Publications

Li, H, Zhou, X, Chen, C, Huang, Y, Bao, L, Bao, T, Bao, W, Cao, W, Chu, M, Cui, C, Deng, Z, Ding, S, Du, X, Feng, P, Feng, P, Ge, Y, Hang, L, Huang, Z, Jin, W, Li, G, Li, Q, Li, Z, Li, Z, Li, L, Li, A, Li, H, Li, S, Li, G, Liu, F, Ling, T, Lu, X, Nie, J, Sun, W, Shao, Y, Shi, Y, Wang, J, Wu, B, Wang, H, Wang, L, Xiao, Y, Xu, S, Xu, J, Xu, S, Xie, T, Yan, Z, Yang, Z, Ye, L, Zhao, T, Zhang, J, Zhou, C, Zhou, X, Sarhan, A, Wang, G, Smith, ST, Sreenivasan, M, Ji, T, Kadhum, AAH, Kaveh, A, Mufti, A, Naaman, AE, Mosallam, A, Topping, BHV, Haung, CH, Chiew, SP, Aquino, C, Hui, D, Ronagh, H, Ge, HB, Harik, IE, Bungey, JH, Chen, JF, Park, J, Kida, K, Manabe, KI, Sung, KG, Moon, KM, Bathe, KJ, Lee, KS, Ho, LH, Feo, L, Bank, LC, Lee, MMK, Stewart, MG, Soutsos, MN, Utaberta, N, Sofronie, R, Sri Ravindra Rajah, R, Ibell, T, Ueda, T, Tan, KH, Hwee, TK, Hsieh, WH, Wu, ZS & Geem, ZW 2012, Preface.

Bolch, T, Peters, J, Yegorov, A, Pradhan, B, Buchroithner, M & Blagoveshchensky, V 2012, 'Identification of Potentially Dangerous Glacial Lakes in the Northern Tian Shan' in Terrigenous Mass Movements, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 369-398.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Dieu Tien Bui, Oystein.B Dick 2012, 'Landslide susceptibility assessment at Hoa Binh province of Vietnam using frequency ratio model. Advances in Biomedical Engineering' in Advances in Biomedical Engineering, APEST 2012, pp. 476-484.

Guo, W & Ngo, H-H 2012, 'Membrane Processes for Wastewater Treatment' in Zhang, TC, Surampalli, RY, Vigneswaran, S, Tyagi, RD, Ong, SL & Kao, CM (eds), Membrane Technology and Environmental Applications, American Society of Civil Engineers, USA, pp. 169-216.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Nowadays, continued population growth and economic development have contributed to increasing demand on water supplies, while multipurpose water use has let to deteriorating water quality by introducing chemical or biological contaminants to receiving waters. Although governments and water authorities have proclaimed more stringent discharge regulations together with increased wastewater disposal costs to protect human and environmental health, wastewater treatment has become ever more crucial and indispensable in order to preserve the diminishing water resources and minimize adverse impacts on our ecosystem. Over the last century various methods and technologies have been developed and applied to remove solids, organic pollutants and nutrients from wastewater. Wastewater treatment involves the combination of various physical, chemical and biological processes and operations (Table 6.1). In general, conventional wastewater treatment processes can successfully remove the majority of degradable organics and suspended solids found in wastewaters. However, to further provide a sufficient level of treatment to wastewater streams and to remove specific contaminants, membrane seperation technology has been emerged as an alternative and innovative treatment technology and plays an important role in global water market. This chapter gives an extensive and up-to-date review of membrane separation technologies (e.g.,microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UP), nanofiltration (NP) and reverse osmosis (RO) in wastewater treatment with specific attention to various membranes, treatment processes and configurations, and their practical applications.

Guo, W, Ngo, H-H & Vigneswaran, S 2012, 'Enhancement of Membrane Processes with Attached Growth Media' in Zhang, TC, Surampalli, RY, Vigneswaran, S, Tyagi, RD, Ong, SL & Kao, CM (eds), Membrane Technology and Environmental Applications, American Society of Civil Engineers, USA, pp. 603-634.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The consumption of limited waste resources together with the need to comply with ever more stringent water quality standards, and the need to reuse water are the main impetus for the intensification of existing conventional water treatment processes. Moreover, current and impending legislation on wastewater treatment effluent has also led to the need for improved treatment processes capable of removing higher percentages of nutrients, suspended solids, bacteria, etc. (Kramne et al., 2005). During the last decades, the interest in the use of membrane technology has emerged in wastewater treatment as well as drinking water and process water production. This growth can be explained by a combination of (a) growing demand for water with high quality, (b) growing pressure to reuse wastewater, (b) better realibility and integrity of the membranes, (d) lower prices of membranes due to enhanced use, and (e) more stringent standards, e.g., in the drinking water industry (van de Bruggen et al., 2008). Therefore, membrane techniques (e.g., microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (DF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO)) in general and mebrance bioreactors (MBRs) in particular have been widely applied to wastewater reclamation and reuse for simultaneous organic and nutrient removal. Normally, there are two ways to begin water reuse: either retrofitting the current wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) facilities or constructing extra advanced processes after secondary treatment. Biological nutrients removal (BNR) processes modifying the current conventional WWTP is a typical example of retrofitting, while membrane filtration, carbon adsorption and ozonation are typically used for extra-installation the advanced treatment of secondary effluent (Baek and Chang, 2009). Especially, as eutrophication of the aquatic environment caused by nitrogen and phosphorus present in discharged effluent has become an unavoidable concern, the development of cost-effective and efficient BN...

Guo, W, Ngo, H-H & Vigneswaran, S 2012, 'Fouling Control of Membranes with Pretreatment' in Zhang, TC, Surampalli, RY, Vigneswaran, S, Tyagi, RD, Ong, SL & Kao, CM (eds), Membrane Technology and Environmental Applications, American Society of Civil Engineers, USA, pp. 533-580.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The impediment of the membrane technology is a fouling problem and consequently higher operating and membrane relacement cost. Pretreatment is very important for developing the best treatment process train to secure better membrane treatability and producing acceptable effluent qualities. This chapter addresses the state of the art pretreatment techniques and their application to low pressure (MF/UF) and high pressure (NF/RO) memrances in water and wastewater treatment as well as desalination. The impact of different pretreatment processes on membrane performance and membrane fouling control have been extensively reviewed.

Jaboyedoff, M, Choffet, M, Derron, MH, Horton, P, Loye, A, Longchamp, C, Mazotti, B, Michoud, C & Pedrazzini, A 2012, 'Preliminary slope mass movement susceptibility mapping using DEM and LiDAR DEM' in Terrigenous mass movements, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 109-170.

Keivan Kabiri, Saeid.Pirasteh 2012, 'Manifestation of Remotely Sensed Data Coupled With Field Measured Meteorological Data for an Assessment of Degradation of Urmia Lake, Iran' in Advances in Biomedical Engineering, APEST 2012, pp. 395-401.

Link, S & Prade, H 2012, 'Preface.', pp. 79-81.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Mann, U, Pradhan, B, Prechtel, N & Buchroithner, MF 2012, 'An Automated Approach for Detection of Shallow Landslides from LiDAR Derived DEM Using Geomorphological Indicators in a Tropical Forest' in Terrigenous Mass Movements, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 1-22.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Meujo, DAF & Hamann, MT 2012, 'Science, Policy, and Risk Management: Case of Seafood Safety' in Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, Springer New York, pp. 9079-9109.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ngo, H-H, Guo, W & Vigneswaran, S 2012, 'Membrane Processes for Water Reclamation and Reuse' in Zhang, TC, Surampalli, RY, Vigneswaran, S, Tyagi, RD, Ong, SL & Kao, CM (eds), Membrane Technology and Environmental Applications, American Society of Civil Engineers, USA, pp. 239-275.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Water reclamation and reuse is being increasingly emphasized as a strategy for rational use of limited freshwater and as a means of safeguarding the deteriorating aquatic environment due to wastewater disposal. Membrane technology is playing a vital role in augment our water supplies and is essential for sustainable production of clean water. This chapter gives a comprehensive review of technological development train of wastewater treatment, as well as the detailed perfonnance of advanced membrance processes in municipal wastewater reclamation and reuse. The technological and economic feasibility of different membrane-based technologies compared to conventional treatment processes is also elucidated in this chapter.

Ni, B & Yu, H 2012, 'Aerobic Granular Sludge Technology for Wastewater Treatment' in Biological Sludge Minimization and Biomaterials/Bioenergy Recovery Technologies, Wiley, pp. 429-463.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Pourghasemi, HR, Pradhan, B, Gokceoglu, C & Deylami Moezzi, K 2012, 'Landslide Susceptibility Mapping Using a Spatial Multi Criteria Evaluation Model at Haraz Watershed, Iran' in Terrigenous Mass Movements, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 23-49.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Shon, H 2012, 'Removal of lower-molecular-weight substances from water and wastewater : challenges and solutions' in Wastewater Treatment Advanced Processes and Technologies, CRC Press.
View description>>

These features combine to make the book an authoritative resource and practical tool for resolving wastewater treatment issues.

Shon, HK, Phuntsho, S, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J, Aryal, R & Jegatheesan, V 2012, 'Physical, Chemical, and Biological Characterization of Membrane Fouling' in Zhang, TC, Surampalli, RY, Vigneswaran, S, Tyagi, RD, Ong, SL & Kao, CM (eds), Membrane Technology and Environmental Applications, American Society of Civil Engineers, USA, pp. 457-503.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this chapter, advanced characterization of membrane fouling as a diagnostic tool has been summarized to prevent membrane fouling. Physical, chemical and biological analyses as membrane autopsies are mainly utilized to better understand membrane foulant. The physical characteri zation gives structure, roughness, charge effect, strength and hydrophobicity of membrane fouling. The chemical methods provide qualitative and quantitative measurements of different inorganic and organic matter. The biological properties present the spatial biofilm distribution, structure of dominant microorgnisms and isolation and identification of microorganisms. In addition, detailed membrane foulant types are reviewed in terms of structure, roughness, hydrophobicity, charge effect, strength, calcium, magnesium, alluminum, iron, silicate, particle, functional group, biopolymer, humic acid, polysaccharide, structural composition, biofilm structure, microorganism and foulant interaction.

Šimon, P & Thomas, PS 2012, 'Application of Isoconversional Methods for the Processes Occurring in Glassy and Amorphous Materials' in Hot Topics in Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, Springer Netherlands, pp. 225-246.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Singh, G, Johir, MAH, Kandasamy, J, Vigneswaran, S, Kus, B & Naidu, R 2012, 'Stormwater Harvesting and Reuse' in Meyers, RA (ed), Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, Springer New York, Germany, pp. 10095-10117.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Rapid urbanization has contributed to considerable increases in urban stromwater runoff and pollution, a deterioration of the water quality of urban waterways , and significant threats to its ecosystem. Stormwater runoff is the most neglected resource and, given that it contributes significantly to diffuse pollution of our waterways, it needs to be managed in more sustainable way to capture its benefits and at the same time to reduce the adverse impacts on waterways and receiving waters. A cultural change is occurring in urban stormwater management practice. Environmental aspects are becoming a major focus, with potentially profound effects on the traditional approach to stormwater management. An integrated approach to stormwater treatment and management and stormwater harvesting regards stormwater as a resource rather than a waste and considers all aspects of runoff within a development, including implementation of water quality/quantity controls, maximizing water reuse/conservation whilst preserving the amenity and environmental values within the catchment. Stormwater harvesting and reuse offers a potential alternative water supply for at least non-potable uses. The benefits of a successful stormwater harvesting systems include reductions in stormwater pollution loads to downstream waterways and estuaries, and in stormwater volumes and discharges. Methods of assessment to check the extent to which stormwater treatment systems are meeting their design objectives and compliance to water quality standards is important.

Vigneswaran, S, Nguyen, TV, Kandasamy, J, Aim, RB & Visvanathan, C 2012, 'Membrane Processes for Drinking Water Treatment' in Membrane Technology and Environmental Applications, American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 140-168.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This volume provides in-depth technical information on the fundamentals, applications, and recent advances of membrane technology, including state-of-the-art reviews of current research, critical analysis of new processes and materials, and ...

Vigneswaran, S, Sathananthan, S, Shon, HK, Kandasamy, J & Visvanathan, C 2012, 'Delineation of Membrane Processes' in Membrane Technology and Environmental Applications, American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 41-74.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Zhou, JL 2012, 'Sampling of Humic and Colloidal Phases in Liquid Samples' in Janusz Pawliszyn (ed), Comprehensive Sampling and Sample Preparation, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 335-348.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Humic and colloidal phases represent a key fraction of natural dissolved organic matter, which have been difficult to separate and characterize. This chapter examines the current methods for separating humic substances and aquatic colloids from liquid samples, a key step in understanding the environmental significance of such material. Separation methods examined include dialysis, centrifugation, ion exchange, gel filtration, ultrafiltration, cross-flow ultrafiltration, and field-flow fractionation. Each method is critically appraised in terms of advantages, disadvantages, and future direction. In addition, methods of characterizing humic and colloidal samples are evaluated, including spectroscopic techniques, imaging techniques, scattering techniques and others such as analytical pyrolysis and stable isotope analysis. A recommendation is made on the most promising method for separating humic and colloidal material from environmental water samples. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Abdul, JM, Colville, A, Lim, R, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2012, 'Use of duckweed (Lemna disperma) to assess the phytotoxicity of the products of Fenton oxidation of metsulfuron methyl', Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, vol. 83, pp. 89-95.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Because of pressure on water supplies world-wide, there is increasing interest in methods of remediating contaminated ground waters. However, with some remediation processes, the breakdown products are more toxic than the original contaminant. Organic matter and salinity may also influence degradation efficiency. This study tested the efficiency of Fenton oxidation in degrading the sulfonylurea herbicide metsulfuron methyl (MeS), and tested the reaction products for phytotoxicity with the Lemna (duckweed) bioassay. The efficiency of degradation by Fentonâs reagent (Fe2þ ¼0.09 mM; H2O2¼1.76mM, 4 h) decreased with increasing initial MeS concentration, from 98% with 5 mg/L MeS, to 63% with 70 mg/L MeS. Addition of NaCl (10 mM) and organic matter (humic acid at 0.2 and 2.0 mg C/L as Total Organic Carbon) reduced the efficiency of degradation at low initial MeS concentrations (5 and 10mg/L), but had no effect at high concentrations. The residual Fentonâs reagent after Fentonâs oxidation was toxic to Lemna. After removal of residual iron and H2O2, the measured toxicity to Lemna in the treated samples could be explained by the concentrations of MeS as measured by HPLC/UV detection, so there was no evidence of additional toxicity or amelioration due to the by-products or formulation materials.

Abdul, JM, Kumar, M, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2012, 'Removal of metsulfuron methyl by Fenton reagent', Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 137-144.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The removal of metsulfuron methyl (MeS)-a sulfonyl urea herbicide from contaminated water was investigated by advanced oxidation process (AOP) using Fenton method. The optimum dose of Fenton reagent (Fe 2+/H 2O 2) was 10mg/L Fe 2+ and 60mg/L H 2O 2 for an initial MeS concentration ([MeS] 0) range of 0-80mg/L. The Fenton process was effective under pH 3. The degradation efficiency of MeS decreased by more than 70% at pH>3 (pH 4.5 and 7). The initial Fe 2+ concentration ([Fe 2+] 0) in the Fenton reagent affected the degradation efficiency, rate and kinetics. The degradation of MeS at optimum dose of Fenton reagent was more than 95% for [MeS] 0 of 0-40mg/L and the degradation time was less than 30min. The determination of residual MeS concentration after Fenton oxidation by UV spectrophotometry was affected by the interferences from Fenton reagent. The estimation of residual MeS concentration after Fenton oxidation by high pressure/performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) was interference free and represented the actual concentration of MeS and does not include the by-products of Fenton oxidation. The degradation kinetics of MeS was modelled by second order reactions involving 8 rate constants. The two reaction constants directly involving MeS were fitted using the experimental data and the remaining constants were selected from previously reported values. The model fit for MeS and the subsequent prediction of H 2O 2 were found to be within experimental error tolerances. © 2011 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry.

Adnan, R, Masjuki, HH & Mahlia, TMI 2012, 'Performance and emission analysis of hydrogen fueled compression ignition engine with variable water injection timing', Energy, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 416-426.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ahmad, RT, Nguyen, TV, Shim, WG, Vigneswaran, S, Moon, H & Kandasamy, J 2012, 'Effluent organic matter removal by Purolite®A500PS: Experimental performance and mathematical model', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 98, pp. 46-54.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this study, the performance of Purolite®A500PS in effluent organic matter (EfOM) removal was evaluated through adsorption equilibrium, kinetics and fluidized bed experiments. It was found that the maximum EfOM removal capacity of Purolite®A500PS calculated by the Langmuir isotherm was 50.9 mg DOC/g Purolite®A500PS. The results also showed that fluidized bed operational conditions strongly affected the EfOM removal efficiency. A fluidized bed packed with Purolite®A500PS can maintain a consistent EfOM removal efficiency of more than 80% with more than 800 bed volumes from 10 mg DOC/L of synthetic wastewater. A majority of hydrophilic compounds (76.4%) and a significant amount of hydrophobic compounds (55%) were removed by the Purolite®A500PS fluidized bed. The Purolite®A500PS fluidized bed was also found to remove a majority of biopolymer (98.5%), humic substances (86.5%), and low molecular weight neutrals (83.3%). © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Akgun, A, Kıncal, C & Pradhan, B 2012, 'Application of remote sensing data and GIS for landslide risk assessment as an environmental threat to Izmir city (west Turkey)', Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, vol. 184, no. 9, pp. 5453-5470.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Akgun, A, Sezer, EA, Nefeslioglu, HA, Gokceoglu, C & Pradhan, B 2012, 'An easy-to-use MATLAB program (MamLand) for the assessment of landslide susceptibility using a Mamdani fuzzy algorithm', Computers & Geosciences, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 23-34.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Alkilani, S & Jupp, J 2012, 'Paving the Road for Sustainable Construction in Developing Countries: A Study of the Jordanian Construction Industry', Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building - Conference Series, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 84-84.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

There is an increasing pressure on governments of developing economies to support sustainable construction procurement. In exploring this issue, this research asks three related questions: (1) how is sustainable procurement perceived in developing economies, (2) how can government regulation influence its application, and (3) what is the role of performance measurement in stimulating sustainable procurement practices? Answers are sought via an investigation exploring the underlying issues and challenges facing the construction industry of a developing country looking to address sustainable procurement. Using primary and secondary data sources, this research presents a case study of the Jordanian construction industry. Findings show that whilst sustainable procurement practices are promoted, it is still in its infancy - in part due to ineffective procurement frameworks and a lack of performance measurement. Current government regulations and policies are identified as an underlying cause, discouraging the development and adoption of sustainable procurement methods. As the Jordanian construction industry shares characteristics with other developing economies, it is expected that the findings of this paper will be of interest to professionals in those construction industries attempting to initiate sustainable procurement via performance measurement.

Al-Mahmoud, F, Castel, A & François, R 2012, 'Failure modes and failure mechanisms of RC members strengthened by NSM CFRP composites – Analysis of pull-out failure mode', Composites Part B: Engineering, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 1893-1901.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Altaee, A 2012, 'Computational model for estimating reverse osmosis system design and performance: Part-one binary feed solution', Desalination, vol. 291, pp. 101-105.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

A computational model for RO system design and performance prediction was developed in this study. The model was developed to estimate the performance parameters of RO in a multiple membrane elements pressure vessel. For simplicity the results of this study were compared with Reverse Osmosis System Analysis (ROSA) software which was assumed to have acceptable marginal errors. Two different feed water (NaCl) concentrations 35,000. mg/L and 38,000. mg/L were investigated in this study. In this paper, the recovery rate, salt rejection, feed pressure and permeate concentration of each RO element in the pressure vessel was compared with ROSA as shown in figures 2 to 5. The results from this study showed a very good agreement with ROSA up to 95%. Most of the previous studies were focused on studying the performance of a single RO membrane. This study, probably, the first to present a systematic procedure for estimating the performance of multiple RO elements in a pressure vessel. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Althuwaynee, OF, Pradhan, B & Lee, S 2012, 'Application of an evidential belief function model in landslide susceptibility mapping', Computers & Geosciences, vol. 44, pp. 120-135.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Amarjargal, A, Tijing, LD & Kim, CS 2012, 'Effect of annealing on the phase transition and morphology of Ag NPs on/in TiO2 rods synthesized by a polyol method', Ceramics International, vol. 38, no. 8, pp. 6365-6375.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Amarjargal, A, Tijing, LD, Pant, HR, Park, C-H & Kim, CS 2012, 'Simultaneous synthesis of TiO2 microrods in situ decorated with Ag nanoparticles and their bactericidal efficiency', Current Applied Physics, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 1106-1112.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Amarjargal, A, Tijing, LD, Ruelo, MTG, Lee, DH & Kim, CS 2012, 'Facile synthesis and immobilization of Ag–TiO2 nanoparticles on electrospun PU nanofibers by polyol technique and simple immersion', Materials Chemistry and Physics, vol. 135, no. 2-3, pp. 277-281.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

A simple polyol process is presented here to synthesize silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) on titanium nanosphere substrate (Ag–TiO2), which are subsequently decorated on the surface of electrospun polyurethane (PU) nanofibers by immersion in hot colloidal solution. Various spectroscopic and physical characterization techniques are utilized to study the physico-chemical properties of the prepared samples. The polyol-synthesized Ag–TiO2 decorated PU nanofibers show superior antibacterial properties under UV light, and are potentially useful for water filtration application.

Amarjargal, A, Tijing, LD, Yu, M-H, Kim, C-H, Park, C-H, Kim, D-W & Kim, C-S 2012, 'Characterization and Photocatalytic Efficiency of TiO2/Ti Beads Fabricated by Simple Heat-Treatment', Journal of Materials Science & Technology, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 184-192.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Angus, K, Thomas, P & Guerbois, J-P 2012, 'Synthesis and characterisation of cobaltite and ferrite spinels using thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray crystallography', Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, vol. 108, no. 2, pp. 449-452.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The synthesis for a series of ferrite (M IIFe 2O 4) and cobaltite (M IICo 2O 4) spinels was investigated where M II is Mg, Co, Ni, Cu or Zn. The ferrites were prepared at a calcination temperature of 800 °C; the cobaltites at 500 °C. TG-MS indicated that reduction of CoIII to CoII occurs at ca. 800 °C, hence, the lower calcination temperature. For both the ferrites and the cobaltites, the evolution of water and CO 2 during the calcination suggests the presence of both species in the precipitates. The observed mass losses indicated that the precursor basic carbonate precipitates for the cobaltite synthesis were predominantly carbonate, while the precursor basic carbonate precipitates for ferrite synthesis were predominantly hydroxide in character. XRD data showed successful synthesis of the ferrites with minimal contamination from the parent oxides, while the cobaltites were observed to be predominantly of the spinel structure. © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2011.

Aoki, Y, Ravindrarajah, RS & Khabbaz, H 2012, 'Properties of pervious concrete containing fly ash', ROAD MATERIALS AND PAVEMENT DESIGN, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1-11.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Pervious concrete isoneofthe most effective pavement materialsto addressanumber ofimportant environmental issues, such as recharging groundwater and reducing stormwater runoff. In this paper, the findings of an experimental investigation on properties of pervious concrete are reported and discussed. The amount of general purpose Portland cement has been reduced by introducing fly ash as a cementitious agent in pervious concrete samples. The properties of various pervious concrete samples including density, porosity, compressive strength, water permeability and drying shrinkage have been carefully measured. In addition, the relationships among these properties are explored. According to the results, high porosity samples indicated higher permeability, whereas their compressive strength was reduced. There was no significant difference between properties of pervious concrete samples containing fly ash and those samples comprising only cement as a cementitious agent. Hence, environmentally friendly pervious concrete with fly ash can be produced in lieu of conventional pervious concrete. © 2012 Taylor & Francis.

Aryal, R, Johir, MAH, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J & Sleigh, R 2012, 'Performance of a stainless steel membrane in membrane bioreactor process', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 41, no. 1-3, pp. 258-264.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Stainless steel membrane has recently emerged as a durable membrane for microfiltration. An aerobic membrane bioreactor (MBR) equipped with a tubular stainless steel membrane of pore size 0.3âμm was submerged in a wastewater reactor to treat municipal wastewater of about 1,000âmg/L COD. The membrane operational performance was tested at three different permeate flux (7.5, 10 and 15âL/m2âh [LMH]) for 2 days each. In all cases, the rate of transmembrane pressure (TMP) rise was very high at 30, 45 and 80âkPa for 7.5, 10 and 15âLMH, respectively. Different analytical techniques i.e. particle size distribution, UV spectrometry, fluorescent spectrometry and size exclusion chromatography were used to study the nature of mixed liquor and the fouling deposited on the membrane surface. Rapid rise of TMP and decrease in permeate flux was observed during the experiment. Analysis of the fouling indicated a negligible difference in nature of organics between it and the mixed liquor. Filtration flux test showed a high sludge cake and pore-blocking resistance of 4.4âÃâ1019 and 2.8âÃâ1016âmâ1, respectively, compared to a clean membrane resistance 5.4âÃâ1012âmâ1. The similar nature of organics in the mixed liquor and the foulant and recovery of flux after removal of the foulant after gentle washing in water, indicated a rapid sludge accumulation rather than the irreversible fouling.

Ashurov, R, Butaev, A & Pradhan, B 2012, 'On Generalized Localization of Fourier Inversion Associated with an Elliptic Operator for Distributions', Abstract and Applied Analysis, vol. 2012, pp. 1-13.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

We study the behavior of Fourier integrals summed by the symbols of elliptic operators and pointwise convergence of Fourier inversion. We consider generalized localization principle which in classicalLpspaces was investigated by Sjölin (1983), Carbery and Soria (1988, 1997) and Alimov (1993). Proceeding these studies, in this paper, we establish sharp conditions for generalized localization in the class of finitely supported distributions.

Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2012, 'Bond Behavior of Reinforcement in Conventional and Self-Compacting Concrete', ADVANCES IN STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING, vol. 15, no. 12, pp. 2033-2051.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) can be placed under its own weight without compaction. In addition, it is cohesive enough to be handled without segregation and bleeding. Modification in the mix design of SCC can have a significant influence on the material's mechanical properties. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether all of the assumptions about conventional concrete (CC) design structures also valid for SCC construction. Bond behavior between concrete and reinforcement is a primary factor in the design of reinforced concrete structures. This study presents a bond strength model based on the experimental results from eight recent investigations of SCC and CC. In addition, the proposed model, code provisions, and empirical equations and experimental results from recent studies on the bond strength of SCC and CC are compared. The comparison is based on the measured bond between reinforcing steel and concrete utilizing the pullout test on the embedded bars at various heights in the mock-up structural elements to assess the top-bar effect on single bars in small prismatic specimens by conducting beam tests. The investigated varying parameters on bond strength are the: steel bar diameter, concrete compressive strength, concrete type, curing age of the concrete, and height of the embedded bar along the formwork.

Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2012, 'Bond characteristics of reinforcing steel bars embedded in self-compacting concrete', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 13, no. 3.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2012, 'Bond characteristics of steel fiber and deformed reinforcing steel bar embedded in steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC)', Open Engineering, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 445-470.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

AbstractSteel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) is a relatively new composite material which congregates the benefits of the self-compacting concrete (SCC) technology with the profits derived from the fiber addition to a brittle cementitious matrix. Steel fibers improve many of the properties of SCC elements including tensile strength, ductility, toughness, energy absorption capacity, fracture toughness and cracking. Although the available research regarding the influence of steel fibers on the properties of SFRSCC is limited, this paper investigates the bond characteristics between steel fiber and SCC firstly. Based on the available experimental results, the current analytical steel fiber pullout model (Dubey 1999) is modified by considering the different SCC properties and different fiber types (smooth, hooked) and inclination. In order to take into account the effect of fiber inclination in the pullout model, apparent shear strengths (τ (app)) and slip coefficient (β) are incorporated to express the variation of pullout peak load and the augmentation of peak slip as the inclined angle increases. These variables are expressed as functions of the inclined angle (ϕ). Furthurmore, steel-concrete composite floors, reinforced concrete floors supported by columns or walls and floors on an elastic foundations belong to the category of structural elements in which the conventional steel reinforcement can be partially replaced by the use of steel fibers. When discussing deformation capacity of structural elements or civil engineering structures manufactured using SFRSCC, one must be able to describe thoroughly both the behavior of the concrete matrix reinforced with steel fibers and the interaction between this composite matrix and discrete steel reinforcement of the conventional type. However, even though the knowledge on bond behavior is essential for evaluating the overall behavior of structural components c...

Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2012, 'Bond characteristics of steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete', CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, vol. 39, no. 7, pp. 834-848.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) is a relatively new composite material that combines the benefits of the self-compacting concrete (SCC) technology with the advantages derived from the fibre addition to a brittle cementitious matrix. Steel fibres improve many of the properties of SCC elements including tensile strength, ductility, toughness, energy absorption capacity, fracture toughness and cracking. Although the available research regarding the influence of steel fibres on the properties of SFRSCC is limited, this paper investigates the bond characteristics between steel fibre and SCC. Based on the available experimental results, the current analytical steel fibre pullout model is modified by considering the different SCC properties and different fibre types (smooth, hooked) and fibre inclination. To take into account the effect of fibre inclination in the pullout model, apparent shear strengths (τ (app)) and slip coefficient (β) are incorporated to express the variation of pullout peak load and the augmentation of peak slip as the inclined angle increases. These variables are expressed as functions of the inclined angle (φ).

Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2012, 'Cyclic constitutive model for high-strength concrete confined by ultra-high-strength and normal-strength transverse reinforcements', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 159-172.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this paper, a cyclic constitutive model is developed for high-strength concrete (HSC) confined by ultra-high-strength and normal-strength transverse reinforcements (UHSTR and NSTR), with the intention of providing efficient modeling for the member and structural behaviour of HSC in seismic regions. The model for HSC subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading, comprises four components; an envelope curve (for monotonic and cyclic loading), an unloading curve, a reloading curve, and a tensile unloading curve. It explicitly accounts for the effects of concrete compressive strength, Volumetric ratio of transverse reinforcement, yield strength of ties, tie spacing, and tie pattern. Comparisons with test results showed that the proposed model provides a good fit to a wide range of experimental results. © Institution of Engineers, Australia 2012.

Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2012, 'Mechanical properties of conventional and self-compacting concrete: An analytical study', CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 330-347.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Self-compacting concrete can be placed and compacted under its own weight with little or no compaction. It is cohesive enough to be handled without segregation or bleeding. It can be used to facilitate and ensure proper filling of complex and multipart formworks and consequently offers good structural performance in heavily reinforced structural members. Modification in the mix design of self-compacting concrete may significantly influence the material's mechanical properties. Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all the assumed hypotheses about conventional concrete are also valid for self-compacting concrete structures. The present study includes: (a) evaluation and comparison of the current analytical models used for estimating the mechanical properties of self-compacting concrete and conventional concrete, and (b) proposing new models for the mechanical properties of both self-compacting and conventional concrete mixtures. The investigated mechanical properties are modulus of elasticity, tensile strength, and compressive stress-strain (σ-) curve. Extensive databases used for evaluating the analytical models include the measured modulus of elasticity of 110 self-compacting concrete mixtures and 32 conventional concrete mixtures, measured tensile strength of 81 self-compacting concrete mixtures and 26 conventional concrete mixtures, and compressive stress-strain curve of 28 self-compacting concrete mixtures and four conventional concrete mixtures. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2012, 'Shrinkage behavior of self-compacting concrete', JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY-SCIENCE A, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 407-419.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In the structures where long-term behavior should be monitored and controlled, creep and shrinkage effects have to be included precisely in the analysis and design procedures. Shrinkage varies with the constituent and mixture proportions, and depends on the curing conditions and the work environment as well. Self-compacting concrete (SCC) contains combinations of various components, such as aggregate, cement, superplasticizer, water-reducing agent and other ingredients which affect the properties of the SCC including shrinkage. Hence, the realistic prediction shrinkage strains of SCC are an important requirement of the design process for this type of concrete structures. This study reviews the accuracy of the conventional concrete (CC) shrinkage prediction models proposed by the international codes of practice, including CEB-FIP (1990), ACI 209R (1997), Eurocode 2 (2001), JSCE (2002), AASHTO (2004; 2007) and AS 3600 (2009). Also, SCC shrinkage prediction models proposed by Poppe and De Schutter (2005), Larson (2007), Cordoba (2007) and Khayat and Long (2010) are reviewed. Further, a new shrinkage prediction model based on the comprehensive analysis on both of the available models, i.e., the CC and the SCC is proposed. The predicted shrinkage strains are compared with the actual measured shrinkage strains in 165 mixtures of SCC and 21 mixtures of CC. © Zhejiang University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012.

