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, Dr
Co-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. Naturallyoccurring 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-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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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.
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
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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, Dr
Co-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, Dr
Co-supervisor: Ivey, Greg, Professor
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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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, Professor
Co-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; leftfield 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.
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.
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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, Professor
Co-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; leftfield 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.
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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Boussaid, Farid, Professor
Co-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; leftfield 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.
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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Braunl, Thomas, Professor
Co-Supervisors: Boussaid, Farid, Professor; Hidalgo, Franco
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronics, Computer, Software.
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, Professor
Co-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 predetermined 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.
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1. Computer Vision
Identify 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 Positioning
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 Control
At 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 & Reliability
The 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 (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
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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 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.
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Recommended Reading:
http://www.buildsys.org/2015/?page_id=50 Papers from 2015 BuildSys conference
Energy Use in the Australian Residential Sector 1986-2020
http://www.industry.gov.au/Energy/Energyinformation/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 this one include smart water metering, monitoring rammed earth houses,
industry asset management and energy efficient smart homes.
Chua, Hui Tong, Professor
Co-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.
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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.
Chua, Hui Tong, Professor
Co-Supervisor: Srinivasan, Kandadai, Adjunct Professor
Waste heat desalination, spent liquor reconcentration, bauxite
residue remediation
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Mechanical
Prerequisite skills: Heat and Mass Transfer, Thermodynamics, Mechanics (for iv)
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
Development of an advanced waste heat driven multi-effect distillation desalination
process.
Development of an advanced waste heat driven multi-stage flash desalination
process.
Development of steam driven spent liquor reconcentration process for mineral
refineries.
Investigation of bauxite residue dewatering via centrifuging - this one is also
available to Civil Engineering students.
Chua, Hui Tong, Professor
Co-Supervisor: Srinivasan, Kandadai, Adjunct Professor
Geothermal Engineering
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Mechanical
Prerequisite 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.
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(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, Dr
Co-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.
Ciancio, Daniela, Dr
Co-supervisors: Beckett, Chris, Dr; Meek, Alexandra, Ms
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.
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Ciancio, Daniela, Dr
Co-supervisors: Beckett, Chris, Dr; Meek, Alexandra, Ms
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
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.
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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
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!
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Doyle, Barry, Dr
Co-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 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 multimaterial 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
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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).
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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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.
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, Professor
Co-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
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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 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, Professor
Co-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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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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
Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.
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
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).
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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.
Ghadouani, Anas, Professor
Co-supervisor: Reichwaldt, Elke, Dr
Sludge accumulation in wastewater ponds (municipal, mining,
agroindustrial)
Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mining, Mechanical, Chemical.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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.
Ghadouani, Anas, Professor
Co-supervisor: Reichwaldt, Elke, Dr
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, Dr
Co-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.
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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Guzzomi, Andrew, Dr
Co-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
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
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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, Professor
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-UVtemperature accelerated life units.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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 nanotube and graphene
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 nanotubes and graphene has recent been developed at UWA and used on the metal substrate.
The project will carry out tests under various conditions.
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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.
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 Park
Industry Contacts: 1. Cocks, Geoffrey, Senior Principal
2. Verheyde, Fred, Manager/Principal
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Hu, Yuxia, Associate Professor
Co-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.
Huang, David, Professor
Broadband Wireless to the Bush
Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.
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
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Huang, David, Professor
Resource Optimization in Broadband Wireless Communications
Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.
For future broadband wireless communications, we need not only to build a link with the
capability of providing high data rate but also to divide the link wisely to accommodate the
various requirements of different applications from different users. From this perspective,
how to utilize a link is as important as how to build a link. In this project, you are going to
investigate and propose ways to effectively and efficiently allocate resources to different users
and different applications using the principle of “opportunistic communications”. The
principle of opportunistic communications is actually simple: it always allocates the resources
to the users or applications that can best utilize them. This is somehow similar to the fact
that the school normally awards students with best performance.
