maintenance, and fail to deliver the required amount of power and energy when required. To overcome risk and uncertainty due to potential battery failures, many backup systems are over-engineered, resulting in unnecessary costs and space requirements.

This project aims to explore whether it would be possible to design more predictable backup energy storage systems that utilise Lead Acid and LFP (Lithium Ferro Phosphate = LiFePO4) battery technologies.

The first phase of investigation involves a study into why batteries fail after a long period of idleness in a UPS. This will involve both literature review and experimentation with real batteries.

The second phase will involve exploring different methods to 'exercise' the batteries while they are constantly in a standby state.

Finally, there will be a requirement to design a set of electrical / electronic circuits that can reliably 'exercise' the batteries inside a UPS running in a standby state, without compromising the readiness of that system to deliver power and energy when a mains outage occurs.

Braunl, Thomas, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Boussaid, Farid, Professor; Hidalgo, Franco

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronics, Computer, Software.

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The AUVSL is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that includes two main thrusters for navigation (heave and stern) a servo-rudder and a bow-pump for orientation and stabilization. It also contains a camera and navigation sensors such as short-range distance sensors; Inertial Measurements Unit sensor, to obtain linear and angular acceleration as well as the orientation of the robot and a depth sensor. It is controlled by a Raspberry Pi which is an embedded computer with the capability of hosting a web server and to communicate wirelessly.

In this project, a GUI for testing and deployment is proposed in order to have a graphical interface to a PC o mobile device using wireless communication for testing and deployment. The GUI would be able to show and log the readings from the sensors, to allow the operation of the AUV, to show the status of the actuators and perform basic navigation routines including diving.

Braunl, Thomas, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Boussaid, Farid, Professor; Drage, Thomas

Autonomous SAE Car

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic, Computer, Software.Pre-requisite skills: Programing skills in C/C++/Linux, plus interfacing of sensors to an embedded controller

REV has built a fully autonomous SAE-Electric car. The goal of this project is to improve sensor fusion from GPS, IMU, Odometry, Laser-Scanner and to add a new computer vision component to clearly identify the road and avoid obstacles and other traffic on a pre-determined stretch of road (i.e. race track). The desired track will be given by a set of GPS way points.

The team is offering several projects this year, mainly software based, requiring excellent programming skills in C/C++/Linux, plus interfacing of sensors to an embedded controller. Students with a strong background in practical electronics may also consider projects with the group.

1. Computer VisionIdentify and implement the hardware requirements for computer vision (camera, processing controller). Implement algorithms for tracking road boundaries and other vehicles by combining vision data with the existing LIDAR implementation.

2. Vehicle Positioning9


A critical part of this vehicle is the provision of fast, accurate position data. Create an algorithm to fuse Real-Time-Kinematic GPS, standard GPS, IMU and odometry data for a reliable, accurate position solution. Improve the vehicle's ability to map its surroundings and explore SLAM techniques.

3. Vehicle ControlAt present, simple algorithms have been implemented for the control of the vehicle and actuation of the steering/brake/throttle. Improvements in both the embedded systems and main controller are required in order to realise race-speed driving. This project is ideal for a mechatronics student and involves modelling of the vehicle for the implementation of optimised control algorithms.

4. Autonomous Vehicle Safety & ReliabilityThe Autonomous SAE car has significant safety related functionality, however as the vehicle becomes more sophisticated continual improvement is essential. In this project, the safety systems would be analysed and compared to current literature and standards. The vehicle's safety hardware/software would then be optimised for maximal reliability and availability. A system life-cycle approach to safety should be developed for the ongoing development and testing of the autonomous vehicle.

Budrikis, Zigmantis, Adjunct Professor

Lorentz Force and the Faraday Paradox

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Reasonable understanding of Vector calculus and of Electromagnetism

An electrically charged particle (e.g. electron, or ion) moving in a static magnetic field experiences a force at right angles both to its direction of motion and the direction of the magnetic B field; the force is called the Lorentz Force and is expressible as q(vxB), where q is the electric charge of the particle, v its velocity (a vector), and x the cross symbol for vector product. Arbitrary movement of a magnet in the vicinity of a thin wire electric circuit can in most circumstances cause time-varying current flow in the circuit; the exact current as function of time, including its complete absence, can be predicted from Faraday's law. The law states that the value of the 'electromotive force' (i.e. closed-loop line integral of the electric E field around the physical path of the circuit) must at each instant of time equal the rate of change of 'magnetic flux' (i.e. the integrated flow of the magnetic B field) through the path. With little additional assumption, it is possible to show that the Lorentz force and Faraday's law are mutually consistent.

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Proof of general consistency of the two assertions may be difficult, but their consistency can be readily illustrated in specific sample circumstances. Take, for example, a cylindrical bar magnet with North pole at top and South at bottom. Think of it as placed on a turn-table, (a) with its axis coinciding with the centre of the turntable, and (b) with the axis one or two diameters away from the table centre. Assume a plane circular wire loop (and possibly repeat with rectangular or other shaped loops), fixing the loop(s) in two or more different orientations radially to the side of the magnet, (I) attached to the stationary frame and (II) rigidly attached to the turntable. (A), Determine by calculation the expected current waveforms in six or more sample cases with the loop stationary. (B) Verify that there is no current when the loop is rigid and co-moving. (C) Verify that there is no current, whether the loop is co-moving or stationary, when the magnet is vertical and concentric with the turn-table.

For simplicity it can be assumed that in the case of the moving magnet inducing current flow in a stationary circuit, the movement, both translational and rotational, is slow enough for the magnetic field in a frame of reference that is rigidly attached to the magnet to be unchanged from what it would be if the magnet was stationary. The assumption amounts to regarding the magnetic field as rigid, and rigidly attached to the magnet.

In experimenting with a homopolar generator of his own invention, Faraday concluded (erroneously) that the magnetic field of a moving (specifically, rotating) magnet does not participate in the magnet's movement. The conclusion has brought about the Faraday Paradox, and can be explained by the same outcome as has been verified as (C) above.

Cardell-Oliver, Rachel, Associate Professor Co-Supervisor: Keating, Adrian, Associate Professor

Occupancy Detection using a Low-Pixel Count Thermal Imager

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.Pre-requisite skills: This project is intended for a multidisciplinary team of up to 4 students.

Applicants will require skills in one or more of the following areas: embedded programming skills (Raspberry-Pi, Arduino); electronics (bread boarding, controlling actuators, energy efficiency); machine learning (for improving the classifier algorithm); data analysis

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(data collection, analysis and visualisation of experiments)

Occupancy detection is the problem of identifying the number of people in a given space. Continually knowing the number of occupants can help improve thermal comfort and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from buildings when occupancy knowledge is used for more efficient climate control. The ideal occupancy detection sensing system should be non-invasive, privacy-preserving, reliable, low-cost and energy efficient. Low pixel count sensor arrays satisfy these requirements. However, detector arrays cannot directly sense occupancy, but must be coupled with intelligent software algorithms to infer occupancy counts.

This project builds on a successful 2015 honours research project in which a prototype occupancy detection system was developed using a 4 by 16 thermal detector array (MLX90620) and a passive infrared sensor. The goal of this 2016 project is to investigate:

1) The properties of newly available thermal detector arrays (e.g. FLiR Lepton 80 x 80);

2) Machine learning classification algorithms for predicting occupancy from thermal data;

3) A proactive sensing system that works correctly under different building conditions (e.g. temperature range) and can communicate with actuators to adjust those conditions (e.g. turn on a fan or open a window);

4) Energy efficient sensing to support long term unattended operation of the sensor.

Cardell-Oliver, Rachel, Associate Professor Co-Supervisor: Glance, David, Dr

Reducing Australian Households’ Energy Consumption

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Mechatronic, Software.Pre-requisite skills: Programming skills in one of more of: embedded programming (eg in C), Python, java scripts, web frameworks, smart phone software.

Australian households are high energy users. From 1986 to 2020 "growth in electrical appliance energy consumption was the largest among major end-uses and was estimated to increase from 70.5 PJ in 1990 to 169.4 PJ in 2020, which represents an increase of 4.7\% per annum. By 2020 energy

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use by electrical appliances is forecast ... as the largest single energy end use in the average Australian household." Internet of things enabled devices for smart homes offer householders the opportunity to measure and analyse the energy use of individual appliances within the home, and so to better manage their energy footprint.

The goal of this project is to develop a server and user interface (for smart phone or web) for a smart-home application using devices such as smart switches to help householders measure the energy use of individual appliances, set energy saving goals and measure their success. The project will involve interfacing with the APIs of commercially available smart devices, fusing information from different sensors, and using data analytics to evaluate and visualise the data.

Recommended Reading: http://www.buildsys.org/2015/?page_id=50 Papers from 2015 BuildSys conferenceEnergy Use in the Australian Residential Sector 1986-2020http://www.industry.gov.au/Energy/Energy-information/Documents/energyuseaustralianresidentialsector19862020part1.pdf

Cardell-Oliver, Rachel, Associate Professor Co-Supervisor: Hodkiewicz, Melinda, Professor

A data portal for sensor data Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.Pre-requisite skills: Programming skills in one of more of: Python, databases (sql), Java Script (see http://www.highcharts.com/products/highstock), shell scripting, and web frameworks.

The internet of things and big data are currently generating a lot of industry enthusiasm. But behind the hype lies the requirement to support data management workflow in a robust and reusable way. Data workflow concerns methods to import, clean, store, fuse, visualise and export data sets. This project builds on a web-based software application developed at the University of Applied Sciences in Mannheim, Germany. The current system supports a generic workflow using configuration files to specify requirements.

The goal of this project is to extend the existing system with new data management modules. Depending on students' interests, this project could involve new tools for analytics, querying or visualisation, or support for searching and sharing data sets. Existing research projects aligned with

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http://www.industry.gov.au/Energy/Energy-information/Documents/energyuseaustralianresidentialsector19862020part1.pdf

http://www.industry.gov.au/Energy/Energy-information/Documents/energyuseaustralianresidentialsector19862020part1.pdf

this one include smart water metering, monitoring rammed earth houses, industry asset management and energy efficient smart homes.

Chua, Hui Tong, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Srinivasan, Kandadai, Adjunct Professor

Methane cracking and synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Materials, Mechanical, Oil & Gas.Prerequisite skills: Heat and Mass Transfer, Thermodynamics.

(i) The zero emission use of methane to produce industrial hydrogen and high value added graphitic carbon. Students can work on the catalytic process of cracking or the downstream characterisation and functionalisation of the graphitic carbon for catalysis and electrochemical applications.2 students can work on this sub-topic.

(ii) The student will work on a state-of-the-art high flux bright light driven chemical reactor to synthesise inorganic fullerenes and nanotubes, and graphene. The former are excellent materials for lubrications, both for engines and medical applications, while the latter are excellent for electrochemical applications, such as batteries and supercapacitors.

2 students can work on this sub-topic.


Waste heat desalination, spent liquor reconcentration, bauxite residue remediation

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Heat and Mass Transfer, Thermodynamics, Mechanics (for iv)

(i) Development of an advanced waste heat driven multi-effect distillation desalination process.

(ii) Development of an advanced waste heat driven multi-stage flash desalination process.

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(iii) Development of steam driven spent liquor reconcentration process for mineral refineries.

(iv) Investigation of bauxite residue dewatering via centrifuging - this one is also available to Civil Engineering students.


Geothermal Engineering

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Heat and Mass Transfer, Thermodynamics

(i) The realistic and optimal scheduling of the geothermal submersible pump to shave pumping power consumption and maintain comfort and specified temperature in Olympic size swimming pools. The student needs to travel to Beatty Park Leisure Centre and perhaps other pools (such as Challenge Stadium) for data collection.

(ii) Design of a geothermal air conditioning system for the Australian International Gravitational-wave Observatory (AIGO), in collaboration with the Gingin Gravitational Wave Observatory

Ciancio, Daniela, DrCo-supervisors: Beckett, Chris, Dr; Meek, Alexandra, Ms

Experimental analysis of rammed earth insulated panels

Disciplines: Civil, Materials.Pre-requisite skills: A strong background in structural analysis and solid mechanics.

The aims of this project are:

1) To understand the structural performance of insulated (sandwich) rammed earth walls and 2) To create guidelines for the appropriate design of ties in load bearing insulated walls. The students will work in the UWA Structures laboratory. The experimental program is energy and time intensive, hence a group of at least 4 students is required.

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Investigation of corrosion of steel bars in rammed earth samples

Disciplines: Civil, Materials.

Through an experimental campaign that includes measurements of pH, differential potential and porosity, the candidates will investigate the corrosion of reinforcement steel bars for different rammed earth mixes. This research aims to provide guidelines to engineers and architects on the use of re-bars in rammed earth structural elements.


Use of alternative stabilisers for rammed earth

Disciplines: Civil, Environmental.

Recent findings at UWA have discovered that lime+fly ashes stabilised rammed earth samples are competitive to cement stabilised rammed earth in terms of mechanical properties such as compressive strength and durability. However, the effects of the curing conditions and the appropriate dosages of the stabilisers still remain to be investigated. Candidates for this project will work in the UWA structure laboratory.

The project is proposed to 3 candidates 2 Civil Engineering students with a strong background in geotechnical engineering and solid mechanics, and 1 Environmental Engineering student to carry out Life Cycle Assessment.

Doherty, James, Dr

Experimental investigation into the mechanical behavior of mine

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backfill

Disciplines: Civil, Mining.

Underground mining creates large voids known as stopes. To ensure regional stability of the mine, stopes are backfilled with a mixture of tailings (waste from ore processing) and cement. Water is added to the material to achieve a slurry-like consistency to aid transport to the stope via a reticulation system. Two key questions that arise at all backfilling operation are:

How much cement must be added to the backfill? How fast can the stopes be filled?