Atabani, AE, Silitonga, AS & Mahlia, TMI 2012, 'Cost benefit analysis and environmental impact of fuel economy standards for passenger cars in Indonesia', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 3547-3558.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Atabani, AE, Silitonga, AS, Badruddin, IA, Mahlia, TMI, Masjuki, HH & Mekhilef, S 2012, 'A comprehensive review on biodiesel as an alternative energy resource and its characteristics', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 2070-2093.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Bhuiya, MMK, Ahamed, JU, Chowdhury, MSU, Sarkar, MAR, Salam, B, Saidur, R, Masjuki, HH & Kalam, MA 2012, 'Heat transfer enhancement and development of correlation for turbulent flow through a tube with triple helical tape inserts', International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 94-101.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Bhuiya, MMK, Ahamed, JU, Sarkar, MAR, Salam, B, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Saidur, R & Sayem, ASM 2012, 'Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Characteristics in Turbulent Flow Through a Tube', Experimental Heat Transfer, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 301-322.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Bhuiya, MMK, Chowdhury, MSU, Ahamed, JU, Khan, MJH, Sarkar, MAR, Kalam, MA, Masjuki, HH & Shahabuddin, M 2012, 'Heat transfer performance for turbulent flow through a tube using double helical tape inserts', International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 818-825.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Brennan, J & Martin, E 2012, 'Spatial proximity is more than just a distance measure', International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 88-106.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In order to design computer systems that are intuitive to use, the way humans reason about their âreal world❠surroundings needs to be taken into consideration. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) focus on spatial reasoning. Over the last decades, many advances have been made in GIS interfaces and functionality; however the concept of proximity or nearness, which is essential in many forms of human reasoning, is still being addressed insufficiently. This paper provides a thorough and comprehensive synthesis of the disparate literature that pertains to the subject of proximity. It offers insights into why existing methods for reasoning with proximity work, or do not work, and analyses their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the paper provides the derivation of new proximity measures, and their evaluation, backed by experiments and reflections. New measures are formally described in a unifying and compelling framework. This framework acknowledges that while distance is one factor that influences proximity perception, proximity is much more than just a distance measure.

Bui, DT, Pradhan, B, Lofman, O, Revhaug, I & Dick, OB 2012, 'Application of support vector machines in landslide susceptibility assessment for the Hoa Binh province (Vietnam) with kernel functions analysis', iEMSs 2012 - Managing Resources of a Limited Planet: Proceedings of the 6th Biennial Meeting of the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society, pp. 382-389.
View description>>

The main objective of this study is to investigate the potential application of support vector machines (SVM) with kernel functions analysis for spatial prediction of landslides in the Hoa Binh province, Vietnam. A landslide inventory map that accounts for landslides that occurred during the last ten years was constructed using data from various sources. The landslide inventory was randomly divided into a training dataset 70% for building the models and the remaining 30% for the validation of the models. Ten landslide conditioning factors, such as slope angle, aspect, relief amplitude, lithology, soil type, landuse, distance to roads, distance to rivers, distance to faults and rainfall were prepared. During the model building process, four different SVM kernel functions (linear, polynomial, radial basic function, and sigmoid) were employed and four landslide susceptibility maps were constructed. Using the prediction rate method, the validation was performed by using landslide locations, which were not utilized during the model building. The validation results showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for landslide susceptibility maps produced by the SVM linear function, SVM polynomial function, SVM radial basic function, and SVM sigmoid function are 0.956, 0.956, 0.952, and 0.945 respectively. It indicates that the four landslide models seem to have performed well. Compared with the logistic regression (AUC =0.938) and Bayesian neural network model (AUC 0.903), the accuracy of the SVM landslide models in this study (using radial basic function and polynomial function) are slightly better. The result shows that SVM is a powerful tool for landslide susceptibility mapping at a regional scale. These maps can be very useful for natural hazards assessment and for land use planning.

Castel, A, Coronelli, D & François, R 2012, 'Response of corroded prestressed beams with bonded strands', Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures and Buildings, vol. 165, no. 5, pp. 233-244.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Deterioration of post-tensioned structures may take place as a consequence of severe environmental conditions or design or construction errors. This paper investigates analytically the effects of corrosion on the structural response of bonded post-tensioned beams. An experimental study on the stress corrosion of prestressing wires is described first, providing data on the steel behaviour. A series of tests on beams taken from the literature is then analysed. The breaking of a part of the wires was caused by artificial corrosion; the beams showed stiffness and strength deterioration as a consequence of further breakages occurring under imposed load. Two different analytical approaches are used: macro finite-element analysis based on the calculation of the cross-section response and non-linear finite-element analysis. The analyses provide the global response and local strain values with the interpretation of the causes of the deterioration of the response.

Castel, A, Vidal, T & François, R 2012, 'Finite-Element Modeling to Calculate the Overall Stiffness of Cracked Reinforced Concrete Beams', Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 138, no. 7, pp. 889-898.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Chanan, A, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2012, 'Case study research: training interdisciplinary engineers with context-dependent knowledge', European Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 97-104.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

It is now widely acknowledged that water management discipline is transforming, from being a public health and flood prevention challenge of the nineteenth century to a multi-dimensional challenge of water security for the twenty-first century. In order to train water engineers to be capable of working with this holistic multi-dimensional approach, a new paradigm in engineering education is required. Adjustments already made to undergraduate coursework are not enough; this new paradigm requires modifications to the PhD in engineering, with greater emphasis on interdisciplinary case study research. Such a change can deliver PhD graduates with both sufficient social and technical knowledge, who can then go on to become the hybrid lecturers crucially needed for training future water engineers.

Chekli, L, Phuntsho, S, Shon, HK, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J & Chanan, A 2012, 'A review of draw solutes in forward osmosis process and their use in modern applications', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 43, no. 1-3, pp. 167-184.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Forward osmosis (FO) is one of the emerging membrane technologies which has gained renewed interest recently as a low energy desalination process. The central to FO process is the draw solution (DS) and the membrane because both play a substantial role on its performance. Hence, the selection of an appropriate DS is crucial for the process efficiency. Many DS have been tested so far for a wide range of modern applications and this paper aims to review the various aspects of the DS in the process performance and provides valuable information regarding the selection criteria of suitable DS. Several general DS properties such as the osmotic pressure and the water solubility can affect the process performance. Other intrinsic properties to specific novel DS such as the emerging magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) can also have an impact on the process efficiency and have to be evaluated. Separation and recovery of the DS are one of the major challenges facing the development of FO process. The recovery process should not be energy intensive, otherwise the FO process cannot be comparable with other pressure-driven processes. Thermolytic solutions such as ammonia carbonates are considered as the promising DS for desalination applications; however, their recovery process efficiency relies on the availability of low-grade heat. MNPs are emerging and effective DS for desalination and can be readily recovered by a magnetic field or conventional membrane processes. However, the aggregation of MNPs due to their magnetic properties has been issued. The vast numbers of studies on the use of NaCl as DS for the treatment of impaired water open up the possibilities of using seawater or reverse osmosis brine streams as suitable DS for such purpose. Fertilisers were also suggested as DS for seawater and wastewater treatment when the diluted DS can be used directly for irrigation. The development of an adequate and efficient DS coupled with a low-cost energy recovery system is c...

Chen, X, Gallucci, J, Campana, C, Huang, Z, Lingam, HK, Shore, SG & Zhao, J-C 2012, 'Anti and gauche conformers of an inorganic butane analogue, NH3BH2NH2BH3', Chemical Communications, vol. 48, no. 64, pp. 7943-7943.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Chen, X, Zhang, Y, Wang, Y, Zhou, W, Knight, DA, Yisgedu, TB, Huang, Z, Lingam, HK, Billet, B, Udovic, TJ, Brown, GM, Shore, SG, Wolverton, C & Zhao, J-C 2012, 'Structure determination of an amorphous compound AlB4H11', Chemical Science, vol. 3, no. 11, pp. 3183-3183.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Chen, Z, Ngo, HH & Guo, W 2012, 'A critical review on sustainability assessment of recycled water schemes', SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, vol. 426, pp. 13-31.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Recycled water provides a viable opportunity to supplement water supplies as well as alleviate environmental loads. To further expand current schemes and explore new recycled water end uses, this study reviews several environmental assessment tools, including Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) in terms of their types, characteristics and weaknesses in evaluating the sustainability of recycled water schemes. Due to the limitations in individual models, the integrated approaches are recommended in most cases, of which the outputs could be further combined with additional economic and social assessments in multi-criteria decision making framework. The study also proposes several management strategies in improving the environmental scores. The discussion and suggestions could help decision makers in making a sound judgement as well as recognising the challenges and tasks in the future. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Chen, Z, Ngo, HH, Guo, WS, Listowski, A, O'Halloran, K, Thompson, M & Muthukaruppan, M 2012, 'Multi-criteria analysis towards the new end use of recycled water for household laundry: A case study in Sydney', SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, vol. 438, pp. 59-65.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper aims to put forward several management alternatives regarding the application of recycled water for household laundry in Sydney. Based on different recycled water treatment techniques such as microfiltration (MF), granular activated carbon (GAC) or reverse osmosis (RO), and types of washing machines (WMs), five alternatives were proposed as follows: (1) do nothing scenario; (2) MF. +. existing WMs; (3) MF. +. new WMs; (4) MF-GAC. +. existing WMs; and (5) MF-RO. +. existing WMs. Accordingly, a comprehensive quantitative assessment on the trade-off among a variety of issues (e.g., engineering feasibility, initial cost, energy consumption, supply flexibility and water savings) was performed over the alternatives. This was achieved by a computer-based multi-criteria analysis (MCA) using the rank order weight generation together with preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE) outranking techniques. Particularly, the generated 10,000 combinations of weights via Monte Carlo simulation were able to significantly reduce the man-made errors of single fixed set of weights because of its objectivity and high efficiency. To illustrate the methodology, a case study on Rouse Hill Development Area (RHDA), Sydney, Australia was carried out afterwards. The study was concluded by highlighting the feasibility of using highly treated recycled water for existing and new washing machines. This could provide a powerful guidance for sustainable water reuse management in the long term. However, more detailed field trials and investigations are still needed to effectively understand, predict and manage the impact of selected recycled water for new end use alternatives. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Chernin, L, Val, DV & Stewart, MG 2012, 'Prediction of cover crack propagation in RC structures caused by corrosion', Magazine of Concrete Research, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 95-111.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The paper proposes a model relating the level of reinforcement corrosion (in terms of loss of rebar radius) with the width of corrosion-induced cracks. The model is developed using a simulation of the process of corrosion-induced crack opening by means of finite-element (FE) modelling. Concrete is treated as a linear elastic material, a vertical crack is introduced above a reinforcing bar and expansive behaviour of corrosion products is modelled using a thermal analogy. Corrosion products are divided into those that penetrate (dissipate) into cracks (no crack propagation) and those that cause crack opening. The amount of corrosion products penetrating into cracks at a specified crack width is evaluated using FE modelling and analyses of experimental results. It was found that a corrosion loss of 0·1–0·4 mm dissipated into the cracks when the crack width was 1·0 mm. The influence of geometric parameters such as rebar diameter, spacing and location, and thickness of top and edge concrete covers were investigated. The limits of applicability of the proposed relationships were established using non-linear FE modelling.

Chon, K, Cho, J, Shon, HK & Chon, K 2012, 'Advanced characterization of organic foulants of ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis from water reclamation', Desalination, vol. 301, pp. 59-66.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Organic foulants obtained from ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes of a large scale municipal water reclamation plant were rigorously characterized using conventional and advanced characterization analyses (e.g. pyrolysis and mass spectrometry) in order to identify major constituents of the organic foulants and investigate fouling characteristics in a large scale application of the UF and RO membranes. Although water qualities and characteristics of effluent organic matter in the feed water were slightly changed during the UF membrane, fouling characteristics of the UF and RO membranes used in a large scale municipal water reclamation plant were significantly different according to the type of membranes. Hydrophobic fractions comprising of carboxylic acids and aldehydes strongly contributed to the fouling formation of the UF membrane compared to that of the RO membranes whereas the RO membrane foulants mainly consisted of hydrophilic fractions comprising of amides and alcohols due to the repulsive electrostatic interaction between negatively charged RO membrane surfaces and hydrophobic fractions with a negative charge, indicating that the membrane characteristics could play an important role in the fouling formation of the tested UF and RO membranes. © 2012 Elsevier B.V..

Chon, K, KyongShon, H & Cho, J 2012, 'Membrane bioreactor and nanofiltration hybrid system for reclamation of municipal wastewater: Removal of nutrients, organic matter and micropollutants', Bioresource Technology, vol. 122, pp. 181-188.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

A membrane bioreactor (MBR) and nanofiltration (NF) hybrid system was investigated to demonstrate the performance of treating nitrogen, phosphorus and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in municipal wastewater. With the MBR and NF (molecular weight cut off (MWCO): 210 Da), the concentration of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) was effectively reduced by nitrification by MBR and negatively charged surface of NF (TN: 8.67 mgN/L and TP: 0.46 mgP/L). Biosorption and microbial decomposition in MBR seem to be major removal mechanisms for the removal of PPCPs. Among various parameters affecting the removal of PPCPs by NF, namely, physicochemical properties of the PPCPs (charge characteristics, hydrophobicity and MW) and membranes (MWCO and surface charge), the MWCO effect was found to be the most critical aspect.

Corrêa, MRS, Masia, MJ, Stewart, MG & Heffler, LM 2012, 'An experimental and statistical analysis of the fl exural bond strength of masonry walls', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 139-148.
View description>>

This paper describes an experimental program where full sized clay brick unreinforced masonry walls were constructed by masons with different levels of skills. The flexural bond strength of each joint in each wall was obtained using the bond wrench test. This provided extensive data for a statistical analysis to assess the degree of spatial correlation of that property. The analysis also included a comparison between the fl exural bond strength of joints within the walls and prisms. The study recommended that flexural bond strengths between joints are statistically independent and that the commonly used prisms may not represent adequately the wall. © Institution of Engineers Australia, 2012.

Corrêa, MRS, Masia, MJ, Stewart, MG & Heffler, LM 2012, 'An experimental and statistical analysis of the flexural bond strength for masonry walls', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 13, no. 2.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Dallo, YAH & Wang, Y 2012, 'Discussion of “Assessing the Potential of Internal Erosion and Suffusion of Granular Soils” by Buddhima Indraratna, Vo Trong Nguyen, and Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 138, no. 6, pp. 772-773.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Das Gupta, M, Loganathan, P & Vigneswaran, S 2012, 'Adsorptive Removal of Nitrate and Phosphate from Water by a Purolite Ion Exchange Resin and Hydrous Ferric Oxide Columns in Series', SEPARATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol. 47, no. 12, pp. 1785-1792.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Elevated concentrations of nitrate and phosphate in surface and ground waters can lead to eutrophication, and nitrate can also cause health hazards to humans. The adsorption process is generally considered to be an efficient technique in removing these ions provided that the adsorbent is highly selective for these ions. Removal of nitrate and phosphate from a synthetic water (50 mg N/L as nitrate, 15 mg P/L as phosphate) and a wastewater (12.9 mg N/L as nitrate, 5.9 mg P/L as phosphate) using a Purolite A500P anion exchange resin and a hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) columns (60 cm height, 2 cm diameter, flow rate 1 m/h) in series containing 1-10% (w/w) of these adsorbents and the remainder anthracite (90-99%) were studied. Data from batch adsorption experiment at various concentrations of adsorbents satisfactorily fitted to Langmuir adsorption isotherm for nitrate and phosphate on Purolite with adsorption maxima of 64 mg N/g and 7 mg P/g and only for phosphate on HFO with adsorption maxima of 14 mg P/g. Both batch and column experiments showed that Purolite selectively removed nitrate and HFO selectively removed phosphate. The Purolite column BTC time was greater for nitrate than for phosphate. At the highest percentage by weight of Purolite almost all nitrate was removed in batch study and up to 1000 min in column study, but it was not able to remove a comparatively high percentage of phosphate. However, when the effluent from the Purolite column was passed through the HFO column almost all phosphate was removed. The two columns when set up in series also removed almost all nitrate and phosphate from the wastewater. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Delgado-Ramos, F & Poyatos, JM 2012, 'Discussion of “Assessing the Potential of Internal Erosion and Suffusion of Granular Soils” by Buddhima Indraratna, Vo Trong Nguyen, and Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 138, no. 6, pp. 773-775.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ding, GKC, Ge, JX & Phillips, P 2012, 'Cradle-to-Gate Analysis of Materials Used in Historic and Modern Housing in China', Advanced Materials Research, vol. 374-377, pp. 2029-2036.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Climate change and energy efficiency are some of the most pressing issues facing China today. With its economic growth since the economic reforms in 1978 the government has struggled to contain environmental damage and social strife related to the economy’s rapid transformation. With the rapid growth in population and urbanization the demand for housings escalated and thus existing houses are under threat of being demolished to make way for new construction. However there was a strong debate that existing houses should be maintained and upgraded instead of demolishing for new development as improvements to energy and water efficiency of existing homes can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease utility bills. This paper aims at reviewing the importance of existing houses and their environmental significance in conservation as opposed to demolition. This paper presents and discusses the preliminary results for the first two stages of a research project undertaken at the University of Technology Sydney to investigate environmental performance of historic housings in Xiao He Zhi Jie in Hangzhou, China.

El Saliby, I, Okour, Y, Shon, HK, Kandasamy, J, Lee, WE & Kim, J-H 2012, 'TiO2 nanoparticles and nanofibres from TiCl4 flocculated sludge: Characterisation and photocatalytic activity', Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 1033-1038.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this study, dye and secondary effluent wastewaters were used to generate a non-hazardous sludge. Anatase TiO2 nanoparticles have been successfully synthesised from the calcination of the TiCl4 flocculated sludge. A conventional hydrothermal method was adopted to produce anatase nanofibres (calcined at 600 8C) from TiO2 nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy investigations showed the highly crystalline nanoparticles and nanofibres after calcination. The size of nanofibres was related to the size of their nanoparticles precursors. Nanoparticles had larger surface area than nanofibres, lower pore volume and bigger pore diameter. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis revealed that impurities can be successfully removed by a subsequent hydrothermal/acid wash of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles had better overall photocatalytic activity for the degradation of organics in synthetic wastewater compared to nanofibres. On the other hand, nanofibres had a better adsorption capacity.

El Saliby, I, Shahid, M, McDonagh, A, Shon, HK & Kim, J-H 2012, 'Photodesorption of organic matter from titanium dioxide particles in aqueous media', Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 1774-1780.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Photo-induced desorption of organic compounds from TiO2 particles in aqueous media during photocatalysis has promising applications in water treatment. Photodesorption is a relatively fast phenomenon that facilitates the regeneration of photocatalysts with low energy consumption while concentrating the waste products in an energy and water efficient process. We propose that this transport phenomenon involves a significantly reduced affinity between the photocatalyst and pollutants upon UV illumination, and leads to the rapid detachment/decomposition of adsorbed pollutants. In this study, we report the effect of experimental conditions (pH, photocatalyst loading, organic loading, UV light irradiation and flow rate) on this phenomenon in a recirculating photocatalysis continuous reactor. Initially, organic compounds were allowed to adsorb on the surface of the photocatalyst (Degussa P25) until adsorption equilibrium was achieved. The photodesorption phenomenon was observed shortly after UVlight illumination of TiO2 but before the bulk photocatalytic oxidation takes place. The pH of the solution was found to affect both the adsorption and the desorption percentages revealing the role of particle charge on this phenomenon. Additionally, a 1 g/L loading of photocatalyst showed an optimum photodesorption rate using a single strength synthetic wastewater at pH 7.

Erkmen, RE, Bradford, MA & Crews, K 2012, 'Variational multiscale approach to enforce perfect bond in multiple-point constraint applications when forming composite beams', COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS, vol. 49, no. 5, pp. 617-628.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Composite laminates that consist of two or more layers find widespread applications in a variety of engineering structures. In the computational modelling of composite laminates, the layers can be stacked together and connected conveniently at the nodes by usingmultiple-point constraints (MPCs). However, this type of modelling leads to weakening of the kinematic constraint conditions imposed by the bond between the juxtaposed layers and as a consequence, MPCs application at the nodes produces behaviour that is softer than the perfectly bonded composite beam behaviour. The work herein shows that when kinematic conditions for composite action are weakly imposed in the variational form, they can be enforced in the point-wise sense by proper selection of the interpolation field or otherwise reinforced by using variational multiscale approach without modifying the kinematic model. The originality of the approach presented herein is in the interpretation of the MPCs application as the solution in a superfluously extended space because of the weakening in the kinematic constraints. It is shown that the perfect bond between the composite beam layers can be recovered by excluding the identified fine-scale effect from the solution of the multiple point constraint application. The convergence characteristic of the finite element formulation is also improved by using the variational multi-scale approach. It is also shown that the fine-scale effects can be represented by using extra fictitious elements and springs, which offers a direct correction technique in modelling of composite beams that is especially useful when access to the numerical procedure is limited.

Fatahi, B, Basack, S, Premananda, S & Khabbaz, H 2012, 'Settlement prediction and back analysis of Young's modulus and dilation angle of stone columns', Australian Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 67-80.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Ground improvement using stone columns is one of the most suitable methods for deformation control of soft soils. The use of stone columns can improve the bearing capacity, reduce settlement, accelerate consolidation process and enhance slope stability as ivell as resistance to liquefaction. Settlement prediction of the ground influenced by the large stiffness difference between the columns and the surrounding soil and the induced arching is discussed in this paper. Plate load test is one of the common methods to be used for quality control of stone column reinforced ground. The test results can be used to back calculate some of the design parameters of the stone column. A finite element based procedure to estimate the Young's modulus and dilation angle o f stone column material using plate load test residts is proposed. The employed finite element model is axisymmetric and suitable for a cylindrical stone column. The field measurements after calibration have been in good agreement with numerical results for predicting deformations. The procedure developed in this study can be adopted by practicing engineers to estimate the Young's modulus and dilation angle of stone columns by conducting a plate load test. © Institution of Engineers Australia, 2012.

Fatahi, B, Khabbaz, H & Fatahi, B 2012, 'Mechanical characteristics of soft clay treated with fibre and cement', GEOSYNTHETICS INTERNATIONAL, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 252-262.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this study, the influence of three types of fibre - polypropylene, recycled carpet and steel - on the mechanical properties of cement-treated clay is investigated. Cement-treated clay specimens were prepared with cement contents of 5%, 10% and 15% by weight of dry soil, and cured for 14 days. To investigate and understand the influence of different fibre types and contents, three different percentages of fibre content were adopted. The results of unconfined compression tests on 90 cylindrical samples of cement-treated clay with varied cement and fibre contents are analysed to discern the relationships between these parameters and the key mechanical properties, including unconfined compressive strength and stiffness of treated soil. Furthermore, indirect tension test results of a further 90 treated soil samples have been used to determine the influence of fibre and cement content on the tensile strength of the treated soil. The fibre reinforcement increases the peak compressive strength. The addition of fibres increases the residual strength and changes the brittle behaviour of the cement-treated clay to that of a more ductile material. The tensile strength of the cement-treated clay is increased by adding carpet and steel fibres, but small quantities of polypropylene fibres do not influence the tensile strength. © 2012 Thomas Telford Ltd.

Fatahi, B, Le, TM & Khabbaz, H 2012, 'Effects of initial stress state on performance of embankments on soft soils', Australian Geomechanics Journal, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 77-88.
View description>>

Analysing the behaviour of soft soil under embankment loads is a challenging task for geotechnical engineers. This numerical study revisits the case study of an embankment constructed on Boston Blue Clay, considering the model incorporating the influence of soil creep on the ground lateral deformation and pore water pressure. Then a numerical parametric study is conducted to investigate the influence of the lateral earth pressure coefficient at rest (K0) calculated based on the different available correlations on the vertical and horizontal displacements, pore water pressures, and the factor of safety of the embankment. The results indicate that although the value of Ko influences the predicted horizontal and vertical displacements notably, it has minor effects on the predicted pore water pressures. The lateral earth pressure coefficient influences the long term stability of the embankment and thus the effects of the initial stress field on the stability of embankments should be taken into consideration, while assessing the performance of embankments constructed on soft soils. It is recommended to determine the in situ horizontal stresses using accurate methods such as self-boring pressuremeter to predict the behaviour of embankments on the soft ground precisely.

François, R, Khan, I, Vu, NA, Mercado, H & Castel, A 2012, 'Study of the impact of localised cracks on the corrosion mechanism', European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering, vol. 16, no. 3-4, pp. 392-401.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Fu, Q, Ren, JM & Qiao, GG 2012, 'Synthesis of novel cylindrical bottlebrush polypseudorotaxane via inclusion complexation of high density poly(ε-caprolactone) bottlebrush polymer and α-cyclodextrins', Polym. Chem., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 343-351.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Fu, Q, Ren, JM, Tan, S, Xu, J & Qiao, GG 2012, 'Synthesis of Novel Core Cross‐Linked Star‐Based Polyrotaxane End‐Capped via “CuAAC” Click Chemistry', Macromolecular Rapid Communications, vol. 33, no. 24, pp. 2109-2114.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

AbstractThe first example of core cross‐linked star (CCS) polyrotaxane was prepared using the poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) (PCL) CCS three‐dimensional (3D) scaffold. The 3D CCS polymer was firstly prepared through the “arm‐first” approach. Then, the “arms” of the resultant PCL CCS polymer were threaded with α‐cyclodextrins (α‐CDs). The threaded α‐CDs were permanently locked by the “click” reaction of terminal alkyne functionalities of the star polymers with the azide‐functionalized end caps to afford the CCS polyrotaxanes. All analytical results confirm the formation of the CCS polyrotaxanes and reveal their characteristics, including fluorescence under UV, a channel‐type crystalline structure, a two‐step thermal decomposition, and a unique core‐shell structure in great contrast to the polymer precursors.

Fujioka, T, Khan, SJ, Poussade, Y, Drewes, JE & Nghiem, LD 2012, 'N-nitrosamine removal by reverse osmosis for indirect potable water reuse – A critical review based on observations from laboratory-, pilot- and full-scale studies', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 98, pp. 503-515.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Fukumoto, T, Thomas, PS, Stuart, BH, Simon, P, Adam, G, Shimmon, R & Guerbois, J-P 2012, 'Estimation of the storage life of dimethylol urea using non-isothermal accelerated testing', JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY, vol. 108, no. 2, pp. 439-443.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Geng, X, Indraratna, B & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2012, 'Analytical Solutions for a Single Vertical Drain with Vacuum and Time-Dependent Surcharge Preloading in Membrane and Membraneless Systems', International Journal of Geomechanics, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 27-42.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ghandeharioon, A, Indraratna, B & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2012, 'Laboratory and Finite-Element Investigation of Soil Disturbance Associated with the Installation of Mandrel-Driven Prefabricated Vertical Drains', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 138, no. 3, pp. 295-308.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Grant, M & Stewart, MG 2012, 'A systems model for probabilistic risk assessment of improvised explosive device attacks', International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 75-75.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Guo, W, Ngo, H-H & Li, J 2012, 'A mini-review on membrane fouling', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 122, no. 1, pp. 27-34.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

During the last decades, the interest of using membrane technology has emerged in wastewater treatment as well as drinking water and process water production. However, the impediment of the membrane technology is the fouling problem and consequently higher operating and membrane replacement cost. Hence, better understanding of membrane fouling is not only the key to solve the problems, but also is one of the main factors driving membrane technology forward. This mini-review paper identifies the major foulants and the principal membrane fouling mechanisms such as pore blocking, cake formation, concentration polarization, organic adsorption, inorganic precipitation and biological fouling. It also gives a holistic review about different fouling phenomena during the application of membrane separation technologies in water and wastewater treatment, with specific references to various problems, membranes, treatment processes and its practical applications. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Hamedanimojarrad, P, Adam, G, Ray, A, Thomas, P & Vessalas, K 2012, 'Development of shrinkage resistant microfibre-reinforced cement-based composites', Open Engineering, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 289-295.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

AbstractDifferent shrinkage types may cause serious durability dilemma on restrained concrete parts due to crack formation and propagation. Several classes of fibres are used by concrete industry in order to reduce crack size and crack number. In previous studies, most of these fibre types were found to be effective in reducing the number and sizes of the cracks, but not in shrinkage strain reduction. This study deals with the influence of a newly introduced type of polyethylene fibre on drying shrinkage reduction. The novel fibre is a polyethylene microfibre in a new geometry, which is proved to reduce the amount of total shrinkage in mortars. This special hydrophobic polyethylene microfibre also reduces moisture loss of mortar samples. The experimental results on short and long-term drying shrinkage as well as on several other properties are reported. The hydrophobic polyethylene microfibre showed promising improvement in shrinkage reduction even at very low concentrations (0.1% of cement weight).

Hamedanimojarrad, P, Galea, N, Ray, AS, Adam, G, Vessalas, K & Thomas, P 2012, 'New mechanisms for drying shrinkage compensation in cementitious materials', Concrete in Australia, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 33-38.
View description>>

There are several materials and methods which have been designed and used for reduction or compensation of drying shrinkage deformations in cementitious materials, in both industry and research . Typical strategies currently used in industry for overcoming drying shrinkage include introduction of expansive agents; use of shrinkage reducing admixtures (SRA) and fibres as components of mixtures; cement modification; and, taking advantage of internal curing (Kovler & Zhutovsky, 2006).

Hasan, MH, Mahlia, TMI & Nur, H 2012, 'A review on energy scenario and sustainable energy in Indonesia', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 2316-2328.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Hasan, MH, Muzammil, WK, Mahlia, TMI, Jannifar, A & Hasanuddin, I 2012, 'A review on the pattern of electricity generation and emission in Indonesia from 1987 to 2009', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 3206-3219.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Hazrat, MA, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Badruddin, IA, Ramli, R & Pang, SC 2012, 'Steady state analysis of coolant temperature distribution in a spark ignition engine cooling jacket', International Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 243-250.
View description>>

A full scale SI engine has been imported in to the CFD tool to analyse the temperature distribution of coolant throughout the cooling channels. The segregated approach solver has been adopted to solve the energy equations along with the RANS two layer turbulence model to find out accordance with the available theoretical and published results. The input values are collected from complete vehicle test and from available documents, too. The main objective of the analysis was to observe the coolant temperature distribution inside the cooling jacket when the engine is turned off. The steady state simulation shows that though the average coolant outlet temperature is found within the acceptable limit of cooling system operation principle, there is a large temperature gradient in fluid thermal boundary layers within cross section and overall jacket path. The analysis demands that there should be some special arrangement of maintaining the fluid flow inside the cooling jacket even after the engine is turned off to avoid further loss of the engine body due to high temperature accumulation inside the cooling jacket and fluid in it. The lump capacity conduction equation for first sec shows that the wall temperature obtained through the energy equation is in accordance with it, too.