Huang, David, Professor
Probabilistic graphical models for underwater acoustic
communications
Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.
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
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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.
Johns, Mike, Professor and Fridjonsson, Einar, Dr
Co-Supervisors: Aman, Zach, Dr; Stanwix, Paul, Dr
Oilfield Water Management
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Mechanical, Oil & Gas.
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, Professor
Co-Supervisor: May, Eric, Professor
Carbon Sequestration
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Mechanical, Oil & Gas.
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
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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.
Karnowski, Karol, Research Fellow
Co-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.
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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
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/Professor
Co-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
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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 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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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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 CBD
Industry Contacts: Kenneth Widjaja
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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 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:
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
- 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, Professor
Co-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:
- 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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Lehane, Barry, Professor
Co-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, Subiaco
Industry Contacts: Chris Tyler (Director) and Tynan Luzuk
Lehane, Barry, Professor
Improving design methods for assessment of pile axial capacity
Discipline: Civil
Pre-requisite skills: At least 2 units in geomechanics
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: Civil
Pre-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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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, Professor
Evaluation 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 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 Fellow
Co-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
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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 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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Liu, Yinong Professor
Co-Supervisor: Yang, Hong, Professor
Subsea Pipeline Corrosion
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical,
Mining, Oil & Gas
Prerequisite 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, Professor
Co-Supervisors: Fernando, Tyrone, Professor; Reynolds, Mark, Professor
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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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.
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
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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, Professor
Co-Supervisors: Graham, Brendan, Dr; Stanwix, Paul, Dr; Hughes, Thomas, Dr
Natural Gas & LNG Properties Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Oil &
Gas
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Mechanical, 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, Professor
Co-Supervisors: Li, Kevin, Dr; Graham, Brendan, Dr; Xiao, James, Dr
Advanced Gas Separations
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Mechanical, Oil & Gas.
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
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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.
McLaughlin, Robert, A/Professor
Co-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 intraoperative 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/
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Mian, Ajmal, Associate Professor
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.
Miller, Karol, Professor
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.
3) Medical Image Analysis – comparative analysis of image segmentation methods.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Miller, Karol, Professor
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 nonmedical domains where real-time interactivity is needed.
Miller, Karol, Professor
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, Professor
Co-Supervisor: Parish, Giacinta, Professor, Asadnia, Mohsen, Dr
Advanced Sensing Technologies: Transistor-based biosensors
Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic
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 studies
2. Electrical, chemical, biochemical and physical characterisation and optimisation of
functionalised ion sensors
3. Mechanical, electrical and chemical characterisation and optimisation of packaging
techniques
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
4. 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 layersolution interface.
Ocampo, Carlos, Dr
Co-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
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
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Pan, Jie, Professor
Co-Supervisors: Matthews, Dave, Dr; Sun, Hongmei, Ms
Vibration analysis and condition monitoring of engineering
structures and systems
Disciplines: Computer, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software
Prerequisite 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, Professor
Co-Supervisors: Sun, Hongmei, Ms; Pan, SW, A/Prof
Analysis and control of sound and vibration
Disciplines: 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.
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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Parish, Giacinta, Professor
Co-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. Semiconductorbased 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
2. Electrical, chemical and physical characterisation and optimisation of functionalised ion
sensors
3. Mechanical, electrical and chemical characterisation and optimisation of packaging
techniques
4. 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.
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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
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).
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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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
Connectivity around Australia through particle tracking
Disciplines: Civil, Oil and Gas, Environmental, Ocean Systems.
Pre-requisite skills: Fluid mechanics, computer literate.
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
50
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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
Disciplines: Civil, Oil and Gas, Environmental, Ocean Systems.
Pre-requisite skills: Fluid mechanics, computer literate.
UWA is the host for the Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network (ACORN) and maintains
HF Radar stations at several locations around Australia, 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.
51
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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 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.