Obtaining accurate answers to these questions has a significant economic impact on virtually all underground mines in Australia. The aim of this project will be conduct numerical analysis of a stope filling case history in order to better understand the stress state in mine stopes during and after filling.

Doherty, James, Dr

The numerical/experimental studies on deep and shallow foundations

Disciplines: Civil.

Pre-requisite skills: A strong interest in soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering.

The aim of this project will be to conduct a range of experiments on the stress-strain and creep strain response of sands using advanced element testing, a UWA mini pressuremeter, as well as developing new testing equipment that can measure the load displacement response of miniature footings and piles. The results will be back analysed with engineering software packages.

Doyle, Barry, Dr

Vascular Engineering – merging engineering, medicine and science

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Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Computer, Mechanical, Software.

From the most basic engineering point of view, the cardiovascular system is a pump connected to a series of elastic pipes. However, this system is prone to sub-optimal performance and even failure; otherwise known as cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD is the world’s biggest killer and currently takes 1 Australian life every 12 minutes! It kills far more people than cancer and with the shifting trend in the world’s population (people are living a lot longer nowadays), is becoming a huge burden on health care systems.

At VascLab (http://vasclab.mech.uwa.edu.au) we perform both computational and experimental research into CVD with an overall aim of creating new and innovative ways to save lives and reduce the impact of this disease. We work very closely with scientists and surgeons across UWA and internationally and ensure our research is clinically-relevant. We use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to investigate how the blood flows through healthy and diseased arteries and finite element analysis (FEA) to explore the stresses and strains within the walls of these vessels. We recently purchased a high performance remote-access workstation for our simulations. Furthermore, we have a lab with the necessary clearance to biomechanically test tissue taken from patients or from animal models of disease. If you want to work within a multi-disciplinary team of dynamic and enthusiastic researchers with the possibility of saving lives; look no further! There are many projects available at VascLab and will depend on the specific interests and skills of the student. Some on-going work can be explored on our website. We look forward to working with you!

Doyle, Barry, DrCo-Supervisor: Sercombe, Tim, Assoc/Professor

3D Bioprinting - towards printing living tissues and organs

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.

Bioprinting has the potential to revolutionise the way we think about organ and tissue replacement.

It is conceptually possible to harness the power of additive manufacturing (eg. 3D printing) and combine this with biomedical sciences to create living tissues with incredible geometric complexity. However, there are many obstacles facing us. To print living tissue, we need to print with multiple materials that contain different cells and material properties. We also need to print in a way that maintains the life within these materials so that the

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material does not die immediately once printed. We have a long way to go before we can reach our goal of printing a functioning human heart!

In this project, you will build upon our current bioprinting technologies. Over the past year we have been busy developing our capabilities and have identified many challenges with our current systems. We have recently developed a method to print with up to four different materials, but now require extensive testing and further development to optimise the multi-material printing process. Some potential applications we are working on is bioprinting 'skin' for burns patients, bioprinting 'ear drums' to replace burst ones, and bioprinting bench-top tracheas (wind pipes) for experimental systems. The possible applications are almost endless....

The project will run alongside Barry Doyle's group (VascLab - http://vasclab.mech.uwa.edu.au) and Tim Sercombe's 3D printing group, and will work closely with two existing students. Both Tim and Barry collaborate with many other engineers, scientists, and clinicians at UWA and internationally, and there is real opportunity for growth in this incredibly exciting area. If you want to help work towards printing the world’s first living heart - then join our team! If you need further inspiration, then please watch this video!

https://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidney?language=en

Draper, Scott, Dr

Scour-induced instability of subsea structures

Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Oil and Gas, Environmental.

Stability and settlement of subsea infrastructure is a critical design consideration in offshore engineering. To simplify this design problem scour protection is commonly used to protect subsea structures against scour, undermining and scour-induced instability (often at an excessive cost). Because of this approach, surprisingly little is presently known about what actually happens to a structure that does not have scour protection. For a subsea structure represented as a rectangular cuboid, for example, it is not generally known if scour will eventually cause the structure to topple (which could be catastrophic) or to simply settle into the seabed with minimum rotation (which may be less critical in some applications).

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In this project students will undertake model scale experiments in an attempt to understand scour around a structure without scour protection, with a particular focus on determining the mode of instability induced by scour (i.e. toppling or settlement). In the experiments variations in the aspect ratio/shape of structure, as well as the seabed flow conditions and the density of the structure will be investigated.

This work will be useful for understanding when settlement without toppling is likely, thereby opening up the possibility of reducing the need for scour protection in these instances. The project will also give students an opportunity to access a multi-award winning research facility (the O-tube) and to gain experience on research about sediment transport around offshore structures. There will be also be potential to interact with the local offshore industry through co-supervision.

Durham, Richard, Professor

Wherever you did industry vacation work

Disciplines: Mining.

During your vacation work over the 2015-2016 summer break, you should ask your employer if they have any topic(s) suitable for your thesis. Ask them at the beginning, and then again towards the end. You need to write up the topic on <1 page, and send it to me. There might be a little negotiation whilst I ensure the topic is suitable (basically not too small, not too big, and involves some research type analysis), but once we've agreed on the scope and objectives it's all fine.

Usually up to 50% of mining students get industry based thesis topics like this. They tend to be single student projects, but a multi-student topic can be considered.

Dyskin, Arcady, W/Prof Co-Supervisors: MacNish, Cara, Prof; Hassan, Ghulam Mubashar, Mr

Structural Health Monitoring: Using images to track deformation of materials under load

Disciplines: Civil, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Software.Pre-requisite skills: Programming in Matlab.

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Engineering problems are best solved by combining the skills of people across the disciplines. This research topic is part of the Faculty's Engineering for Remote Operations initiative, and brings together challenges in computing, vision and optimisation with applications in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, with the aim of achieving a safer environment.

Physical structures deform under load. Examples can include rock walls in an underground mine, concrete in a building, geological features, or electrical components under temperature-induced deformation. Since deformation may be a precursor to failure, the ability to detect and track changes may have significant safety applications, for example in forewarning and evacuation of underground mines or buildings, or predicting electromechanical component failure.

The goal of this research topic is to use photogrammetry to robustly track and analyse deformation in materials under load using surface features. This in turn requires search and optimisation algorithms to reconcile features between images.

Because the deformation in solids may be very small, highly accurate techniques are required. In addition there may be many challenges, including adequacy and density of surface features, discontinuities (such as cracks), distinguishing discontinuities from other features (such as lines), and environmental noise (such as dust or occlusion). This research seeks both to characterise the problems (for example, what constitutes a viable surface pattern) and find robust solutions (for example, using evolutionary algorithms or machine learning to track discontinuities). There is also scope to assess viability issues in real-world deployment and collection and analysis of in-situ data for students with suitable background.

Dyskin, Arcady, ProfessorCo-supervisor: Dight, Phil, Professor

In situ stress measurements in anisotropic rocks using the method of overcoring

Disciplines: Civil, Mining.Pre-requisite skills: A passed unit on Knowledge of the Finite Element Method

Stress measurements are a vital component in ensuring safety of mining and increasing its efficiency. Currently, the most popular method – overcoring – is based on the assumption that the rock is isotropic. Since

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rocks are usually anisotropic, this assumption leads to considerable errors. This project aims at developing methods of overcoring stress reconstruction in anisotropic rocks. Knowledge of the Finite Element Method (Abaqus or Ansys) is essential.

Dyskin, Arcady, ProfessorCo-supervisor: Pasternak, Elena, Professor

Harvesting the energy of ground vibrations

Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Electrical and Electronic.Pre-requisite skills: Finite element modelling, Matlab.

Environment is filled with various ground vibrations coming from a range of sources from traffic to earthquakes. The project is aimed at designing devices (primarily mechanical based on directional friction) capable of transforming the parasitic energy of ground vibration to electricity.

Faiello, Cosimo, Associate Professor

Sustainability applied to project management & engineering practice

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mining, Oil & Gas, Petroleum.

This topic will introduce students to the field of project management and engineering practice with a focus on achieving sustainable results based on a “triple bottom line” (TBL) approach: That is, achieving project objectives, while taking into account the societal and environmental implications of a project. A sustainable approach to project management and engineering practice is recognised globally by many organizations, as being vital to achieving their strategic objectives. By researching this topic students will learn how to apply theoretical concepts and frameworks to ‘real world projects’ in order to achieve sustainable outcomes using a TBL strategy.

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Fernando, Tyrone, Professor

Power Management and Control Incorporating Renewable Energy Sources, Micro-grids and Batteries

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic

An investigation to power management and control incorporating renewable energy sources, micro grids and batteries. It is likely and desirable for homes, companies and suburbs to incorporate battery storage for power generated by renewable sources, such as solar panels. A control system designed to optimize energy contributions to local storage, selling to the grid and micro-grid batteries is desired.

Fernando, Tyrone, Professor

Control Strategy of DFIG Wind Turbines for Power System Fault Ride Through


Doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) is a popular wind turbine (WT) system due to its high energy efficiency, reduced mechanical stress on the WT, and relatively low power rating of the connected power electronics converter of low costs. With increasing penetration level of WTs into the grid, the wind power grid connection codes in most countries require that WTs should remain connected to the grid to maintain the reliability during and after a short‐term fault. The ability of WT to stay connected to the grid during voltage dips is termed as the low‐voltage ride‐through (LVRT) capability. The aim of this project is to develop a control strategy for both the rotor and grid side converters to enhance the LVRT capacity of the DFIG WT.

French, Tim, Dr Co-Supervisors: Durham, Richard, Professor; Hodkiewicz, Melinda, Professor

Visualisation and Augment Reality for Mining Operations Support

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Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Software. Pre-requisite skills: Programming - At least a Distinction in CITS1001, CITS1401 or CITS2002. Experience with 3D modelling software/graphics engines (e.g. CAD/Unity).

Mine sites are large, complex operations which require careful planning and monitoring to ensure safe, reliable and efficient operations.

- Providing live dynamic visualisations of the site and operations can support the decision making process by animating the consequences of decisions and improving the decision makers understanding of the operations.

- Augmented reality allows information and instructions to be integrated into live operations through mobile devices. Operators are able to see an augmented view of the workplace, with hazards highlighted, instructions embedded in locations, and information link to the relevant location.

There is great potential to harness both of technologies to improve efficiency and safety at minesites.

This project will look at workflows to capture the necessary data, build the computational models, and integrate the technologies into operations. Knowledge of 3D modelling software or graphics engines and programming experience is essential to undertake this project.

Ghadouani, Anas, Professor Co-supervisor: Reichwaldt, Elke, Dr

Engineering solutions to wastewater treatment

Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mining, Mechanical, Chemical.

This topic might include work into investigating the bio-physical coupling in waste stabilisation ponds; the assessment of hydrodynamics in ponds of different design; the effect of attached growth baffles on water quality improvement; the prevention of struvite precipitation in wastewater treatment plants.


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Sludge accumulation in wastewater ponds (municipal, mining, agroindustrial)

Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mining, Mechanical, Chemical.

This topic will investigate different aspects around sludge accumulation and sludge properties in wastewater treatment plants; it might include investigating factors contributing to the amount and distribution of sludge accumulation in a variety of sectors.


Sediment accumulation in pools in the Swan Coastal Plain and effect on biodiversity Disciplines: Environmental.

This project is in collaboration with the Swan River Trust. It is aimed to focus on investigating factors that contribute to sediment accumulation in small pools adjacent to the Canning/Swan River (e.g. age of pool); this could include identifying biodiversity in these pools

Guzzomi, Andrew, DrCo-Supervisors: Peressini, Carlo, Dr; Walsh, Michael, Dr (Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative)

Agricultural Engineering for Innovative Weed Control

Disciplines: Mechanical.

The West Australian grain industry produces 45% of Australia’s wheat from farms that are often vast remote areas. Agricultural Engineering offers an exciting opportunity for innovation in the industry. This research and development project will focus on novel weed control technologies, Discrete Element Modeling of tool-soil-plant impact phenomena and R&D into the state-of-the-art Harrington Seed Destructor.

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Successful applicants will join part of a multi-disciplinary team with researchers in the School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, School of Plant Biology and the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (AHRI) UWA. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic new group that is well funded and performing state-of-the R&D in this field.

Guzzomi, Andrew, DrCo-Supervisors: Merritt, David, Dr (Kings Park and Botanic Gardens); Dixon, Kingsley, Professor (Curtin University)

‘Restoration engineering’ - agricultural engineering for rehabilitation of remote mining operations

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Mechanical, Mechatronic.

Agricultural engineering is important for Australia's sustainable future, especially in WA as the state moves beyond a mining based economy. This research and development (R&D) project is in collaboration with world leading restoration researchers including Curtin Professor Dixon who heads the $5M ARC Training Centre for Mining Restoration and Dr David Merritt from Kings Park and Botanic Garden. Specific engineering R&D opportunities related to Australian native plant species include: unlocking dormancy cues through sensor development, development of seed coating/pelleting technologies, large-scale/broadacre precision sowing, robotics and automation.

As part of the ‘Restoration engineering’ agricultural engineering for rehabilitation of remote mining operations’ MPE and FYP project for 2016, applications are now open for a Kings Park Summer Scholarship (tax-free stipend of $7000 for a period of 12 weeks and operating costs). This scholarship will provide the opportunity for a talented engineering student to work over summer for a 12-week period under the supervision of Dr Andrew Guzzomi within the School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering and scientists within the Biodiversity Conservation Centre, Kings Park and Botanic Garden. The specific project will focus on R&D of the group’s ‘game-changing’ patented seed flaming technology. Applications are to be submitted to Dr Guzzomi via email by 6 November. Note: the 12-week period may be counted as vacation employment within the MPE/BE. Further information is available at

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http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/about-us/information/news/2055-summer-scholarships).

Hill, Martin, Assoc. Professor

Subwavelength Plasmon mode Lasers

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite Skills: programing, electronic hardware design, modelling and simulation skills.