Heras, MM-DL, Saco, PM & Willgoose, GR 2012, 'A Comparison of SRTM V4 and ASTER GDEM for Hydrological Applications in Low Relief Terrain', Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, vol. 78, no. 7, pp. 757-766.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Hokmabadi, AS, Fakher, A & Fatahi, B 2012, 'Full scale lateral behaviour of monopiles in granular marine soils', MARINE STRUCTURES, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 198-210.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Monopiles are used in piers as mooring or berthing dolphins. This article reports the results of full-scale lateral loading tests on monopiles constructed as dolphins in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in southern Iran. The length and diameter of the monopiles were approximately 40 m and 2 m, respectively. Lateral loading tests of such large monopiles are not commonly undertaken, thus there is limited data available. This research developed a lateral analysis of piles computer code to examine analytical methods for pile analysis. Appropriate models were introduced resulting in accurate predictions in the analysis of lateral loaded piles. The results showed that traditional p-y curves and strain wedge models calculate larger pile head deflection in comparison to the field test data and therefore local calibration is essential. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Hokmabadi, AS, Fatahi, B & Samali, B 2012, 'Recording inter-storey drifts of structures in time-history approach for seismic design of building frames', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 175-179.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The growing trend in the application of direct displacement-based or performance-based design, lays more emphasis on the precise prediction of design parameters such as the inter-storey drift controlling the performance level of the structure. Practising engineers employ different methods to record the inter-storey drifts in time-history approach mainly based on the maximum lateral deformation of the structure. In this study, a 15-storey concrete moment resisting building is designed using time-history analysis. Then reliability and accuracy of each method in predicting the maximum inter-storey drifts under the influence of three earthquake records, namely 1995 Kobe, 1994 Northridge and 1940 El Centro earthquakes, are investigated. Results clearly indicate that to choose the most critical drift to evaluate the performance level of structures, the absolute maximum drift over time should be calculated. Other methods based on the maximum storey deflection may result in unconservative design.

Hong, S, Aryal, R, Vigneswaran, S, Johir, MAH & Kandasamy, J 2012, 'Influence of hydraulic retention time on the nature of foulant organics in a high rate membrane bioreactor', Desalination, vol. 287, no. 1, pp. 116-122.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The influence of hydraulic retention time (HRT) in a submerged hollow fibre membrane bioreactor was studied by conducting experiments at four different HRTs (4,2, 1.3 and 1 h) at room temperature of 25 °C. lt was found that a shorter HRT led to a higher development of trans-membrane pressure. The highest sludge cake and pore-blocking resistances of 4.02 x 1011 m-1 and 0.77 x 1011 m-1 respectively were noted for the shortest HRT (of 1 h) application. UV and fluorescence spectroscopy analyses showed that the nature of organics in the biomass and sludge cakes were different. The organic fraction analysis by liquid chromatography with organic carbon detector (LC-OCO) showed a significant amount of biopolymers and a lower amount of humics for longer HRT.

Hossain, A, Ngo, H, Guo, W & Nguyen, V 2012, 'Biosorption of Cu(II) From Water by Banana Peel Based Biosorbent: Experiments and Models of Adsorption and Desorption', Journal of Water Sustainability, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 87-104.
View description>>

Banana peel, a discarded agricultural waste was used to produce bioadsorbent through easy and environmental friendly processes. This banana peel based biosorbent was evaluated for adsorptive removal of copper from water and its desorption capability. The characterisation results showed this biosorbent had very high specific surface area, potential binding sites and functional groups. The optimal conditions for biosorption were found at pH 6.5, biosorbent size of less than 75μ, dose of 0.5g/100ml and 1-hour contact time. Thermodynamic analysis also indicated that its adsorption was spontaneous. Significant desorption of copper (94%) was obtained when using 0.1N H2SO4. Both adsorption and desorption equilibrium data were well described by Langmuir, SIPS and Koble-Corrigan models whilst kinetics data by pseudo-first order, Elovich and Intraparticle diffusion models. Modelsâ parameters were optimised by MATLABâs non-linear modelling. All models had good fitness with the experimental data from high R2 (0.970-1.00), low non-linear errors - RMSE (0.004-10.00) and low 2 (0.0004-10.00). The maximum adsorption and desorption capacities were 20.37 and 32.40 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption processes were controlled by chemisorption. Both adsorption and desorption processes could be described by the pseudo-first order kinetic. The potential applicability of banana peel based bioadsorbent could be further examined in a large-scale.

Hossain, MA, Ngo, HH, Guo, WS & Nguyen, TV 2012, 'Palm oil fruit shells as biosorbent for copper removal from water and wastewater: Experiments and sorption models', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 113, pp. 97-101.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Palm oil fruit shells were evaluated as a new bioadsorbent to eliminate toxic copper from water and wastewater. Without any chemical treatment, palm oil fruit shells were washed, dried and grounded into powder (<75μm) for use in the experiments. Characterization showed mesopore based bioadsorbent was prepared from palm oil fruit shells. The results indicate that the highest Cu removal efficiency was found in an aqueous solution with pH of 6.5. The equilibrium sorption capacity of copper was significantly high (between 28 and 60mg/g) at room temperature. Nonlinear regression analyses for isotherm models revealed that three-parameter isotherms had a better fit to the experimental data (R 2>0.994) than that of two-parameter isotherms. The copper sorption system was heterogeneous as the values of exponents were lying between 0 and 1. The highly correlated pseudo-second-order kinetics model (R 2>0.998) ascertained the applicability of copper removal by palm oil fruit shells. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Hossain, MA, Ngo, HH, Guo, WS & Setiadi, T 2012, 'Adsorption and desorption of copper(II) ions onto garden grass', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 121, pp. 386-395.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The garden grass (GG) was firstly used to remove copper(II) from water as bioadsorbent. From the results of characterisation, the GG had the merits of high specific surface area, significant adsorption sites and functional groups. Copper-adsorption significantly depends on the initial copper concentrations, contact time, pH, adsorbent doses, particle sizes and temperature. The positive values of DG indicates that the adsorption of copper onto garden grass is non-spontaneous and values lies within the ranges of 4.452â13.660 kJ/mol for supporting physical adsorption. 0.1 N H2SO4 was found as suitable eluent, which could be used 5 cycles of adsorptionâdesorption. The data from adsorption and desorption equilibrium were well fitted by the Langmuir, SIPS and RedlichâPeterson isotherm models. The maximum adsorption and desorption capacities were 58.34 and 319.03 mg/g, respectively, for 1 g dose. Adsorption and desorption kinetics could be described by the Pseudo-first-order model.

How, HG, Teoh, YH, Masjuki, HH & Kalam, MA 2012, 'Impact of coconut oil blends on particulate-phase PAHs and regulated emissions from a light duty diesel engine', Energy, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 500-509.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Howes, JM, Stuart, BH, Thomas, PS, Raja, S & O'Brien, C 2012, 'An Investigation of Model Forensic Bone in Soil Environments Studied Using Infrared Spectroscopy', JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 1161-1167.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Infrared spectroscopy has been used to examine changes to bone chemistry as a result of soil burial. Pig carcasses were buried as part of a controlled field study, and pig bone was used in soil environments established in the laboratory. The variables of species type, bone pretreatment, soil type and pH, moisture content, temperature, and burial time were investigated. The crystallinity index (CI) and the organic and carbonate contents of the bones were monitored. The data revealed decreasing trends in the organic and carbonate contents and an increase in the CI of the bone with burial time. An acidic soil environment and soil type are the factors that have the most influence on bone chemistry as a result of burial. The study demonstrates the potential of infrared spectroscopy as a straightforward method of monitoring the changes associated with aging of bones in a variety of soil environments. © 2012 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Hu, H, Jiang, X, Wang, J & Li, Y 2012, 'Design, modeling, and controlling of a large-scale magnetorheological shock absorber under high impact load', JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT MATERIAL SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 635-645.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this article, an MRD50 type of large-scale magnetorheological shock absorber was designed and manufactured in Smart Materials and Structures Laboratory of Nanjing University of Science and Technology. Upon providing a brief background on magnetorheological dampers, the detailed structure of this developed large-scale magnetorheological shock absorber was depicted. A suit of hardware-in-the-loop simulation platform under high impact load excitation was introduced for a weapon system. A series of tests were conducted to establish the dynamic behaviors of magnetorheological shock absorber under impact loads. The test results show that the inertia damping force should not be ignored like a common magnetorheological damper because of the large acceleration from the impact load. Based on the theory model and the experimental data, index parameters of magnetorheological fluid and other structural parameters in Herschel-Bulkley-Inertia model were identified by using the least square algorithm. In order to evaluate the controllability of large-scale magnetorheological shock absorber applied into high impact loads, three control algorithms, including on-off control, proportional-integral-derivative control, and fuzzy control algorithm, were used in tests to control the dynamic behavior of magnetorheological shock absorber, and some results of the controllability tests were exhibited in this article. In conclusion, the results indicated that the developed large-scale magnetorheological shock absorber was indeed able to effectively control the recoil dynamics. © The Author(s) 2012.

Huang, Q, Xu, YL, Li, JC, Su, ZQ & Liu, HJ 2012, 'Structural damage detection of controlled building structures using frequency response functions', Journal of Sound and Vibration, vol. 331, no. 15, pp. 3476-3492.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

If a building structure requires both a vibration control system and a health monitoring system, the integration of the two systems will be cost-effective and beneficial. One of the key problems of this integrated system is how to use control devices to enhance system identification and damage detection. This paper presents a new method for system identification and damage detection of controlled building structures equipped with semi-active friction dampers through model updating based on frequency response functions. The two states of the building are first created by adding a known stiffness using semi-active friction dampers. A scheme based on the frequency response functions of the two states of the building is then presented to identify stiffness parameters of structural members in consideration of structural connectivity and transformation information. By applying the proposed model updating scheme to the damaged building, a damage detection scheme is proposed based on the identified stiffness parameters of structural members of both the original and damaged buildings. The feasibility of the proposed schemes is finally demonstrated through a detailed numerical investigation in terms of an example building, in which the effects of measurement noise and excitation conditions are discussed. The numerical results clearly show that the proposed method can locate and quantify damage satisfactorily even though measurement noise is taken into consideration. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Huang, Z & Autrey, T 2012, 'Boron–nitrogen–hydrogen (BNH) compounds: recent developments in hydrogen storage, applications in hydrogenation and catalysis, and new syntheses', Energy & Environmental Science, vol. 5, no. 11, pp. 9257-9257.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Indraratna, B, Karimullah Hussaini, SK & Vinod, JS 2012, 'On The Shear Behavior of Ballast-Geosynthetic Interfaces', Geotechnical Testing Journal, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 305-312.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Abstract Large-scale direct shear tests were performed to explore the behavior of rail ballast-geogrid interfaces and establish the role of geogrid aperture size on the interface shear strength. Fresh latite ballast with an average particle size (D50) of 35 mm, and seven geogrids with equivalent aperture sizes ranging from 20.8 to 88 mm were used for this current study. The laboratory experimental results confirm that the interface shear strength is influenced by the geogrid aperture size. The interface efficiency factor (α), defined as the ratio of the shear strength of the interface to the internal shear strength of the ballast varies from 0.8 to 1.16, and the ballast-geosynthetic interface friction angles vary from 52 to 67°. Moreover, a criterion to determine the minimum and maximum aperture sizes required to generate the beneficial effects of the geogrid has been identified in this study.

Indraratna, B, Nguyen, VT & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2012, 'Closure to “Assessing the Potential of Internal Erosion and Suffusion of Granular Soils” by Buddhima Indraratna, Vo Trong Nguyen, and Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 138, no. 6, pp. 775-775.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Indraratna, B, Nguyen, VT & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2012, 'Corrigendum: Hydraulic conductivity of saturated granular soils determined using a constriction-based technique', Canadian Geotechnical Journal, vol. 49, no. 10, pp. 1225-1225.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Indraratna, B, Nguyen, VT & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2012, 'Corrigendum: Hydraulic conductivity of saturated granular soils determined using a constriction-based technique', Canadian Geotechnical Journal, vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 754-754.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Indraratna, B, Nguyen, VT & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2012, 'Hydraulic conductivity of saturated granular soils determined using a constriction-based technique', Canadian Geotechnical Journal, vol. 49, no. 5, pp. 607-613.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This study presents a new semi-empirical approach for predicting the saturated hydraulic conductivity of noncohesive (granular) soils through a constriction size–based technique. For the same particle-size distribution of a granular filter material, there can be many different void distributions depending on the as-compacted density. Therefore, particle-size distribution is not unique in determining the hydraulic conductivity as proposed in numerous earlier studies. In contrast, the constriction-size distribution is unique for a given as-placed density of the material, and therefore it is a better representation of hydraulic conductivity as proposed in this study. Accordingly, the hydraulic conductivity of a granular medium can be represented by an empirical power function that has been established on the basis of 60 laboratory tests.

Indraratna, B, Nguyen, VT & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2012, 'Reply to the discussion by Wang and Dallo on “Hydraulic conductivity of saturated granular soils determined using a constriction-based technique” ¹Appears in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 49(10): 1221–1222 [doi:10.1139/t2012-078].', Canadian Geotechnical Journal, vol. 49, no. 10, pp. 1223-1224.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Indraratna, B, Nimbalkar, S & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2012, 'Track Stabilisation with Geosynthetics and Geodrains, and Performance Verification through Field Monitoring and Numerical Modelling', International Journal of Railway Technology, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 195-219.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Indraratna, B, Rujikiatkamjorn, C, Balasubramaniam, AS & McIntosh, G 2012, 'Soft ground improvement via vertical drains and vacuum assisted preloading', Geotextiles and Geomembranes, vol. 30, pp. 16-23.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Indraratna, B, Rujikiatkamjorn, C, Kelly, R & Buys, H 2012, 'Soft soil foundation improved by vacuum and surcharge loading', Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Ground Improvement, vol. 165, no. 2, pp. 87-96.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The Pacific Highway has been upgraded to support the high transportation demand between Sydney and Brisbane, along the north-east coast of Australia. To avoid the traffic through the busy town of Ballina, a bypass route was designed to traverse on a floodplain consisting of very soft, highly compressible, saturated marine clays up to 30 m deep in certain locations. A vacuum-assisted surcharge load scheme in conjunction with prefabricated vertical drains was selected to reduce the required time to consolidate the deep subsoil layers. The design of the combined vacuum and surcharge fill system and the construction of the embankment are described, and a comparison of the performance between the combined vacuum and surcharge loading system with the conventional surcharge only system is highlighted. Field data are presented and interpreted to demonstrate how the embankments performed during construction in both vacuum and non-vacuum areas. Suitable design charts for vertical drains are presented and discussed with a worked example, considering both vertical and radial drainage.

Indraratna, B, Thakur, PK, Vinod, JS & Salim, W 2012, 'Semiempirical Cyclic Densification Model for Ballast Incorporating Particle Breakage', International Journal of Geomechanics, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 260-271.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Jeong, S, Choi, YJ, Nguyen, TV, Vigneswaran, S & Hwang, TM 2012, 'Submerged membrane hybrid systems as pretreatment in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO): Optimisation and fouling mechanism determination', JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE, vol. 411, pp. 173-181.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Three different submerged membrane hybrid systems (SMHSs) namely submerged membrane coagulation hybrid system (SMCHS), submerged membrane adsorption hybrid system (SMAHS), and submerged membrane coagulation-adsorption hybrid system (SMCAHS) were studied as pretreatment systems to seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO). The performances of these SMHSs were compared with that of submerged membrane system (without any coagulation or adsorption) in terms of trans-membrane pressure (TMP) development, critical flux, ultrafilter modified fouling index (UF-MFI), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal efficiency, and the removal of detailed organic fractions. The experimental results show that pretreatment by SMCAHS led to the best results in terms of organic removal and critical flux. With the low doses of ferric chloride (FeCl 3) and powder activated carbon (PAC) of 0.5mg of Fe 3+/L and 0.5g of PAC/L, respectively, this hybrid system could remove 72% of DOC and reduce the UF-MFI nearly five times. The initial DOC and UF-MFI of seawater used in this study were 2.53mg/L and 14,165s/L 2, respectively. The application of three different membrane fouling models namely pore blockage, pore constriction, and cake formation models showed that cake formation was the predominant fouling mechanisms causing fouling in SMHSs. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Jeong, S, Kim, LH, Kim, S-J, Nguyen, TV, Vigneswaran, S & Kim, IS 2012, 'Biofouling Potential Reductions Using a Membrane Hybrid System as a Pre-treatment to Seawater Reverse Osmosis', Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, vol. 167, no. 6, pp. 1716-1727.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Biofouling on reverse osmosis (RO) membranes is the most serious problem which affects desalination process efficiency and increases operation cost. The biofouling cannot be effectively removed by the conventional pre-treatment traditionally used in desalination plants. Hybrid membrane systems coupling the adsorption and/or coagulation with low-pressure membranes can be a sustainable pre-treatment in reducing membrane fouling and at the same time improving the feed water quality to the seawater reverse osmosis. The addition of powder activated carbon (PAC) of 1.5 g/L into submerged membrane system could help to remove significant amount of both hydrophobic compounds (81.4%) and hydrophilic compounds (73.3%). When this submerged membrane adsorption hybrid system (SMAHS) was combined with FeCl3 coagulation of 0.5 mg of Fe3+/L, dissolved organic carbon removal efficiency was excellent even with lower dose of PAC (0.5 g/L). Detailed microbial studies conducted with the SMAHS and the submerged membrane coagulation-adsorption hybrid system (SMCAHS) showed that these hybrid systems can significantly remove the total bacteria which contain also live cells. As a result, microbial adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as well as total ATP concentrations in treated seawater and foulants was considerably decreased. The bacteria number in feed water prior to RO reduced from 5.10E +06 cells/mL to 3.10E+03 cells/mL and 9.30E+03 cells/mL after SMAHS and SMCAHS were applied as pre-treatment, respectively. These led to a significant reduction of assimilable organic carbon (AOC) by 10.1 μg/L acetate-C when SMCAHS was used as a pre-treatment after 45-h RO operation. In this study, AOC method was modified to measure the growth of bacteria in seawater by using the Pseudomonas P.60 strain. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.

Jeong, S, Nguyen, TV, Shon, HK & Vigneswaran, S 2012, 'The performance of contact flocculation–filtration as pretreatment of seawater reverse osmosis', Desalination and Water Treatment, vol. 43, no. 1-3, pp. 246-252.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Deep bed filtration has traditionally been used as a pretreatment in seawater desalination. The performance of contact flocculation-filtration (CFF) as pretreatment of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) was evaluated in terms of pressure drop through the filter and removal of organics and turbidity. The average turbidity, total suspended solids, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of raw seawater were 0.92 NTU, 3.6, and 1.12mg/L, respectively. The performances of CFF were experimentally evaluated with different flocculant doses (0.5-3.0mg Fe3+/L) and rapid mixing times (1.7-14.4 s). Here rapid mixing was performed in a spiral flocculation unit which consisted of a PVC tube of length 0.5m and internal diameters of 0.16 and 0.40 cm. The experimental results show that the filtration rate of 10.0m/h led to an extensive increase in both head loss (pressure drop) and turbidity as compared to those at filtration rates of 5.0 and 7.5 m/h. The head loss also significantly decreased when the flocculant dose was reduced from 3 to 0.5mg Fe3+/L. However, the organic matter (26% of DOC) removal was lower at a lower dose of ferric chloride (1.0 mg/L as Fe3+). The removal efficiency of DOC at low concentration of ferric was improved considerably through the improvement of rapid mixing. The application of CFF process also led to a significant decrease in ultrafiltermodified fouling index (UF-MFI). © 2012 Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

Johir, MAH, George, J, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J, Sathasivan, A & Grasmick, A 2012, 'Effect of imposed flux on fouling behavior in high rate membrane bioreactor', Bioresource Technology, vol. 122, pp. 42-49.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The influence of imposed flux and aeration rates on membrane fouling in a submerged membrane bioreactor was studied. The experiments were conducted at four imposed fluxes and three aeration rates. The effect of flux on the reduction of membrane fouling w

Johir, MAH, Vigneswaran, S, Sathasivan, A, Kandasamy, J & Chang, CY 2012, 'Effect of organic loading rate on organic matter and foulant characteristics in membrane bio-reactor', Bioresource Technology, vol. 113, pp. 154-160.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this study, the influence of organic loading rate (OLR) on the performance of a membrane bio-reactor (MBR) was investigated. The MBR was operated with 6 different OLRs between 0.5 and 3.0 kg COD/m3 d. The hydrodynamic parameters of the MBR were kept constant. The hydraulic retention time and sludge retention time were kept at 8 h and 40 d respectively. From the experimental investigation, it was found that the removal efficiency of DOC, COD and NH4-N decreased when OLRs were increased from 0.5 to 3.0 kg COD/m3 d. Higher OLRs of 2.75-3.0 kg COD/m3 d resulted in a higher transmembrane pressure development. The fractionation of organic matters showed more hydrophilic substances with higher OLRs. A detailed organic matter characterization of membrane foulant, soluble microbial product and extracellular polymeric substances showed that bio-polymers type substances together with humic acid and lower molecular neutral and acids were responsible for membrane fouling.

Kalam, MA, Ahamed, JU & Masjuki, HH 2012, 'Land availability of Jatropha production in Malaysia', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 3999-4007.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Kalam, MA, Masjuki, HH, Shahabuddin, M & Mofijur, M 2012, 'Tribological characteristics of amine phosphate and octylated/butylated diphenylamine additives infused bio-lubricant', Energy Education Science and Technology Part A: Energy Science and Research, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 123-136.
View description>>

This paper presents the experimental results of normal lubricant, additives added lubricants and waste vegetable oil (WVO) contaminated bio-lubricants to evaluate the tribological properties such that friction and wear characteristics. The test was conducted using a four-ball tribotester with standard test method IP- 239. The balls used in four-ball tribotester were based on carbon-chromium steel ball bearings. To evaluate friction and wear characteristics, coefficient of friction (μ), wear scar diameter (WSD), flash temperature parameter (FTP), viscosity index (VI) and total acid number (TAN) were investigated. Each test was conducted for five different loads from 50 kg to 90 kg at an interval of 10 kg. The lubricant was contaminated with WVO from 1% to 5%. The normal lubricant (as sample A) was used for comparison purposes. The test results showed that WVO contaminated lubricants with suitable anti-wear additive (amine phosphate) can reduce friction and wear coefficient substantially. The objective of this investigation is to develop a new lubricant based on waste palm oil (such as WVO). © Sila Science.

Kent, TF, Yang, J, Yang, L, Mills, MJ & Myers, RC 2012, 'Epitaxial Ferromagnetic Nanoislands of Cubic GdN in Hexagonal GaN', Appl. Phys. lett., vol. 100, p. 152111.
View description>>

Periodic structures of GdN particles encapsulated in a single crystalline GaNmatrix were prepared by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. High resolutionX-ray diffractometery shows that GdN islands, with rock salt structure areepitaxially oriented to the wurtzite GaN matrix. Scanning transmission electronmicroscopy combined with in-situ reflection high energy electron diffractionallows for the study of island formation dynamics, which occurs after 1.2monolayers of GdN coverage. Magnetometry reveals two ferromagnetic phases, onedue to GdN particles with Curie temperature of 70K and a second, anomalous roomtemperature phase.

Keshavarzi, A, Ball, J & Nabavi, H 2012, 'Frequency pattern of turbulent flow and sediment entrainment over ripples using image processing', HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 147-156.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

River channel change and bed scourings are source of major environmental problem for fish and aquatic habitat. The bed form such as ripples and dunes is the result of an interaction between turbulent flow structure and sediment particles at the bed. The structure of turbulent flow over ripples is important to understand initiation of sediment entrainment and its transport. The focus of this study is the measurement and analysis of the dominant bursting events and the flow structure over ripples in the bed of a channel. Two types of ripples with sinusoidal and triangular forms were tested in this study. The velocities of flow over the ripples were measured in three dimensions using an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter with a sampling rate of 50 Hz. These velocities were measured at different points within the flow depth from the bed and at different longitudinal positions along the flume. A CCD camera was used to capture 1500 sequential images from the bed and to monitor sediment movement at different positions along the bed. Application of image processing technique enabled us to compute the number of entrained and deposited particles over the ripples. From a quadrant decomposition of instantaneous velocity fluctuations close to the bed, it was found that bursting events downstream of the second ripple, in Quadrants 1 and 3, were dominant whereas upstream of the ripple, Quadrants 2 and 4 were dominant. More importantly consideration of these results indicates that the normalized occurrence probabilities of sweep events along the channel are in phase with the bed forms whereas those of ejection events are out of phase with the bed form. Therefore entrainment would be expected to occur upstream and deposition occurs downstream of the ripple. These expectations were confirmed by measurement of entrained and deposited sediment particles from the bed. These above information can be used in practical application for rivers where restoration is required. © Author(s) 2011.

Keshavarzi, A, Moghadam, MK & Ball, JE 2012, 'Optimising round-edged entrance of 55 degrees river water intake', PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS-WATER MANAGEMENT, vol. 165, no. 1, pp. 9-19.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

An experimental study was undertaken to optimise a 55° round-edged entrance irrigation water intake. The tests were carried out under different flow conditions in a laboratory flume with a rectangular cross-section under closeended and open-ended flow conditions. To improve the efficiency of water intake, its entrance was rounded with three different radii (r): 100, 150 and 200 mm. Two components of flow velocity in transverse and flow directions were measured using an electromagnetic velocity meter. The flow velocity inside the water intake was measured at 390 regular grid points, across three horizontal layers at 30, 60 and 120 mm heights from the bed. The streamlines were drawn from the captured flow velocity, and hence the separation width and length were determined for the different depth levels, from the bed to the water surface. The discharge ratios (Qr) of the main channel to the lateral channel were set equal to 0.25, 0.67, 1.5 and 4. It was found that a 55° water intake with the radius of curvature of r/ Wb=0.8 produced minimum separation size. It was therefore selected as the optimum 55° round-edged entrance water intake.

Khan, I, François, R & Castel, A 2012, 'Structural performance of a 26-year-old corroded reinforced concrete beam', European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering, vol. 16, no. 3-4, pp. 440-449.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Khan, RU, Anderson, CWN, Loganathan, P, Xue, J & Clinton, PW 2012, 'Response of Pinus radiata D. Don to Boron Fertilization in a Glasshouse Study', COMMUNICATIONS IN SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT ANALYSIS, vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 1412-1426.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Limited information is available on the effect of slow-release boron (B) fertilizer on Pinus radiata growth and physiological properties and soil microbiological activities. A 7-month-long pot experiment was carried out under glasshouse conditions to investigate the response of Pinus radiata to different rates (0.0222, 0.0446, 0.089, and 0.178 mg B g-1 soil), equivalent to 0, 4, 8 16, and 32 kg B ha-1 of ulexite, a slow-release B fertilizer. Hot 0.02 M calcium chloride (CaCl2)-extractable soil B, soil dehydrogenase activity, plant B concentration, growth, and photosynthesis were measured at the time of harvest. The B concentrations in the soil and plant organs (needles, stem, and roots) significantly increased with increasing rates of B fertilizer. The optimum B fertilizer rates of 4-8 kg B ha-1 produced the greatest plant growth and net photosynthetic rate. However, the B rates of 16 and 32 kg B ha-1 significantly reduced net photosynthetic rate, and the rate of 32 kg B ha-1 significantly reduced stem diameter growth when compared to the optimum B rates. Soil dehydrogenase activity, an indicator of soil microbiological activities, was significantly reduced by B application at the rates of 16 and 32 kg ha-1. This study confirms the narrow range between B deficiency and toxicity in a tree crop and stresses the need for selection of the optimum rate of B fertilizer application. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Khorsandnia, N, Valipour, HR & Crews, K 2012, 'Experimental and analytical investigation of short-term behaviour of LVL-concrete composite connections and beams', CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 229-238.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper reports the results of experimental push-out tests on three different types of timber-concrete composite (TCC) connections, including normal screw, SFS and bird-mouth. The load-slip diagrams obtained from lab tests are employed to calculate the slip modulus of the connections for serviceability, ultimate and near collapse cases based on Eurocode 5 recommendations. Additionally, four full-scale TCC beams with normal screw, SFS and bird-mouth are constructed and tested under four-point bending within the serviceability load range to verify the slip modulus of connections which derived from the push-out tests. Further, based on the experimental results and using nonlinear regression, an analytical model each one of the connections is derived which can be easily incorporated into nonlinear FE analyses of TCC beams. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Kia, MB, Pirasteh, S, Pradhan, B, Mahmud, AR, Sulaiman, WNA & Moradi, A 2012, 'An artificial neural network model for flood simulation using GIS: Johor River Basin, Malaysia', Environmental Earth Sciences, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 251-264.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Kus, B, Johir, M, Kandasamy, J, Vigneswaran, S, Shon, H-Y, Sleigh, R & Moody, G 2012, 'Performance of granular medium filtration and membrane filtration in treating stormwater for harvesting and reuse', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 45, no. 1-3, pp. 120-127.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper discusses laboratory scale and pilot scale treatment systems used to in treat water from a stormwater canal in Carlton, Sydney. The laboratory scale pre-treatment systems investigated included flocculation, GAC filtration and fibre filter prior to laboratory scale steriflow stainless steel membrane filter. The results showed that these pre-treatments improved the quality of the filtrate as measured by the turbidity and TOC removal effi ciency. The use of pre-treatment improved the TOC removal efficiency from 10% to 90%. Among the three pretreatment methods, GAC filter resulted in the highest TOC removal efficiency (88%). Pilot scale experiments were also carried out using stainless steel membrane filtration and GAC filtration at Carlton, Sydney. Pilot scale experiments showed that the Steri-Flow membrane filter treatment without any pre-treatment achieved an effluent fi ltrate turbidity of between 0.79â0.99 NTU which were well below the 5 NTU ADWG (2004) limit [1]. The influent raw stormwater had generally low concentrations of heavy metals. Following membrane filtration the concentration of all heavy metals were reduced to very low levels and well within the ADWG (2004) [1] limits. The membrane fi lter could not remove TOC in significant amounts. GAC adsorption used as post-treatment following Steri-flow membrane treatment effectively reduced the TOC influent feed levels. GAC filtration of stormwater provided a 70% removal of organics. It removed all types of organic. The GAC filter did not provide any further improvement to the turbidity level or heavy metal concentration following treatment with the Steri-flow membrane system.

Kus, B, Kandasamy, J, Vigneswaran, S, Shon, H & Moody, G 2012, 'Two stage filtration for stormwater treatment: a pilot scale study', Desalination and Water Treatment, vol. 45, no. 1-3, pp. 361-369.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper presents the results of the granular medium filter and membrane (Ultra Flo membrane) filter experiments conducted with raw stormwater collected from a stormwater canal at Carlton, in Sydney. The filter medium experimented were granular activat

Law, Y, Ni, B-J, Lant, P & Yuan, Z 2012, 'N2O production rate of an enriched ammonia-oxidising bacteria culture exponentially correlates to its ammonia oxidation rate', Water Research, vol. 46, no. 10, pp. 3409-3419.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Le, TM, Fatahi, B & Khabbaz, H 2012, 'Viscous Behaviour of Soft Clay and Inducing Factors', Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, vol. 30, no. 5, pp. 1069-1083.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

As a result of the scarcity of land for construction, a number of projects to construct man-made islands or to expand lands over soft grounds keeps increasing. Creep behaviour of soft ground has been considered as a challenging issue for engineers and researchers for many years. A number of studies have focused on the method to predict the creep deformation of the ground under a construction site. However, there is no unified theory to clearly explain the mechanism of soil creep deformation of soils. Results of the critical review in this paper indicate that the causes of soil creep can be categorised into five main groups, namely (a) the breakdown of the inter-particle bonds, (b) sliding between the soil particles, (c) water flow from micro-pores to macro-pores (d) the deformation due to the structural viscosity and (e) the deformation due to the jumping of bonds. This paper presents these mechanisms in details with an effort to recommend an enhanced explanation for the creep compression mechanisms of clays. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Lee, JH, Zhou, JL, Lee, Y, Oh, S-Y & Kim, SD 2012, 'Changes in the sorption and rate of 17β-estradiol biodegradation by dissolved organic matter collected from different water sources', J. Environ. Monit., vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 543-551.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The potential biodegradation and subsequent transformation of 17β-estradiol (E2) to estrone (E1) were examined in the presence of various dissolved organic matter (DOM) isolated from effluent, river and lake waters. In addition, estrogenicity was estimated in association with the removal of E2 via its sorption onto DOM and biodegradation. The more biodegradable lake-derived DOM promoted more extensive transformation of E2 into E1 than the effluent organic matter through a biodegradation process. Overall, under all conditions, biodegradation dominated the removal of E2 in water. The increased dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in river and lake-derived DOM (e.g. 6.5 mg C L -1) reduced the removal of E2 by decreasing its biodegradation due to the moderate sorption of E2 onto DOM. The effluent organic matter showed greater removal of E2 via biodegradation, as well as significantly high sorption. This was associated with a large amount of hydrophobic fulvic acid (FA)- and humic acid (HA)-like organic components, as shown by the small increase in the specific UV absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA 254). An increase in the DOC concentration reduced the removal of E2, resulting in high estrogenicity. The present study suggests that both organic composition and DOC concentration influenced the removal of E2 and, therefore, should be fully considered when assessing estrogenicity and its impacts on the aquatic environment. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Leong, KY, Saidur, R, Mahlia, TMI & Yau, YH 2012, 'Entropy generation analysis of nanofluid flow in a circular tube subjected to constant wall temperature', International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 39, no. 8, pp. 1169-1175.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Leong, KY, Saidur, R, Mahlia, TMI & Yau, YH 2012, 'Modeling of shell and tube heat recovery exchanger operated with nanofluid based coolants', International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 808-816.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Leong, KY, Saidur, R, Mahlia, TMI & Yau, YH 2012, 'Performance investigation of nanofluids as working fluid in a thermosyphon air preheater', International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 523-529.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Li, C, Ma, T, Sun, L, Li, W & Zheng, A 2012, 'Application and verification of a fractal approach to landslide susceptibility mapping', Natural Hazards, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 169-185.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Li, W, Xiao, J & Yuan, J 2012, 'Stress distribution characteristics of modeled recycled aggregate concrete under uniaxial compression', Tongji Daxue Xuebao/Journal of Tongji University, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 906-913.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Based on the mechanical properties of each material phase in recycled aggregate concrete (RAC), a two-dimensional modeled RAC was built, and the stress distribution characteristics of the modeled RAC under uniaxial compressive were obtained by meso-level numerical analysis. A parametric analysis was conducted to investigate the sensitivity of the stress distribution of the modeled RAC, which focused on different mechanical parameters of natural aggregate, interfacial transition zone (ITZ) and old hardened mortar. Results show that a concentration of tensile stress and shear stress produces at new and old interfacial transition zones between the natural aggregates. The higher elastic modulus of natural aggregates are, the higher the magnitude of stress concentration is, and the higher elastic modulus of the interfacial transition are, the lower the magnitude of stress concentration is. Whereas the effects of the elastic modulus of old hardened mortar on stress concentration are not evident.