(with external joint supervisiors Yuchao Sun PATREC, and Dr Doina Olaru UWA Business
School)
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.
52
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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.
Pre-requisite skills: Programming in Python or C++; Excel data analysis;
Knowledge in GIS will be an advantage.
(with external joint supervisiors Yuchao Sun PATREC, and Dr Doina Olaru UWA Business
School)
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 silica
3. Properties of Al-based alloys produced using enhanced processing parameters
53
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Silva, Dilusha, Professor
Co-Supervisors: Martyniuk, Mariusz, Professor; Faraone, Lorenzo, W. Professor.
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, Professor
Co-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.
54
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Silva, Dilusha, Professor
Co-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, Professor
Co-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.
Techniques to improve the component prediction accuracy using techniques such as principle
component analysis will be investigated.
55
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Silva, Dilusha, Professor
Co-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, Professor
Co-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 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.
56
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Silva, Dilusha, Professor
Co-Supervisors: Putrino, Gino, Assoc/Professor; Gurusamy, Jega, Mr
Advanced Sensing Technologies: A mini environmental chamber for
characterization of MEMS sensor
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Computer,
Environmental, Mechatronic, Software.
Electrical
&
Electronic,
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/Professor
Co-supervisor: Beckett, Chris, Dr
Impact of soil compaction on near-saturated soil hydraulic
properties
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.
57
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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, Professor
Co-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.
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.
58
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Sreeram, Victor, Professor
Co-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, Professor
Co-Supervisor: Ahmad, Arfah Binti, Miss
Load Profile Analysis of Smart Meter Data
Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic.
Pre-requisite Skills: Matlab, S-Plus / R.
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.
59
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Stanwix, Paul, Dr
Co-Supervisor: May, Eric, Professor
Investigating condensation phenomena near fluid mixture dew
points using microwave cavity technology
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Electrical & Electronic, Oil & Gas
Prerequisite 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.
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!
60
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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, Dr
Co-Supervisor: Biggs, Stuart, Mr (IAS Group)
Jet-fire testing of composite pipe repairs
Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Materials, Mechanical, Oil & Gas
Prerequisite 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, Dr
Co-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.
61
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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 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:
62
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Deep Belief Networks for Object Recognition;
Pattern Recognition for Face Biometrics;
Machine Learning for Spoken Language Understanding;
Compressive Sensing for Sparse Representation of Features
Wang, Jin, Dr
Co-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, Dr
Co-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
63
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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 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, Mr
Co-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.
64
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
Wittek, Adam, Professor
Co-Supervisor: Hu, Xiaozhi, Professor
Composite Materials: Structure Optimisation through Matrix Design
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 application of the features/algorithms available in commercial finite element software
packages and creation of new algorithms/constitutive models.
65
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTING AND MATHEMATICS
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 other
similar methods);
2) Analyse sensitivity of predictions made using TUNRA method to the input
parameters/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.
References
Allen, 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.
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Wittek, Adam, Professor
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.
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).
Wittek, Adam, Professor
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.
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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;
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, Dr
Draper, 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.
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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. 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, Professor
Co-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 byproduct 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 subproject 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
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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 GCMS 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.
Sub-project 3: Effect of steam and oxygen additions 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 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 subproject 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, Professor
Co-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
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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 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 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
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ignition delay time, volatile flame duration, burnout time, burning rate, can also be
determined.
Zhang, Dongke, Professor
Co-Supervisor: Zhu, Mingming, Dr; Zhang, Yang, Dr
Rheological and combustion characteristics of biochar slurry fuels
Disciplines: Chemical and Process, Oil & Gas, Petroleum
Pre-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 biocharalgae 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 biocharbiooil 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 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.
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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, Dr
Co-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
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 subproject 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 gas
Minimum 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
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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 gas
The 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
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 socalled 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
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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, Dr
Co-Supervisors: Ma, Yu, Dr; Zhang, Dongke, Professor
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 diesel
The 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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