Miniaturization in lasers has in recent years taken a leap forward by employing metal structures to confine light in resonators with dimensions smaller than that of the emitted light itself. Challenges still remain though to make these lasers a useful alternative compared to much larger devices based on dielectric resonators. In the electrical, electronic and computer engineering school cleanroom we are making lasers which will exploit a new highly efficient metal-insulator-metal waveguide structure.

Final year projects associated with this work could involve the following: 1) Development of software and hardware to automate testing of fabricated devices. 2) Modelling and simulation of laser cavities based on fabricated waveguides, but adding patterning to form photonic crystal like structures based on plasmons. 3) Employing focused ion beam fabrication to modify fabricated waveguide structures to form much smaller laser devices, and measuring these devices.

Useful background reading on the subject would be:

Hill, M. T. & Gather M. C. Advances in small lasers. Nature Photonics 8, 908–918 (2014).

Ma, R.-M., Oulton, R. F., Sorger, V. J. & Zhang, X. Plasmon lasers: coherent light source at molecular scales. Laser Photonics Reviews 7, 1–21 (2013).

Barnes, W. L., Dereux, A. & Ebbesen, T. W. Surface plasmon subwavelength optics. Nature 424, 824–830 (2003).

Hill, M. T. Metal-Insulator-Metal waveguides with self aligned and electrically contacted thin semiconductor cores exhibiting high optical confinement and low loss. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 31, 2540-2549, (2013)

Hodkiewicz, Melinda, Professor27


http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/about-us/information/news/2055-summer-scholarships

http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/about-us/information/news/2055-summer-scholarships

Co-Supervisor: Keating, Adrian, Assoc/Professor

The "run to failure" project

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.Prerequisite skills: Students involved in these projects need to be prepared to learn skills in mechanical design, arduinos, sensors, programming and analytics as well as enjoy spending time in the lab. We aim to have a spread of core capabilities across the team.

In 2015 a number of test rigs were built in the System Health Lab (see web site at http://uwa.engineering/the-project/ for details). The rigs allow us to test units to failure under controlled conditions and monitor failure progression. The projects will involve the development and execution of test plans as well as initial work to understand the rigs and potentially modify/maintain both hardware, electronics and software to ensure they are calibrated and functioning correctly.

The test rigs are: a DC motor test rig, the "run to failure" truck and humidity-UV-temperature accelerated life units.Hu, Xiaozhi, Professor

Development of a usable safe Design Code for cracked structures

Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical.Prerequisite skills: Mechanical and materials testing, knowledge of metals and safe design.

Safety inspections often can detect fatigue cracks measured less than 5 or 10 mm. Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics design method cannot be used for short cracks, and the current Elastic/Plastic Fracture Mechanics methods are too difficult and complex to use.

In this project, we select aluminium plates with different crack lengths to do tensile tests to confirm a new elastic/plastic failure criterion so that the new design theory can be developed into a safe design code for industrial applications.

Hu, Xiaozhi, Professor

Strong metal and composite interface reinforced by carbon nano-tube and graphene

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Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Materials, Mechanical.Prerequisite skills: Mechanical and materials testing, knowledge of metals and safe design.

Adhesive bond strength is critical to advanced carbon-fiber light metal structures. Adhesive strength and interfacial strength between the carbon-fiber and metal substrate control the bond strength. The thin adhesive layer and microscopically rough metal surface can be modified and strengthened by carbon nano-tube and graphene with length scale of around 20 microns (nano scale in diameter or thickness). A new technique for separating carbon nano-tubes and graphene has recent been developed at UWA and used on the metal substrate. The project will carry out tests under various conditions.

Hu, Yuxia, Professor Co-supervisor: Zhou, Mi (Michael), Dr

Spudcan foundation design in offshore engineering

Disciplines: Civil.

Jackup rigs are a popular offshore structure to support offshore platforms up to 150 m in water depth. The rigs are normally supported by three individual legs with a footing at the bottom called spudcan. The mobility of the rigs means that it will be installed at a location for oil/gas exploration and retrieved after the exploration, before it is moved to the next location.

There are a few common issues with spudcan installation and retrieving processes, such as punch-through failures during installation and large suction force during retrieving.

This project will investigate different remedies to solve these problems. Finite Element analysis will be conducted to investigate different options.

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Hu, Yuxia, Professor

Climate effects on pavement and footing designs in WA

Discipline: Civil.

With the population growth of Western Australia, the residential establishment expands to areas where it was deemed unsuitable for residential buildings and roads. The climate change and seasonal variations have effects on our planning and design. The project swill look at issues with road design/maintenance and ground conditions with residential buildings based on the climate change and seasonal variations.

Industry Partners: 1. Coffey Geotechnics, Burswood 2. Douglas Partners, Osbourne ParkIndustry Contacts: 1. Cocks, Geoffrey, Senior Principal 2. Verheyde, Fred, Manager/Principal

Hu, Yuxia, Associate ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Reynolds, Mark, Associate Professor; While, Lyndon, Dr

Scheduling of road maintenance

Disciplines: Civil, Mining, Software.Pre-requisite skills: Some programming experience (need to be confident with simple data structures, basic iteration, I/O, etc.) and some road construction/maintenance knowledge.

Datamining techniques allow road maintenance activities to targeted to be most useful. However, the factors which determine the best schedule often change over time. There is a need for schedules to be updated in the light of the latest information about the usage of the road and available relevant environmental factors. This project is to combine datamining with optimisation techniques based on genetic algorithms to determine the most effective ways to keep a maintenance schedule up to date. The decisions will be guided by a simple mechanical model of road deterioration along with data about failures and faults appearing.

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Huang, David, Professor

Broadband Wireless to the Bush


Wireless communications, due to its potentially low initial deployment cost, high scalability and flexibility, will play a key role in providing broadband communications to sparsely populated areas of Australia. This project focuses on promising technologies for future broadband wireless communications especially to rural areas. Potential projects include but not limited to:

• Multiple‐Input and Multiple‐Output (MIMO) Systems• Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Systems• Multi-Hop Wireless Communications• Wireless Cooperative Communications


Resource Optimization in Broadband Wireless Communications


For future broadband wireless communications, we need not only to build a link with the capability of providing high data rate but also to divide the link wisely to accommodate the various requirements of different applications from different users. From this perspective, how to utilize a link is as important as how to build a link. In this project, you are going to investigate and propose ways to effectively and efficiently allocate resources to different users and different applications using the principle of “opportunistic communications”. The principle of opportunistic communications is actually simple: it always allocates the resources to the users or applications that can best utilize them. This is somehow similar to the fact that the school normally awards students with best performance.

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Probabilistic graphical models for underwater acoustic communications


Covering more than two thirds of the Earth’s surface, the oceans represent one of the least unexplored frontiers. To understand, explore and exploit the oceans, it is essential to develop effective communication means for subsea missions such as oceanographic data collection, environment monitoring, and offshore oil and gas exploration. In the past three decades, there has been an increasing interest in research on underwater wireless communications, in particular through acoustics, since in an underwater environment, it is very difficult for electromagnetic waveforms (i.e., radio and light) to propagate to a distance sufficiently long for most practical applications. Underwater acoustic communications, in particular high-speed underwater acoustic communications, are very challenging as there are many variables involved, due to the limited channel bandwidth, severe multipath effects, significant Doppler phenomena, and our aspiration to achieve the channel capacity.In the area of machine learning for artificial intelligence and biology, there are excellent tools available to cope with a large number of variables, and the probabilistic graphical models is one of such tools. However, many applications of artificial intelligence and biology only need off-line processing or can use high-performance computing facilities. In contrast, underwater acoustic communications require real-time processing with relatively limited computing resources.

In this project, we will investigate how to use probabilistic graphical models to implement an iterative receiver that has a great potential to be used in underwater acoustic communications, where the detector, the decoder, and the channel estimator of the receiver operate in an iterative manner. In particular, we will demonstrate that, powered by probabilistic graphical models and through proper approximations, we can reduce the complexity of the receiver, including the Soft-Input and Soft-Output (SISO) detector and the channel estimator, to a level of O(logL) per symbol per iteration, where L is the number of channel taps. We will also demonstrate that in the proposed system, the data can be employed as virtual training signals to assist channel estimation, and the training signals employed for the initial channel estimation can be transmitted with the data simultaneously by simply adding them onto the data, thereby eliminating the spectrum overhead in conventional underwater acoustic communications due to the training signals.

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Johns, Mike, Professor and Fridjonsson, Einar, DrCo-Supervisors: Aman, Zach, Dr; Stanwix, Paul, Dr

Oilfield Water Management


Natural gas (and oil) extraction results in the production of substantial quantities of (formation) water. This water is required to be discharged back to sea following separation from the hydrocarbon fluid. Increasingly this separation is being pursued sub-sea, such that water treatment on the surface is avoided. Such sub-sea technology is particularly relevant to floating LNG production facilities.

We are currently developing technology to both monitor the ppm oil contamination of this discharge water such that it is compliant with environmental legislation, as well as the use of novel NMR-based flow metering methods for oil/gas/water production flow quantification. Projects are available in which further validation of these technologies will be conducted as well as their adaptation for sub-sea deployment. We also consider optimum desalination of sea water for the provision of required process water and the effective separation of frequently encountered and troublesome water-in-crude oil emulsions into their constituent parts

Johns, Mike, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: May, Eric, Professor

Carbon Sequestration


Western Australia has several major offshore gas assets containing significant quantities of carbon dioxide. Scenarios for dealing with this CO2 must be developed before these gas fields can be developed. One scenario involves the re-injection of carbon dioxide produced from one reservoir into the extremities of a different natural reservoir for the purpose of both CO2 disposal and enhanced gas recovery. However, such a strategy is only viable if the probability of breakthrough by the re-injected CO2 to the producing wells is small. Simulating reliably this novel reservoir production scenario requires an improvement in our fundamental understanding of the hydrodynamic behaviour of supercritical CO2 in heterogeneous gas and water-saturated rock. Research projects are available measuring this behaviour as well as its inclusion into relevant field simulations.

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Karnowski, Karol, Research FellowCo-Supervisor: Sampson, David, Professor

An artificial eye with optics and mechanics to improve glaucoma diagnosis

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical.

Pre-requisite Skills: Genuine curiosity, desire to explore, creativity.

The project aims towards structural and functional phantom of the anterior segment of the human eye. Part of the project will focus on fabrication and verification of structural and biomechanical phantom of the human cornea (corneal geometry, scattering properties and tissue biomechanics). Moreover, a fluidic system on a basis of column of water to mimic the pressure inside the human eye will be developed. Results will be experimentally validated with OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) and OCE (Optical Coherence Elastography) - optical imaging techniques that are developed in Optical + Biomedical Engineering Lab.

Karrech, Ali, Professor

Fault Reactivation in Resource Engineering Geo-Structures

Disciplines: Civil, Mining.Pre-requisite skills: Programming skills.

The purpose of this project is to investigate fractures’ reactivation due to fluids injection at different levels of temperature and pressure and identify the impact of such operations on the performance of fractured reservoirs/deposits. This research work will use advanced coupled multi-physics for reservoir modelling to optimise production from naturally fractured media. It will also include advanced continuum damage mechanics approaches to describe the initiation, evolution and coalescence of fractures within geological materials. Therefore, a high resolution is needed, which takes into account the intrinsic length and time scales of the involved processes.

We intend to solve this problem using High Performance Computing. The solution method relies on massively parallel numerical models based on the finite element method. The milestones of this project are (1) conduct a multi-scaling approach to investigate the degradation of geo-materials at the grain, rock-mass, and deposit levels. (2) investigate the nucleation, propagation and coalescence of damage zones. (3) Model the problem at hand

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using the Finite Element Method. (4) Apply the proposed framework to practical engineering problems.

Karrech, Ali, Professor

The future of In-Situ Leaching in Australia

Disciplines: Mining.

Decreasing grades of mineral deposits have resulted in tremendously increasing volumes of fragmented, mined and processed rock masses to meet the global demand on precious metals. Immense surface and underground mining projects have been made possible because of modern highly sophisticated mining and processing machinery. The abundance of low-cost energy and water contributed significantly to the success of conventional surface and underground mining. However, maintaining the current level of energy and water costs and availabilities is questionable. The fluctuation of commodity prices is exerting additional pressures on conventional mining approaches.

In-Situ Leaching (ISL) is receiving renewed attention as an appealing alternative that requires lower investments and consumes less energy compared to conventional mining technologies (Figure 1). ISL is a promising technology that currently delivers 45% of the global supply in uranium with recoveries that can reach up to 90%. In Australia, two ISL-based commercial projects Beverly and Honeymoon are currently operational; they contribute 9% of its total uranium production. The purpose of this project is to investigate the applicability of ISL for precious metals.

Keating, Adrian, Assoc/ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Parish, Gia, Professor

Advanced Sensing Technologies - Sensors made from thin air

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic.

This project investigates how the addition of nanometer sized pores in a material can alter the mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties. Such "meta"-materials are useful in a range of applications, from sensors, to cloaking devices. This project offers opportunities for electrical, mechanical and/or material students to learn more about this technology and it's applications. Depending of the skill and interest of the

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student, the project has opportunities for modeling, data analysis and experimental investigations.

Keating, Adrian, Assoc/Prof

Understanding high resolution fibre optic endoscopes

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic, Software.

High density endoscopes are becoming available with greater than 10,000 separate fibre cores. These imaging bundles contain separate fibres which guide the light in a flexible bundle from the object to the camera. However, methods to understand the crosstalk limited performance of these fibres bundles is required. Based on demonstrated skills and interest, students within this project will study how these fibre bundles operate and use and develop an automated test bed to evaluate the imaging properties using motion control, data acquisition and imaging hardware.