Li, W, Xiao, J, Sun, Z & Shah, SP 2012, 'Failure processes of modeled recycled aggregate concrete under uniaxial compression', Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 34, no. 10, pp. 1149-1158.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In order to investigate the failure processes of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC), cracking behavior of modeled RAC specimens under compressive loading was investigated using Digital Image Correlation (DIC). Strain and displacement contour maps were produced to analyze the cracks' initiation and propagation during loading. The testing results indicate that the discrepancy between the elastic moduli of coarse aggregates and mortar matrix significantly influences the mechanical properties and crack patterns of the modeled materials. It is found that the failure process is related to the relative strength of coarse aggregate and mortar matrix. For modeled RAC, the first bond cracks appear around both the old and new interfacial transition zones (ITZ), and then propagate into the old and new mortar matrix by connecting each other. The observation implies that the initiations and propagations of microcracks are different between RAC and Natural Aggregate Concrete (NAC). The findings in this investigation are useful to improve the mechanical properties of RAC by optimizing the mix proportion. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Li, W, Xiao, J, Sun, Z, Kawashima, S & Shah, SP 2012, 'Interfacial transition zones in recycled aggregate concrete with different mixing approaches', Construction and Building Materials, vol. 35, pp. 1045-1055.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) is an important phase that influences the mechanical properties of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC). This paper is devoted to an investigation of the effect of different mixing approaches on the properties of ITZs in RAC. Nanoindentation and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were implemented to characterize nanomechanical properties and microstructures of the old and new ITZs. The results indicate that the indentation modulus of ITZs have different distribution trends when using different mixing approaches. It reveals that the Two-Stage Mixing Approach (TSMA) can improve the nanomechanical properties of the new ITZ by reducing the volume fraction of voids and Calcium Hydroxide (CH). The SEM observation also indicates that an obviously denser and more homogeneous microstructure was achieved in the new ITZ prepared by TSMA compared to a Normal Mixing Approach (NMA). Correlating the nanoindentation and SEM results with the compressive strength, it can be concluded that TSMA has a beneficial influence on the mechanical properties of RAC by improving the properties of the new ITZ. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Li, Z, Wu, C, Olayiwola, JN, Hilaire, DS & Huang, JJ 2012, 'Telemedicine-based digital retinal imaging vs standard ophthalmologic evaluation for the assessment of diabetic retinopathy.', Conn Med, vol. 76, no. 2, pp. 85-90.
View description>>

OBJECTIVE: To study the cost benefit analysis of using a telemedicine-based digital retinal imaging evaluation compared to conventional ophthalmologic fundus examination of diabetic patients for diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: In this study, diabetic patients from Community Health Center, Inc. (CHCI), a large multi-site Federally Qualified Health Center) were evaluated by teleophthalmology using the Canon CR-1 nonmydriatic fundus camera. Digital images were acquired in the CHCI offices and saved on the EyePACS server network. The images were later evaluated by retinal specialists at the Yale Eye Center, Yale University Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science. The costs for the standard of care ophthalmic examinations were calculated based on 2009 Medicaid reimbursement rates. The process of telemedicine-based diagnosis was based on a take-store-forward-visualize system. The cost of telemedicine-based digital retinal imaging examination included cost for devices, training, annual costs and a transportation fee. Current Medicaid reimbursement, transportation, and staff labor costs were used to calculate the conventional retinal examination cost as a comparison. RESULTS: Among the 611 patients digital retinal images screened in the first year of this program and for whom data are available, 166 (27.2%) cases of diabetic retinopathy were identified. Seventy-five (12.3%) patients screened positive with clinically significant disease and were referred for further ophthalmological evaluation and treatment. The primary direct cost of the telemedicine was $3.80, $15.00, $17.60, $1.50, and $2.50 per patient for medical assistant, ophthalmologist, capital cost (Equipment + Training), equipment maintenance, and transportation fee, respectively. The total cost in the telemedicine-based digital retinal imaging and evaluation was $40.40. The cost of conventional retinal examination was $8.70, $65.30, and $3.80 per patients for round-trip transportation, 2009 nat...

Liaquat, AM, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Varman, M & Hazrat, MA 2012, 'Experimental analysis on engine performance and emission characteristics using biodiesel obtained from non-edible oil', International Review of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 659-665.
View description>>

There are concerns that biodiesel feedstock may compete with food supply in the long term, if the raw materials are vegetable virgin oils only. Therefore, throughout the world, large amounts of non-edible oil plants are available in nature. In this paper, experimental study has been carried out to analyze engine performance and emission characteristics for direct injection diesel engine using biodiesel obtained from non-edible oil such as jatropha oil and was blended with diesel fuel (DF) by 5% (JB5), 10% (JB10), 15% (JB15) and 20% (JB20) volumetrically without any engine modifications. Due to the presence of molecular oxygen, biodiesel undergoes improved combustion in the engine and has less polluting emissions in comparison with normal diesel fuels. Engine performance test was performed at 100% load keeping throttle 100% wide open with variable speeds of 1500 to 2400 rpm at an interval of 100 rpm. Whereas, emission tests were carried out at 2300 rpm at 100% and 80% throttle position. As results of investigations, there has been a decrease in torque and brake power, while increase in specific fuel consumption (sfc) has been observed for all biodiesel blend fuels over the entire speed range compared to DF. In case of engine exhaust gas emissions, reduction in HC, CO and CO2 were found for all blends. Besides, sound level for blend fuels was also reduced compared to DF. It can be concluded that jatropha biodiesel blend fuels can be used in diesel engines without any engine modifications and have beneficial effects both in terms of emission reductions and alternative petroleum diesel fuel. © 2012 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved.

Liaquat, AM, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Varman, M, Hazrat, MA, Shahabuddin, M & Mofijur, M 2012, 'Application of blend fuels in a diesel engine', Energy Procedia, vol. 14, pp. 1124-1133.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Listowski, A, Ngo, H & Guo, W 2012, 'Development of a New Framework and Methodology for Social Assessment of Recycled Water Schemes', Journal of Water Sustainability, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 149-157.
View description>>

The framework and methodology for social assessment follows concepts based on integrated water management and technology as the holistic process. This study was initially undertaken through literature review, collection and analysis of actual data from areas where water reclamation scheme have been in operation. The data obtained helped with identification of information gaps and communication deficiencies. The social assessment of technology might create some controversies, especially over environmental and health impact associated with a long term use of recycled water. This concept also implies that scientific research should support public debate, allowing greater public evaluation of the scheme its implications and consequences. This study could confirm that social assessment of water reclamation and reuse is considered in broad context and it suffers institutional separation and differentiation from economy and technology. It is fair to assert that, political economy and technological research are seen to be quite different from social research and it is often considered in a largely interpret technology and environmental contexts.

Liu, C, Ngo, HH & Guo, W 2012, 'Watermelon Rind: Agro-waste or Superior Biosorbent?', APPLIED BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, vol. 167, no. 6, pp. 1699-1715.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Biosorption of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and lead (Pb) on watermelon rind in a wellstirred batch system was investigated. pH showed significant influence on the biosorption process. Optimal pH for Cu, Zn, and Pb biosorption was found to be 5.0, 6.8 and 6.8, respectively. Watermelon rind was in favor of Pb and it could remove up to 99% Pb between pH ranges of 5 and 6.8 when Pb concentration is lower than 100 mg/L. The biosorptive capacity of watermelon on Cu, Zn, and Pb was 6.281, 6.845, and 98.063 mg/g, respectively. The equilibrium data fitted well to Langmuir adsorption isotherm while pseudo-secondorder kinetic model exhibited more advantages for describing kinetic data than pseudo-firstorder kinetic model. NaOH was found to be a suitable eluent. After desorption in NaOH solution, the resorption efficiency reached as high as 99% of these three metals either in a single-component or multi-component system. From the characterization study, ion exchange and micro-precipitation were estimated to be the main mechanisms. Due to its high metal uptake capacity, reusability, and metal recovery, watermelon rind can be considered as an eco-friendly and economic biosorbent for removing Pb from water and wastewater.

Liu, C, Ngo, HH, Guo, W & Tung, K-L 2012, 'Optimal conditions for preparation of banana peels, sugarcane bagasse and watermelon rind in removing copper from water', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 119, pp. 349-354.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this study, three agro-waste materials were used as biosorbents for removal of copper (Cu) from water. This work aims to optimise conditions for preparation of these materials to obtain maximum Cu adsorption capacity. The optimal conditions were determined in terms of Cu removal efficiency and/or energy consumption. The results indicate that banana peels dried at 120 C for 2 h and ground into powder form led to a better performance in terms of both copper removal efficiency and energy consumption. For sugarcane bagasse and watermelon rind, 120 C was the suitable drying temperature. However, the best drying time was 1 h for sugarcane bagasse and 3 h for watermelon rind. The powder form with size of <150 lm was optimal for all biosorbents in terms of removal efficiency and equilibration time. The findings are beneficial to the application of these agro-waste materials for Cu removal from water and wastewater treatment.

Liu, MD, Indraratna, B, Horpibulsuk, S & Suebsuk, J 2012, 'Variations in strength of lime-treated soft clays', Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Ground Improvement, vol. 165, no. 4, pp. 217-223.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Strength is often the most significant parameter in measuring the effect of soil improvement in geotechnical engineering practice. In this paper, a primary study is made of the variation in unconfined compressive strength of lime-treated soft clays under various practical conditions. There are three major factors that affect the strength development: lime content, curing time, and curing temperature. The variations in strength with the three factors are analysed and quantified by proposed empirical equations. These equations are verified against experimental data independently. Based on an analysis of the above simulations, a general strength equation is proposed, unifying the influence of all the three factors into a single equation. The capacity of the general equation is demonstrated and it is seen that the proposed strength equations have the potential for predicting the strength of lime-treated clays under various conditions.

Loganathan, P, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J & Naidu, R 2012, 'Cadmium Sorption and Desorption in Soils: A Review', CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol. 42, no. 5, pp. 489-533.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental pollutant that can be readily taken up by plants and may enter the food chain, causing risk to human health. It can also affect soil quality and, if easily leached, has the potential to pollute surface and ground waters. Sorption and desorption are critical processes controlling the phytoavailability and mobility of Cd in soils. The authors present the present knowledge on the mechanisms and hysteresis of Cd sorption and desorption in soils and factors such as pH, ionic strength, index cation, other heavy metal cations, inorganic anions, organic ligands, Cd loading rate, and the type and amounts of organic matter and inorganic colloids influencing these processes. The methods used to determine the nature and magnitude of Cd sorption and desorption are also critically reviewed.

Luo, L, Wang, XC, Guo, W, Ngo, HH & Chen, Z 2012, 'Impact assessment of excess discharges of organics and nutrients into aquatic systems by thermodynamic entropy calculation', JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, vol. 112, pp. 45-52.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this study, a method was proposed for calculating the thermodynamic entropy increase DS in a water body after receiving excess discharge of organics and nutrients in order to quantitatively assess the impact of pollutants discharge on aquatic systems. The enthalpy change was evaluated using the standard thermodynamic data according to the possible chemical and/or biochemical reactions such as organic oxidation, nitrification/denitrification, and phosphorus precipitation, for the recovery of water quality to the background level. A series of equations were established for calculating the DS associated with the decomposition or removal of TOC, NO3eN, NO2eN, NH3eN and TP. The values of DS corresponding to unit mass (per g) of these pollutants were calculated as 54.0 kJ/K, 2.91 kJ/K, 10.01 kJ/K, 28.51 kJ/K and 2.81 kJ/K, respectively. Besides, the applicability of the proposed method was proved by a scenario analysis regarding effluent quality control and surface water quality protection in China.

Ma, XY, Wang, XC, Ngo, H & Guo, W 2012, 'Application of vibrio qinghaiensis sp. Q67 for ecotoxic assessment of environmental waters: A mini review', Journal of Water Sustainability, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 209-220.
View description>>

Ecotoxicity assessment using luminescent bacteria has been wildly used because it is rapid, sensitive and cost effective for screening water and wastewater quality. This mini-review focused on the application of Vibrio qinghaiensis sp. Q67 (abbreviated as Q67), a natural freshwater luminescent bacteria strain discovered in China. The characteristics of the bioassay using Q67 were firstly reviewed with comparison to that using the Vibrio fischeri, a widely used marine luminescent bacteria strain. In addition to the principal of bioassay using luminescent bacteria, attention was paid to the applications of Q67 to the toxicity assessment of organic and inorganic substances, and practical water samples. With its advantage for direct evaluation of freshwater samples without salt addition, Q67 toxicity test can be a good alternative of Vibrio fischeri for toxicological study of environmental waters.

Macabuag, J, Guragain, R & Bhattacharya, S 2012, 'Seismic retrofitting of non-engineered masonry in rural Nepal', Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures and Buildings, vol. 165, no. 6, pp. 273-286.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

One of the greatest causes of casualties in major earthquakes around the world is the collapse of non-engineered masonry buildings (those built without engineering input). Yet by definition non-engineered structures remain largely outside of the scope of modern engineering research, meaning that the majority of those at risk often remain so. A further barrier to realising research in this field is the significant social and economic challenge of implementation in low-income communities, where non-engineered housing is prevalent. This paper introduces a retrofitting technique aimed at preventing or prolonging the collapse of adobe (mud brick) houses under strong earthquakes. This technique uses common polypropylene packaging straps to form a mesh, which is then used to encase structural walls. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the retrofitting technique's development and implementation. The key development stages of static, dynamic and numerical testing are presented, showing that the proposed technique effectively prevents brittle masonry collapse and the loss of debris. An implementation project is then discussed, involving a training programme for rural masons in Nepal, a public shake-table demonstration and the retrofit of a real house. The implementation project proved effective at reaching rural communities but highlighted that government subsidies are required to incentivise the safeguarding of homes among low-income communities.

Mahlia, TMI, Ng, HM, Olofsson, T, Andriyana, A & Hasanuddin, I 2012, 'Energy and cost savings of optimal thickness for selected insulation materials and air gaps for building walls in tropical climate', Energy Education Science and Technology Part A: Energy Science and Research, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 649-662.
View description>>

Air conditioning usage in buildings is one of the major energy consumption sources due to thermal comfort requirement in tropical climate. An efficient building thermal insulation can reduce the energy consumption for cooling systems due to heat transfer from ambient. Therefore, it is crucial to study the effectiveness of energy saving by thermal insulation for buildings. In this study, the savings of ten selected building thermal insulation materials on the energy consumption of air-conditioning for cooling are evaluated based on tropical climate condition in Malaysia. The life-cycle cost analysis is conducted is calculated based on the energy savings. The results have revealed that life cycle cost is varying from 73 to 85%/m 2 wall and energy saving from 85 to 92%/m 2 wall, which can be achieved depending on the insulation material used at their optimal thickness. The insulations Stropor exhibit optimal results in terms of economic benefits. The energy savings of air gap in the wall construction is also investigated for the selected insulation material. It is found that additional 0.64%/m 2 wall of life cycle cost savings can be achieved by applying 6 cm air gap at the selected insulation at optimal thickness. © Sila Science.

Mahlia, TMI, Tohno, S & Tezuka, T 2012, 'A review on fuel economy test procedure for automobiles: Implementation possibilities in Malaysia and lessons for other countries', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 4029-4046.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Materin, MA, Bianciotto, CG, Wu, C & Shields, CL 2012, 'SECTOR LASER PHOTOCOAGULATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF MACULAR EDEMA AFTER PLAQUE RADIOTHERAPY FOR UVEAL MELANOMA', Retina, vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 1601-1607.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Objective: To investigate the role of sector laser photocoagulation for prevention of macular edema after plaque radiotherapy for uveal melanoma. Methods: Noncomparative, pilot interventional case series. The main outcome measure was optical coherence tomography-evident macular edema. Results: A total of 29 patients had sector laser photocoagulation (sector panretinal photocoagulation) and sub-Tenon triamcinolone injection. The median tumor thickness and base was 3.3 mm and 10.0 mm. The median radiation dose and rate to the macula was 2,944 cGy and 31.0 cGy/hour. At the 12-month and 24-months follow-up, cystoid macular edema was found in 17% and 24% of the sector panretinal photocoagulation group. There were no major side effects registered. Conclusion: Sector panretinal photocoagulation in combination with sub-Tenon triamcinolone appears to show potential as a safe and beneficial intervention for the prevention of macular edema after plaque radiotherapy for uveal melanoma in this series.

Mitra, A, Barua, P, Zaman, S & Banerjee, K 2012, 'Analysis of Trace Metals in Commercially Important Crustaceans Collected from UNESCO Protected World Heritage Site of Indian Sundarbans', Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 49-61.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Mofijur, M, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA & Shahabuddin, M 2012, 'Experimental study of additive added palm biodiesel in a compression ignition engine', Energy Education Science and Technology Part A: Energy Science and Research, vol. 30, no. SPEC .ISS.1, pp. 1-12.
View description>>

In this study, the effect of anti oxidant additives on performance and emissions of a biofuelled engine was investigated experimentally and compared with diesel fuel. For this study four fuel sample including B0 (100% diesel fuel), B100 (100% palm biodiesel), B35 (35% palm biodiesel and 65% diesel) and B35+1% (B35 with 1% additives) was used in a multi cylinder compression ignition engine. Performance and emissions were investigated at various engine speeds of 1500 rpm to 4000 rpm at an interval of 250 rpm and with 50% throttle opening. To evaluate the performance characteristics brake power (BP), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and exhaust temperature were tested where as incase of emissions test nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), total hydrocarbon (THC) and carbon dioxide (CO2) were measured. The results showed that using 1% anti oxidant additive with higher percentages (35%) of palm biodiesel blend gave 2.7% lower brake power but it significantly reduced exhaust emissions including NOx emissions than diesel fuel. Based on this study fuel 'B35+1%' (35% biodiesel with 1% additives) was achieved as a promising alternative fuel for compression ignition engine. © Sila Science.

Mofijur, M, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Hazrat, MA, Liaquat, AM, Shahabuddin, M & Varman, M 2012, 'Prospects of biodiesel from Jatropha in Malaysia', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 5007-5020.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Mofijur, M, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Shahabuddin, M, Hazrat, MA & Liaquat, AM 2012, 'Palm Oil Methyl Ester and Its Emulsions Effect on Lubricant Performance and Engine Components Wear', Energy Procedia, vol. 14, pp. 1748-1753.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Mohammady, M, Pourghasemi, HR & Pradhan, B 2012, 'Landslide susceptibility mapping at Golestan Province, Iran: A comparison between frequency ratio, Dempster–Shafer, and weights-of-evidence models', Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, vol. 61, pp. 221-236.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Mohammed, T, Aryal, R, Vigneswaran, S, Loganathan, P, Kandasamy, J & Naidu, R 2012, 'Removal of heavy metals in stormwater by hydrous ferric oxide', PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS-WATER MANAGEMENT, vol. 165, no. 3, pp. 171-178.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Stormwater runoff from urban and industrial areas contains several types of heavy metals that have negative ecological impacts on receiving waters, and therefore methods need to be developed to remove these pollutants. Combined removal of a mixture of heavy metal cations (Cu 2+, Zn 2+, Cd 2+, and Ni 2+) and an oxy anion (selenate, SeO 4-) from an artificially prepared stormwater was investigated by sorption of these heavy metals on hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) in a column experiment under intermittent runoff (wetting and drying) condition, as occurs between rainfall events in the field. The heavy metal removal behaviour varied between ions as well as with time. In each continuous column run (8 h) the amount of ions removed progressively decreased with time and reached a constant level at approximately 4-6 h. However, stopping the runoff for 40 h and starting the next runoff after this period removed a large quantity of heavy metals in the first few hours of this run. The intermittent runoff for seven runs showed that HFO has a high capacity to remove copper and zinc, which were present in higher concentrations in the stormwater than cadmium, nickel and selenium.

Mohammed, T, Loganathan, P, Kinsela, A, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2012, 'Enrichment, inter-relationship, and fractionation of heavy metals in road-deposited sediments of Sydney, Australia', SOIL RESEARCH, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 229-238.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Urban road-deposited sediments (RDS) are potential sources of heavy metal pollution of both terrestrial and aquatic environments. We determined the heavy metals enrichments, their possible sources, and potential bioavailability and mobility in RDS from nine sites along major motorways of Sydney, the largest city with highest road traffic density in Australia. Mean total concentrations of metals in the RDS decreased in the order: Fe >Mn >Zn >Cu >Cr >Pb >Ni >Cd. The corresponding order in the background soils (minimally contaminated from roads) was: Fe >Mn >Zn ∼ Ni >Cu ∼ Pb >Cr >Cd. Both the pollution index (PI) and metal enrichment factor (EF), which are comparative measures between contaminated and uncontaminated sites, were highest for Cu and Zn. Inputs of Cu and Zn to RDS were likely to be mainly the result of brake and tyre wear, respectively. Cluster and correlation analyses showed that while the concentrations of these two metals were related in the soil, they were not correlated in RDS. Low PI and EF values as well as the close inter-relationships of Fe, Mn, Cr, and Ni in both RDS and soils suggest that these metals were derived mainly from natural sources. Metal fractionation data showed 5095% of Cr and Fe in RDS to be present in the immobile and bio-unavailable residual fraction, whereas 1565% of Zn was contained in the exchangeable fraction, which is considered to be mobile and bioavailable. © 2012 CSIRO.

Mohammed, T, Vigneswaran, S, Loganathan, P, Kandasamy, J & Aryal, R 2012, 'Removal of Inorganic Contaminants from Simulated Stormwater by Three Sorbents in Columns Under Intermittent Runoff Condition', SEPARATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol. 47, no. 16, pp. 2340-2347.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Combined removal of inorganic contaminants from a synthetic tormwater was investigated by their sorption on hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) (5%), HFO + Ca(OH)2(6%), and HFO + Ca(OH)2 + MnO2 (7%) in columns containing 93-95% anthracite, conducted under seven intermittent runoffs, each of 8 h duration with a 40 h (drying) period between them. At the initial period when Ca(OH)2 produced elevated pHs, the HFO column removed less metals but more Se than the HFO + Ca(OH)2 columns. With increased time when the pH effect of Ca(OH)2 became insignificant, the MnO2 in the column increased the removal of all contaminants. The removal efficiencies (%) at the flow rate of 0.75 m/h for Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn by the HFO + Ca(OH)2 + MnO2 column were 88-100%, and Se by the HFO column were 92-94% for the 1st and 3rd runs. The corresponding values for the 5th and 7th runs were 51-88% and 82-88%, respectively.

Moreno‐de las Heras, M, Saco, PM, Willgoose, GR & Tongway, DJ 2012, 'Variations in hydrological connectivity of Australian semiarid landscapes indicate abrupt changes in rainfall‐use efficiency of vegetation', Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, vol. 117, no. G3.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Dryland vegetation frequently shows self‐organized spatial patterns as mosaic‐like structures of sources (bare areas) and sinks (vegetation patches) of water runoff and sediments with variable interconnection. Good examples are banded landscapes displayed by Mulga in semiarid Australia, where the spatial organization of vegetation optimizes the redistribution and use of water (and other scarce resources) at the landscape scale. Disturbances can disrupt the spatial distribution of vegetation causing a substantial loss of water by increasing landscape hydrological connectivity and consequently, affecting ecosystem function (e.g., decreasing the rainfall‐use efficiency of the landscape). We analyze (i) connectivity trends obtained from coupled analysis of remotely sensed vegetation patterns and terrain elevations in several Mulga landscapes subjected to different levels of disturbance, and (ii) the rainfall‐use efficiency of these landscapes, exploring the relationship between rainfall and remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. Our analyses indicate that small reductions in the fractional cover of vegetation near a particular threshold can cause abrupt changes in ecosystem function, driven by large nonlinear increases in the length of the connected flowpaths. In addition, simulations with simple vegetation‐thinning algorithms show that these nonlinear changes are especially sensitive to the type of disturbance, suggesting that the amount of alterations that an ecosystem can absorb and still remain functional largely depends on disturbance type. In fact, selective thinning of the vegetation patches from their edges can cause a higher impact on the landscape hydrological connectivity than spatially random disturbances. These results highlight surface connectivity patterns as practical indicators for monitoring landscape health.

Mueller, J & Stewart, MG 2012, 'The Terrorism Delusion: America's Overwrought Response to September 11', International Security, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 81-110.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The reaction of Americans to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has been massively disproportionate to the actual threat posed by al-Qaida either as an international menace or as an inspiration or model for homegrown amateurs. An examination of the activities of international and domestic terrorist “adversaries” reveals that exaggerations and distortions of the threat have inspired a determined and expensive quest to ferret out, and even to create, the nearly nonexistent. The result has been an ill-conceived and remarkably unreflective effort to react to an event that, however tragic and dramatic in the first instance, should have been seen to be of only limited significance at least after a few years. Not only has the terrorism delusion had significant costs, but the initial alarmed perspective has been so internalized that anxieties about terrorism have persisted for more than a decade despite exceedingly limited evidence that much fear is justified.

Mullard, JA & Stewart, MG 2012, 'Life-Cycle Cost Assessment of Maintenance Strategies for RC Structures in Chloride Environments', Journal of Bridge Engineering, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 353-362.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Corrosion of the reinforcing steel can cause cover cracking and eventual spalling of reinforced concrete (RC) surfaces, resulting in costly and disruptive repairs. The present paper will compare the effect of maintenance and repair strategies on the timing, extent, and cost of remediation actions over the service life of a RC structure in a chloride environment. The paper presents a probabilistic reliability analysis, which is used to predict the likelihood and extent of corrosion-induced cracking to RC structures. A spatial time-dependent reliability model has been developed where concrete properties, concrete cover, and the surface chloride concentrations are treated as random fields. This allows for the calculation of the probability that a given extent of damage will occur for any time period. Maintenance strategies and repair efficiencies are incorporated in a Monte-Carlo event-based simulation analysis, allowing a comparison in terms of cost and number of repairs over the service life of a RC structure. Thus, the expected timing and extent of repairs can be predicted for various design parameters, inspection intervals, repair thresholds, maintenance strategies, and efficiency of repairs. Results are presented for a RC bridge deck subject to a marine environment. The life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis considers repair and user delay costs. User delay costs can be up to ten times higher than the cost of repair itself. The statistical variability of predicted LCCs can be large, with coefficients of variation exceeding one. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Nabavi, SF, Nejadi, S & Samali, B 2012, 'Technical and Economical Assessment of the Corrosion Preventive Methods for Maritime Reinforced Concrete Structures', Applied Mechanics and Materials, vol. 193-194, pp. 1005-1009.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Corrosion of embedded steel reinforcing in concrete structures is the predominant phenomenon of premature deterioration of structures exposed to marine environment. In this study, the technical advantages and disadvantages of the most commonly corrosion preventive methods are investigated and then cost analysis by comparing the Present Value of the methods is carried out for 40 years of life time. This investigation proved that the lower cost methods have not shown an acceptable performance in long term and those which have exhibited a good performance, have increased the lifetime cost of structure considerably.

Nguyen, T, Ngo, H, Guo, W & Nguyen, V 2012, 'Phosphorous removal from aqueous solutions by agricultural by-products: A critical review', Journal of Water Sustainability, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 193-207.
View description>>

Phosphorous plays an essential role in the development of living organisms. Nevertheless, phosphorous pollution, known as the eutrophication, is regarded as one of main causes of water quality deterioration. Hence, the decontamination of phosphorous from aqueous solutions is of importance for eutrophication control and phosphorous recovery. This review paper investigates the potential use of agricultural by-products (ABPs) as biosorbents in remediation of phosphorous contaminated waters. It was found that the modified ABPs exhibit equivalent or higher sorption capacity of phosphorous compared to conventional adsorbents. The efficient removal of phosphorous by ABPs requires some chemical modifications. The application of ABPs is highly recommended because of their significant advantages, including the abundant availability, low cost, high efficiency and without detrimental impacts on the environment. As adsorptive removal of phosphorous by ABPs is a relatively new process, there are still many aspects for future research, such as development of novel and cost-effective modification techniques, modeling for process optimization, desorption, cost-benefit analysis etc. The improvements in these aspects are expected to make it the method of choice in the future.

Nguyen, TT, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Li, J & Listowski, A 2012, 'Effects of Sludge Concentrations and Different Sponge Configurations on the Performance of a Sponge-Submerged Membrane Bioreactor', APPLIED BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, vol. 167, no. 6, pp. 1678-1687.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The performance of a novel sponge-submerged membrane bioreactor (SSMBR) was evaluated to treat primary treated sewage effluent at three different activated sludge concentrations. Polyurethane sponge cubes with size of 1×1×1 cm were used as attached growth media in the bioreactor. The results indicated the successful removal of organic carbon and phosphorous with the efficiency higher than 98% at all conditions. Acclimatised sponge MBR showed about 5% better ammonia nitrogen removal at 5 and 10 g/L sludge concentration as compared to the new sponge system. The respiration test revealed that the specific oxygen uptake rate was around 1.0-3.5 mgO2/gVSS.h and likely more stable at 10 g/L sludge concentration. The sludge volume index of less than 100 mL/g during the operation indicated the good settling property of the sludge. The low mixed liquor suspended solid increase indicated that SSMBR could control the sludge production. This SSMBR was also successful in reducing membrane fouling with significant lower transmembrane pressure (e.g. only 0.5 kPa/day) compared to the conventional MBR system. Further study will be conducted to optimise other operating conditions. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.

Nguyen, TT, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Listowski, A & Li, JX 2012, 'Evaluation of sponge tray-membrane bioreactor (ST-MBR) for primary treated sewage effluent treatment', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 113, pp. 143-147.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The membrane bioreactor system (MBR) with pre-treatment of sponge tray bioreactor (STB) was evaluated at different operating conditions for treating primary treated sewage (PTS). The result indicated the successful removal of DOC with the efficiency of higher than 95%. The highest nutrient removal efficiency of 83.6% (NH 4-N) and 75.5% (PO 4-P) was observed at sludge concentration of 330mg/L. Specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) of activated sludge in MBR kept increasing up to 6mgO 2/gVSSh during stage IV. The sludge volume index (SVI) of less than 100mL/g during the operation indicated the good settling property of the sludge. At highest sludge concentration of 5g/L, trans-membrane pressure (TMP) was increasing dramatically during first 15d up to 25kPa; however it was only 6kPa at lower sludge concentrations. It is concluded that the system showed the highest performance at stage III with sludge concentration of 330mg/L. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

NI, B-J & YU, H-Q 2012, 'Microbial Products of Activated Sludge in Biological Wastewater Treatment Systems: A Critical Review', Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 187-223.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ni, B-J, Fang, F, Xie, W-M, Xu, J & Yu, H-Q 2012, 'Formation of Distinct Soluble Microbial Products by Activated Sludge: Kinetic Analysis and Quantitative Determination', Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 1667-1674.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ni, B-J, Ruscalleda, M & Smets, BF 2012, 'Evaluation on the microbial interactions of anaerobic ammonium oxidizers and heterotrophs in Anammox biofilm', Water Research, vol. 46, no. 15, pp. 4645-4652.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Nimbalkar, S, Indraratna, B, Dash, SK & Christie, D 2012, 'Improved Performance of Railway Ballast under Impact Loads Using Shock Mats', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 138, no. 3, pp. 281-294.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Nur, H, Lee Kee, G, Hamdan, H, Indra Mahlia, TM, Efendi, J & Cornelis Metselaar, HS 2012, 'Organosulfonic acid functionalized zeolite ZSM-5 as temperature tolerant proton conducting material', International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 37, no. 17, pp. 12513-12521.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Nur, T, Johir, MAH, Loganathan, P, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2012, 'Effectiveness of purolite A500PS and A520E ion exchange resins on the removal of nitrate and phosphate from synthetic water', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 47, no. 1-3, pp. 50-58.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Water pollution due to the excessive presence of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) is a serious environmental worldwide problem, because both species are implicated in the eutrophication of receiving surface waters and elevated nitrate concentration in drinking water can be toxic to infants. The removal efficiencies of nitrate and phosphate from water spiked with different ratios and concentrations of these nutrients by two ion-exchange resins (Purolite A500PS and Purolite A520E) were studied in batch kinetics and equilibrium adsorption experiments. Both purolites were found to be selective towards nitrate removal at all ratios of nitrate to phosphate in solution. Purolite A520E showed higher (<85%) removal efficiency of nitrate than Purolite A500PS (about 65%) from a solution containing 20mgN/L as nitrate and 10mgP/L as phosphate at a resin dose of 1.5 g/L. However, Purolite A500PS showed higher (65%) removal of phosphate than Purolite A520E (48%). Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models fitted well for the adsorption of nitrate on Purolite A520E (R2 = 0.95-0.96). However, the adsorption of nitrate on Purolite A500PS can be explained satisfactorily only by Freundlich model (R2 = 0.98). The adsorption of phosphate on the resins fitted well to Freundlich model (R2 = 0.90) for Purolite A500PS as well as for Purolite A520E (R2 = 0.90). The adsorption of phosphate and nitrate on both ion-exchange resins was much better described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2≥0.99) than by pseudo-first-order kinetic model (R2 = 0.25-0.94).© 2012 Desalination Publications.

Olofsson, T & Mahlia, TMI 2012, 'Modeling and simulation of the energy use in an occupied residential building in cold climate', Applied Energy, vol. 91, no. 1, pp. 432-438.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ong, HC, Mahlia, TMI & Masjuki, HH 2012, 'A review on energy pattern and policy for transportation sector in Malaysia', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 532-542.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ong, HC, Mahlia, TMI, Masjuki, HH & Honnery, D 2012, 'Life cycle cost and sensitivity analysis of palm biodiesel production', Fuel, vol. 98, pp. 131-139.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Oven, KJ, Curtis, SE, Reaney, S, Riva, M, Stewart, MG, Ohlemüller, R, Dunn, CE, Nodwell, S, Dominelli, L & Holden, R 2012, 'Climate change and health and social care: Defining future hazard, vulnerability and risk for infrastructure systems supporting older people’s health care in England', Applied Geography, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 16-24.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Health and social care systems (including the care needs of the population and infrastructures providing health and social care) are likely to be influenced by climate change, in particular by the increasing frequency and severity of weather-related hazards such as floods and heatwaves. Coldwaves will also continue to be challenging in the foreseeable future. Protecting people's health and wellbeing from the impacts of climate change is especially important for older people, as they are particularly vulnerable to climate-related hazards. In addition, the proportion of people aged 65 and over is projected to increase significantly. This paper addresses these issues through a discussion of our work to map variations across England in future hazards, vulnerability and risk. We explain how this mapping has been used to identify areas of the country where the built infrastructure serving the older age group might be most severely impacted by climate-related events over the next 20-30 years and where planning for adaptation and resilience is most urgently required. Based on a review of research on the links between extreme weather events and their impacts on older people's health and the care services on which they depend, we developed operational definitions of extreme weather-related hazards likely to place particular pressure on health and social care systems that are essential for older people's health and wellbeing. We consider ways to relate these to the latest climate projections for the 2030s from the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCP09); river and coastal flooding projections for the 2050s from the 2004 UK Government's Foresight Flood and Coastal Defence Project (Environment Agency, 2004); and demographic projections for 2031 produced by the Office for National Statistics, UK. The research highlights the complexity of undertaking future hazard and vulnerability assessments. Key challenges include: how to define future hazards associated with climate change; h...

Pan, Y, Ye, L, Ni, B-J & Yuan, Z 2012, 'Effect of pH on N2O reduction and accumulation during denitrification by methanol utilizing denitrifiers', Water Research, vol. 46, no. 15, pp. 4832-4840.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Pang, SC, Kalam, MA, Masjuki, HH & Hazrat, MA 2012, 'A review on air flow and coolant flow circuit in vehicles’ cooling system', International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 55, no. 23-24, pp. 6295-6306.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Pang, SC, Kalam, MA, Masjuki, HH, Badruddin, IA, Ramli, R & Hazrat, MA 2012, 'Underhood geometry modification and transient coolant temperature modelling for robust cooling networks', International Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 251-258.
View description>>

In this current era, increasing computing power, effort to reduce prototypes' cost and time, and shorten design-to-product time urges the need of numerical computation. Higher cooling's load or requirement is attributed by higher power of engine. Also, higher quantity of heat exchangers and vehicles' styling resulted limited space at vehicles' hood. These factors have caused the design job of vehicles' hood and engine cooling system to be more crucial and challenging. A well designed and robust engine cooling system could sustain in the worst and toughest condition. One of the worst conditions for engine cooling system is sudden keying-off of engine after hill climbing and high speed driving. In this research, three dimensional computational fluids dynamic (CFD) is utilised to model the dynamic air flow at the hood with complicated geometry. On the other hand, one dimensional thermo-fluid model could simulate the system effect after including all the components in engine cooling system. With integration of both models, the transient coolant temperature before and after vehicles' keying off is simulated and is analysed thoroughly. Front-end hood geometry is morphed to reduce air separation at heat exchangers. Two cone-shaped air directing devices are included to guide higher volume of ram air toward frontal face of heat exchangers. Different heat soak scenarios are simulated and transient temperature trend is observed. The coolant temperature tends to increase tremendously when huge amount of heat soak could not be dissipated away in-time.

Pant, HR, Park, CH, Pant, B, Tijing, LD, Kim, HY & Kim, CS 2012, 'Synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic properties of ZnO nano-flower containing TiO2 NPs', Ceramics International, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 2943-2950.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this study, TiO 2-impregnated ZnO nano-flowers were synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal process. Aqueous suspension containing ZnO precursor and commercial TiO 2 NPs (P25) is heated at 140 °C for 2 h. The morphology and structure of as-synthesized particles were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), which revealed that TiO 2 NPs were attached on the surface of ZnO flower. It was observed that the presence of TiO 2 NPs in the hydrothermal solution could sufficiently decrease the size of ZnO flower. The hybrid nanostructure, with unique morphology, obtained from this convenient method (low temperature, less time, and less number of reagents) was found to be effective photocatalyst under UV-irradiation. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.

Pant, HR, Park, CH, Tijing, LD, Amarjargal, A, Lee, D-H & Kim, CS 2012, 'Bimodal fiber diameter distributed graphene oxide/nylon-6 composite nanofibrous mats via electrospinning', Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, vol. 407, pp. 121-125.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this work, nylon-6 spider-wave-like nano-nets are fabricated by regulating the amount of graphene oxide (GO) in polymer solution during electrospinning. The spider-wave-like nano-nets that comprise interlinked thin (≈14 nm diameter) and thick fibers (≈192 nm diameter) are widely distributed throughout the mat when suitable amount of GO is blended with nylon-6 solution. The heterogeneous composite mats were composed of bimodal nanofibers in which pore diameter was sufficiently decreased. The acceleration in ionization and degradation of nylon-6 (due to formic acid) solution caused by well-dispersed GO sheet as well as the formation of hydrogen bond between nylon-6 molecules and GO sheet during electrospinning are proposed as the possible mechanisms for the formation of these spider-wave-like nano-nets

Park, C-H, Jung, MY, Tijing, LD, Lee, HB, Kim, NS & Kim, CS 2012, 'Characterization and biostability of HA/Ti6Al4V ACL anchor prepared by simple heat-treatment', Ceramics International, vol. 38, no. 7, pp. 5385-5391.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Park, C-H, Kim, C-H, Tijing, LD, Lee, D-H, Yu, M-H, Pant, HR, Kim, Y & Kim, CS 2012, 'Preparation and characterization of (polyurethane/nylon-6) nanofiber/ (silicone) film composites via electrospinning and dip-coating', Fibers and Polymers, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 339-345.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper reports on the preparation and characterization of nanofibers and nanofiber/film composites fabricated by electrospinning and dip-coating. The polymers in this study consist of polyurethane, nylon-6, and silicone. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fiber distribution, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and tensile tests were conducted. The electrospun nylon-6 nanofiber/dip-coated silicone film (dried for 5 min) showed the optimum tensile strength and strain results, showing an increase in tensile strength of 63 % compared to pure nylon-6 nanofiber alone. XRD and FTIR verified the presence of individual polymers in the composite matrix. The electrospun PU nanofiber produced the biggest fiber diameter, while electrospun nylon-6, and PU/nylon-6 produced uniform fiber diameters, with PU/nylon-6 obtaining very random and curved fiber morphology. © 2012 The Korean Fiber Society and Springer Netherlands.

Park, C-H, Kim, T-H, Lee, D-H, Tijing, LD, Yu, M-H, Moon, S-D & Kim, CS 2012, 'Magnetic Polishing of Titanium-Nickel Alloy Stents: Surface Characterization and Catheter Deployment Test', Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, vol. 43, no. 9, pp. 3006-3010.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

We report here for the first time the use of magnetic polishing to improve the surface finish of titanium-nickel (TiNi) stents for better performance. We investigated the effects of polishing time and rotational speed on the average surface roughness, surface chemical contents, and push-out load of stents. The magnetically polished stents show a decrease of 2.3 to 17.9 pct in surface roughness and a lower push-out load for stent deployment from the catheter.

Phuntsho, S, Shon, HK, Hong, S, Lee, S, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2012, 'Fertiliser drawn forward osmosis desalination: the concept, performance and limitations for fertigation', REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND BIO-TECHNOLOGY, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 147-168.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

With the world's population growing rapidly, pressure is increasing on the limited fresh water resources. Membrane technology could play a vital role in solving the water scarcity issues through alternative sources such as saline water sources and wastewater reclamation. The current generation of membrane technologies, particularly reverse osmosis (RO), has significantly improved in performance. However, RO desalination is still energy intensive and any effort to improve energy efficiency increases total cost of the product water. Since energy, environment and climate change issues are all inter-related, desalination for large-scale irrigation requires new novel technologies that address the energy issues. Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging membrane technology. However, FO desalination for potable water is still a challenge because, recovery and regeneration of draw solutes require additional processes and energy. This article focuses on the application of FO desalination for non-potable irrigation where maximum water is required. In this concept of fertiliser drawn FO (FDFO) desalination, fertilisers are used as draw solutions (DS). The diluted draw solution after desalination can be directly applied for fertigation without the need for recovery and regeneration of DS. FDFO desalination can make irrigation water available at comparatively lower energy than the current desalination technologies. As a low energy technology, FDFO can be easily powered by renewable energy sources and therefore suitable for inland and remote applications. This article outlines the concept of FDFO desalination and critically evaluates the scope and limitations of this technology for fertigation, including suggestions on options to overcome some of these limitations. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Phuntsho, S, Shon, HK, Majeed, T, El Saliby, I, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J, Hong, S & Lee, S 2012, 'Blended Fertilizers as Draw Solutions for Fertilizer-Drawn Forward Osmosis Desalination', ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, vol. 46, no. 8, pp. 4567-4575.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) desalination, the final nutrient concentration (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK)) in the product water is essential for direct fertigation and to avoid over fertilization. Our study with 11 selected fertilizers indicate that blending of two or more single fertilizers as draw solution (DS) can achieve significantly lower nutrient concentration in the FDFO product water rather than using single fertilizer alone. For example, blending KCl and NH 4H 2PO 4 as DS can result in 0.61/1.35/1.70 g/L of N/P/K, which is comparatively lower than using them individually as DS. The nutrient composition and concentration in the final FDFO product water can also be adjusted by selecting low nutrient fertilizers containing complementary nutrients and in different ratios to produce prescription mixtures. However, blending fertilizers generally resulted in slightly reduced bulk osmotic pressure and water flux in comparison to the sum of the osmotic pressures and water fluxes of the two individual DSs as used alone. The performance ratio or PR (ratio of actual water flux to theoretical water flux) of blended fertilizer DS was observed to be between the PR of the two fertilizer solutions tested individually. In some cases, such as urea, blending also resulted in significant reduction in N nutrient loss by reverse diffusion in presence of other fertilizer species. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Phuntsho, S, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J, Hong, S, Lee, S & Shon, HK 2012, 'Influence of temperature and temperature difference in the performance of forward osmosis desalination process', JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE, vol. 415, pp. 734-744.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging technology for low energy desalination. Amongst the many other factors, temperature of the draw solution (DS) and feed solution (FS) plays an important role in influencing the performance of the FO process. In this study, the influence of the temperature and the temperature difference on the performance of FO process has been studied in terms of water and solute fluxes. Temperature difference was maintained by elevating only one of the solutions (either DS or FS). The results indicate that, water flux on average increases by up to 1.2% for every degree rise in temperature from 25 °C to 35 °C while this rise is 2.3% from 25 °C to 45 °C. Providing a temperature difference by elevating only the DS also enhanced the water flux significantly, although it was lower than FO process operated at isothermal conditions. However, elevating only the temperature of FS did not significantly improve the water flux although it was higher than the FO process operated at 25 °C. This has significant implications in FO process because the total mass of the DS requiring heat energy is significantly less than the total FS used. The influences of temperature in the FO process such as through changes in the thermodynamic properties of the solutions and the various concentration polarisation effects are also explained in details. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Pijuan, M, Wang, Q, Ye, L & Yuan, Z 2012, 'Improving secondary sludge biodegradability using free nitrous acid treatment', Bioresource Technology, vol. 116, pp. 92-98.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Pourghasemi, HR, Mohammady, M & Pradhan, B 2012, 'Landslide susceptibility mapping using index of entropy and conditional probability models in GIS: Safarood Basin, Iran', CATENA, vol. 97, pp. 71-84.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Pourghasemi, HR, Pradhan, B & Gokceoglu, C 2012, 'Application of fuzzy logic and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to landslide susceptibility mapping at Haraz watershed, Iran', Natural Hazards, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 965-996.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Pradhan, B, Chaudhari, A, Adinarayana, J & Buchroithner, MF 2012, 'Soil erosion assessment and its correlation with landslide events using remote sensing data and GIS: a case study at Penang Island, Malaysia', Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, vol. 184, no. 2, pp. 715-727.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Pradhan, M, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J & Ben Aim, R 2012, 'Combined effect of air and mechanical scouring of membranes for fouling reduction in submerged membrane reactor', DESALINATION, vol. 288, pp. 58-65.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This study investigated the combined effect of air flow and use of granular support medium in suspension in a submerged membrane reactor to reduce membrane fouling. Lower membrane fouling and a slower rise in transmembrane pressure (TMP) were noticed when a higher air flow rate was used for membrane scouring. Further fouling reduction was achieved by adding a granular medium in the reactor. The results showed that in the absence of the granular medium, when air flow was tripled (from 600 to 1800 L/h/m2), the TMP development was decreased by 60%. TMP further dropped to 85% with the addition of granular medium (for the same air flow rate). The doubling of the air flow rate (from 600 to 1200 L/h/m2), without granular medium, led to a 32% reduction in TMP development at 10 L/m2.h. The same result was obtained at a lower air flow rate of 600 L/h/m2 with the granular medium. This result shows that the same reduction of TMP can be obtained by adding granular medium instead of doubling air flow rate. Therefore adding granular medium in the suspension (mechanical scouring) with air flow (air scouring) could be a sustainable alternative to applying high air flow in submerged membrane systems.

Rahman, MM, Öztop, HF, Ahsan, A, Kalam, MA & Billah, MM 2012, 'MHD Mixed Convection in a Channel with a Triangular Cavity', Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications, vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 268-282.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Rahman, MM, Öztop, HF, Ahsan, A, Kalam, MA & Varol, Y 2012, 'Double-diffusive natural convection in a triangular solar collector', International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 264-269.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Rapeli, P, Fabritius, C, Kalska, H & Alho, H 2012, 'Do drug treatment variables predict cognitive performance in multidrug-treated opioid-dependent patients? A regression analysis study', Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 45.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ren, JM, Fu, Q, Blencowe, A & Qiao, GG 2012, 'Organic Catalyst-Mediated Ring-Opening Polymerization for the Highly Efficient Synthesis of Polyester-Based Star Polymers', ACS Macro Letters, vol. 1, no. 6, pp. 681-686.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Rismanchi, B, Saidur, R, Masjuki, HH & Mahlia, TMI 2012, 'Energetic, economic and environmental benefits of utilizing the ice thermal storage systems for office building applications', Energy and Buildings, vol. 50, pp. 347-354.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Rismanchi, B, Saidur, R, Masjuki, HH & Mahlia, TMI 2012, 'Thermodynamic evaluation of utilizing different ice thermal energy storage systems for cooling application in office buildings in Malaysia', Energy and Buildings, vol. 53, pp. 117-126.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Robinson, RG, Indraratna, B & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2012, 'Final state of soils under vacuum preloading', Canadian Geotechnical Journal, vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 729-739.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Vacuum preloading of clay deposits is becoming an increasingly popular ground improvement technique. Although many studies have been reported in literature, the mechanism of vacuum preloading is still not properly understood. Soil under vacuum preloading is expected to undergo an inward lateral deformation, therefore the influence of lateral deformation on volumetric strain requires further analysis. This paper addresses this aspect through laboratory studies on reconstituted samples of kaolinite. The Rowe cell apparatus was modified to measure lateral deformation under various states of stress because lateral and vertical deformation of soil depends on its state of stress and associated lateral pressure. A method for predicting the volumetric and lateral strains under vacuum consolidation is proposed and then applied to two case studies in China.

Rosso, OA, Carpi, LC, Saco, PM, Gómez Ravetti, M, Plastino, A & Larrondo, HA 2012, 'Causality and the entropy–complexity plane: Robustness and missing ordinal patterns', Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, vol. 391, no. 1-2, pp. 42-55.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Rosso, OA, Carpi, LC, Saco, PM, Ravetti, MG, Larrondo, HA & Plastino, A 2012, 'The Amigó paradigm of forbidden/missing patterns: a detailed analysis', The European Physical Journal B, vol. 85, no. 12.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

RUZINOOR, CM, SHARIFF, ARM, PRADHAN, B, RODZI AHMAD, M & RAHIM, MSM 2012, 'A review on 3D terrain visualization of GIS data: techniques and software', Geo-spatial Information Science, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 105-115.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Samali, B, Dackermann, U & Li, J 2012, 'Location and Severity Identification of Notch-Type Damage in a Two-Storey Steel Framed Structure Utilising Frequency Response Functions and Artificial Neural Network', ADVANCES IN STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 743-757.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper presents a vibration-based damage identification method that utilises damage fingerprints embedded in frequency response functions (FRFs) to identify location and severity of notch-type damage in a two-storey framed structure. The proposed method utilises artificial neural networks (ANNs) to map changes in FRFs to damage characteristics. To enhance damage fingerprints in FRF data, residual FRFs, which are differences in FRF data between the undamaged and the damaged structures, are used for ANN inputs. By adopting principal component analysis (PCA) techniques, the size of the residual FRF data is reduced in order to obtain suitable patterns for ANN inputs. A hierarchy of neural network ensembles is created to take advantage of individual characteristics of measurements from different locations. The method is applied to laboratory and numerical two-storey framed structures. A number of single notch-type damage scenarios of different locations and severities are investigated. To simulate field-testing conditions, numerically simulated data is polluted with white Gaussian noise of up to 10% noise-to-signal-ratio. The results from both numerical and experimental investigations show the proposed method is effective and robust for detecting notch-type damage in structures.

Shafie, SM, Mahlia, TMI, Masjuki, HH & Ahmad-Yazid, A 2012, 'A review on electricity generation based on biomass residue in Malaysia', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 5879-5889.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Shahabuddin, M, Kalam, MA, Masjuki, HH, Bhuiya, MMK & Mofijur, M 2012, 'An experimental investigation into biodiesel stability by means of oxidation and property determination', Energy, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 616-622.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Shahabuddin, M, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Mofijur, M, Hazrat, MA & Liaquat, AM 2012, 'Effect of Additive on Performance of C.I. Engine Fuelled with Bio Diesel', Energy Procedia, vol. 14, pp. 1624-1629.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Sharma, G, Shon, HK & Phuntsho, S 2012, 'Electrocoagulation and crossflow microfiltration hybrid system: fouling investigation', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 43, no. 1-3, pp. 253-259.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The fouling study of crossflow microfiltration (MF) was comparatively studied with feedwater containing kaolin suspension with and without electrocoagulation (EC) pre-treatment. An acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) MF membrane of pore size 0.4 lm was used in this study. The experiments were carried out at three different concentration of kaolin (100, 400 and 800 mg/l) and with three different crossflow velocities of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 l/min. When the feedwater was pre-treated by EC, the fouling was found to follow standard law of filtration. Besides the standard filtration law, the fouling mechanism also followed the classical cake filtration model due to formation of a secondary membrane. © 2012 Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

Shekarchian, M, Moghavvemi, M, Rismanchi, B, Mahlia, TMI & Olofsson, T 2012, 'The cost benefit analysis and potential emission reduction evaluation of applying wall insulation for buildings in Malaysia', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 7, pp. 4708-4718.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Shim, WG, Abdul, JM, Mohammad, T, Vigneswaran, S, Ngo, HH & Kandasamy, J 2012, 'Biofilter in leachate treatment processes', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 41, no. 1-3, pp. 249-257.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Landfill leachate is produced when rainwater infiltrates into the landfill and permeates through the decomposing waste within the landfill leaching out with it contaminants and pollutants. Untreated leachates can permeate ground water or mix with surface

Shon, HK, Nghiem, LD, Kim, S, Shu, L & Jegatheesan, JV 2012, 'Challenges in Environmental Science and Engineering, CESE-2011: 25–30 September, Ever Green Plaza Hotel, Tainan City, Taiwan', Desalination and Water Treatment, vol. 47, no. 1-3, pp. 1-2.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Silitonga, AS, Atabani, AE & Mahlia, TMI 2012, 'Review on fuel economy standard and label for vehicle in selected ASEAN countries', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 1683-1695.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Sofi, M, Mendis, PA & Baweja, D 2012, 'Estimating early-age in situ strength development of concrete slabs', CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 659-666.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Post-tensioned concrete members are becoming very popular around the world due to structural efficiencies. However, some important issues related to concrete properties are not resolved yet. A more accurate prediction of the in situ early-age strength is

Stewart, M, Netherton, M, Shi, Y, Grant, M & Mueller, J 2012, 'Probabilistic terrorism risk assessment and risk acceptability for infrastructure protection', AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1-17.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Stewart, MG 2012, 'Spatial and time-dependent reliability modelling of corrosion damage, safety and maintenance for reinforced concrete structures', Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 607-619.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The article reviews how spatial and time-dependent modelling of deterioration process can be used to provide a more realistic assessment of the reliability, safety and maintenance options for reinforced concrete structures. The present article will assess (i) the effect of spatially variable pitting corrosion and concrete strength on safety and structural reliability of RC columns and (ii) the effect of corrosion-induced cover cracking on the number, timing and extent of repair actions for RC structures. It was shown that probabilities of failure considering spatial variability of concrete and reinforcement were up to 450% higher than probabilities of failure obtained from a non-spatial analysis. Finally, the article will discuss aspects of deterioration modelling in need of improvement that will enable predictions of the safety and maintenance needs of a structure over its service life to be made with more confidence. © 2012 Taylor and Francis.

Stewart, MG & O’Connor, A 2012, 'Probabilistic risk assessment and service life performance management of load bearing biomedical implants', Reliability Engineering & System Safety, vol. 108, pp. 49-55.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

It is important to consider the performance of load bearing biomedical implants as a stochastic problem. This provides scope to optimise their whole life performance in terms of design and lifetime performance management measures with the aim of minimisation of the need for replacement, or the number of replacements, during the expected life of the patient. An important parallel is developed with the field of structural reliability analysis (i.e., probabilistic assessment) which has developed in recent years with great success in optimisation of whole life performance of load bearing infrastructure systems. This paper demonstrates how this same methodology can be employed in the field of biomedical engineering to optimise the design and whole life performance of implants considering factors such as (i) deterioration with age, and (ii) stochastic variation in load. The paper also demonstrates the importance of Bayesian updating and correlation modelling in considering the design and whole life performance optimisation of biomedical implants. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Stewart, MG, Netherton, MD, Shi, Y, Grant, M & Mueller, J 2012, 'Probabilistic terrorism risk assessment and risk acceptability for infrastructure protection', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 13, no. 1.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In the decade since the events of 9/11 there has been renewed interest in understanding the risks of terrorism, and the effectiveness of counter-terrorism measures. Since there is uncertainty associated with terrorist threats, structural and system response, effectiveness of counter-terrorism and protective measures, and terrorists' ability to inflict damage, then there is clearly a need for probabilistic approaches to assessing and mitigating terrorism risks. The paper reviews research projects related to probabilistic terrorism risk assessment and risk acceptability for infrastructure protection currently underway at The University of Newcastle. The review of probabilistic risk assessments are given for: (i) IED design and initiation, and predicting variability of time-pressure load history on infrastructure; (ii) reinforced-concrete structural systems; (iii) full- body scanners used at airports in the United States; and (iv) buildings subject to a terrorist vehicle- borne improvised explosive device. The illustrative examples will highlight research capabilities at the University of Newcastle and identify research challenges to be faced in the future.

Stewart, MG, Wang, X & Nguyen, MN 2012, 'Climate change adaptation for corrosion control of concrete infrastructure', Structural Safety, vol. 35, pp. 29-39.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The durability of concrete is determined largely by its deterioration over time which is affected by the environment. Climate change may alter this environment, especially in the longer term, causing an acceleration of reinforcement corrosion that will affect the safety and serviceability of concrete infrastructure in Australia, US, Europe, China and elsewhere. This paper reviews advanced simulation procedures to predict increases in damage (corrosion) risks under a changing climate in Australia in terms of changes in probability of reinforcement corrosion initiation and corrosion induced damage due to (i) increase in the concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere, and changes to (ii) temperature and (iii) humidity. These time and spatial variables will affect the penetration of aggressive agents CO 2 and chlorides into concrete, and the corrosion rate once corrosion initiation occurs. The effectiveness of adaptation measures for new and existing buildings, bridges, and other concrete infrastructure is then assessed. Carbonation-induced damage risks may increase by more than 16% which means that one in six structures will experience additional and costly corrosion damage by 2100. We show that the impact of climate change on infrastructure deterioration cannot be ignored, but can be addressed by changes to design procedures including increases in cover thickness, improved quality of concrete, and coatings and barriers. For example, an increase in design cover of 10mm and 5mm for structures where carbonation or chlorides govern durability, respectively, will ameliorate the effects of a changing climate. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Suksiripattanapong, C, Chinkulkijniwat, A, Horpibulsuk, S, Rujikiatkamjorn, C & Tanhsutthinon, T 2012, 'Numerical analysis of bearing reinforcement earth (BRE) wall', Geotextiles and Geomembranes, vol. 32, pp. 28-37.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Surawski, NC, Ristovski, ZD, Brown, RJ & Situ, R 2012, 'Gaseous and particle emissions from an ethanol fumigated compression ignition engine', ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 145-151.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

A 4-cylinder Ford 2701C test engine was used in this study to explore the impact of ethanol fumigation on gaseous and particle emission concentrations. The fumigation technique delivered vaporised ethanol into the intake manifold of the engine, using an injector, a pump and pressure regulator, a heat exchanger for vaporising ethanol and a separate fuel tank and lines. Gaseous (Nitric oxide (NO), Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC)) and particulate emissions (particle mass (PM2.5) and particle number) testing was conducted at intermediate speed (1700 rpm) using 4 load settings with ethanol substitution percentages ranging from 10% to 40% (by energy). With ethanol fumigation, NO and PM2.5 emissions were reduced, whereas CO and HC emissions increased considerably and particle number emissions increased at most test settings. It was found that ethanol fumigation reduced the excess air factor for the engine and this led to increased emissions of CO and HC, but decreased emissions of NO. PM2.5 emissions were reduced with ethanol fumigation, as ethanol has a very low 'sooting' tendency. This is due to the higher hydrogen-to-carbon ratio of this fuel, and also because ethanol does not contain aromatics, both of which are known soot precursors. The use of a diesel oxidation catalyst (as an after-treatment device) is recommended to achieve a reduction in the four pollutants that are currently regulated for compression ignition engines. The increase in particle number emissions with ethanol fumigation was due to the formation of volatile (organic) particles; consequently, using a diesel oxidation catalyst will also assist in reducing particle number emissions. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sweetman, LJ, Nghiem, L, Chironi, I, Triani, G, in het Panhuis, M & Ralph, SF 2012, 'Synthesis, properties and water permeability of SWNT buckypapers', Journal of Materials Chemistry, vol. 22, no. 27, pp. 13800-13800.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Tabatabaiefar, SHR, Fatahi, B & Samali, B 2012, 'Finite difference modelling of soil-structure interaction for seismic design of moment resisting building frames', Australian Geomechanics Journal, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 113-120.
View description>>

The importance of Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) both for static and dynamic loads has been well established and the related literature spans at least 30 years of computational and analytical approaches for solving soil-structure interaction problems. Since the 1990s, great effort has been made to substitute the classical methods of design by new ones based on the concept of performance-based seismic design. Also, the necessity of estimating the vulnerability of existing structures and assessing reliable methods for their retrofit have greatly attracted the attention of engineering communities in most seismic zones throughout the world. In the present study, in order to draw a clear picture of soil characteristics effects on seismic response of moment resisting building frames, a ten storey moment resisting building frame, resting on shallow foundation, is selected in conjunction with three soil types with shear wave velocities less than 600m/s, representing soil classes Ce, De and Ee, according to Australian Standard AS 1170.4. The structure is modelled considering the three mentioned types of the soil deposits employing Finite Difference approach using FLAC 2D software. Fully nonlinear dynamic analyses under influence of different earthquake records are conducted, and the results of the different cases are compared and discussed. The results indicate that as shear wave velocity and shear modulus of the subsoil decrease, inter-storey drifts and subsequently the necessity of considering SSI effects in seismic design of moment resisting building frames increase. In general, by decreasing the subsoil stiffness, the effects of soil-structure interaction become more dominant and detrimental to the seismic behaviour of moment resisting building frames. These effects substantially alter performance level of the building model resting on soil classes De and Ee from life safe to near collapse. Consequently, structural safety for the mentioned building frames ...