Keating, Adrian, Assoc/Prof

LED as precision distance sensors

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.Prerequisite skills: EE students preferably having done embedded systems. Must enjoy working in the lab.

In 2015, the System Health lab broke new ground in establishing that cheap LEDs could be used as distance sensors, potentially overcoming some of the usage limitations that lasers have due to safety concerns. This project extends this work to test a wider range of materials and surfaces as well as install these sensors in different applications such as miniature force transducers and precision distance measurement at sub-micrometer levels.

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Keating, Adrian, A/Prof

Energy harvesting for wireless sensor networks

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.

Students will review and evaluate an existing energy harvesting circuit and refining the design based on best practice from literature reviews. All students will assist in the development of the basic energy harvesting circuit. Subsequently, each student will be assigned a different aspect of the energy harvesting problem including: 1) alternative sources (thermal, vibration, electromagnetics) 2) storage capacity (evaluation and improvement) 3) low energy wireless transmission and protocols 4) system integration with data logging and data evaluation, 6) operation if a network of wireless energy harvesters, 6) practical implementation and reliability evaluation.

Kurup, Raj, Dr (Adjunct Associate Professor)

A sustainability assessment of application of natural coagulants for water industry

Discipline: Civil, Mechanical, Environmental, Chemical and Process.

Water industries use metallic salts such as aluminium sulphate (alum) as coagulants for water treatment. Due to a number of reasons, such as disposal of final residue, increase of aluminimum and sulphur in treated water, the industry is looking for alternatives. Previous studies conducted by the group have found that Moringa Oliefera (MO) seed extract has the capacity to replace alum as a potential coagulant for water treatment. The objective of the proposed project is to evaluate the sustainability of application of MO for water treatment. The potential social, environmental and economic benefits of using MO over the current practices will be explored in detail.

Industry Partner: Environmental Engineers International Pty Ltd, Perth CBDIndustry Contacts: Kenneth Widjaja

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Kurup, Raj, Dr (Adjunct Associate Professor)

Fatbergs in sewer network - A strategic management plan

Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Environmental, Chemical and Process.Pre-requisite skills: Engineering hydraulics.

A fatberg is a congealed lump of fat, sanitary items, wet wipes, and similar items found in sewer systems, which do not break down like toilet paper. It can cause sewer blockages resulting in overflows through manholes. Blockages due to fatbergs are expensive to manage and cost water utilities millions of dollars annually to address this issue. Sydney Water spends over $8 million per annum, where as in the UK, local water authorities estimated it would be around $24 million a year to deal with this problem.

This project, with the support of Australian Water Association and water utilities in Australia, aims to develop a strategic plan to address the problem of fatbergs in sewer system. The proposed project will assess a) the current situation of fatberg caused by discharge of wet wipes, fat and other items, b) current and projected cost to deal with this problem, c) strategic initiatives to avoid/manage the problem. The students selected for this project will get opportunity to interact with sewer network managers across Australia.

Leggoe, Jeremy, Professor

Finite Element Modelling of Bolted Flanged Connections in LNG Processing

Disciplines: Materials, Mechanical.Prerequisite skills: Strong Performance in Solid Mechanics, Materials & Manufacturing, Numerical Methods& Modelling; if not already taken, students should plan to enrol in Degradation of materials and Finite Element Modelling during the project.

The integrity of sealing in bolted flanged connections (BFC) can be compromised when large temperature differentials exist across the connection, as can be the case when cold liquid LNG partially fills a pipeline that is otherwise exposed to ambient conditions. This is a significant

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practical issue in KMG plants, as a loss of sealing integrity implies a loss of containment of hydrocarbons.

Finite element analysis is being used to investigate BFC integrity under a range of conditions. Given the broad range of temperatures, even characterising the material properties for the flanges, bolts and gaskets accurately for use in FE models is challenging. Students in this project will focus on various aspects of modelling the connection:

- The seating of the gasket, and the response of the gasket material when exposed to different temperatures (noting that gaskets are often composites themselves)- Modelling the individual bolts, and the effects of the sequence of bolt tightening- Understanding the effect of pipe layout (and thus boundary conditions) on the connection- Understanding the effects of flange dimensions on BFC performance

This project is aligned with an ongoing investigation being undertaken by a PhD candidate. The PhD candidate will join weekly group meetings, and his previous work in this area will provide background for the project.

Leggoe, Jeremy, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Aman, Zach, Dr

Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling of Oil & Gas Well Blow Out

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Mechanical.Prerequisite skills: Strong performance in Fluid Mechanics and Numerical Methods and Modelling; If not already completed, students should plan to enrol in CHPR 4407 Transport Phenomena during the project. Previous completion of ENSC3003 (and ideally strong performance I the unit) would be an advantage for this project.

In the event of a well blowout, the nature of the turbulent flow field surrounding the resulting jet is a significant factor but poorly understood factor in determining the ultimate dispersion of the released material in the environment. This project will develop and interpret CFD models of jet releases into a quiescent environment to explore the relation between jet dynamics and the distribution of bubble sizes produced by the process. Particular emphasis will be directed towards:

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- Characterising multi-scale processes of bubble formation- Characterising the effect of the presence of multiple immiscible phases on turbulence- Characterising the relationship between turbulence and bubble distribution

Students should expect to work with the software ANSYS/Fluent - previous experience with the software is not essential, but would be a significant advantage.

The students undertaking this project will join a group including a student who started the project in 2015, and potentially a PhD student (subject to confirmation of enrolment). The supervisors will be presenting a paper on the project at an international conference in Early 2016, and that work will provide background for the project.

Lehane, Barry, ProfessorCo-supervisor: Elchalakani, Mohamed, Professor

Development and testing of physical experiments to teach structural engineering concepts

Discipline: Civil.

This project aims to improve the understanding of structural engineering concepts by developing and testing new physical teaching experiments. These experiments will be broadly based on some of the topics presented at the University of Manchester web site (www.structuralconcepts.org). Students will design and then oversee the fabrication of suitable experiments. In the second semester, each student will conduct verification tests and analyses using one of the physical models developed.

Industry Partner: Pritchard Francis, SubiacoIndustry Contacts: Chris Tyler (Director) and Tynan Luzuk

Lehane, Barry, Professor

Improving design methods for assessment of pile axial capacity

Discipline: CivilPre-requisite skills: At least 2 units in geomechanics

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Design methods employed for assessment of the axial capacity of piles, although improving, have a relatively low level of reliability. This project will include field experiments, data interpretation, collation of case history data, statistical analyses and computer-based backanalyses in a variety of geomaterials.

Lehane, Barry, Professor

Performance of piles under lateral load

Discipline: CivilPre-requisite skills: At least 2 units in geomechanics.

Motivated by the needs of the onshore and offshore wind Industry, this project will examine a number of facets of lateral pile response using numerical analysis and backanalysis of field and centrifuge tests.

Leong, Yee-Kwong, Professor

Rheology and Flow Loop test of low yield stress kaolin slurries

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Environmental, Oil & Gas.Prerequisite skills: Fluid Mechanics.

The aim of this project is to correlate the friction factor and Reynold number of yield stress fluids for long distance pipeline transportation. Pipeline transportation of clay slurries has direct relevant to the disposal of clay-based tailings commonly found as waste in the mining and mineral processing industry. The student will also characterize the rheological behavior of the yield stress fluids and conduct flow loop test.

Leong, Yee-Kwong, ProfessorEvaluation of Mular-Roberts method of determining the point of zero charge of composite mineral slurries

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Materials.Prerequisite skills: Surface chemistry and particle technology knowledge.

Mular-Robert method relying of salt addition and pH measurement, is a cheap and common method of determining the point of zero charge of

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suspensions. It relies on the principle that the pH or point of zero charge being independent of ionic strength. The addition of salt will therefore not change the pH at this point. For a pure single material particulate suspension this method was found to be accurate. The objective of this is to evaluate the performance of this method on multiple component mineral suspensions.

Li, Jiawen, Research FellowCo-Supervisor: McLaughlin, Robert, Assoc/Professor.

Optical analysis of biomedical catheter design

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic.Pre-requisite Skills: A strong background in optics and physics; CAD or Matlab skills.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution optical imaging technology based on low-coherence interferometry of near-infrared light.

Our lab designs and manufactures miniaturised OCT imaging probes for biomedical applications, including tiny imaging probes to be inserted into a human airway to assess damage from burns injuries. The probe is encased within a polymer tubing (called a catheter) to prevent cross-contamination between the probe and the human tissue. However, this tubing will alter the light beam as it is emitted from the probe and distort its imaging capabilities. In this project, you will analyse the optical properties of a number of potential catheters and explore optical designs to overcome their defects.

Liu, Jishan Professor

Impact of Permeability Variations on the Efficiency of Particle Separations

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Oil & Gas.Prerequisite skills: Basic knowledge of liquid flow in porous media and computer modelling.

The objective of this project is to investigate various mechanisms of permeability variations and how these variations affect the grade efficiency of particle separations in the operations of filtration and hindered settling. This project involves data collection, process analysis, definition and

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quantification of interactions between processes. Either analytical or numerical approach will be used in this study.

Liu, Jishan Professor

Shale Gas Adsorption and Its Impact on Gas Production

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Oil & Gas.Prerequisite skills: Basic knowledge of liquid flow in porous media and computer modelling.

The objective of this project is to investigate the evolution of shale permeability during the gas production. In particular, it will examine the role of gas adsorption/desorption. This project involves data collection, process analysis, definition and quantification of interactions between processes, and equation solving. Numerical approach will be used in this study.

Liu, Yinong ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Yang, Hong, Professor

Subsea Pipeline Corrosion

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mining, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills: materials engineering, corrosion

This project is in collaboration with Woodside Energy Ltd. It is a study of the corrosion protection strategies for subsea oil and gas pipelines using real life subsea pipeline test samples. It involves both industrial pilot testing and laboratory testing for corrosion related matters.

Industry Partner: Woodside Energy Ltd

Lu, Herbert Ho-Ching, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Fernando, Tyrone, Professor; Reynolds, Mark, Professor

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Load Estimation for Rural Distribution Networks

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Excellent programming skill in Matlab.

Western Power designs, builds and operates the transmission and distribution power networks within the South-West Interconnected Network (SWIN). The SWIN is designed with the basis of providing electrical power to customers in a safe and reliable manner, while at an affordable cost. In order to meet these design criteria, Western Power develops forecasts for the future state of the SWIN.

The development of network forecasting is a difficult task that requires the incorporation of many factors from various fields. However the core of the design process will always be centered around the ability to supply power to customers at all times. In other words, the foundation of the network design is based on how much power is required and where is it to be provided. Network planners are able to identify the power requirements of the network through the use of load estimation techniques. In metropolitan areas load estimates are fairly accurate due to existing estimation techniques. However, in rural areas load estimation techniques are often not as accurate as their metropolitan counterpart, therefore the network designs in these areas are less developed.

By improving the accuracy of load estimation techniques in rural areas, Western Power can better achieve their design objectives of providing a safe and reliable network while minimising costs. The purpose of this project will be to investigate methods of estimating the loads in rural areas and evaluating the efficacy of each method using sections of Western Power's rural distribution network.

Lu, Herbert Ho-Ching, Professor

Development of memristor based relaxation oscillators

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Excellent mathematical skills and simulation/ hardware skills.

In this project, a memristor based relaxation oscillator will be developed. A flux-controlled memristor emulator with floating terminals by making use of four current conveyors has been proposed. By replacing the three resistors in the positive and negative feedback loops of a typical relaxation oscillator respectively, three cases of memristor emulator based oscillating circuits can be theoretically constructed and mathematically analyzed. This new memristor emulator based oscillator will provide novel and steady oscillating behaviours.

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Ma, Guowei, Professor

Explosion safety assessment for oil and gas facilities

Discipline: Civil.Pre-requisite skills: Structural dynamics.

Oil and gas facilities in petroleum engineering are of high explosion risk. The traditional method uses TNT equivalence to evaluate the explosion energy and consequences to adjacent structures which is not accurate since vapor cloud explosion has very different nature comparing to chemical explosion. This project will apply quantitative risk assessment method using a multi-energy approach. Oil and gas explosion will be simulated by the commercial software PHAST which was developed by DNV. Parametric study will be carried out to consider the effect of different products, confinement and congestions in an explosion event. Protection measures will be suggested to different scenarios.

Ma, Guowei, Professor

Load carrying capacity of GFRP bar reinforced concrete columns

Discipline: Civil.Pre-requisite skills: Concrete structure design.

Special consideration is needed when designing reinforced concrete structures in corrosive environments such as near the ocean or in situations where corrosion can be accelerated. Glass fibre reinforced polymers (GFRP) can be used as a substitute to steel reinforcement in these structures as GFRP does not corrode like steel. Full scale experiments will be conducted in this particular research to investigate the compressive strength of GFRP bar reinforced concrete columns. These results will be analyzed to determine if the use of GFRP bars is practical, and to give accurate guidelines as to what precautions, if any, should be taken when using GFRP in reinforced concrete structures.

May, Eric, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Graham, Brendan, Dr; Stanwix, Paul, Dr; Hughes, Thomas, Dr

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Natural Gas & LNG Properties Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Oil & Gas


Unplanned shutdowns of LNG plants caused by hydrocarbon solids blocking cryogenic heat exchangers are a major, ongoing problem for the industry. Current methods of avoiding them are costly and energy intensive. In addition, LNG production systems are over-engineered because the predictions of process simulators are unreliable, and this has significant implications for the cost of modern plants, especially FLNG. More generally, the natural gas industry needs new physical property data at high-pressures and low temperatures to develop more efficient processes capable of handling more problematic gas reserves. These projects aim to produce the required new data and develop new predictive models relevant to natural gas processing and LNG production to help avoid unexpected shutdowns, improve plant efficiency, and increase safety.