Tao, M, Li, X & Wu, C 2012, 'Characteristics of the unloading process of rocks under high initial stress', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 45, pp. 83-92.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The unloading process of rocks under high initial stress is complex, and verifying the mechanism of the unloading process in the field or in a laboratory is not straightforward. In this study, the unloading process of rocks under high initial stress was characterised by a mathematical physics model, which was then implemented in the finite element program LS-DYNA for analysis. In particular, the implicit and explicit methods were performed in sequence in the finite element simulation of rocks with initial stresses. In the numerical simulation, the characteristics of the dynamic unloading process of rocks were investigated for various peak initial stresses, initial stress release paths and initial stress release rates (ISRRs). The numerical results indicated that the rock failure could be induced by the release of the initial stress; furthermore, there is a relationship between the magnitude of the unloading failure and the peak initial stresses, the initial stress release paths and the ISRRs. When the initial stresses were at the same level, the equivalent initial stress release rate (EISRR) was introduced to quantitatively describe the characteristics of the unloading process. Using the numerical results, the unloading failure process was characterised, and a method for the static stress initialisation-dynamic unloading of rock was developed. © 2012.

Tennakoon, N, Indraratna, B, Rujikiatkamjorn, C, Nimbalkar, S & Neville, T 2012, 'The Role of Ballast-Fouling Characteristics on the Drainage Capacity of Rail Substructure', Geotechnical Testing Journal, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 629-640.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Abstract The ballast layer is designed to be free draining, but when the voids of the granular medium are wholly or partially filled because of the intrusion of fine particles, the ballast is considered to be “fouled.” To ensure acceptable track performance, it is necessary to maintain good drainage within the ballast layer. This paper critically examines the current methods commonly used for evaluating the degree of ballast fouling and, because of their limitations, a new parameter, “void contaminant index” is introduced. A series of large-scale constant head hydraulic conductivity tests were conducted with different levels of fouling to establish the relationship between the void contamination index and the associated hydraulic conductivity. Subsequently, a numerical analysis was executed to simulate more realistic two-dimensional flow under actual track geometry capturing the drainage capacity of ballast in relation to the void contamination index. In the context of observed test data, the drainage condition of the track could be classified into different categories together with a classification chart capturing the degree of fouling. The contents of this paper have already been considered in track maintenance schemes in the states of Queensland and New South Wales.

Thomas, D, Ding, G & Crews, K 2012, 'Sustainable timber use in the australian housing market: Are consumers willing to pay the price?', International Journal for Housing Science and Its Applications, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 221-230.
View description>>

A large proportion of traditional Australian homes contained timber floors and timber exterior cladding until the advent of the standard concrete slab/brick veneer house. Up to 95% of new homes are built by project home companies and the majority of these contain an external envelope consisting of concrete flooring, clay brick walls and concrete tile or steel sheet roofing. This design is currently driven by consumer's expectation of low cost, durable homes that are completed within restricted time limits. There is now a price premium on bespoke housing projects that differ materially or otherwise from a limited set of designs offered by project home firms. The adoption of concrete and brick homes originated from a perceived advantage of longevity, low maintenance and thermal comfort. Innovation in wood treatments, wood protection and insulation have provided solutions to these issues so that timber is now a viable option with added benefits such as environmental sustainability and erection speed. Australian consumers have a growing awareness and desire to live in a way that is sustainable and are making choices that reflect this attitude. This has been demonstrated through the high adoption rate of recent government-supported schemes such as subsidized insulation and solar panel installation. This paper aims at investigating homeowner's perception of timber as a sustainable building product, the desire of homeowners to use sustainable building products, and the willingness of homeowners to pay a premium to live sustainably. This paper highlights Australian homeowners reluctance to use the most sustainable building materials even when they are willing to pay for a more environmentally sustainable home. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey to homeowners in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and some strategies on how to increase the use of timber in new housing projects in Australia. Copyright © 2012 IAHS.

Tien Bui, D, Pradhan, B, Lofman, O & Revhaug, I 2012, 'Landslide Susceptibility Assessment in Vietnam Using Support Vector Machines, Decision Tree, and Naïve Bayes Models', Mathematical Problems in Engineering, vol. 2012, pp. 1-26.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The objective of this study is to investigate and compare the results of three data mining approaches, the support vector machines (SVM), decision tree (DT), and Naïve Bayes (NB) models for spatial prediction of landslide hazards in the Hoa Binh province (Vietnam). First, a landslide inventory map showing the locations of 118 landslides was constructed from various sources. The landslide inventory was then randomly partitioned into 70% for training the models and 30% for the model validation. Second, ten landslide conditioning factors were selected (i.e., slope angle, slope aspect, relief amplitude, lithology, soil type, land use, distance to roads, distance to rivers, distance to faults, and rainfall). Using these factors, landslide susceptibility indexes were calculated using SVM, DT, and NB models. Finally, landslide locations that were not used in the training phase were used to validate and compare the landslide susceptibility maps. The validation results show that the models derived using SVM have the highest prediction capability. The model derived using DT has the lowest prediction capability. Compared to the logistic regression model, the prediction capability of the SVM models is slightly better. The prediction capability of the DT and NB models is lower.

Tien Bui, D, Pradhan, B, Lofman, O, Revhaug, I & Dick, OB 2012, 'Landslide susceptibility assessment in the Hoa Binh province of Vietnam: A comparison of the Levenberg–Marquardt and Bayesian regularized neural networks', Geomorphology, vol. 171-172, pp. 12-29.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Tien Bui, D, Pradhan, B, Lofman, O, Revhaug, I & Dick, OB 2012, 'Landslide susceptibility mapping at Hoa Binh province (Vietnam) using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system and GIS', Computers & Geosciences, vol. 45, pp. 199-211.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Tien Bui, D, Pradhan, B, Lofman, O, Revhaug, I & Dick, OB 2012, 'Spatial prediction of landslide hazards in Hoa Binh province (Vietnam): A comparative assessment of the efficacy of evidential belief functions and fuzzy logic models', CATENA, vol. 96, pp. 28-40.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Tijing, LD, Ruelo, MTG, Amarjargal, A, Pant, HR, Park, C-H & Kim, CS 2012, 'One-step fabrication of antibacterial (silver nanoparticles/poly(ethylene oxide)) – Polyurethane bicomponent hybrid nanofibrous mat by dual-spinneret electrospinning', Materials Chemistry and Physics, vol. 134, no. 2-3, pp. 557-561.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Tijing, LD, Ruelo, MTG, Amarjargal, A, Pant, HR, Park, C-H, Kim, DW & Kim, CS 2012, 'Antibacterial and superhydrophilic electrospun polyurethane nanocomposite fibers containing tourmaline nanoparticles', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 197, pp. 41-48.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper describes a one-step fabrication of tourmaline (TM) nanoparticles (NPs)-decorated polyurethane (PU) composite nanofibers with superhydrophilic and antibacterial properties. The physico-chemical properties of the prepared samples were characterized by different characterization techniques. FESEM and TEM images confirmed the presence of well-dispersed TM NPs in/on PU nanofibers. The incorporation and homogeneous dispersion of 3. wt% TM NPs in PU exhibited an increase in tensile strength and modulus of 75% and 87%, respectively from those of the neat PU. All TM/PU composite mats showed improved hydrophilicity compared to neat PU mat, and a superhydrophilic surface with a contact angle of 13° was obtained at 5. wt% TM content. FTIR spectra confirmed the interaction of TM NPs to PU matrix through hydrogen bonding. Bacterial tests showed high zone inhibition for both Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Enterococci (Gram-positive) using the TM/PU composite mats with increasing efficiency as with the increase of TM NP content. The present TM/PU composite mat, which has improved mechanical properties, superhydrophilic surface, and good antibacterial properties, may be a potential candidate as an antibacterial material, in the field of health-protection textile and water filtration. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Visintin, P, Oehlers, DJ, Wu, C & Griffith, MC 2012, 'The reinforcement contribution to the cyclic behaviour of reinforced concrete beam hinges', Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics, vol. 41, no. 12, pp. 1591-1608.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

SUMMARYThe cyclic behaviour of plastic hinges is an essential component in tracking the behaviour of RC frames to failure, not only for monotonically increasing force/pressure loads such as under extreme wind loads but also for dynamic displacement‐driven loads such as under earthquake ground motions. To describe member deformations at ultimate loading, traditional moment–curvature techniques have required the use of an empirical hinge length to predict rotations, and despite much research a definitive generic expression for this empirical hinge length is yet to be defined. To overcome this problem, a discrete rotation approach, which directly quantifies the rotation between crack faces using mechanics, has been developed for beams and been shown to be accurate under monotonic loading. In this paper, the discrete rotation approach for monotonic loads is extended to cope with cyclic loads for dynamic analyses, and this has led to the development of a new partial interaction numerical simulation capable of allowing for reversals of slip of the reinforcing bars. This numerical tool should be very useful for the nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete beams and reinforced concrete columns with small axial loads under severe dynamic loads. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Visintin, P, Oehlers, DJ, Wu, C & Haskett, M 2012, 'A mechanics solution for hinges in RC beams with multiple cracks', Engineering Structures, vol. 36, pp. 61-69.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

WALKER, R, INDRARATNA, B & RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C 2012, 'Vertical drain consolidation with non-Darcian flow and void-ratio-dependent compressibility and permeability', Géotechnique, vol. 62, no. 11, pp. 985-997.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Vertical drains increase the rate of consolidation in soft soils by facilitating faster dissipation of excess pore water pressure through short, horizontal drainage paths. This paper presents an analytical solution for non-linear radial consolidation under equal-strain conditions incorporating smear but ignoring well resistance. Three aspects of non-linearity are considered: (a) non-Darcian flow, (b) a log-linear void-ratio–stress relationship; and (b) a log-linear void-ratio–permeability relationship. The analytical solution to non-linear radial consolidation can explicitly capture the behaviour of both overconsolidated and normally consolidated soils. For non-linear material properties, consolidation may be faster or slower when compared with the cases with constant material properties. The difference depends on the compressibility/permeability ratios (Cc/Ck and Cr/Ck), the preconsolidation pressure and the stress increase. If Cc/Ck < 1 or Cr/Ck < 1 then the coefficient of consolidation increases as excess pore pressures dissipate, and the corresponding rate of consolidation is greater.

Wang, X, Stewart, MG & Nguyen, M 2012, 'Impact of climate change on corrosion and damage to concrete infrastructure in Australia', Climatic Change, vol. 110, no. 3-4, pp. 941-957.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The durability of concrete is determined largely by its deterioration over time which is affected by the environment. Climate change may alter this environment, causing an acceleration of deterioration processes that will affect the safety and serviceability of concrete infrastructure in Australia, U. S., Europe, China and elsewhere. This investigation of concrete deterioration under changing climate in Australia uses Monte-Carlo simulation of results from General Circulation Models (GCMs) and considers high greenhouse gas emission scenarios representing the A1FI schemes of the IPCC. We present the implications of climate change for the durability of concrete structures, in terms of changes in probability of reinforcement corrosion initiation and corrosion induced damage at a given calendar year between 2000 and 2100 across Australia. Since the main driver to increased concrete deterioration is CO 2 concentration and temperature, then increases in damage risks observed in Australia are likely to be observed in other concrete infrastructure internationally. The impact of climate change on the deterioration cannot be ignored, but can be addressed by new approaches in design. Existing concrete structures, for which design has not considered the effects of changing climate may deteriorate more rapidly than originally planned. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Wang, Y, Hao, H, Zhu, X & Ou, J 2012, 'Spectral Element Modelling of Wave Propagation with Boundary and Structural Discontinuity Reflections', Advances in Structural Engineering, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 855-870.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Spectral element method is very efficient in modelling high-frequency stress wave propagation because it works in the frequency domain. It does not need to use very fine meshes in order to capture high frequency wave energy as the time domain methods do, such as finite element method. However, the conventional spectral element method requires a throw-off element to be added to the structural boundaries to act as a conduit for energy to transmit out of the system. This makes the method difficult to model wave reflection at boundaries. To overcome this limitation, imaginary spectral elements are proposed in this study, which are combined with the real structural elements to model wave reflections at structural boundaries. The efficiency and accuracy of this proposed approach is verified by comparing the numerical simulation results with measured results of one dimensional stress wave propagation in a steel bar. The method is also applied to model wave propagation in a steel bar with not only boundary reflection, but also reflections from single and multiple cracks. The reflection and transmission coefficients, which are obtained from the discrete spring model, are adopted to quantify the discontinuities. Experimental tests of wave propagation in a steel bar with one crack of different depths are also carried out. Numerical simulations and experimental results show that the proposed method is effective and reliable in modelling wave propagation in one-dimensional waveguides with reflections from boundary and structural discontinuities. The proposed method can be applied to effectively model stress wave propagation for structural damage detection.

Wu, C 2012, 'Research development on protection of structures against blast loading at University of Adelaide', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 97-109.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper presents a review of research into the protection of structural members against blast loading at The University of Adelaide, including experimental, analytical and numerical studies on characteristics of blast loading, blast resistance of structural members and mitigation of blasts effects on structural members using retrofitting techniques. Explosive blasts are investigated experimentally and numerically to study the distributions of peak overpressure and impulse generated from spherical charges and cylindrical charges with different orientations in unconfined and confined environments. A series of blast tests on reinforced concrete (RC) slabs, ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) slabs, and aluminium foam protected RC slabs was conducted to investigate the performance of those slabs under blast loads. With the blast testing data numerical models including single degree of freedom model, finite difference model and final element model, have been developed and validated and those numerical models are then used to analyse the blast effects of RC, UHPC and foam protected RC slabs. Investigation of mitigation of blast effects on masonry structures is also addressed.

Wu, C 2012, 'Research development on protection of structures against blast loading at University of Adelaide', AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 97-109.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Xiao, J, Li, W & Poon, C 2012, 'Recent studies on mechanical properties of recycled aggregate concrete in China—A review', Science China Technological Sciences, vol. 55, no. 6, pp. 1463-1480.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Numerous experimental and theoretical studies on recycled aggregate concrete have been carried out in China in the past 10 years. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the related findings of research on the mechanical properties of RAC in China. The influences of the RCA on the strength and deformation characteristics of concrete, the statistical characteristics for the strength of RAC, fracture energy, stress-strain relationships under uniaxial compression, uniaxial tension as well as pure shear, and the residual strength of RAC after exposure to high temperatures, the bond between RAC and different kinds of steel rebar were also reviewed. Furthermore, some recent studies on the numerical simulation of the failure mechanism for RAC at the meso-structure level were discussed. © 2012 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Xiao, J, Li, W, Fan, Y & Huang, X 2012, 'An overview of study on recycled aggregate concrete in China (1996–2011)', Construction and Building Materials, vol. 31, pp. 364-383.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

A series of investigations on the mechanical property, durability, and the structural performance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) have been carried out in the past 15 years (1996-2011) in China. The achievements of researches on recycled concrete are relatively sufficient to review and share with investigators from other countries. Some research progress of micro- and meso-structure of RAC is introduced in the first part of this paper. The second part of this paper is devoted to the mechanical properties of RAC material: strength, elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio, stress-strain curve. The third part of the paper gives research on durability of RAC: carbonization, chloride penetration, shrinkage and creep. The last part presents a review on the structural performance of RAC elements and structures: beams, columns, slabs, beam-column joints, shear walls as well as frames made with RAC. Results of all researches reveal that with proper design and construction, it is safe and feasible to apply RAC as a structural material in civil engineering. Moreover, in this paper, the relevant research results of RAC obtained in China and from other countries are compared and discussed. This review provides helpful directions to those who are already engaged in this research, and points out areas which are needed to promote safe and economic use of RAC. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Xiao, J, Li, W, Sun, Z & Shah, SP 2012, 'Crack Propagation in Recycled Aggregate Concrete under Uniaxial Compressive Loading', ACI Materials Journal, vol. 109, no. 4, pp. 451-462.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this study, systematic experimental research was carried out to investigate the crack propagation of modeled recycled aggregate concrete (MRAC) and recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) under uniaxial compressive loading. A two-dimensional (2-D) nondestructive digital image correlation (DIC) technique was applied to record the initiation and propagation of surface microcracks. The obtained results indicated that the fracture process and crack pattern of MRAC were greatly affected by the relative strength of new mortar and old mortar. It was also found that the failure mode of RAC was related to the water-cement ratio (w/c) of the mixture. The bond cracks first appeared around the weak interfacial transition zones (ITZs) and then propagated into the mortar region by connecting with each other. The failure pattern of MRAC can provide insight into the influences of the mechanical properties of each phase on the failure mechanism of RAC. © 2012, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved.

Xie, M, Nghiem, LD, Price, WE & Elimelech, M 2012, 'Comparison of the removal of hydrophobic trace organic contaminants by forward osmosis and reverse osmosis', WATER RESEARCH, vol. 46, no. 8, pp. 2683-2692.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Xie, M, Price, WE & Nghiem, LD 2012, 'Rejection of pharmaceutically active compounds by forward osmosis: Role of solution pH and membrane orientation', SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY, vol. 93, pp. 107-114.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Xie, W-M, Ni, B-J, Li, W-W, Sheng, G-P, Yu, H-Q & Song, J 2012, 'Formation and quantification of soluble microbial products and N2O production by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB)-enriched activated sludge', Chemical Engineering Science, vol. 71, pp. 67-74.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Xie, W-M, Ni, B-J, Seviour, T, Sheng, G-P & Yu, H-Q 2012, 'Characterization of autotrophic and heterotrophic soluble microbial product (SMP) fractions from activated sludge', Water Research, vol. 46, no. 19, pp. 6210-6217.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Xing, W, Ngo, HH, Guo, WS, Listowski, A & Cullum, P 2012, 'Optimization of an integrated sponge - Granular activated carbon fluidized bed bioreactor as pretreatment to microfiltration in wastewater reuse', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 113, pp. 214-218.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

A specific integrated fluidized bed bioreactor (iFBBR) was optimized in terms of organic loading rate (OLR), hydraulic retention time (HRT) and frequency of new sustainable flocculant (NSBF) addition for primary treated sewage effluent (PTSE) treatment. It was observed that iFBBR achieved the best performance with the operating conditions of 4 times/day NSBF addition, HRT of 90 min and OLR of 8.64 kgCOD/day m3. The removal efficiencies were found to be more than 93% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), 61% of total nitrogen (T-N) and 60% of total phosphorus (T-P). iFBBR as pretreatment of submerged microfiltration (SMF) is successful in increasing the critical flux and reducing the membrane fouling. NSBF-iFBBR-SMF hybrid system led to very high organic removal efficiency with an average DOC removal of 97% from synthetic PTSE.

Yang, F, Coughlin, D, Phillips, P, Yang, L, Mills, MJ & Noebe, RD 2012, 'High Resolution Microscopy Analysis of a New Precipitate Phase in Ni-rich NiTiHf and NiPdTiHf High Temperature Shape Memory Alloys', Microscopy and Microanalysis, vol. 18, no. S2, pp. 366-367.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

Yang, L, Thomas, P & Stuart, B 2012, 'Discrimination of thermally treated low density polyethylenes using DSC and principal component analysis', Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, vol. 108, no. 2, pp. 445-448.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The potential for differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as a tool for the discrimination of forensic polymer specimens is investigated for a series of commercial low density polyethylene (LDPE) samples. Variation in the melting temperatures of 'as received' samples was found to be too small for its use in sample discrimination. The melting behaviour of thermally treated samples, quenched from the melt in liquid nitrogen followed by annealing at temperatures below the melting temperature, showed promise in discrimination potential. The application of principal component analysis to aid discrimination demonstrated the necessity in using a controlled thermal history to aid the discrimination process. The clustering of the LDPEs based on the factors selected demonstrated the potential of DSC for the discrimination of forensic LDPE samples.

Yisgedu, TB, Huang, Z, Chen, X, Lingam, HK, King, G, Highley, A, Maharrey, S, Woodward, PM, Behrens, R, Shore, SG & Zhao, J-C 2012, 'The structural characterization of (NH4)2B10H10 and thermal decomposition studies of (NH4)2B10H10 and (NH4)2B12H12', International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 4267-4273.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Youssef, AM, Pradhan, B, Sabtan, AA & El-Harbi, HM 2012, 'Coupling of remote sensing data aided with field investigations for geological hazards assessment in Jazan area, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia', Environmental Earth Sciences, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 119-130.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Yunusa, IAM, Loganathan, P, Nissanka, SP, Manoharan, V, Burchett, MD, Skilbeck, CG & Eamus, D 2012, 'Application of Coal Fly Ash in Agriculture: A Strategic Perspective', CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 559-600.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Copyright © 2012 Crown copyright. Fly ash is a major waste of coal-power generation and its management is a major environmental and economic challenge, and it will become even more critical with a projected increase in the reliance on coal for power generation. The authors discuss how the unique physicochemical properties of ash can be strategically employed to ameliorate acidity and sodicity, and physical and fertility constraints, in agricultural soils. They show that with careful selection of ash type and methods and rates of application, mutually compatible with the soil and crop type, the often reported phytotoxicity due to high concentrations of certain trace metals can be avoided while maintaining the quality of produce and minimizing risk to the environment. Specific examples are presented to demonstrate where it is economical to use fly ash as a low-cost alternative to certain fertilizers and liming materials on farms. The authors also propose criteria for the selection of ash and for regulatory parameters that would ensure the safe and routine utilization of ash in plant production systems.

Zhai, X, Zhong, Z & Stewart, MG 2012, 'Model Error and Structural Reliability for Reinforced Concrete Block Masonry Walls in Shear', Advances in Structural Engineering, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 389-398.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The present paper develops a probabilistic model to calculate the structural reliability of typical reinforced grouted concrete block masonry walls designed to Chinese standards, loaded in horizontal shear. The statistical parameters for model error used for the structural reliability analysis are obtained from a database of wall test data from China. The effect of probability distribution of model error, the compressive strength for grouted concrete block masonry, live load type, load effect ratio, reinforcement ratio, wall length, wall size or strength discretization, vertical compressive load and ratio of shear span to depth were considered when calculating the structural reliability of reinforced masonry walls in shear. The structural reliability for reinforced concrete block masonry walls in shear is sensitive to the probability distribution of model error. The recommended lognormal distribution of model error based on test data provided a high reliability index, and when using Gamma and Gumbel distributions for typical structures the existing (design) safety levels were also found to exceed the target reliability of 3.7, whereas the safety levels were less than the target reliability using Normal and Weibull distributions of model error.

Zhang, C, Hao, H, Tarasov, B & Zhu, X 2012, 'Some special phenomena and preliminary interpretations about measured strain signals from high-speed impact tests', International Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 3, no. 1/2, pp. 48-48.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

During the last several decades, considerable efforts have been devoted to high-speed impact tests to investigate dynamic properties of materials, such as metal, alloy, ceramic, polymer, rock, concrete, brick, mortar etc. The purpose of impact or shock test is to study the crash-relevant or blast-relevant behaviour of engineering materials under high strain rates. According to different test purposes, sometimes the strain rate could be extremely high, i.e., up to 10,000 unit strain per second. In the School of Civil and Resource Engineering at the University of Western Australia, some impact tests on steel material and concrete material have been carried out recently, to calibrate the impact loading ability of an innovative blast simulator device. From the test results, some special phenomena about measured strain signals were observed and reported, which may have an unavoidable influence on properly describing material dynamic properties. In order to avoid misleading the consequent analysis on acquiring the genuine dynamic behaviour of material or specimen from high-speed impact tests, some important factors, from the point view of experimental technique are discussed in the current paper. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Zhang, R, Castel, A & François, R 2012, 'Concrete cracking due to chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion – influence of steel–concrete interface defects due to the ‘top-bar effect’', European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering, vol. 16, no. 3-4, pp. 402-413.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Zhao, YX, Gao, BY, Shon, HK, Wang, Y, Kim, J-H, Yue, QY & Bo, XW 2012, 'Anionic polymer compound bioflocculant as a coagulant aid with aluminum sulfate and titanium tetrachloride', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 108, pp. 45-54.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The objectives of this study are to investigate the impacts of anionic polymer compound bioflocculant (CBF) as a coagulant aid on coagulation performance and floc characteristics with titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) and aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3). The effect of dosing sequence was also investigated. Floc size, breakage, regrowth and floc fractal dimension were examined using a laser diffraction instrument. The results showed that CBF with TiCl4 or Al2(SO4)3 coagulants exhibited synergistic effects by promoting dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal. For both TiCl4 and Al2(SO4)3, the floc recoverability was improved by CBF addition, and the flocs formed by TiCl4 and the corresponding dual-coagulants showed weaker recovery ability than those by Al2(SO4)3 and the corresponding dual-coagulants. Fractal dimension analysis demonstrated that the floc fractal dimension values increased with the increasing coagulant dose. The effect of CBF on fractal dimension of the flocs generated by TiCl4 was different from that of Al2(SO4)3.

Zhao, YX, Gao, BY, Wang, Y, Shon, HK, Bo, XW & Yue, QY 2012, 'Coagulation performance and floc characteristics with polyaluminum chloride using sodium alginate as coagulant aid: A preliminary assessment', CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, vol. 183, pp. 387-394.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The effect of sodium alginate (SA) on coagulation performance and floc characteristics with polyaluminum chloride (PAC) was evaluated in synthetic humic acid-kaolin water treatment. Coagulation performance and floc characteristics of PAC were investigated for comparison. The results showed that PAC plus SA exhibited certain synergistic effect on DOC (dissolved organic carbon) and turbidity removal. DOC removal was more enhanced by SA at low PAC doses than at higher ones, while turbidity removal was enhanced when PAC doses were larger than 1.5 mg/L. The growth, breakage, regrowth and fractal nature of flocs were investigated using Mastersizer 2000, with the results suggesting that the aggregated flocs after PAC-SA (PAC dosed first) flocculation showed faster growth rate and with larger floc size compared with the flocs formed by PAC. Besides, PAC-SA gave the flocs with more open structure but better recovery ability after floc breakage compared with PAC.

Zhao, YX, Wang, Y, Gao, BY, Shon, HK, Kim, J-H & Yue, QY 2012, 'Coagulation performance evaluation of sodium alginate used as coagulant aid with aluminum sulfate, iron chloride and titanium tetrachloride', DESALINATION, vol. 299, no. 1, pp. 79-88.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Coagulation-flocculation was applied to humic acid-kaolin synthetic water samples, using sodium alginate (SA) as a coagulant aid with primary coagulants used: aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3), iron chloride (FeCl3) and titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4). The corresponding dual-coagulants were dented as Al2(SO4)3-SA, FeCl3-SA and TiCl4-SA by dosing SA 30 s after primary coagulants addition. Coagulation performance was investigated in terms of turbidity reduction and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal and the flocs were characterized in terms of size, growth rate, strength, recoverability and structure through onâline monitoring of the coagulation process using Mastersizer 2000. The results showed that dual-coagulants could remove HA effectively with appropriate SA doses. Primary coagulants plus SA exhibited an apparent improvement in both floc growth rate and floc size. Besides, floc recoverability was significantly increased. It was suspected that SA addition may have a positive effect on the solid/liquid separation process. However, dual-coagulants gave the flocs with more open structure.

Zhou, A-N, Sheng, D, Sloan, SW & Gens, A 2012, 'Interpretation of unsaturated soil behaviour in the stress–saturation space', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 43, pp. 111-123.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Zhou, JL, Maskaoui, K & Lufadeju, A 2012, 'Optimization of antibiotic analysis in water by solid-phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry', Analytica Chimica Acta, vol. 731, no. 1, pp. 32-39.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper describes the development of an optimized method based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the simultaneous analysis of ten antibiotic compounds including tetracyclines, sulfonamides, macrolides and quinolones. LC-MS/MS sensitivity has been optimized by alterations to both LC and MS operations. Of the two high resolution columns tested, Waters Symmetry C18 endcapped and Agilent Zorbax Bonus-RP, the latter was found to show better performance in producing sharp peaks and clear separation for most of the target compounds. Optimization of the MS fragmentation collision and cone energy enhanced the peak areas of the target analytes. The recovery of the target compounds from water samples was most efficient on Waters Oasis HLB SPE cartridge, while methanol was shown to be the most suitable solvent for desorbing the compounds from SPE. In addition, acidification of samples prior to SPE was shown to enhance the recovery of the compounds. To ensure a satisfactory recovery, the flow rate through SPE should be maintained at ≤10mLmin-1. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of antibiotics from environmental water samples, with concentrations being

Zhou, Q, Diao, C, Sun, Y & Zhou, J 2012, 'Tolerance, uptake and removal of nitrobenzene by a newly-found remediation species Mirabilis jalapa L.', Chemosphere, vol. 86, no. 10, pp. 994-1000.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The growth, photosynthesis rate, and ultrastructure of Mirabilis jalapa L. as a newly-found remediation species under stress of nitrobenzene (NB) and its uptake and removal of NB by the plants were investigated. The results showed that M. jalapa plants could endure contaminated soils by lower than 10.0mgNBkg -1 because there was no decrease in the total length of the plant roots, the maximum length of the hypocotyle, the length of the first seminal root, the height of the shoots and the dry biomass of the seedlings as well as the photosynthesis rate of the plants compared with those in the control. In particular, the growth of the plants could be significantly (P<0.01) enhanced by 0.1mgNBkg -1 under unautoclaved and autoclaved soils. Ultrastructural observations on leaf cells of the plants found that these cells had smooth, clean and continuous cell membranes and cell walls, indicating that there was no obvious damage by NB in comparison with those in the control. Although the absorption of NB in shoots and roots of M. jalapa was weak, plant-promoted biodegradation of NB was considerable and the dominant contribution in the removal of NB from contaminated soils, suggesting the feasibility of M. jalapa applied to phytoremediation of NB contaminated soils. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Zhou, Z, Meng, F, Liang, S, Ni, B-J, Jia, X, Li, S, Song, Y & Huang, G 2012, 'Role of microorganism growth phase in the accumulation and characteristics of biomacromolecules (BMM) in a membrane bioreactor', RSC Adv., vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 453-460.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Zhu, X & Hao, H 2012, 'Development of an integrated structural health monitoring system for bridge structures in operational conditions', Frontiers of Structural and Civil Engineering, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 321-333.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper presents an overview of development of an integrated structural health monitoring system. The integrated system includes vibration and guided-wave based structural health monitoring. It integrates the real-time heterogeneous sensor data acquiring system, data analysis and interpretation, physical-based numerical simulation of complex structural system under operational conditions and structural evaluation. The study is mainly focused on developing: integrated sensor technology, integrated structural damage identification with operational loads monitoring, and integrated structural evaluation with results from system identification. Numerical simulation and its implementation in laboratory show that the system is effective and reliable to detect local damage and global conditions of bridge structures. © 2012 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Zhu, XQ, Hao, H, Uy, B, Xia, Y & Mirza, O 2012, 'Dynamic Assessment of Shear Connection Conditions in Slab-Girder Bridges by Kullback-Leibler Distance', Advances in Structural Engineering, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 771-780.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Shear connectors are widely used in composite bridges that provide composite action. Their damage will reduce the load-carrying capacity of the structure. In this study, a novel method based on Kullback-Leibler distance (KLD) was developed to assess the integrity of the shear connectors. A bridge model was constructed in the laboratory and some removable anchors were specially designed and fabricated to link the beams and slab that were cast separately. Each anchor consists of a threaded bar that penetrates through the soffit of the beam and ties up into an embedded nut cap to simulate a shear connector in the real bridges. Different damage scenarios were introduced by pulling out some connectors. Vibration tests were carried out in each damage scenario. Various damage detection methods have been applied and results show that the method was able to detect all the assumed damage scenarios successfully and consistently.

Zoorabadi, M, Indraratna, B & Nemcik, J 2012, 'A new equation for the equivalent hydraulic conductivity of rock mass around a tunnel', International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, vol. 54, pp. 125-128.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Zuthi, MFR, Ngo, HH & Guo, WS 2012, 'Modelling bioprocesses and membrane fouling in membrane bioreactor (MBR): A review towards finding an integrated model framework', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 122, pp. 119-129.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The bioprocesses taking place in activated sludge wastewater treatment system itself are characterized by great complexity and yet incomplete understanding of some of the phenomena involved. The MBR technology inherent deficiencies for its simulation due to additional intrinsic complexities resulting from the interaction between concurrently occurring and dynamic biological processes with membrane filtration and the straightforward adoption of the activated sludge modelsâ (ASM) frameworks or their modified variations. In this backdrop, this paper compiles a brief overview of the previous developments to the current state-of-the-art mathematical modelling approaches of the MBR system. With extended discussions on particular topics such as applications of modified ASMs to MBR modelling, ASM extensions incorporating soluble microbial products (SMP)/extracellular polymeric substances EPS) concepts, this paper also provides a guide for different end-users of mathematical models of MBR systems.