May, Eric, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Li, Kevin, Dr; Graham, Brendan, Dr; Xiao, James, Dr

Advanced Gas Separations


Carbon dioxide capture, whether from natural gas streams or from flue gases, is an important and increasing area of research with significant implications for our economy and environment. N2 capture from natural gas is increasingly important in the development of LNG projects where this component is energetically parasitic. These projects will look at the use of novel materials for improved capture efficiency that are either solid adsorbents, including carbons, zeolites and calixarenes, or liquid solvents, such as transition metal complexes. In addition, the production of high value zeolites from waste materials such as fly ash will be investigated. Students working on these projects will help develop and characterise the separation performance of new materials synthesized in our laboratory over a wide range of temperature, pressure and mixture compositions, and/or use the results of such experiments to develop numerical models of advanced industrial separation processes.

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McLaughlin, Robert, A/ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Kirk, Rodney, Research Fellow

Image Processing and Visualisation of Biomedical Optical Imaging Data

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Software.Pre-requisite Skills: C, C++ or Java.

This project will develop image processing and visualisation algorithms for high resolution imaging data in biomedical applications. The Optical + Biomedical Engineering Lab develops new medical imaging techniques for a range of diseases, including cancer detection and intra-operative guidance. Depending on the student’s aptitude, this topic contains a range of potential software development subprojects, including implementing algorithms for visualisation of very large data sets; automated techniques to quantify medical images; and algorithms for tissue detection.

Students are required to be experienced in one of the following languages: C, C++, Java. It is expected that some algorithm development will be done in Matlab.

Students are encouraged to come and talk to Robert McLaughlin or Rodney Kirk to discuss possible projects prior to submission.

Mian, Ajmal, Associate Professor

Linguistic Stylometry for Determining Authorship of Documents

Disciplines: Computer, Software.Pre-requisite skills: Python or Matlab.

Linguistic stylometry is used to determine the authorship of disputed documents or documents with unknown authors. It encodes the writer's style rather than the contents of the document to determine the writing pattern of known authors to be matched later with those of unknown authors. The simplest way is to record the frequencies of common words or even characters such as "for", "the", "therefore" commas, full stops etc. In this project the student will be required to develop a stylemetry feature (e.g. comprising frequencies of common words) using online novels (typed documents) and train a classifier to see how accurately these features can identify the author of a new document from the database. Data can be obtained from http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/

Mian, Ajmal, Associate Professor

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http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/

Human action detection in videos

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite skills: Computer Vision and Matlab.

Computer based automatic human action recognition and detection has applications is elderly care, child minding, human machine interaction and gaming. In this project, the student will be required to develop an algorithm for feature extraction from video sequences and train a classifier for human action detection in continuous videos. Many online databases exist that contain labelled videos of humans performaning actions. The student can use a few of these databases to train and test their feature extraction and classification algorithms.

Miller, Karol, Professor

Biomechanics: Rupture risk in abdominal aortic aneurysm

Disciplines: Chemical and Process, Civil, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Oil & Gas, Petroleum.Prerequisite skills: Knowledge of Mechanical and Civil Engineering preferred.

This is a finite element simulation project using Abaqus. This project is in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.


Projects in collaboration with Harvard Medical School

Disciplines: Civil, Computer, Electrical and Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.Prerequisite skills: Solid Mechanics, good computer skills.

1) Automated generation of patient-specific computational models from radiological images.

2) Medical Image Analysis – comparative analysis of neuroimage registration methods.

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3) Medical Image Analysis – comparative analysis of image segmentation methods.


Biomechanics: Surgical simulation

Disciplines: Civil, Computer, Electrical and Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.Prerequisite skills: Good computer skills.

The goal of this research is to model and simulate deformable objects for applications requiring real-time interaction. We are particularly interested in medical applications including simulation-based training, skills assessment and planning, as well as other non-medical domains where real-time interactivity is needed.


Biomechanics (numerical methods)

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Computer, Electrical and Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Ocean Systems, Oil & Gas, Petroleum, Software.Prerequisite skills: Love of mathematics is required, good computer skills.

This is a numerical methods project. Investigation of stepping algorithms for large systems of ordinary differential equations: implicit (with iterative linear solver) versus explicit methods.Outstanding students, Interview required, Love of mathematics is required.

Nener, Brett, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Parish, Giacinta, Professor, Asadnia, Mohsen, Dr

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Transistor-based biosensors

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic

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Students will work together on the one or more of following integrated project components (and will also work alongside students working in the adjacent projects on “transistor-based chemical sensors for contaminant monitoring”).

1. Physical, chemical, materials and biological characterisation of functionalisation methods, particularly surface and cell studies2. Electrical, chemical, biochemical and physical characterisation and optimisation of functionalised ion sensors3. Mechanical, electrical and chemical characterisation and optimisation of packaging techniques4. Design and integration of complementary sensors (pH, temperature, drift compensation) to maximise reliability.5. Adapt device design, packaging, measurement protocols for reliable, reference electrode free, operation.6. Modelling of individual devices, packaged devices and the device-functionalisation layer-solution interface.

Ocampo, Carlos, DrCo-supervisor: Oldham, Carolyn, Professor

Water Sensitive Urban Design - Exploring nutrient attenuation in different WSUD designs, using numerical modelling.

Disciplines: Environmental.

Water Sensitive Urban Design is used around Australia to treat urban stormwater prior to discharge into streams or estuaries. Possible options, or WSUD elements, include biofilters, living streams, infiltration basins and vegetated swales. In some regions around Perth, our groundwater is very high and it can inflow into these WSUD elements and possibly compromise there nutrient attenuation performance. Students working on this project would conduct numerical modelling to assess the relative impact of surface flows and groundwater transport on nutrient attenuation across a range of WSUD elements.

Industry Partner: Department of Water, Ms Antonietta Torre

Oldham, Carolyn, Professor

Jurien Bay Boat Harbour Water Quality

Disciplines: Environmental

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The Jurien Bay Boat Harbour experiences on-going water quality problems linked to seagrass and seaweed wrack that gets trapped in the harbour and decays. Jurien Bay is expecting significant population growth in the next 10 - 20 years, and the harbour has been identified as a likely hub of future commercial activity. However the water quality problems constrain its use. The Department of Transport are keen to identify ways of managing the harbour to improve water quality. Students on this project would conduct preliminary field, laboratory and modelling studies to better understand the processes of wrack decay and its impact on water quality.

Industry Partner: Department of Transport, Ms Lucya Roncevich

Pan, Jie, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Matthews, Dave, Dr; Sun, Hongmei, Ms

Vibration analysis and condition monitoring of engineering structures and systems

Disciplines: Computer, Mechanical, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite Skills: Interests in undertaking experimental work on vibration and prepared to spend at least 3 hours/week in the laboratory

This group project is to develop advanced methods for investigating the characteristics of structural vibration and for condition monitoring of engineering structures. It includes (1) characterization of the dynamics of a thrust bearing; (2) effect of static loading on the vibration characteristics of structures; (3) ball joint condition monitoring using PVDF and acoustical emission sensors; and (4) Characterization and detection of pipeline failure modes using PZT sensors.

Pan, Jie, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Sun, Hongmei, Ms; Pan, SW, A/Prof

Analysis and control of sound and vibrationDisciplines: Computer, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.Prerequisite Skills: Interests in hand-on experimental work or numerical (e.g. FEA) modelling and prepared to work in the ab for at least 3 hours/week.

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This group project is about an experimental and numerical study and control of the interaction between fluid, sound and vibration. It includes (1) measurement, prediction and control of transformer noise; (2) measurement, analysis and control of turbulence boundary layer (TBL) induced structure-borne noise; and (3) detection of source location using sensor array, (4) Measurement of sound field using NI mobile robot.

Parish, Giacinta, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Nener, Brett, Professor; Asadnia, Mohsen, Dr

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Transistor-based chemical sensors for contaminant monitoring

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic

Reliable, economically accessible technology for in situ monitoring of contaminants in water has the power to transform health, industry, and society the world around. Applications of such monitoring range from process control monitoring and optimisation for industry, to water supply quality and wastewater monitoring, to environmental monitoring for resource extraction, and beyond.

The microelectronics-based technology under investigation in this project will enable in situ, real-time contaminant monitoring that is accurate, reliable and low-cost. Semiconductor-based technology offers high performance and can also be mass produced at low-cost with flexible functionalisation allowing for a variety of analytes. Furthermore, it offers the ability to integrate multiple sensors into one chip, along with wireless communication technology for maximum benefit of the in situ monitoring capability.

Students will work together on the one or more of following integrated project components (and will also work alongside students working in the adjacent projects on “transistor-based biosensors”).

1. Physical, chemical, materials characterisation of functionalisation methods, particularly surface studies

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2. Electrical, chemical and physical characterisation and optimisation of functionalised ion sensors3. Mechanical, electrical and chemical characterisation and optimisation of packaging techniques4. Design and integration of complementary sensors (pH, temperature, drift compensation) to maximise reliability.5. Adapt device design, packaging, measurement protocols for reliable, reference electrode free, operation.

The ability to monitor biological and chemical signals with an electronic device is a tremendously innovative approach for cell research and process control in pharmaceutical and microbiological production, and chemical sensing applications. A bio-friendly, chemically inert and stable III-Nitride-transistor-based bio/chem-sensor will be developed to detect responses to various specific compounds/chemicals, particularly through cell receptors. The successful development of this electronic biosensor technology has the potential to improve health and disease treament through major improvemements in throughput, precision, quality, speed and simplicity of, for example, drug and disease testing methods.

Pasternak, Elena, Professor Co-supervisor: Dyskin, Arcady, Professor

From auxetic materials to deployable structures

Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical.Pre-requisite skills: Finite element modelling, Matlab, Digital photography.

Auxetic materials are materials that contract laterally when compressed. The same property is characteristic of deployable structures which can be folded for transportation to take minimum space and then deployed to their intendant configuration. This project aims at investigating one class of such materials – composites with soft inclusions. It includes the Finite Element Modelling (good knowledge of the Finite Element Method using Abaqus or Ansys is essential) and experimentation with a 2D model of auxetic material with strain measurements using photogrammetry (knowledge of basics of digital photography is essential).

Pasternak, Elena, Professor Co-supervisors: Dyskin, Arcady, Professor; Lehane, Barry, Professor

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Mortarless structures based on topological interlocking

Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical, Petroleum, Mining.Pre-requisite skills: Finite element modelling, Matlab, Digital photography.

Topological interlocking is a method of assembling structures from blocks or bricks of special shape such that the structural integrity is maintained by peripheral constraint without any bonding between the blocks. This project aims at investigating the use of such structures in foundations, mining support, as well as other civil engineering applications. It includes the Finite Element Modelling (good knowledge of the Finite Element Method using Abaqus or Ansys is essential) and experimentation models of mortarless structures with strain measurements using photogrammetry (knowledge of basics of digital photography is essential).

Pattiaratchi, Chari, Professor Co-supervisor: Wijeratne, Sarath, Dr

Water quality issues in Jurien Bay harbour

Disciplines: Civil, Oil and Gas, Environmental, Ocean Systems.Pre-requisite skills: Fluid mechanics, computer literate.

Jurien Bay harbour has recently suffered from water quality issues which has led to fish kills at particular times in the year through the input of seagrass wrack into the harbour basin. This project will examine a number of data sets (waves, water level, winds, satellite data, water quality) and apply a numerical model to investigate the flushing characteristics and wrack transport.

Pattiaratchi, Chari, Professor Co-supervisor: Wijeratne, Sarath, Dr

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Connectivity around Australia through particle tracking


We have developed a hydrodynamic model called ozROMS which covers the whole of Australia providing current patterns over a 3 year period. This project will use the output of this model together with a particle tracking model to examine the connectivity around Australia. The particles could be used as a proxy for oil spills, tracks of turtles, migration of eggs and larvae, marine debris etc. Students will be able to choose any number of locations and these proxies to examine and analyse particle tracks for a particular application.

Pattiaratchi, Chari, Professor Co-supervisors: Janekovic, Ivica, Dr; Wijeratne, Sarath, Dr

Coastal flooding from extreme water levels in south-west Australia

Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Ocean Systems.Pre-requisite skills: Fluid mechanics, computer literate.

UWA has developed a computer model to estimate extreme water levels around Australia arising from a combination of storm surges (e.g. due to tropical cyclones), tides and other influences on water levels. One of the major impacts of extreme water levels is coastal flooding. Students will select different locations around south-west Australia (e.g. Swan River, Cockburn Sound, Busselton) or even from any other regions around Australia to examine coastal flooding impacts on infrastructure.

Pattiaratchi, Chari, Professor Co-supervisors: Cosoli, Simone, Dr; Middleditch Andrew, Dr

Using high frequency radar data for oceanographic applications


UWA is the host for the Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network (ACORN) and maintains HF Radar stations at several locations around Australia,

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including south-west Australia between Fremantle and Jurien Bay. The primary data sources of the data are to map surface currents, however, there are secondary data sets which include information on winds and waves. The students will select a particular data set (surface currents, winds, waves etc)and validate against field measurements. The students will also be able to undertake work on identification of meteo-tsunamis.

Reynolds, Mark, Associate Professor Co-Supervisors: While, Lyndon, Dr; French, Tim, Dr

Genetic Algorithms for Optimisation

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Ocean Systems, Oil & Gas, Petroleum, Software.Pre-requisite skills: Successful completion of at least a first programming unit in Matlab, Python or a similar language.

(Dr Doina Olaru and other colleagues from th UWA Business School will also be involved with the supervision of this project depending on the application area).

Genetic and Evolutionary algorithms are general techniques for optimisation and search problems. The approach is inspired by the biological processes of natural selection and has successfully been applied to many problems across Engineering. These projects are to develop and tune specific algorithms to tackle some contemporary problems in applications such as haultruck despatch, mine train car dumper assignment, crew scheduling, delivery routing, power distribution and maintenance.

Reynolds, Mark, Associate Professor Co-Supervisors: Braunl, Thomas, Professor; French, Tim, Dr

Simulating Autonomous Vehicles

Disciplines: Civil, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Software.Pre-requisite skills: Programming, preferably Python or C++ but not a must; Excel data analysis.

(with external joint supervisiors Yuchao Sun PATREC, and Dr Doina Olaru UWA Business School)

There has been a lot of hype and hope on Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). However, there is little research on what impact they might have on the

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transport system at a macro level. For example, many are hoping a large increase on road capacities, because of the precision driving capacity of the machines. However, other researchers have suggested that the performance is at the cost of passenger comfort. If parameters of AVs have to be tunned down to take care of the latter, then the whole system might be worse off. Currently, microsimulation is the best way to answer these questions. Students will create customised AV behaviour models in the traffic simulation package Aimsun and use those models for scenario testing.

Reynolds, Mark, Associate Professor Co-Supervisor: Braunl, Thomas, Professor; French, Tim, Dr

Pulse of Perth – traffic data visualisation

Disciplines: Civil, Computer, Software. Pre-requisite skills: A programming language Processing will be used but its syntax is “95%” Java so familiarity with the latter is required; Some knowledge on GIS is desirable but not essential; Excel data analysis.


Road agencies know little about the road network performance because they do not have enough data. This is changing with the fast adoption of GPS tracking devices. UWA now has access to crowd sourced GPS data from one of the major suppliers. One of its possible applications is to visualise the average car travel speed on major arterials and freeways. This would give visual cues in how congestion propagates through the network and help forming better traffic management strategies. Before visualisation and data analysis, records need to be collected from the GPS portal and synthesised to represent a typical day. The reliability of GPS data will also be explored, by comparing the results against current speed-flow diagrams.

Reynolds, Mark, Associate Professor Co-Supervisors: Braunl, Thomas, Professor; French, Tim, Dr

Optimal locations of charging stations for electric vehicles

Disciplines: Civil, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Software.

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Pre-requisite skills: Programming in Python or C++; Excel data analysis; Knowledge in GIS will be an advantage.


Electric vehicles (EVs) have become increasingly mature. However, range anxiety is still being labelled as their major obstacle, although some high performance EVs can already match their fossil fuel counterparts. In addition, people living in certain building types such as apartments will not be able to charge their vehicles at home. The location and number of charging stations is an important business decision for overcoming range anxiety and providing good level of service, especially at the roll-out stage. Charging infrastructure location would involve trade-offs between many conflicting goals to achieve the best balance. Modelling will be done in traffic simulation package.

Sercombe, Tim, Assoc/Professor

Selective Laser Melting of Novel Materials

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Materials, Mechanical

Selective Laser Melting is a 3D Printing technique that produces metallic parts directly for CAD models. It uses a high power laser beam to selectively melt areas of a powder bed to form a single layer. The powder bed is then lowered and a new layer of powder deposited on top and the process continues.

There are three available projects that will build of projects about to finish. These are:

1. Production of antibacterial Ti via SLM 2. SLM of fused silica3. Properties of Al-based alloys produced using enhanced processing parameters

Silva, Dilusha, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Martyniuk, Mariusz, Professor; Faraone, Lorenzo, W. Professor.

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Advanced Sensing Technologies: Micromachine based thermal imaging cameras

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Some exposure to modelling tools such as Ansys or Coventorware.

The microelectronics research group has for the last fifteen years been developing micromachine based optical spectrometers. Some of our latest work leads to the potential of "high resolution infrared spectral imager" or a "true colour thermal imaging camera". This project will look at the optical and mechanical modelling towards realizing such a true-colour thermal imaging camera. Students on this project will work closely with a PhD student and will also be involved in measurement and characterisation of actual micromachine devices.

Silva, Dilusha, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Tripathi, Dhirendra, Mr

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Characterisation of micromachine stability

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic

You may be surprised to know that micromachines are now an integral part of daily life. They are extensively used in mobile phones, vehicles, planes, and optical projection systems and, as a result, it is essential that their performance be predictable and reliable. Our research group has a strong record in the area of micromachine based sensors. Our optical and chemical sensors must be checked for their transient and long term stability and reliability, to demonstrate commercial viability of the technology. This project will test the stability of micromachine devices as a function of drive-signal variations, temperature drift and mechanical vibrations.

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Silva, Dilusha, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Martyniuk, Mariusz, Professor; Liu, Yinong, Professor

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Novel micromachine spectrometer structures

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Some exposure to modelling tools such as Ansys or Coventorware.

The microelectronics research group has for the last fifteen years been developing micromachine based optical spectrometers. Some of our latest work leads to the potential of high resolution spectral imaging from low-cost platforms. These new optical designs now need to be developed into working micromachine structure. The students working on this project will conduct mechanical modelling towards realizing a true imaging micromachine spectrometer. The students will work in conjunction with a PhD student in this activity and will also be involved in the measurement and characterisation of actual micromachine device structures.

Silva, Dilusha, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Putrino, Gino, Assoc/Professor; Faraone, Lorenzo, Professor

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Absorption spectroscopy for organics in solution

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechatronic, Software.

Absorption spectroscopy can determine chemical components of a material by measurement of which wavelengths of light are absorbed due to interaction with a sample. Applications of this technology range from determining hydrocarbon contamination in water to detecting cancer in skin.

This project will evaluate the ability of infrared (IR) spectroscopy to measure the chemical composition of aqueous solutions. Trials with solutions containing a matrix of varying and interfering IR-absorbing components will be performed for applications in environmental and agricultural monitoring.

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Techniques to improve the component prediction accuracy using techniques such as principle component analysis will be investigated.

Silva, Dilusha, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Putrino, Gino, Assoc/Professor

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Nanotechnology for water stress measurement in plants

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechatronic, Software.

This project will assess suitability of nanotechnology-based micro-spectrometer technologies for water stress detection in plants. The key task of this work will be to (1) measure optical transmission spectra of leaves; (2) identify key spectral features associated with water in the leaves; and (3) evaluate variability between different leaves and different types of plants. This sub-project will involve a host of measurements on a bench-top spectrometer and data analysis to identify spectral features. This project will then assess suitability of these spectral features for identification by a portable nanotech-based spectral analysis tool.

Silva, Dilusha, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Tripathi, Dhirendra, Mr

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Automation of Perkin Elmer FTIR spectrometer

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.

Our research group operates a Perkin Elmer FTIR spectrometer as part of its nanotechnology characterisation facilities. At present this system is operated manually and it can be used for one single point measurement at one time. The system software provides a command scripting capability which can generate a semiautomatic routine for measurement of optical properties of materials. In addition to that, adding an external 2-D translation stage can increase the capability of the present system to perform line scans and area scans of sample under test. Such characterisation is vital to assessing 2-D uniformity of MEMS devices. The project will involve creation of a LabView based automation program to

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drive external translating stages, preparation of a sample mounting stage and it's alignment with the Perkin Elmer FTIR system and finally, creating semiautomatic routines for multiple measurements runs.

Silva, Dilusha, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Putrino, Gino, Assoc/Professor; Gurusamy, Jega, Mr

Advanced Sensing Technologies: A mini environmental chamber for characterization of MEMS sensor

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Mechatronic, Software.

With the advent of Internet of Things (IoT), microsensors are gaining popularity due to their miniaturized size. Micromachine (MEMS) based sensors are small in size, robust in performance and can be manufactured at a low cost. Conventional MEMS structures such as microcantilevers and microbridges are used to detect humidity, pressure and even temperature.

The Microelectronics Research Group (MRG) is researching ways to use MEMS structures to detect trace levels of gas. Due to their sensitivity towards temperature as well, operating these sensors in ambient temperature is a challenge that needs to be overcome. As such, the temperature dependent behaviour of these devices needs to be assess. This project involves building a mini environmental chamber equipped with a temperature controller using a thermoelectric cooler to cool and heat the devices. The system should be able maintain the set temperature and log the measured temperature data over time. The environmental chamber, should be able to dissipate the heat efficiently when the sample is being cooled during the experiment.

Smettem, Keith, W/ProfessorCo-supervisor: Beckett, Chris, Dr

Impact of soil compaction on near-saturated soil hydraulic properties

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Discipline: Civil, Mining, Environmental.Pre-requisite skills: Soil Mechanics or Hydrology.

Compaction reduces total porosity and alters the pore size distribution of porous materials. These changes in turn influence soil hydraulic properties and water holding capacity. Slight compaction can have positive benefits by increasing material strength and eliminating preferential flow in aggregated materials. However, too much compaction can reduce infiltration of rainfall and lead to soil erosion via increased surface runoff.This project will investigate the effects of compaction on near saturated soil hydraulic properties and use the results in model simulations to assess impacts on the soil water balance and generation of surface runoff.

Smettem, Keith, W/Professor

Determining the effects of seasonality on runoff from catchments

Discipline: Civil, Environmental.Pre-requisite skills: Hydrology.

Climate exerts a major control on annual runoff from catchments and analytical solutions are available to describe annual runoff in relation to rainfall, potential evapotranspiration and catchment properties. It is evident that in some cases runoff behaviour deviates from the model predictions and seasonality has been proposed as an explanation for these observations.

This study will examine the role of seasonality in detail and specifically develop and test indices of seasonality that may describe the observed behaviour. Data rich catchments in south-west Western Australia and Northern Europe will be used to test the influence of seasonality on observed runoff.

Sreeram, Victor, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Lamsal, Dipesh, Mr

Fuzzy logic based control for smoothing wind /PV generation output fluctuation by using battery energy storage systems

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Fuzzy Logic, MATLAB/SIMULINK.

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The battery energy storage system (BESS) is a typical means for smoothing intermittent wind or solar power generation. Such BESS hybrid power systems require a suitable control strategy that can effectively regulate power output level and battery state of charge (SOC). Ineffective regulation of power output level and battery state of charge (SOC) requires increased energy storage capacity. This project investigates methods to improve the smoothing performance of wind and PV power generation and the effectiveness of battery SOC controlwind/PV/BESS hybrid power system. A fuzzy-logic based power smoothing method is proposed for reducing output power fluctuations of the wind /PV hybrid power generation systems and regulating the battery SOC under the typical conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed method will be verified by simulations using MATLAB/SIMULINK software.

Sreeram, Victor, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Lamsal, Dipesh, Mr

Coordination strategies for sharing the smoothing target power among different units of battery energy storage system of wind/PV

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Fuzzy logic, MATLAB/SIMULINK.

The battery energy system (BESS) is a powerful tool to smooth the fluctuated output power of wind and PV systems. The BESS absorbs or generates power so as to make the output power of wind and PV smooth. The amount of power absorbed or generated by the battery is known as smoothing target power and this power is to be shared among the different units of the BESS. This smoothing target power of each unit depends on the state of charge (SOC) of each unit. When the battery SOC deviates from the expected range, there is a need for a controller which can adaptively adjust the smoothing target power. A controller based on the Mamdani Fuzzy Logic Controller (MFLC) will be proposed to have coordination among different units of battery for sharing the smoothing target power.

Sreeram, Victor, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Ahmad, Arfah Binti, Miss

Load Profile Analysis of Smart Meter Data

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.Pre-requisite Skills: Matlab, S-Plus / R.

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Smart grid is the new generation of distribution systems that is characterized by the presence of dispersed and diverse generation, two-way flow of electrical power and the meshed grid configurations. Smart meter which is a key element for the smart grid; is an electrical meter that records consumption of electric energy in intervals of 30 minutes and automatically sends this information to the electricity distributor.

This project requires students to do analysis on smart meter data. Students are required to gain smart meter data available online or from utilities company for residential consumer. The analysis involved are statistical analysis, load profile analysis on energy consumption; monthly, daily and hourly load profiles, correlation analysis among smart meter data sets and the effect of temperature and weather analysis.

The analysis will be done via Matlab and statistical software package; S-Plus / R. The purpose of this study is to observe the energy consumption pattern by residential consumer and hence to detect any abnormality in energy use. It is hope that this study could also be benefit to residential consumer in monitoring their energy usage and cost saving.

Stanwix, Paul, DrCo-Supervisor: May, Eric, Professor

Investigating condensation phenomena near fluid mixture dew points using microwave cavity technology

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Electrical & Electronic, Oil & GasPrerequisite Skills: Highly desirable: Demonstrated programming ability. Experience working with measurement and diagnostic equipment

The aim of this project is to study surface phenomena associated with condensation near fluid mixture dew points using novel microwave re-entrant cavity technology. These condensation phenomena are not well understood, however recent work has indicated that they significantly impact the precision of fluid mixture property measurements near the dew point curve, when precursor condensation occurs on the surfaces of the measurement apparatus. Understanding and quantifying these condensation phenomena would represent a significant contribution to fundamental science and the development of reference quality equations of state. Students working on this project will be involved in measuring the dielectric constant and equilibrium conditions of fluid-mixtures, development of data acquisition and analysis protocols, and microwave cavity design and simulation.

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Tavner, Angus, Dr

UWA Motorsport projects

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic

The UWA Motorsport team designs and builds a racing car each year to compete in the Formula SAE competition. Much of the technical work required for the design of each car is carried out by students working on their final-year projects. Specific topics for these projects arise from discussions within the Technical group in the UWAM team. Applicants for the projects should be members of the UWAM team - or intend to become members very soon!

Tavner, Angus, Dr

Adhesion and durability of glued wooden joints

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Materials, Mechanical.Prerequisite skills: Experience with epoxy materials would be an advantage.

Some preliminary investigations into the adhesion of glued wooden joints suggests that modern waterproof PVA glues can give joint strengths comparable to epoxy adhesives. PVA glue systems are much easier to use than epoxies. Questions remain about the best way to prepare surfaces for bonding, and about the relative durability of the two adhesive systems. This project will conduct experiments to answer these questions.