A, H, B, I & C, R 1970, 'Use of the Soil Modulus for Compaction Control of Compacted Soils', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Abbas, AA, Mansor, SB, Pradhan, B & Tan, CK 1970, 'Spatial and seasonal variability of Chlorophyll-a and associated oceanographic events in Sabah water', 2012 Second International Workshop on Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Applications, 2012 Second International Workshop on Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Applications (EORSA), IEEE, pp. 215-219.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ahmad, A, Huang, S, Wang, JJ, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'A New State Vector and a Map Joining Algorithm for Range-Only SLAM', 2012 12TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONTROL, AUTOMATION, ROBOTICS & VISION (ICARCV), International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision, IEEE, Guangzhou, China, pp. 1024-1029.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper presents a new state vector and a map joining algorithm for range-only SLAM problems. Local maps are built by least squares optimization using the new state vector and a landmark initialization strategy which is an improvement on our preliminary work [1]. The map joining algorithm combines the local maps using least squares optimization to maintain the estimation consistency. Both the local map building and the map joining algorithm maintain a list of 'unused range observations' to minimize the potential for information loss. The accuracy of the proposed method is evaluated using a simulation dataset, and an experimental dataset provided by the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). © 2012 IEEE.

Alamdari, M, Li, J & Samali, B 1970, 'A FRF-based damage detection method utilising wavelet decomposition', From materials to structures: Advancement through innovation, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 873-877.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Damage in a structure causes deviation in dynamic responses of the structure either in frequency or time domain in comparison with its healthy status. The purpose of this study is to present a new damage detection method in order to detect and localize the structural damage. This novel algorithm is based on the directly-measured frequency response functions (FRFs). The approach is composed of three major steps: first, developing the curvature of FRFs which produces spatially distributed shape functions at each frequency coordinate, secondly, normalization of FRFsâ curvature in order to enhance the influence of the lower-frequency-band data; finally decomposition of the obtained profiles (normalized version of FRFsâ curvature) by conducting wavelet analysis to detect any possible structural abnormality through structure. The combination of these three steps leads to a robust algorithm in detection and localisation of any damage in the structure even at small levels which other FRF-based methods were unable to detect. There are some benefits with the presented method: first, this method does not need higher-frequency-range data which is hard to obtain in most civil applications; second, there is no need for baseline data from the intact structure; This is particularly attractive for practical applications as it opens an opportunity for online monitoring of the structural integrity without demanding for any previous data records of the structure. The performance of the method is evaluated on a numerical model and the effect of different parameters such as the location of the excitation point, the level and the location of the damage was studied; the results demonstrated that the method can efficiently identify the location of the damage in the structure even for damage at small levels.

Almabrok, M, McLaughlan, R & Vessalas, K 1970, 'Characterisation of cement mortar containing oil-contaminated aggregates', From Materials To Structures: Advancement Through Innovation - Proceedings Of The 22nd Australasian Conference On The Mechanics Of Structures And Materials, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1091-1096.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Oil spills, leakage and other releases of products from petroleum industry are a source of contamination and are recognised as a major environmental concern. The current treatment technologies for these materials are either cost prohibitive and/or the treated products have to be sent to land fill without any potential end-use, thereby rendering these solutions unsustainable. Cement-based stabilisation/solidification is an emerging technology; however there is currently quite limited knowledge on the effect of oil on the cement solidification process and its consequent effect on the performance of fresh and hardened properties of the resultant cementitious mix. The purpose of conducting this study is to determine the appropriateness of the mortar for various end-uses when incorporating mineral oil additions up to 10% of the aggregate mass. Increased oil content in the cement mortar was found to increase setting time and decrease air content. The compressive strength decreased by 78% compared to the control at 28 days age. However, since the compressive strength covered a wide range of values, various feasible end-use scenarios for oil contaminated mortar exist.

Althuwaynee, OF, Pradhan, B, Mahmud, AR & Yusoff, ZM 1970, 'Prediction of slope failures using bivariate statistical based index of entropy model', 2012 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering (CHUSER), 2012 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering (CHUSER), IEEE, pp. 362-367.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Anantanasakul, P, Indraratna, B, Nimbalkar, SS & Neville, T 1970, 'Effects of Geosynthetic Reinforcement on Performance of Ballasted Rail Track', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Angus, K, Thomas, P, Vessalas, K & Ray, A 1970, 'Investigation of ground flint glass as a supplementary cementitious material in autoclaved lime-silica binders', From Materials to Structures: Advancement Through Innovation - Proceedings of the 22nd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, ACMSM 2012, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 247-249.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

A potential application for the use of cullet glass is as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM). Cullet is a ground soda-lime-silica glass waste that has the potential to react with calcium hydroxide (CH) produced as a secondary product from the hydration of Portland cement (PC) in forming principal calciumsilicate- hydrate (C-S-H) strengthening phases. Additionally, the relatively high sodium content of the glass has the potential to act as precursor for the activation of aluminosilicates such as fly ash (FA). This paper investigates this potential by using these wastes in autoclaved hydrated lime CH-silica systems. Compressive strengths of autoclaved compacted cylinders were evaluated and the results demonstrate that the addition of ground glass provides higher strength, when used as a partial silica substitute, and aids in the activation of FA. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group.

Askari, M, Li, J & Samali, B 1970, 'Adaptive multiple forgetting factor recursive least square (AMFF-RLS) for real-time structural identification', From materials to structures: Advancement through innovation - 22nd Australian Conference On The Mechanics Of Structures And Materials, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 879-884.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

System identification refers to any systematic way of deriving or improving models of systems through the use of experimental and field testing inputâoutput data. In the field of civil engineering, identification of the state of the structure during the dynamic loads, such as earthquake, to predict the current state of the structure and detect any damage or hazard,when it occurs, has posed a great challenge to the research community. Therefore, online and real-time structural parameters identification has recently drawn more attractions, although few research works have been reported especially for cases where measurement data are contaminated by high level noise. The Recursive Least Square with single forgetting factor has been widely used in estimation and tracking of time-varying parameters in the fields of electrical and mechanical engineering. However, when there are multiple parameters that each (or some) varies with a different rate, this method cannot perform well. On the other hand, a priori information on the changing rate of the parameters might not be available, and the forgetting factors must be updated adaptively. This paper presents a new adaptive tracking technique, based on the Recursive Least Square (RLS) approach with Adaptive Multiple Forgetting Factors (AMFF). The proposed method considers an adaptive rule for each of the forgetting factors assigned to each of the parameters and thus, enables simultaneous estimation of the time-varying stiffness and damping of the storeys of the structure. Numerical examples show that results of this RLS-based approach are accurate and robust, even when the observed data are contaminated with different types and significantlevels of noise.

Askari, M, Li, J & Samali, B 1970, 'Application of extended, unscented, iterated extended and iterated unscented Kalman Filter for real-time structural identification', Advances in Applied Mechanics Research, Conference Proceedings - 7th Australasian Congress on Applied Mechanics, ACAM 2012, Australasian Congress on Applied Mechanics, Engineers Australia, Adelaide, pp. 1041-1051.
View description>>

System identification refers to any systematic way of deriving or improving models of dynamical systems through the use of experimental and field testing input-output data. In the field of civil engineering, identification of the state of a structure during service condition under dynamic loading, such as earthquake, in order to detect any damage as it occurs, has posed a great challenge to the research community. Therefore, online and real-time structural identification has attracted a great deal of attentions in the structural engineering research over the past decades, especially when input-output measurement data are contaminated by high-level noise. Among real-time identification methods, one of the most successful and widely used methods for estimation of states and parameters is the Kalman filter and its various nonlinear extensions like Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and iterated Extended Kalman Filter (IEKF). However, these methods are not effective in the case of highly nonlinear problems. To overcome the problem, two filtering techniques, namely unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and iterated unscented Kalman filter (IUKF), have been recently developed to handle any functional nonlinearity. In this paper, an investigation has been carried out on the aforementioned methods for their effectiveness and efficiencies through a highly nonlinear SDOF structure as well as a two-storey linear structure. Results show that, although IEKF is an improved version of EKF, the IUKF, in most of cases, produces better results on state estimation and parameter identification than UKF and IEKF. IUKF is also more robust to measurement noise levels compared to the other approaches.

Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 1970, 'Bond Constitutive Relationship for Steel Fiber Reinforced Self-Compacting Concrete', Proceeding for the BOND IN CONCRETE 2012: Bond, Anchorage, Detailing conference, Bond in Concrete, Publisher creations, Manerbio (Brescia), Italy, pp. 931-939.
View description>>

Steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) is a relatively new composite material which congregates the benefits of the SCC technology with the profits derived from the addition of fiber to a brittle cementitious matrix. Steel fibers improve many of the mechanical properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) elements including tensile strength, ductility, toughness, energy absorption capacity, and fracture toughness. This paper investigates the bond characteristics between steel fiber and SCC based on the available experimental results. An analytical steel fiber pullout model proposed by Dubey (1999) is modified by considering the different mechanical properties of SCC and different fiber types (smooth, hooked) and in-clination. In order to take into account the effect of the fiber inclination in the pullout model, apparent shear strengths and slip coefficient are incorporated to express the variation of pullout peak load and the augmentation of peak slip as the inclination angle increases. These variables are expressed as functions of the inclination angle.

Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 1970, 'Comparison of the analytical models to determine modulus of rupture of self-compacting concrete and conventional concrete', From Materials To Structures: Advancement Through Innovation - Proceedings Of The 22nd Australasian Conference On The Mechanics Of Structures And Materials, Australasian Conference On The Mechanics Of Structures And Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1105-1112.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) can be placed under its own weight with no vibration efforts and is cohesive enough to be handled without segregation and bleeding. Modification in the mix design may have an influence on the materialâs mechanical properties. Therefore, it is important to investigate that whether all of the assumed hypotheses for conventional concrete (CC) to design structures are also valid for SCC structures. Modulus of rupture (MOR) or flexural strength is an indirect measurement of the tensile strength of concrete and is used to predict cracking moment in critical regions in reinforced concrete members. This paper reviews and compares the accuracy of the five models for prediction of MOR for the SCC mixtures and ten models for the CC mixtures. In addition, comparisons are made between the predicted values by MOR models and actual measured flexural strength of about 175 SCC mixtures.

Atabani, AE, Saidur, R, Silitonga, AS & Mahlia, TMI 1970, 'Energy Economical and Environmental Analysis of Industrial Boilers Using VSD', Applied Mechanics and Materials, 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (ICMAE 2011), Trans Tech Publications, Ltd., Bangkok, THAILAND, pp. 3223-3233.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

As a result of the successful implementation of the industrialization plan in 1985; Malaysia has changed from an agricultural economy into industrial based economy. The industrial sector represents the highest consuming sector across all other sectors and accounts for about 48% of all total energy demand. This paper is concerned with an energy saving, economic and environmental analysis of industrial boilers in Malaysia when using variable speed drives (VSD). The results obtained when reducing the speed of water pumps by 60% show that 4 GWh, 93.6% of energy, RM 863,375 and 2,160 ton of CO2 could be saved annually. These results represent high energy saving, environmental and economic benefits associated with this energy saving technology. ABBREVIATIONS

Ball, JE, Babister, M & Retallick, ME 1970, 'The Design Flood Problem in Changing Climates', Water and Climate: Policy Implementation Challenges, Water and Climate: Policy Implementation Challenges, Engineers Australia, Canberra, Australia, pp. 1-8.
View description>>

While previous editions of ARR have served the engineering profession well, a number of issues have necessitated the production of a new edition. These issues include the many recent developments in knowledge regarding rainfall-runoff processes, the increased computational capacity available to engineering hydrologists, and the rapidly expanding body of information about climate change. As part of the development of the new edition, it has been necessary to review methods used and the implications of assumptions necessary for implementation of these methods. Arising from this review, a way forward for design flood estimation in Australia has been proposed that addresses many of the simplifying assumptions inherent in past methods and enables the inclusion of the hydrological impacts of changing climates which include changing rainfall characteristics, changing catchment vegetation, and changing catchment geomorphology. This new vision for design flood estimation will be incorporated in the new edition of ARR.

Banasiak, L & Indraratna, B 1970, 'Performance Monitoring of a Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) for the Remediation of Acidic Groundwater in Acid Sulfate Soil (ASS) Terrain', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Banasiak, L & Indraratna, B 1970, 'Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) Technology: An Innovative Solution for the Remediation of Acidic Groundwater from Acid Sulphate Soil (ASS) Terrain', GeoCongress 2012, GeoCongress 2012, American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 3523-3532.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The remediation of acidic groundwater contaminated with potentially toxic metals such as aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe) resulting from the oxidation of sulphidic materials in acid sulphate soils (ASSs) is a challenging geo-environmental problem that requires innovative engineering solutions. In low-lying coastal floodplains, the remediation strategies of groundwater manipulation (e.g. fixed-level weirs) and tidal buffering (e.g. two-way modified floodgates) are not feasible due to the risk of flooding during heavy rainfall events and their inability to prevent pyritic oxidation. In view of this in 2006, the first pilot subsurface permeable reactive barrier (PRB) using recycled concrete for the remediation of acidic groundwater (- pH 3) was employed in ASS terrain in southeast New South Wales, Australia. While monitoring has confirmed the PRB has successfully neutralized the acidic groundwater to - pH 7.3 and removed - 95% of Al and Fe, this technology is not without its challenges. These have included the: (1) selection of the appropriate reactive material; (2) elucidation of the mechanisms involved in the neutralization of the acidic groundwater; (3) chemical armouring and possible clogging of the recycled concrete by Al and Fe oxy/hydroxide precipitates; and (4) thus, uncertainty regarding the longevity of the PRB. This paper will present details on the screening process of reactive materials, the installation of the PRB, the column experiments simulating the flow of acidic groundwater through the PRB for the determination of the predominant neutralization reactions occurring within the PRB, the long-term performance of the PRB and the current research strategy for determining its longevity. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Banasiak, L, Pathirage, P & Indraratna, B 1970, 'Modeling of Chemical Armoring in a Permeable Reactive Barrier (PRB) in Acid Sulfate Soil (ASS) Terrain', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Bano, V, Vivas, J, Rodriguez, S & Crews, K 1970, 'Numerical and experimental analysis of the vertical vibrations on several designs of timber footbridges', World Conference on Timber Engineering 2012, WCTE 2012, pp. 101-105.
View description>>

Numerical and experimental vertical natural frequencies of simply-supported, two hinged arch and trass timber footbridges were analyzed. The footbridges were designed la con form to Ivuroeode 5 and each typology presented different spans (12,27 and 14 m, respectively). The theoretical values of natural frequency for different mode shapes were calculated using a numerical model. The experimental modal parameters were then measured using accelerometers attached underneath the bridge girders and the impact was induced by hitting with an instrumented impact hammer. The results of the acceleration vvere measured at five points on each girder, in order to obtain the first and second modal shape in bending and in torsion. The experimental results obtained for first bending modal shape (9,9, 6.4 and 7.3 Ik, respectively) and first torsion modal shape (12.8, 6.9 and 15.7 Hz. respectively) presented no risk of resonance according to Spanish regulations (IAP 201I). Furthermore, the relationship between experimental results and numerical simulation vvere analyzed. Once the numerical model was validated, new footbridges vvere designed based on one typology to study the effect of span on natural frequency. The paper also presents a frequency range classification corresponding to the risk of resonance due to pedestrian loading. Copyright © (2012) by WCTE 2012 Committee.

Brennan, J, Heilmann, A & Pundt, H 1970, 'An information systems approach to developing adaptation strategies', Proceedings of the European, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems, EMCIS 2012, European, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems, ISEing, Munich, Germany, pp. 231-241.
View description>>

The aim of this paper is to develop an Information Systems approach that helps overcome the limitations of self-organised networks and enables coordination amongst its stakeholders. Developing Climate Change Adaptation Strategies (CCAS) often involves loosely connected stakeholders, which in turn results in a largely self-organised network. This is in stark contrast to Romsdahl's findings that the development of CCAS requires coordinated networks. In want for an appropriate means to coordinate the work of mainly self-organised networks; networked enterprises are examined to transfer its techniques into the CCAS domain. Workspaces and Portals are discussed and their potential role as an Environmental Information System (EIS) demonstrated. A case study on CCAS Regional Development is outlined to illustrate the concepts introduced.

Bui, DT, Pradhan, B, Lofman, O, Revhaug, I & Dick, OB 1970, 'Landslide Susceptibility Assessment at Hoa Binh Province of Vietnam Using Frequency Ratio Model', 2012 Asia Pacific Conference on Environmental Science and Technology. Advances in Biomedical Engineering, p. 476.

Carlin, AM, Grassman, TJ, Brenner, MR, Grandal, J, Ratcliff, C, Yang, L, Mills, M, Sharma, P, Fitzgerald, EA & Ringel, SA 1970, 'Lattice-Matched GaP/SiGe Virtual Substrates for Low-Dislocation Density GaInP/GaAsP/Si Solar Cells', 2012 38TH IEEE PHOTOVOLTAIC SPECIALISTS CONFERENCE (PVSC), 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), IEEE, TX, Austin, pp. 918-921.

Carlin, AM, Grassman, TJ, Brenner, MR, Grandal, J, Ratcliff, C, Yang, L, Mills, M, Sharma, P, Fitzgerald, EA & Ringel, SA 1970, 'Lattice-matched GaP/SiGe virtual substrates for low-dislocation density GaInP/GaAsP/Si solar cells', 2012 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2012 IEEE 38th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), IEEE.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Chakraborty, S & Yeh, C-H 1970, 'Comparison Based Group Ranking Outcome for Multiattribute Group Decisions', 2012 UKSim 14th International Conference on Computer Modelling and Simulation, 2012 UKSim 14th International Conference on Computer Modelling and Simulation (UKSim), IEEE, pp. 324-327.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

A novel group consensus methodology for group ranking problems is presented in this paper. The method considers all the possible ranking outcomes for a given set of decision alternatives. Decision makers are given the freedom to provide their own ranking outcomes using their chosen ranking methods. Spearman's rank correlation is then used to calculate the overall similarity for each of the possible ranking outcomes. The overall similarity for each ranking outcome in the solution space is calculated using its similarities to the ranking outcomes given by the decision makers. The ranking outcome in the solution space which is most similar to the decision makers ranking outcomes is the most preferred one by the group. © 2012 IEEE.

Chakraborty, S & Yeh, C-H 1970, 'Rank similarity based MADM method selection', 2012 International Conference on Statistics in Science, Business and Engineering (ICSSBE), 2012 International Conference on Statistics in Science, Business and Engineering (ICSSBE2012), IEEE, pp. 353-358.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Selecting the most suitable Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) method for a given MADM problem is a challenge for the decision maker. When there are several suitable MADM methods available for the problem, the challenge is even greater. We present a novel MADM method selection approach based on the Spearman's rank correlation. The approach will help the decision maker in selecting the most preferred MADM method from a set of suitable and acceptable methods. The most preferred MADM method is the one that produces the most preferred outcome. The most preferred outcome is the one which is closest to all other outcomes. The closeness between the ranking outcomes are measured in terms of the similarity between them. © 2012 IEEE.

Chiaro, G, Indraratna, B, Rujikiatkamjorn, C & Naeeni, S 1970, 'Effects of Steel Slag Content and Curing Time on Compressive Strength of Underwater Compacted Coal Wash', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Chu, J, Indraratna, B, Yan, S & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 1970, 'Soft Soil Improvement Through Consolidation: An Overview', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Coad, P, Ball, JE, Cathers, B & van Senden, D 1970, 'Prediciting Algal Blooms in the Berowra Estuary, NSW, Australia', Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Hydroinformatics 'Understanding Changing Climate and Environment and Finding Solutions', International Conference on Hydroinformatics, TuTech Verlag - TuTech Innovation GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, pp. 1-8.
View description>>

The Berowra Creek estuary and its catchment are situated entirely within the Hornsby Shire Local Government Area on the northern outskirts of the Sydney metropolitan area. Berowra Creek is a major tributary of the lower Hawkesbury River, entering the Hawkesbury River some 25 kilometres from the ocean. The estuary itself extends for over 23 kilometres in a southerly direction from the Hawkesbury River to the tidal limit at Rocky Fall Rapids. Algal blooms are prevalent within the Berowra Estuary. When algal species are present in high numbers they pose serious problems for commercial and recreational users of the estuary. Management authorities require an understanding of the relationship between the incidence of algal blooms and the environmental conditions required to initiate and promote these populations. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have been developed to predict the occurrence and risk of algal blooms within the Berowra Estuary. The ANNs developed were of a multilayer perceptron architecture and used the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno training algorithm. To enable the prediction of algal blooms, an instrumented buoy was deployed at Calabash Bay within the estuary. This buoy records temperature, salinity, photosynthetically available radiation and chlorophyll-a (CHLa). The ANNs were used to predict CHLa concentrations from one to seven days in advance. Presented in the paper will be an assessment of the prediction reliability together with an assessment of how the variables and the information pre-processing influences the reliability of the predictions obtained.

Da Rocha, CG, Formoso, CT & Dos Santos, A 1970, 'An overview of the customisation strategies developed by four organisations of the house-building sector', IGLC 2012 - 20th Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction.
View description>>

Mass customisation (MC) refers to the provision of customised products while striving to maintain the efficiencies of mass-production. Such concept has emerged in the manufacturing sector but can also be deployed by the construction industry to add more value to products. This paper analysis the customisation strategies developed by four organisations of the house-building sector using a conceptual framework. Such organisations have differences in terms of the scale of the product provided, the amount of years they have been operating, and the stage in the product development process that they are at. Two organisations are located in Brazil and the other two are located in the UK. This paper aims to explore how customisation strategies based on the MC approach can be pursued under different organisational contexts. An underlying proposition of this paper is that MC can add value to housing products and that it can be adapted and tailored to be used in different organisational contexts. The case studies with the four organisations aim to illustrate that. Such studies also provide an initial step in exploring how MC can be tailored to particular organisational contexts within the construction industry.

Da Rocha, CG, Formoso, CT, Tzortzopoulos-Fazenda, P, Koskela, L & Tezel, A 1970, 'Design science research in lean construction: Process and outcomes', IGLC 2012 - 20th Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction.
View description>>

Design science (or constructive) research is a mode of producing scientific knowledge. It differs from explanatory research whose goal is to describe, understand and eventually predict phenomena of a particular field. Alternatively, the goal of design science research is to develop scientifically grounded solutions that are able to solve real-world problems. In this way, it establishes an appropriate link between theory and practice, strengthening the relevance of academic research. This paper discusses the design science research approach and illustrates through the analysis of two Ph.D investigations how it can be adopted in lean construction. In this paper, the outcomes and the research process adopted in these investigations are presented. At the end, some conclusions concerning the outcomes achieved and the activities involved in conducting design science in lean construction are discussed.

Fatahi, B, Engelbert, D, Mujic, S & Khabbaz, H 1970, 'Assessment of Surcharging on Strength and Stiffness of Cement Treated Clays', Grouting and Deep Mixing 2012, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Grouting and Deep Mixing, American Society of Civil Engineers, Louisiana, USA, pp. 272-280.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Deep soil mixing (DSM) is a ground improvement technique most appropriate in applications aimed at improving properties of soft clay, which is very sensitive to temperature and water content changes. This paper presents an experimental study capturing effects of surcharge application during curing time on the stress-strain behaviour of DSM columns. An investigation has been undertaken into the effects of varying surcharges, applied immediately after mixing, ranging from 40kPa to 120kPa, on the strength and stiffness of cement treated kaolinite clay samples with different cement contents. The results of uniaxial tests are analysed to illustrate how the Young's modulus and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) are influenced under varying surcharges. Results confirm a promising increase in strength and stiffness with increased preloading. Results are significant, in that desired DSM column strengths can be achieved through a combination of cement and surcharging, as opposed to increasing the cement content; thus significantly reducing the carbon footprint induced by cement production. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Fatahi, B, Far, H, Sadeghi Hokmabadi, A & Samali, B 1970, 'Significance of bedrock depth in dynamic soil-structure interaction analysis for moment resisting frames', 2nd International Conference on Performance-Based Design in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, International Conference on Performance-Based Design in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Associazione Geotecnica Italiana - Roma, Taormina, Italy, pp. 1396-1406.
View description>>

In this study, a fifteen storey moment resisting building frame, resting on a shallow foundation, is selected in conjunction with two clayey soils with the shear wave velocities less than 600m/s, representing soil classes De and Ee, according to AS 1170.4. Different bedrock depths including 10m, 20m, and 30 m are employed in the numerical modelling using finite difference software FLAC 2D. Fully nonlinear dynamic analysis under the influence of different earthquake records is conducted, and the results of the three different cases are compared and discussed. The results indicate that the dynamic properties of the subsoil such as shear wave velocity as well as bedrock depth play significant roles in seismic response of the building frames under the influence of soil-structure interaction. As the bedrock depth increases, lateral deflections and inter-storey drifts of the structures increase. These effects can change the performance level of structures from life safe to near collapse or total collapse. Therefore, the conventional design procedure excluding SSI is not adequate enough to guarantee the structural safety for the building frames resting on soft soil deposits.

Fatahi, B, Khabbaz, H & Fatahi, B 1970, 'Application of Polypropylene and Carpet Fibres to Improve Mechanical Properties of Cement Treated Clay', International Symposium on Ground Improvement IS-GI, PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM, SIMSG, Brussel, pp. 303-308.
View description>>

In this study, the influence of two types of fibre reinforcement, namely polypropylene and carpet waste fibres, on mechanical properties of cement treated kaolinite is investigated. The results of unconfined compressive strength testing of 63 cylindrical samples of cement treated kaolinite with varied cement and fibre contents are analysed to discern the relationships between these parameters and the key mechanical properties, including unconfined compressive strength and stiffness of treated soil. The fibre reinforcement increases the peak strength. The initial Young's modulus of the fibre reinforced cement treated kaolinite increases by adding polypropylene whereas slightly decreases when adding carpet fibres. The improvement of mechanical properties was far more pronounced with the introduction of polypropylene than carpet waste fibres. The implication of these findings is a cost effective and environmentally friendly alternative compare to increasing cement content in soil to achieve the required mechanical properties, particularly where the strength is a governing consideration.

Fatahi, B, Khabbaz, H & Le, TM 1970, 'Improvement of rail track subgrade using stone columns combined with geosynthetics', ADVANCES IN TRANSPORTATION GEOTECHNICS II, International Conference on Transportation Geotechnics (ICTG), CRC Press - Taylor & Francis Group, Hokkaido, Japan, pp. 202-206.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This study seeks to identify the effectiveness of ground improvement using stone columns in controlling settlement of soft soils when placed under the dead loads of the rail structure and the large live loads of freight trains. The employed numerical study assesses the relationship between the column position in the track cross section and the overall settlement of the ballasted rail formation. The numerical results show that the overall settlement of the track reduces significantly with the use of stone columns close to the centre of the track and not just under the rail. In addition, application of one layer of geogrids between sub-ballast and sub-grade assists to reduce the maximum settlement of track decreasing the future maintenance costs. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group.

Fukumoto, T, Thomas, P & Stuart, BH 1970, 'The development of organic consolidants for heritage Sydney sandstones', 2nd International Congress - Chemistry for Cultural Heritage Abstracts, 2nd International Congress - Chemistry for Cultural Heritage Abstracts, Turkish Chemical Society, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 1-1.

Fukumoto, T, Thomas, P, Stuart, BH, Ray, AS & Guerbois, JL 1970, 'Characterisation of poly(acrylic acid) - montmorillonite composites using TG-MS', 15th International Conference on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry Abstracts, 15th International Conference on Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry.

Galea, N, Hamedanimojarrad, P, Vessalas, K & Thomas, P 1970, 'Assessment of wollastonite microfibre on drying shrinkage behaviour of cement-based composites', From materials to structures: Advancement through innovation, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 499-504.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

To date there has been limited research carried out on the effect of wollastonite as a microfibre addition to concrete or mortar and its effect on drying shrinkage behaviour. This investigation assesses the effect of wollastonite on drying shrinkage behaviour and compressive strength development of cement-based mortars. Mortar was selected for this study as a behavioural model since it is more sensitive to shrinkage strain than cement-based composites containing coarse-sized aggregate (concrete). Specimens were prepared with the addition of wollastonite at 2%, 4% and 6% by mass of cement. Key indicators of performance evaluated were change in length relative to control mortar exposed to the same storage conditions, as well as change in mass and compressive strength assessment at ages of 7 and 28 days. Results demonstrate that drying shrinkage decreases with the addition of wollastonite, while compressive strength increases with increasing age.

Ge, J, Ding, GK & Phillips, P 1970, 'Sustainable housing - a case study of heritage building in Hangzhou China', Proceedings of 18th Annual Pacific-Rim Real Estate Society Conference, Pacific Rim Real Estate Conference, PRRES, Adelaide, Australia, pp. 1-11.
View description>>

Surrounded by high-rise buildings, some two-storey buildings with black roofs are sited along the Xiaohe (Little River) in the north of Hangzhou, China. The buildings were originally built in the late Qing Dynasty (late 19th century) and restored in 2007 by the Hangzhou municipal government. The architectural materials used in the buildings are mainly concrete for the ground floor and timber to the first floor. Three buildings located at Xiaohe Historical Street were investigated to establish whether traditional buildings performed as well as modern buildings. Hourly temperature and humidity readings from September 2009 to August 2010 were recorded for the selected houses. It was concluded through comparisons that the restored heritage buildings provided similar thermal comfort and conditions to modern buildings.

Ghobadi, Y, Pradhan, B, Kabiri, K, Pirasteh, S, Shafri, HZM & Sayyad, GA 1970, 'Use of multi-temporal remote sensing data and GIS for wetland change monitoring and degradation', 2012 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering (CHUSER), 2012 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering (CHUSER), IEEE, pp. 103-108.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Ghosni, N, Samali, B & Vessalas, K 1970, 'Evaluation of mechanical properties of carpet fibre reinforced concrete', From materials to structures: Advancement through innovation, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 275-279.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Incorporating suitable material in concrete to improve its performance is an important consideration in the construction industry. Using short fibres as an additive to improve its mechanical properties has been of great attention. Different types of fibres can be used as intrinsic reinforcement to enhance concrete performance. Some of the fibres used in concrete are recycled waste materials such as carpet fibres. This paper aims to investigate the static properties of fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) utilising short carpet fibres shredded and prepared from the carpet industry waste. Thereafter, the economic considerations regarding use of carpet fibres in concrete are discussed. There have not been any comprehensive studies on the effectiveness of carpet fibres in concrete, whereas there is a more comprehensive literature available for other types of fibres such as steel fibres. The effect of adding recycled carpet fibres on the strength development of FRC have been studied and the results are compared to control concrete. Fresh properties i.e. slump, air content and wet density and hardened properties i.e. compressive strength and modulus of rupture after 7 and 28 days of ageing are reported.

Ghosni, N, Vessalas, K & Samali, B 1970, 'Evaluation of fresh properties effect on the compressive strength of polypropylene fibre reinforced polymer modified concrete', From Materials to Structures: Advancement through Innovation - PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE ON THE MECHANICS OF STRUCTURES AND MATERIALS, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, pp. 1123-1127.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Investigations on the characteristics of Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC) have gained momentum in the last fewdecades. Employing suitable polymeric fibres and additives in concrete to improve its performance is an important consideration in the construction industry. This research aims to investigative the effect of polypropylene (PP) fibre volume percentage within the concrete mix with and without the presence of polymeric materials on the rheological properties of concrete and its behaviour under compression. PP fibres exhibit low elastic modulus, high elongation and are of low cost, making these fibres most suitable for inclusion in Polymer Modified Concrete (PMC). Traditionally, PP fibres are used in concrete to reduce plastic shrinkage and micro cracking. Accompanying PP fibre additions to PMCs are often styrene butadiene (SB) copolymer latex additions; used to improve the bonding of PP fibres in the cementing matrix. This paper reports on the findings of using different percentages of PP fibres with PMCs incorporating 10% SB latex and 30% fly ash (FA) for partial replacement of Portland cement. Slump, mass per unit volume, air content, high range water reducer agents amount and compressive strength, will be assessed and compared to plain concrete devoid of PP fibre, SB latex and FA additions, after period of curing applied at 7, 28 and 56 days of ageing.