Tavner, Angus, DrCo-Supervisor: Biggs, Stuart, Mr (IAS Group)

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Jet-fire testing of composite pipe repairs

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Materials, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills: Experience with composite materials would be an advantage.

IAS Group use composite materials to repair pipework; this makes protection of the repaired sections from potential catastrophic fires more difficult because the composites are less tolerant of high temperatures than the steel pipework. This project will use intumescent coatings to protect repaired sections of pipework and will test these samples in a small-scale jet-fire test apparatus.

Tavner, Angus, DrCo-Supervisor: Biggs, Stuart, Mr (IAS Group)

Repairing infrastructure using adhesive joints

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Materials, Mechanical, Oil & Gas.Prerequisite skills: Experience with composite materials would be an advantage.

IAS Group carry out repairs to infrastructure; one of the techniques they are exploring is gluing steel repair sections to existing steel infrastructure. Previous work has explored the strength of the bond between two steel surfaces, and found that certain epoxy resin systems were remarkably tolerant of surface contamination, e.g. dust, oil, water. The project will explore these effects further, and attempt to explain how a dust contaminated surface can in some cases provide a stronger adhesive bond than a clean surface.

Togneri, Roberto, Professor

Speech and Signal Processing and Recognition

Disciplines: Mechanical, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic, Software.Pre-requisite Skills: MATLAB, Signal Processing or Image Processing.

This topic covers speech and speaker recognition, speech enhancement and blind source separation, including microphone array processing, and is recommended for students with an interest in audio processing and enhancement, voice recognition or biometric identification. With this

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project you will develop the necessary basic research skills for hearing and speech assistive technologies, human-computer interaction systems, and signal enhancement for communications and audio systems. Students should have a good understanding of signal and systems and signal processing and be keen to carry out experiments or build working systems based on real and simulated data in the MATLAB or the programming environment required.

Suggested specific projects are listed below (for details see: http://staffhome.ecm.uwa.edu.au/~00014742/research/SPaRProjects.html) and students are welcome to consider and propose alternatives in the first semester:

Speech Enhancement and Intelligibility; Microphone Arrays for Speaker Localisation and Separation; Build Your own Speech Recognition System; Building an Industry Standard Speaker Verification System.

Togneri, Roberto, Professor

Statistical Signal Processing and Machine Learning

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Software.Pre-requisite Skills: MATLAB, Statistical Signal Processing or Machine Learning / Neural Networks.

This topic covers advanced techniques and latest "hot topic" areas in machine learning and statistical signal processing, spoken language systems, and biometric identification, and is recommended for students with a keen interest in computational mathematics, statistical signal processing theory or computer science. Students should have a good background in theoretical algorithm development and programming and a desire to work with cutting edge research in human-computer interaction, biometrics, language processing and advanced techniques for signal recognition and enhancement.

Suggested specific projects are listed below (for details see: http://staffhome.ecm.uwa.edu.au/~00014742/research/SPaRProjects.html) and students are welcome to consider and propose alternatives in the first semester:

Deep Belief Networks for Object Recognition; Pattern Recognition for Face Biometrics; Machine Learning for Spoken Language Understanding; Compressive Sensing for Sparse Representation of Features

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Wang, Jin, DrCo-Supervisor: Cardell-Oliver, Rachel, Associate Professor

Customer Segmentation from Smart Water Meter Data

Disciplines: Civil, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Mechatronic, Software. Pre-requisite skills: Programming skills in one or more of: R, Matlab, Python or C/C++.

Smart water meters are being deployed by water utility companies to monitor water use in real-time. This real-time consumption data is useful for better decision making in water management and future planning. One application of analyzing these time series data is to identify users that have similar consumption behaviours from a large population. The project is to investigate customer segmentation strategies to identify target users from smart water meter data for water efficiency. In the project, students will acquire a variety of knowledge and skills in data science, including general knowledge of Data Science; knowledge of time series analyzing and mining; programming skills (in R, Python or Matlab) for data analytic; and skills of scientific presentation and communication.

Recommended Reading: Jungsuk Kwac, June Flora, Ram Rajagopal. Household Energy Consumption Segmentation Using Hourly Data. IEEE Transations on Smart Grid, vol. 5, No. 1, 2014.

While, Lyndon, DrCo-Supervisor: French, Tim, Dr; Hodkiewicz, Melinda, Professor; Durham, Richard, Professor

Dynamic Scheduling and Optimisation of Mobile Equipment

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Software. Pre-requisite skills: CITS2002 or CITS1401 or equivalent.

Complex industrial facilities operate large collections of equipment of many different types. Managing the interactions between this equipment efficiently depends crucially on determining suitable maintenance schedules for the various equipment-types, but this is a little-studied and little-understood area of asset management. In this project you will build a software tool that is able to simulate the effect of different schedules on

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operational efficiency at a whole-system level. The aim is to build a parameterised tool that is flexible enough to simulate many different types of installations, and to operate at different levels of abstraction as required.

You will need to be comfortable with building significant software systems of reasonable complexity; to this end, you should have done at least one of CITS1001, CITS1401, or CITS2002 with a mark of D or HD.

Wijesinghe, Philip, MrCo-Supervisor: Sampson, David, Professor

Computer vision and machine learning in biomedical imaging

Disciplines: Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Software.Pre-requisite Skills: Matlab, C++ or Java; and statistics.

This project will develop supervised machine learning algorithms for the identification and classification of features in three-dimensional images of cells and tissues. The classification images will be used to develop models of tissue structure, and potentially, to quantify tissue diseases. The students will start by implementing support vector machines to recognise textures and patterns in images, and depending on their aptitude, they may develop more complex or more efficient algorithms.

Students are required to be familiar, or have interest in either Matlab, C++ or Java, and also statistics and statistical methods.

Students are encouraged to come and talk to Philip Wijesinghe or David Sampson to discuss possible projects prior to submission.

Wittek, Adam, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Hu, Xiaozhi, Professor

Composite Materials: Structure Optimisation through Matrix Design70


Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical.Pre-requisite skills: ENSC3003 (Materials and Manufacturing) or equivalent, ENSC3004 (Solid Mechanics). Prior experience/knowledge in finite element analysis (at least equivalent to GENG5514 Finite Element Methods) and material failure/degradation (at least equivalent to MECH4428 Degradation of Materials) would be an advantage.

Composite materials made of relatively weak polymer matrix (typically epoxy) reinforced by high-strength fibres (Fibre-Reinforced Polymers FRPs) offer high performance/strength and light weight. Therefore, their application in aerospace and other industries where the high strength and light weight are required is increasing. However, in recent year the existing models for evaluating the risk of composite failure have been questioned as they tend to focus on fibres rather than matrix. Failures of the matrix and the interface between matrix and fibers are responsible for composite failures. Recent experimental results obtained at the School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering at The University of Western Australia suggest that matrix strength and ductility can be improved if small quantities of short fibres are added to the matrix.

These results are inspiration for this project which aims at:

1) Discovery/understanding of the processes and phenomena that lead to significant improvement of the composite matrix strength if relatively small quantities of short tougher fibres are added to the matrix at the interfaces of fiber layers of different orientations. 2) Quantifying the effects of the type and quantity of fibre additive to the matrix on the performance of various types of composites;3) Creating of constitutive and structural models for methods of computational mechanics (Finite Element Analysis and/or other methods) that would allow to predict the behaviour of various composite materials with fibre additive in the matrix and conduct parametric study for composite materials and stricture design.

The project is for a group of 3-4 students (mechanical, civil and/or materials engineering) with 2 students conducting the experimental study and 1-2 students focusing on methods of computational mechanics for modelling of composite materials and structures. The latter may include

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application of the features/algorithms available in commercial finite element software packages and creation of new algorithms/constitutive models.

Wittek, Adam, Professor

Industry Partner: Liddle, Geoff, Mr (BHP Billiton)

Towards Improving Accuracy of Predicting Loads on Belt Conveyor Systems in Mining Operations

Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical, Mining.Prerequisite skills: ENSC3004 Solid Mechanics or equivalent, ENSC3003 Fluid Mechanics or equivalent. Prior experience/knowledge in finite element analysis (at least equivalent to GENG5514 Finite Element Methods) and numerical methods (at least equivalent to GENG4405 Numerical Methods and Modelling) would be an advantage.

Handling/moving of bulk solids (such as ore and coal) is important part of mining and accounts for significant fraction of the infrastructure and operation costs. This includes transporting ore (and other solids) using belt conveyors. Design of belt conveyor systems (including hoppers, feeders that deliver ore from hoppers to conveyors, and motor selection) requires prediction of ore flow in a conveyor hopper and forces acting between the ore and conveyor belt. For the last 30 years, such predictions have strongly relied on a method developed by The University of Newcastle Research Associates (TUNRA) Bulk Solids http://www.bulksolids.com.au/index.html (Arnold et al., 1982). However, the observations collected by the mining industry when operating conveyor systems and final year projects conducted recently as a parts of the UWA Co-operative Education for Enterprise Development (CEED) programme (Allen, 2012 and Sharp, 2015) suggest that TUNRA method may overestimate the load exerted by ore on conveyor systems.

Therefore, the aims of this project are:

1) Critically analysis the assumptions/simplifications of the TUNRA method (and othersimilar methods);

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2) Analyse sensitivity of predictions made using TUNRA method to the inputparameters/variables;3) Create computational mechanics model/models (e.g. using finite element analysis and/or meshless/particle methods) of the belt conveyor feeding process and compare predictions from such models with those obtained using TUNRA method;4) Propose methods/approaches that would lead to improvement of accuracy of prediction of loads exerted on belt conveyor systems in bulk solid handling. This may include modifications of the existing methods (e.g. TUNRA method) and new methods/approaches.

ReferencesAllen, L. (2012) “Belt Feeder Head Load Investigation”, CEED Final Year Thesis, School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, UWA.Arnold, P. C. et al. (1982) “Bulk Solids: Storage, Flow and Handling”. The University of Newcastle Research Associates TUNRA. The University of Newcastle.Sharp, J. (2015) “Feeders Load Investigation”. CEED Final Year Thesis, School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, UWA.


Spinal Cord Modelling for Understanding and Preventing of Injury

Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical.Prerequisite skills: ENSC3004 Solid Mechanics or equivalent. Prior experience/knowledge in finite element analysis (at least equivalent to GENG5514 Finite Element Methods) and numerical methods (at least equivalent to GENG4405 Numerical Methods and Modelling) would be an advantage.

In Australia alone there are around 400 new cases of spinal cord injury every year. The domestic cost of spinal cord injury is approximately $1 billion. A small reduction in the number and severity of spinal cord injuries through improving of safety countermeasures could reduce this cost. Computer models that predict/simulate the mechanical responses of the spinal cord can play a crucial role in design of such countermeasures.

This project will start with a review of the medical/biological and biomechanical literature on mechanisms and criteria of the spinal cord injury, review of the literature on constitutive properties of the spinal cord tissue/tissues and biomechanical studies for modelling of the spinal cord responses and injury.

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Based on the literature review, the project will focus on the following lines of investigation:

1) Modelling of the constitutive responses and damage/failure of the spinal cord tissue using a selected commercial finite element code (or codes);2) Integration of information on biological/physiological and mechanical aspects of the spinal cord injury to create a single comprehensive injury criterion and implementation of this criterion in a selected commercial (or in-house) finite element code;3) New efficient algorithms of computational mechanics for modelling of the spinal cord (including injury).


Understanding of Pressure Vessel Mechanics and Design Requirements for Teaching in Master of Professional Engineering Mechanical Design Course

Disciplines: Mechanical, Mechatronics.Prerequisite skills: ENSC3004 Solid Mechanics or equivalent.

Pressure vessels are commonly used in daily life and industry to store and process gases and liquids at pressure appreciably different from the ambient pressure. Examples include soft drink cans, air receivers, water boilers, desulfurisation adsorption columns for natural gas processing plant etc. Consequently, pressure vessel design is an important component of mechanical engineering design curriculum. It is anticipated and expected that results, reports etc. of this project will be used in teaching of Mechanical Engineering BE and MPE courses at the UWA.

This study will start with the literature review of Australian and international standards for pressure vessel design, review of the literature on pressure vessel design, review of methods of pressure vessel manufacturing, and review of the analytical and numerical methods for predicting the stress/strain state in a vessel wall.

Following the literature review, the project will focus on analysis of a soft drink can as an example for a pressure vessel along three lines of investigation:

1) Analytical methods/models for predicting the stress distribution in a vessel/can walls and pressure that results in vessel failure/rupture;

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2) Numerical methods (e.g. finite element analysis FEA) and models for predicting the stress distribution in a vessel/can walls and pressure that results in vessel failure/rupture;3) Experimental measurement and analysis of the stress/strain distribution within a vessel/can wall.

Wolgamot, Hugh, DrDraper, Scott, Dr

Analysis of arrays of submerged wave energy devices

Discipline: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Ocean Systems.Pre-requisite skills: Competence in MATLAB essential. Knowledge of linear wave theory is desirable.

Carnegie Wave Energy has installed an array of submerged devices off the coast of Perth. Their devices can be conveniently approximated as short vertical circular cylinders, which reach neither the bottom of the fluid or the free surface. This axisymmetric geometry allows us to use semi-analytical techniques, in which we approximate the complete solution to the fluid motion around the devices in waves using truncated infinite series.This project will extend an existing code (which deals with floating cylinders) to submerged cylinders. When complete, this powerful tool will be able to be used to analyse arbitrary arrangements of submerged devices to provide information about absorbed power, device motions, etc.

Yang, Hong, Professor

Industry Partner: Woodside Energy Ltd

Understanding pitting corrosion of steel alloys in seawater

Disciplines: Chemical and Process, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Oil & Gas, Petroleum.Pre-requisite skills: To have taken MECH4428 Degradation of Materials.

This project is designed to study the pitting behaviour of a range of steel alloys commonly used in subsea pipelines including carbon steels, stainless steels and other corrosion resistant alloys in natural and treated seawaters.

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The main aim of the project is to investigate the effect of a proprietary chemical package on corrosion of subsea pipeline materials and understand the corrosion mechanism.

Zhang, Dongke, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Zhang, Yang, Dr; Zhang, Zeno, Mr

Cracking of tar over biochar using toluene as tar model compound

Disciplines: Chemical and Process, Oil & Gas, Petroleum.Pre-requisite skills: Experimental work.

Tar is generated in biomass pyrolysis and gasification processes and is finally present in the pyrolysis gas, resulting in the blocking and corrosion problems in the downstream processes. It is of significance to develop an economic and sustainable method to crack the tar to improve the quality and quantity of pyrolysis gaseous products. As biochar is a low-cost by-product from pyrolysis with high catalytic activity, this project will focus on the catalytic cracking of tar over a bed of biochar using toluene as tar model compound.

Sub-project 1: Effect of cracking temperature on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition

The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of cracking temperature on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition. Tar cracking experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor at different cracking temperatures. The tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition will be measured using GC-MS and GC-TCD/FID located at Centre for Energy of UWA. This sub-project is expected to provide an insightful understanding of the effect of cracking temperature on the tar cracking process.

Sub-project 2: Effect of residence time on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition

The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of residence time on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition. Tar cracking experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor at different residence times. The tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition will be measured using GC-MS and GC-TCD/FID located at Centre for Energy of UWA. This sub-project is expected to provide an insightful understanding of the effect of residence time on the tar cracking process.

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Sub-project 3: Effect of steam and oxygen additions on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product compositionThe objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of steam and oxygen addition on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition. Tar cracking experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor with steam and oxygen additions. The tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition will be measured using GC-MS and GC-TCD/FID located at Centre for Energy of UWA. This sub-project is expected to provide an insightful understanding of the effect of steam and oxygen additions on the tar cracking process.

Sub-project 4: Effect of biochar particle size on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition

The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of biochar particle size on the tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition. Tar cracking experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor while biochar with different particle sizes will used as catalysts. The tar conversion rate, gas product yield and gas product composition will be measured using GC-MS and GC-TCD/FID located at Centre for Energy of UWA. This sub-project is expected to provide an insightful understanding of the effect of biochar particle size on the tar cracking process.

Zhang, Dongke, ProfessorCo-Supervisors: Zhang, Zeno, Mr; Zhu, Mingming, Dr

Ignition and combustion characteristics of Zhundong lignite

Disciplines: Chemical and Process, Mining.Pre-requisite skills: Experimental work.

Zhundong lignite, with an estimated reserve of up to 3.9 Gt, is a super-large coal resource in northwest China and is predicted by some to provide China with a secure energy supply for many decades to come. However, as lignite, it suffers from the typical shortcomings of the low rank coal in every aspect, such as high moisture content and high surface reactivity (high spontaneous combustion tendency). Moreover, its high alkali and alkali earth metal (AAEM) content, especially the high sodium content, made the utilisation of the resources very challenging. Washing treatment is an effective technique that can be deployed to reduce the sodium content prior to the downstream utilisation of Zhundong lignite. This project will focus on the fundamental understanding of the ignition and combustion

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characteristics of the Zhundong lignite before and after the washing treatment.

Sub-project 1: An experimental study of ignition and combustion characteristics of raw, water-washed, ion-exchanged and acid-washed Zhundong lignite in a thermogravimetric analyser

The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the variations of the basic ignition and combustion characteristics of Zhundong lignite with different washing treatments using the state-of-art thermogravimetric analyser. The ignition temperature will be determined by using the TG ignition technique, together with other important parameters such as peak temperature, burnout temperature, burning rate etc.

Sub-project 2: Effect of NaCl addition to the acid-washed Zhundong lignite on its ignition and combustion characteristics in a thermogravimetric analyser

The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of NaCl (the major sodium contributor in Zhundong lignite) addition to the acid-washed Zhundong lignite on its basic ignition and combustion characteristics using the state-of-art thermogravimetric analyser. Different NaCl loading will be applied to the acid-washed lignite using the impregnation technique. The ignition temperature will be determined by using the TG ignition technique, together with other important parameters such as peak temperature, burnout temperature, burning rate etc.

Sub-project 3: An experimental study of ignition and combustion characteristics of raw, water-washed, ion-exchanged and acid-washed Zhundong lignite in a single particle ignition apparatus

The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the variations of the basic ignition and combustion characteristics of Zhundong lignite with different washing treatments using the single particle ignition technique. The ignition temperature will be determined by using the direct thermocouple measurement technique. The ignition and combustion process will be recorded using the high speed CCD camera. By analysing the recorded images, other important parameters such as ignition delay time, volatile flame duration, burnout time, burning rate, can also be determined.

Sub-project 4: Effect of NaCl addition to the acid-washed Zhundong lignite on its ignition and combustion characteristics in a single particle ignition apparatus

The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of NaCl (the major sodium contributor in Zhundong lignite) addition to the acid-washed Zhundong lignite on its basic ignition and combustion

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characteristics using the single particle ignition technique. Different NaCl loading will be applied to the acid-washed lignite using the impregnation technique. The ignition temperature will be determined by using the direct thermocouple measurement technique. The ignition and combustion process will be recorded using the high speed CCD camera. By analysing the recorded images, other important parameters such as ignition delay time, volatile flame duration, burnout time, burning rate, can also be determined.

Zhang, Dongke, ProfessorCo-Supervisor: Zhu, Mingming, Dr; Zhang, Yang, Dr

Rheological and combustion characteristics of biochar slurry fuels Disciplines: Chemical and Process, Oil & Gas, PetroleumPre-requisite skills: Experimental work

Biochar is a carbon-rich by-product of biomass pyrolysis. One of the feasible ways to utilise biochar is to burn it in diesel engine or other combustors, for example, in the form of biochar-water slurry fuels. However, because of the low volatile content, the ignition of biochar-water slurry fuels tends to be difficult thus needs to be improved. Adding algae or biooil into biochar-water slurry fuels will bring extra volatiles so will help to improve its ignition behaviour. Meanwhile, the rheological properties of biochar-water slurry fuels may also be change due to the addition of algae or biooil. Therefore, this project will investigate the rheological properties and combustion characteristics of biochar based slurry fuels.

Sub-topic 1: Preparation and rheological properties of biochar-algae-water slurry fuels

This project will study the preparation and rheological characteristic of pine sawdust biochar- algae slurry fuel. The pine sawdust biochar will be crushed and sieved into particles with different size fractions. The biochar-water slurry fuels will be firstly prepared and the algae will be added into the slurry fuels as additives. The effect of algae loading on the rheological properties of biochar-water slurry fuels will be investigated. The rheological properties include viscosity, yield stress and stability of the slurry fuel.

Sub-topic 2: Preparation and rheological properties of biochar-biooil-water slurry fuels

This project will study the preparation and rheological characteristic of pine sawdust biochar-biooil slurry fuel. The pine sawdust biochar will be crushed and sieved into particles with different size fractions. The biochar particles prepared will be mixed with biooil with the addition of an additive to form

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biochar-biooil slurry fuel. The rheological properties of the slurry fuel, including viscosity, yield stress and stability will be studied. The effect of particle size, biooil concentration and additives on the rheological properties will be investigated.

Sub-topic 3: Ignition and combustion characteristics of biochar-algae-water slurry fuels

This project will study ignition and combustion characteristic of droplets of pine sawdust biochar-algae slurry fuel in a hot tube furnace. The ignition and combustion characteristics include ignition delay period, burning time and burning rate of droplets. The effect of furnace temperature, algae content in the slurry fuel and droplet size on the ignition and combustion characteristics will be investigated.

Sub-topic 4: Ignition and combustion characteristics of biochar-biooil-water slurry fuels

This project will study ignition and combustion characteristic of droplets of pine sawdust biochar-biooil slurry fuel in a hot tube furnace. The ignition and combustion characteristics include ignition delay period, burning time and burning rate of droplets. The effect of furnace temperature, biooilcontent in the slurry fuel and droplet size on the ignition and combustion characteristics of biochar-biooil slurry fuels will be investigated.

Zhang, Yang, DrCo-Supervisor: Zhang, Dongke, Professor; Zhang, Zeno, Mr

Combustion characteristics of biomass pyrolysis gas

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Environmental, Mechanical, Oil & Gas.Pre-requisite skills: Experimental work.

This project will study the ignition characteristics and flammability of pyrolysis gas (normally containing H2, CO, CH4, CO2, N2, H2O, etc.). The expected outcomes of this project are a set of systematic experimental data and a profound knowledge into pyrolysis gas ignition and flammability.

Sub-project 1: The effect of H/C ratio upon the flammability limit of pyrolysis gas

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Flammability limit is a fuel composition range only within which the combustion can be sustained. The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of H/C ratio in the fuel upon the flammability limit of pyrolysis gas. The experiment will be conducted using a Hartmann Combustion Chamber at various H/C ratios. This sub-project is expected to produce a set of systematic data that can be used to validate numerical models, and an insightful understanding on the mechanism of H/C ratio effect on the flammability limit of pyrolysis gas.

Sub-project 2: The effect of inert dilution upon the flammability limit of pyrolysis gas

Pyrolysis gas usually contains large amount (30% - 70%) of inert diluents (CO2, N2, H2O). The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of inert dilution upon the flammability limit of pyrolysis gas. Similar to sub-project 1, the experiment will be conducted using the Hartmann Combustion Chamber at various dilution ratios. This sub-project is expected to produce a set of systematic data that can be used to validate numerical models, and an insightful understanding on the mechanism of dilution effect on the flammability limit of pyrolysis gas.

Sub-project 3: The effect of H/C ratio upon the minimum ignition energy of pyrolysis gasMinimum ignition energy (MIE) is defined as the minimum amount of energy that can ignite a flammable mixture. The objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of H/C ratio in the fuel upon the MIE of pyrolysis gas. The pyrolysis gas/air mixture will be ignited in the Hartmann Combustion Chamber using a spark plug at various H/C ratios. This sub-project is expected to produce a set of systematic data and an insightful understanding on the mechanism of H/C ratio effect on MIE of pyrolysis gas.

Sub-topic 4: The effect of inert dilution upon the minimum ignition energy of pyrolysis gasThe objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of inert dilution upon the MIE of pyrolysis gas. The pyrolysis gas/air mixture will be ignited in the Hartmann Combustion Chamber using a spark plug at various dilution ratios. This sub-project is expected to produce a set of systematic data and an insightful understanding on the mechanism of dilution effect on MIE of pyrolysis gas.

Zhou, Tongming, Professor

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Hydrodynamic forces on a piggyback pipeline is oscillatory flows

Discipline: Civil, Mechanical, Oil and Gas.

Pre-requisite skills: ENSC3010 Fluid Mechanics.

Vortex shedding is a phenomenon that occurs when a flow passes a bluff body. For offshore oil and gas engineering, in many cases, small pipes are attached to the large one, or the so-called piggyback arrangement for the purpose to provide water or power lines. Accurate prediction of the hydrodynamic forces on the pipelines is crucial both for the design and operation of these structures. In the present project, students will be asked to conduct experiments in oscillatory flows to obtain the drag as well as the inertial force coefficients of a piggyback pipeline at various KC numbers and Reynolds numbers. The influence of the position angle of the smaller cylinder on the overall force coefficients will also be examined.

Zhou, Tongming, Professor

Studies on flow structures of a screen cylinder wake using PIV

Discipline: Civil, Mechanical, Oil and Gas.Pre-requisite skills: ENSC3010 Fluid Mechanics.

Vortex shedding is a phenomenon that occurs when a flow passes a bluff body. The shedding process can induce vibration, which, at resonance, can result in excessive motion and possible structural failure. Therefore, a bluff body, which may experience strong wind or water flow, must be designed such that excessive motion due to vortex shedding can be prevented or mitigated. As a result, the study of vortex shedding from bluff bodies has significant engineering applications. In the present project, students will first examine of effectiveness of screen cylinder on VIV reduction in a big wind tunnel. Then more detailed study on the wake structures will be conducted in a water flume using Particle Image Velocimetry to examine the vortex formation mechanisms in the near wake. These results will be used to explain the results obtained in the VIV test.

Zhu, Mingming, DrCo-Supervisors: Ma, Yu, Dr; Zhang, Dongke, Professor

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Effect of oxygenates on the combustion characteristics and soot formation during combustion of diesel

Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Environmental, Mechanical, Petroleum.Pre-requisite skills: Experimental and analytical work.

This project aims to evaluate and compare the effect of molecular structures of oxygenates on the combustion characteristics and soot formation during combustion process of diesel using single droplet combustion techniques. The two oxygenates, palmitate and methyl oleate, the two major components of biodiesel, will be studied.

Sub-topic 1: Study on the effect of palmitate on the combustion characteristics of single droplets of diesel

The effect of diesel/methyl palmitate blending ratio on the ignition delay, flame temperature, burning rates of single droplets of diesel will be investigated at different ambient temperatures.

Sub-topic 2: Study on the effect of palmitate on the soot formation of single droplets of diesel The effect of diesel/methyl palmitate blending ratio on the soot intensity and particle size of single droplets of diesel will be investigated at different ambient temperatures.

Sub-topic 3: Study on the effect of methyl oleate on the combustion characteristics of single droplets of diesel

The effect of diesel/methyl oleate blending ratio on the ignition delay, flame temperature, burning rates of single droplets of diesel will be investigated at different ambient temperatures.

Sub-topic 4: Study on the effect of palmitate on the soot formation of single droplets of dieselThe effect of diesel/methyl oleate blending ratio on the soot intensity and particle size of single droplets of diesel will be investigated at different ambient temperatures.

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