Grandal, J, Grassman, TJ, Carlin, AM, Brenner, MR, Galiana, B, Carlin, JA, Yang, L, Mills, MJ & Ringel, SA 1970, 'Growth and characterization of InGaAs quantum dots on metamorphic GaAsP templates by molecular beam epitaxy', 2012 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2012 IEEE 38th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), IEEE.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Grassman, TJ, Carlin, AM, Grandal, J, Ratcliff, C, Yang, L, Mills, MJ & Ringel, SA 1970, 'Spectrum-optimized Si-based III-V multijunction photovoltaics', SPIE Proceedings, SPIE OPTO, SPIE.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Guo, Y, Zeng, J, Zhu, J, Lin, Z & Li, Y 1970, 'Magnetic Hysteresis of Magnetorheological Fluid under 2D Rotating Magnetic Field Excitation', the 13th International Conference on Electrorheological Fluids and Magnetorheological Suspensions: Book of Abstracts, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, pp. 1-2.

Hailu, M, Crews, KI, Gerber, C & S, R 1970, 'LONG âTERM EXPERIMENTAL TEST ON TIMBERCONCRETE COMPOSITE BEAMS', World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2012), Curran association, Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 249-250.
View description>>

The paper presents the results and observations of the long-term test to date. It will discuss numerical models found in the literature and examine their fitness to predict the long-term behavioural responses of the specimens. Recommendations for the long-term design of TCC solutions are also presented.

Hailu, M, Gerber, C, Shrestha, R & Crews, K 1970, 'Interim report on long-term test on timber-concrete composite beams', World Conference on Timber Engineering 2012, WCTE 2012, pp. 80-85.
View description>>

A long term laboratory investigation started in August 2010 at the University of Technology, Sydney. The test is conducted on four 5.8m span LVL-concrete composite beams (referred to as TCC beams here onwards) beams with four different connector types: Type 17 screws, four and six notches with coach screw and SFS screws. The materials used are Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) for the beams and 32 MPa concrete for the flanges. The investigation is still continuing. The specimens have been under sustained loads of (1.7kPa) whilst the environmental conditions have been cyclically alternated between normal and very humid conditions whilst the temperature remains quasi constant (22 °C) - typical cycle duration is six to eight weeks. With regard to EC 5, the environmental conditions can be classified as service class 3 where the relative humidity of the air exceeds 85% and the moisture content of the timber samples reaches 20%. During the test, the mid-span deflection, moisture content of the timber beams and relative humidity of the air are continuously monitored. The paper presents the results and observations of the long-term test to date. It will discuss numerical models found in the literature and examine their fitness to predict the long-term behavioural responses of the specimens. Copyright © (2012) by WCTE 2012 Committee.

Hailu, M, Gerber, C, Shrestha, R & Crews, KI 1970, 'Geomechanics', From materials to structures: Advancement through innovation, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 617-670.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper presents a comprehensive serviceability investigation that commenced at the University of Technology, Sydney, in August 2010. The tests have been conducted on two 5.8 m span timber concrete composite beams (referred to as TCC beams here onwards) with two different connector types: Type 17 screws and four notches with coach screws. The materials used are laminated veneer lumber (LVL) for the beams and 32-MPa concrete for the flanges. Three serviceability tests were conducted on the beams, two short-term (quasi-static loading) and one longterm (sustained loading) tests. The short-term tests were completed before the start and after the end of the long-term test. Both short-term tests aim to identify the initial and residual stiffness respectively. The ultimate strength of the specimens was also investigated in the course of the last test. During the long-term test (duration of approximately 500 days), the specimens were under a sustained load (1.7 kPa) whilst the environmental conditions were cyclically alternated between normal and very humid conditions â a typical cycle duration was six to eight weeks. The temperature remained quasi constant (22â¦C). The mid-span deflection, LVL-beam EMC and relative humidity of the air were continuously monitored during the test. This test aim to quantify the creep effect of the TCC beams. The paper starts with a brief literature review, continues with a presentation of the laboratory investigations and then presents a thorough discussion and analysis of the long-term and short-term investigations.

Heitor, A, Indraratna, B & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 1970, 'Characterising compacted soil using shear wave velocity and matric suction', Australian Geomechanics Journal, pp. 79-86.
View description>>

The manner in which soil compacts governs the practical and reliable criteria in controlling compaction in the field. A nuclear density meter, based on radioactive isotopes, is the method most commonly used for field compaction, and while it performs well for controlling placement, its localised nature is not suitable for deeper fills or for assessing larger surface areas. In those types of conditions, alternative non-destructive methods should be considered. Numerous research studies have focused on the characteristics of compacted soil at its optimum moisture content under saturated conditions, but only a few have evaluated compacted soil under unsaturated conditions using surface wave and shear wave velocity surveys. This study explores the performance of a cost effective method for evaluating the characteristics of compacted fills by measuring the shear wave velocity and matric suction to evaluate the void ratio or dry density of compacted soil. Laboratory studies of compacted specimens were used to evaluate this method and their performance under different isotropic confining pressures. The results showed that the shear wave velocity and matric suction can effectively predict how the soil will compact, but its success requires field measurements of both shear wave velocity and matric suction. The application of this relationship would enable practitioners to efficiently control compaction over large areas during post-construction stages, and locate areas within the existing formations where the soil was not sufficiently compacted.

Holmes, MI, Crews, KI & Ding, GK 1970, 'Supply chain management strategies for engineered-to-order timber structural systems', Construction, building and real estate conference, Construction, Building and Real Estate Research Conference (COBRA), Arizona State University, Las Vegas, Nevada USA, pp. 1478-1485.
View description>>

Supply Chain Management (SCM) originated in the manufacturing industry and then in the construction industry in the mid 1990s. SCM is the management of the entire supply chain instead of individual parts or processes. Its aim is to deliver improved transparency and alignment of the industry's supply chain coordination and positively influence time, cost and quality aspects. Time and cost are important factors that developers and clients use to measure the success of projects. Prefabricated timber structural systems for multi-storey construction are a new innovation, as such time and cost aspects are critical to their commercial viability in the construction industry. They are an engineered-to-order (ETO) product and most SCM literature has neglected the needs of the ETO sector, in particular prefabricated timber structural systems. This paper aims to review the current state-of-art of SCM used in construction and discuss how it can best be adopted for prefabricated timber systems with a focus on improving time and cost. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with industry professionals across the supply chain of timber construction with the aim of identifying which areas of the supply chain have the greatest impact on time and cost. SCM strategies are then suggested to address these areas.

Holmes, MI, Crews, KI & Ding, GK 1970, 'SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR MULTISTOREY TIMBER CONSTRUCTION IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND', World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2012), Curran association, Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 171-172.
View description>>

Multi-storey non-residential buildings are a potential area that timber products could be used as structural elements. Two major barriers to timbers use in non-residential construction in Australia and New Zealand (NZ) have been identified as overall designer confidence and fire performance. Another important area that posses as a potential barrier to an increase in timbers use in multi-storey buildings is the current supply chain. Literature has outlined there historically hasnât been a market or demand for large timber buildings constructed over 4 storeys in Australia or NZ. As a result aspects of the supply chain needed to deliver such buildings have remained fragmented and relatively primitive in nature. The supply chain for multi-storey timber buildings in Australia and NZ includes a number of different stages as outlined below in figure 1. Between each stage a number of transportation, material and design information flows occur. This paper focuses on the issues in the supply chain from forestry through to construction and aims to outline the key areas that pose as a risk on the cost and time of multi-storey timber buildings.

Hussaini Syed, KK, Indraratna, B & J. S, V 1970, 'Some Aspects of the Shear Behaviour of Unreinforced and Geosynthetic-Reinforced Rail Ballast', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Indraratna, B 1970, 'Ground Improvement for Transportation Infrastructure in Australia', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Indraratna, B, Geng, XY & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 1970, 'Consolidation of Ground with Prefabricated Vertical Drains Combined with Time-Dependent Surcharge Loading in Membrane System', GeoCongress 2012, GeoCongress 2012, American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 60-69.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The system of vertical drains combined with vacuum pressure and/or surcharge preloading is widely used to accelerate the consolidation of soft clay, in order to decrease the long-term settlements and curtail lateral displacement. This study presents a solution of soil consolidation subjected to vacuum preloading for a membrane system, which is comprised of an airtight membrane laid over the drainage layer, under time-dependent surcharge preloading. Both vertical and horizontal drainage were considered in this analysis to reflect realistic in-situ conditions. The model was verified using the measured settlement and excess pore water pressure obtained from various sites at Ballina Bypass, Australia. In the paper, the solutions improve the accuracy of predicting the dissipation of pore water pressure and the associated settlement. The effect of the permeability of the sand blanket in the membrane system and the possible loss of vacuum are also discussed. Finally, design charts have been developed, for the convenience of practicing engineers. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Indraratna, B, Heitor, A & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 1970, 'Effect of compaction energy on shear wave velocity of dynamically compacted silty sand soil', 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils 2012, pp. 538-543.
View description>>

This study was focused on the effects of compaction energy on the dynamic properties of a silty sand in its as-compacted state in relation to the measured values of marric suction. The influence of the imparted energy on the shear wave velocity and the small-strain shear modulus of the compacted soil was studied for three different energy levels that correspond to the standard Proctor as well as reduced and enhanced. The specimens were prepared with moisture contents ranging from the dry to wet of optimum, and subsequently compacted to known dry unit weights for which the corresponding marric suction and shear wave velocity were measured. While a non-destructive technique adopting Bender elements was used to determine the shear wave velocity, the marric suction was evaluated using the filter paper method. Test results reveal that the shear wave velocity increases with the level of imparted compaction energy and the associated marric suction developed in the compacted soil. However, the change in shear wave velocity along the compaction curve is very significant. Pronounced compaction energy dependence is observed on the dry side of the optimum moisture content, whereas on the wet side of the optimum the marric suction governs the variation in the shear wave velocity.

Indraratna, B, Mahamud, MAA & Vinod, JS 1970, 'Chemical and Mineralogical Behaviour of Lignosulfonate Treated Soils', GeoCongress 2012, GeoCongress 2012, American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 1146-1155.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper presents the results of Unconfined Compressive Strength tests (UCS) carried out on clay soils stabilized with Lignosulfonate (LS). Laboratory studies indicate that lignosulfonate can increase the stiffness of the treated soils. Moreover, the influence of clay minerals on the LS stablisation is investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy and Electrical Conductivity (EC). The analysis confirms that the clay mineralogy plays an important role in the stabilisation of clay soils. The stabilization mechanism is mainly due to the formation of lignosulfonate-clay amorphous compounds through the electrostatic reaction process. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Indraratna, B, Premadasa, WN & Oliveira, D 1970, 'Physical Modeling of Soil-Infilled Discontinuities', GeoCongress 2012, GeoCongress 2012, American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 2312-2321.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Soil-infilled discontinuities adversely affect the overall strength of rock mass because, the soft infill material, especially when saturated, drastically reduces the shear strength of the rock joint. Due to all the uncertainties arising from sample heterogeneity and scale effects, physical modeling of rock joints becomes an essential approach for understanding all the different factors affecting the geomechanical behaviour in the field. In this paper, several modeling techniques adopted at the University of Wollongong are discussed. These techniques focused on isolating the different factors affecting the behaviour of soil-infilled discontinuities. Some of the resulting semi-empirical models that were developed to describe the effect of the soft-infill on the joint shear strength are also presented. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Indraratna, B, Rujikiatkamjorn, C & Chiaro, G 1970, 'Characterization of Compacted Coal Wash As Structural Fill Material', GeoCongress 2012, GeoCongress 2012, American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 3826-3834.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In this paper, detailed laboratory investigations were conducted on coal wash produced at coal mine, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Geotechnical tests were conducted to determine the particle size distribution, compaction characteristics, shear resistance and collapse potential. The compaction tests were conducted under dry and submerged condition to examine the compactability and the strength of the coal wash. The test shows that compacted coal wash has good potential as effective fill for embankments, and land reclamation. Although when coal wash is compacted under submerged condition, increased level of compaction has minimal effect. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Jiang, X, Li, Y, Li, J & Wang, J 1970, 'Electromechanical Modeling of a PZT Disc-type Energy Harvester for Large Force Vibration', PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MECHATRONIC SYSTEM AND MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY, 1st International Conference on Mechatronic System and Measurement Technology, SCIENCE PRESS USA INC, Nanjing, PEOPLES R CHINA, pp. 411-416.

Jupp, JR & Gandhi, S 1970, 'Clarifying the Role of Building Information Modeling in Green Building Certification', Proceedings of 37th Annual International Conference Australian Universities Building Educators Association, Australian Universities Building Education Association Annual Conference, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, pp. 499-510.
View description>>

A new trend in improved green building certification (GBC) outcomes enabled by building information modelling (BIM) is emerging in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector. Developing an integrated approach to GBC and BIM processes has the potential to not only further minimise the environmental impact of construction developments but also increase the efficiency of GBC processes and provide additional incentive to adopt BIM. This paper builds a theoretical framework for an integrated GBC-BIM system and serves as a backcloth for identifying possible investment needs to develop the approach. Benefits to clients, end-users, AEC practitioners, government, society and the environment are identified. Three uncertainties are recognised regarding the applicability and feasibility of an integrated approach, notably that it will require additional resources, and adaptive project structures to administer meaningful process integration.

Kabiri, K, Pradhan, B, Rezai, H, Ghobadi, Y & Moradi, M 1970, 'Fluctuation of Sea Surface Temperature in the Persian Gulf and its impact on coral reef communities around Kish Island', 2012 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering (CHUSER), 2012 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering (CHUSER), IEEE, pp. 164-167.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Keshavarzi, A & Ball, J 1970, 'PIV measurement of coherent flow structure over gravels in a river bed', Proceedings of the 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, HWRS 2012, Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium and the International Conference on Water Resources and Environment Research, Engineers australia, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1610-1617.
View description>>

An experimental study of the role of coherent structures and their effect on initiation of sediment particles has been carried out using a laboratory flume. Experiments were conducted under different flow conditions and fixed bed. Spherical gravels with diameter of 65 mm were installed at the bed of flume. The spherical gravels exposed 20 mm above the bed surface. The two dimensional instantaneous flow velocity was measured simultaneously over the gravels using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The PIV advantage is to measure instantaneous information of coherent flow structure in time and space simultaneously. Quadrant analysis of two instantaneous flow structures revealed a dominant sweep event at above the particles whereas inward interactions was found low probable event above the spherical particles. The higher inclination angle was also found for sweep events which are likely to induce higher momentum than other events. The results of this study are useful to define entrainment of sediment particles at the bed of river.

Keshavarzi, A & Ball, J 1970, 'PIV study of turbulent flow around a circular bridge pier using fractal scaling', Proceedings of the 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, HWRS 2012, Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium and the International Conference on Water Resources and Environment Research, Engineers australia, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1604-1609.
View description>>

The flow structure around a bridge pier is complicated, particularly in the flow immediately downstream of a bridge pier. In the study reported herein, the fractal dimensions of velocity fluctuations (u, v) were investigated. Two dimensional velocity fluctuations at horizontal surface were measured using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). At each horizontal surface, 700 pairs of images were captured at a frequency of 15 Hz. The time interval between two frames in a pair of captured frames was 10 m seconds. The fractal dimensions were computed using a Fractal Interpolation Function (FIF) algorithm. From the results, it was found that the fractal dimensions fluctuated significantly in the streamwise and transverse flow directions in the vicinity of the pier. A symmetrical pattern of the fractal dimension was found at the rear of the bridge pier. Furthermore, it was found that the fractal dimensions of velocity fluctuations increased rapidly at vicinity of pier at downstream whereas it decreased far from the pier. Therefore, it can be concluded that the fractal dimension using FIF well describes the flow structure around bridge pier.

Keshavarzi, A & Ball, J 1970, 'Statistical analysis of fractal scaling for flow structure around circular bridge pier', River Flow 2012 - Proceedings of the International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics (River Flow), CRC press, Costa Rica, pp. 921-926.
View description>>

In the paper, the structure of flow is investigated using fractal scaling of 3-D velocity fluctuations and the Reynolds shear stresses around a bridge pier. The fractal dimensions were computed using a Fractal Interpolation Function algorithm. The velocity data were collected in a series of experimental test within a laboratory flume. Three dimensional velocity fluctuations were measured at a number of grid points around a bridge pier using an Acoustic Doppler Velocity meter (Micro-ADV). At each point, 6000 velocity samples were captured at a frequency of 50 Hz. The statistical analysis of fractal dimension shows that the average fractal dimensions reduced from centreline of the flume to the wall, but standard deviations of fractal dimensions increased significantly in the longitudinal and transverse flow directions in the vicinity of the pier. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group.

Keshavarzi, A, Ball, JE & Khatibi, M 1970, 'Temperature Stress Reduction Behind Fish Habitat Structures', Proceedings 9th International Symposium on Ecohydraulics, International Symposium on Ecohydraulics, Vienna, Austria.

Keshavarzi, A, Khabbaz, H & Ball, J 1970, 'Scouring depth around arch spur dike at river banks', RIVER FLOW 2012, VOLS 1 AND 2, International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics (River Flow), CRC press, Costa Rica, pp. 689-691.
View description>>

Spur dikes are structures, which are normally designed to prevent river banks from scouring. In this study, three sequential spur dikes with zero height above the bed were installed at one side of an experimental flume with a rectangular cross-section. The top of spur dikes was set at same level as the bed level. Sequential spur dikes were tested with four different spaces. The bed of the flume was covered with sand particles of median particle size (D50) equals to 0.85 mm. The experimental tests were carried out under different flow conditions and after achieving equilibrium bed scouring condition, the topography of the bed was measured. The velocity of flow at some points was measured using Acoustic Velocimeter (Micro-ADV). According to the results, it was found that the maximum scouring depth varies significantly with the spacing. Additionally, three regression equations were suggested here to determine maximum scouring depth around first, second and third spur dikes. The above findings can be a useful guideline for design of scouring protections in river training works. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group, London.

Keshavarzy, A & Ball, JE 1970, 'STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF TEMPORAL VECTOR ANGLE VARIATIONS AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS IN TURBULENT FLOW', 18th congress of the Asia and Pacific division of international association for hydro-environment engineering and research 2012, hydro-environmental engineering toward harmony between human and nature, IAHR, Korea, pp. 1-8.
View description>>

Entrainment of sediment particles is stochastic in nature due to the instantaneous fluctuation of velocity fluctuations and turbulent shear stress. The temporal variations of turbulent flow are a very important characteristic for sediment entrainment particularly at low shear stress. To characterise the temporal variation, the velocity vector angles in two imensions are investigated in this experimental study. Data for this study was obtained from three dimensional flow velocities measured in an experimental flume using an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (Micro-ADV).This data was analysed to calculate the instantaneous vector angles of the turbulent velocities. The changes in vector angles (ïÎ¸) at sequential time steps were calculated also. A statistical analysis of the values of ïÎ¸ obtained from the different experimental tests was undertaken. The resultant statistical characteristics were found to be a good representation of the characteristics of movement between quadrants of the turbulence. Also the results indicated that standard deviation of vector angles changed with flow depth from the bed to the free surface.

Khabbaz, H & Fatahi, B 1970, 'General and Technical Considerations for Implementing High Speed Rail Systems in Australia', PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2012 AGS SYMPOSIUM: ADVANCES IN GEOTECHNICAL ASPECTS OF ROADS AND RAILWAYS, AGS Symposium Advances in Geotechnical Aspects of Roads and Railways, The Australian Geomechanics Society, Darling Harbour, NSW, Australia, pp. 67-78.
View description>>

Australia has a number of medium speed rail services such as the Prospector, which runs from East Perth to Kalgoorlie, at speeds of up to 160 km/hr. Speeds as high as 210 km/hr have been reached by the tilt train from Brisbane to Rockhampton. Although there are a few medium speed rail systems in Australia, there is not a passenger rail transport with the high transit speeds seen in other countries. This paper presents the feasibility of implementing high speed rail systems in Australia by looking at the main elements that a high speed train is composed of. This paper also reviews the performance of high speed rail systems around the world and the factors contributed to their success made them successful. The main objective of this study is to look at how the solutions from overseas and how the technical requirements particularly the geotechnical aspects of tracks for a high speed rail system can be applied in Australian existing and new tracks. Australia has its own unique demographic, geographic and economic characteristics and the aim is to identify where there are overlaps between Australiaâs characteristics and countries with high speed rail systems. High speed rail transport might not necessarily be one the best solutions for the transportation at present in Australia, but it can be what a nation needs to succeed in its future transportation system.

Khabbaz, H, Fatahi, B & Nucifora, C 1970, 'Finite Element Methods against Limit Equilibrium Approaches for Slope Stability Analysis', Proceedings of the 11th Australia - New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics - Ground Engineering in a Changing World (ANZ 2012), Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics, Geomechanical Society and New Zealand Geotechnical Society, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 1293-1298.
View description>>

A number of powerful numerical models, including limit equilibrium and finite element (FE) methods, have been developed for slope stability analysis in recent decades. The limit equilibrium method contains several limitations, yet is considered the most common approach. However, the advancement of technology has increased the use of the finite element method as it embraces a wider range of features. The limit equilibrium software, SLOPE/W, and the FE program PLAXIS are two common software programs currently employed in geotechnical engineering. Slope analysis using the limit equilibrium method involves a series of slip surfaces dividing ground into vertical slices, and using the static equilibrium equations to calculate the factor of safety (FOS) and stresses for each slice. PLAXIS requires the input of soil properties and elastic-plastic parameters of elements. In this study the properties of a heterogeneous slope, consisting of general fill embankment over soft, slightly overconsolidated clay is implemented in each program. The FOS of slopes is determined for subsequent design requirements, and results are analysed and comparisons are conducted. The effect of Youngâs modulus on the FOS is also discussed. Recommendations are provided based on the results and previously published findings. The contribution of this paper is beneficial to geotechnical engineers, as it discusses the suitability and limitations of each method and assesses reliability of model outputs for slope stability analyses.

Khan, I, François, R & Castel, A 1970, 'Shear performance of long-term corroded reinforced concrete beams', BRIDGE MAINTENANCE, SAFETY, MANAGEMENT, RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY, 6th International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management (IABMAS), CRC Press, Stresa, ITALY, pp. 3272-3279.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Khorsandnia, N, Valipour, H, Shrestha, R, Gerber, C & Crews, K 1970, 'Review on long-term behaviour of timber-concrete composite floors', From Materials to Structures: Advancement through Innovation - Proceedings Of The 22nd Australasian Conference On The Mechanics Of Structures And Materials, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1053-1058.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Timber-concrete composite (TCC) beams are made up two materials, i.e. wood and concrete, which exhibit different behaviours under long-term loading. The time-dependent behaviour of TCC beam is not only affected by the long-term load but also driven by the variation of the environmental conditions such as temperature and relative humidity. In particular, the maximum deflection under service loads may govern the design requirement for medium to long span TCC beams subjected to heavy environmental conditions. For such structures, application of simplified methods adopted by different codes may lead to significant errors. Hence investigating the long-term behaviour of TCC beams subject to variable environmental condition is of great importance for designers and researchers. In this paper the research undertaken on long-term behaviour of TCC floors is critically reviewed and the recent findings are highlighted. The most important references in the literature were selected to provide more depth into the time-dependent performance of TCC structure.

Khorsandnia, N, Valipour, HR & Crews, K 1970, 'Finite element modeling of timber-concrete composite beams under short-term loadings', ECCOMAS 2012 - European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering, e-Book Full Papers, 6th European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering (ECCOMAS), ECCOMAS, Vienna, Austria, pp. 859-867.
View description>>

The behavior and performance of timber-concrete composite (TCC) beams have been investigated through different experimental studies on small and full scale specimens under constant and variable ambient conditions, however, finite element modeling of TCC beams and capturing the accurate failure modes of TCC beams is still a challenging task. This paper presents the application of a continuum-based finite element model for loading capacity assessment of TCC beams. A novel approach for modeling TCC beams using the commercial software ABAQUS is introduced in which the behavior of timber and concrete are modeled by Hashin damage and a plastic-damage constitutive law, respectively. Furthermore, the partial interaction between reinforced concrete (RC) slab and timber is modeled by non-linear springs rather than contact elements. Comparison between FE model and available experimental results shows that the developed FE model and adopted constitutive laws for timber and concrete can capture the ultimate load and deflection of TCC beams up to failure with sufficient accuracy.

Khorsandnia, N, Valipour, HR, Gerber, C, Shrestha, R & Crews, K 1970, 'Comparative study on analytical modelling of short- and long-term behaviour in timber-concrete composite systems', World Conference on Timber Engineering 2012, WCTE 2012, Curran association, Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 304-312.
View description>>

Recent studies have shown that design of timber-concrete composite (TCC) floors may be governed by serviceability or ultimate limit states and therefore, the design requirements need to be satisfied under both short- and long-term actions. However, the long-term behaviour in medium to long span beams under heavy environmental conditions mainly governs the design. Conducting experimental tests to investigate the behaviour of TCC floors are expensive to run and are time consuming whereas analytical studies offer an efficient alternative for predicting the short- and long-term responses with reasonable accuracy. Time-dependant behaviour of TCC floors is not only affected by the long-term load but also driven by the variation of the environmental conditions such as temperature and relative humidity. The factors that affect the long-term behaviour of TCC floors are quite complex and non-linear. Some simplified as well as more comprehensive approaches have been developed to-date and reported in literature. This paper presents a comparison of several finite element models about the behaviour of TCC systems. It starts with analytical models of timber beams under ultimate and serviceability loads. Furthermore, the finite element models developed to date for predicting the short- and long-term responses of TCC beams are discussed. This paper also outlines a novel method for analysis of TCC beams and highlights the potential of the proposed formulation to capture both the short-and long-term behaviour with sufficient accuracy.

Latif, ZA, Aman, SNA & Pradhan, B 1970, 'Landslide susceptibility mapping using LiDAR derived factors and frequency ratio model: Ulu Klang area, Malaysia', 2012 IEEE 8th International Colloquium on Signal Processing and its Applications, 2012 IEEE 8th International Colloquium on Signal Processing & its Applications (CSPA), IEEE, pp. 378-382.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Lee, J, Gu, N, Jupp, JR & Sherratt, SM 1970, 'Towards a formal evaluation of creativity in parametric design process: a pilot study', Proceedings of the Design Research Society Conference 2012 Volume 3, Design Research Society (UK) International Conference, Design Research Society, Bangkok Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 959-970.
View description>>

Parametric design has become an emerging research issue in the design domain. However, our current understanding of creativity in the parametric design processes is limited. This study presents a formal approach for describing and identifying cognitive thinking and activities for evaluating creativity in parametric design processes using protocol analysis. This coding scheme is based on the creative acts: Representation, Perception, and Searching for a solution. Also, it provides Geometry and Algorithm categories to capture the cognitive activity in the parametric design process. The effectiveness of this formal approach was examined in a pilot study. The percentage of coverage of geometric and algorithmic codes results in a better understanding of the parametric design process over a time period. The normalised value of the coverage percentage allows us to explore three levels of design cognition in terms of creativity. This research contributes to the development and verification of a formal approach for evaluating creativity in parametric designing. With this formal approach, this research provides a promising procedure, not yet available, of capturing cognitive activity and identifying creative patterns in the parametric design process

Li, Y & Wang, JJ 1970, 'A robust pedestrian navigation algorithm with low cost IMU', 2012 International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN), 2012 International Conference on Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN), IEEE, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1-7.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Zero velocity update (ZUPT) is an effective way for pedestrian navigation in a GPS (Global Positioning System) denied environment. The stance phase in each step provides zero velocity measurement for IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) drift correction. Most previous research, however, gives navigation solutions only for pedestrian walking but not running. Compared with walking, running has a shorter stance phase with qualified as zero velocity. Therefore a stance phase detector for walking may not be capable for running. This paper presents a novel ZUPT algorithm which can achieve robust pedestrian navigation for walking, stair climbing, and running. Our stance phase detector consists of one footstep detector and two zero velocity detectors (ZVDs).The footstep detector is used to mark each new step, and the first ZVD (ZVD1) can successfully detect zero velocity while walking by setting thresholds on both gyroscope and accelerometer measurements. While ZVD1 is failed for running, the second ZVD (ZVD2) is introduced with a relative larger threshold on gyroscope measurement only. The proposed stance phase detector was tested for walking, running and stair climbing. In all cases, most of the footsteps are detected correctly and our ZUPT algorithm can be successfully implemented. Experimental results show that the navigation accuracy of the proposed algorithm for running cases is comparable to that of walking only cases. Tests on a biped robot are being also conducted to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm. © 2012 IEEE.

Li, Y, Li, J & Samali, B 1970, 'A novel adaptive base isolator utilising magnetorheological elastomer', From Materials to Structures: Advancement Through Innovation - Proceedings of the 22nd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, ACMSM 2012, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 763-767.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Base isolation is the most popular seismic protection technique for civil structures. However, research has revealed that the traditional base isolation system is vulnerable to two kinds of earthquakes, i.e. the near-fault and far-fault earthquakes, due to its passive nature.A great deal of effort has been dedicated to improve the performance of traditional base isolation systems for these two types of earthquakes. Controllable supplementary and energy-dissipation members, such as magnetorheological damper, friction damper or hydraulic fluid damper, have been proposed to reduce seismic responses of the building structures. However, with the introduction of additional control devices, the system complexity increases resulting difficulty in the system implementation and control system design. It would be ideal if a certain level of adaptability could be introduced into base isolation systems while maintaining the traditional outfit. This paper addresses the challenge facing the current base isolation practices and proposes a novel adaptive base isolator as a solution to the problem.A smart rubber, namely, magnetorheological elastomer (MRE), is utilised in this research for its magnetic field-sensitive material property as the main element in the novel device. The tradition base isolator design for a large-scale structure with laminated steel and MRE layers is adopted. To verify and characterise the performance of the MRE base isolator, experimental testing was conducted on UTS shake table facility. Experimental results show that after being energised with magnetic field, the maximum force and the stiffness of the novel device can increase by up to approximately 45% and 37%, respectively.With the field-dependent stiffness and damping, the proposed adaptive base isolator is very promising in meeting the challenges associated with the base isolation systems encountered in practice. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group.

Li, Y, Luo, X, Ren, XT & Wang, JJ 1970, 'A robust humanoid robot navigation algorithm with ZUPT', 2012 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA), IEEE, Chengdu,China, pp. 505-510.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper discusses algorithmic concepts, design and testing of a pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) navigation system based on a low-cost inertial measurement unit (IMU) attached to a user's shoe. The algorithm uses the technique known as 'Zero Velocity Update' (ZUPT) and Kalman Filter consists of 24 error states to reduce IMU errors. We propose a novel dynamic and more robust algorithm to detect the stance phases during walking. The system works well in both 2D (2-dimensional) and 3D environments. Test results show that its horizontal positioning errors are always below 0.3% of the total travelled distance, and the vertical errors are below 0.7%, even on 3D terrain. These results reach the highest position accuracy in available literature. © 2012 IEEE.

Li, Y, Wang, JJ, Xiao, S & Luo, X 1970, 'Dead reckoning navigation with Constant Velocity Update (CUPT)', 2012 12th International Conference on Control Automation Robotics & Vision (ICARCV), 2012 12th International Conference on Control Automation Robotics & Vision (ICARCV 2012), IEEE, Guangzhou, China, pp. 160-165.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper introduces a new algorithm for dead reckoning navigation named Constant Velocity Update (CUPT), which is an extension of popular Zero Velocity Update (ZUPT). With a low-cost IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) attached to a user's shoe, the proposed algorithm can efficiently reduce IMU errors by detecting not only the stance phases during walking, but also the cases at constant velocity, such as in an elevator or on an escalator. The concept, design and test of a CUPT prototype are detailed in this paper. Test results show that it can effectively detect constant velocity, and its horizontal positioning errors are below 0.45% of the total distance travelled, and vertical errors below 0.25%. This performance reached the highest accuracy in available literature. © 2012 IEEE.

Liaquat, AM, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Bhuiya, MMK & Varman, M 1970, 'Influence of Coconut Biodiesel and Waste Cooking Oil Blended Fuels on Engine Performance and Emission Characteristics', ASME 2012 Internal Combustion Engine Division Fall Technical Conference, ASME 2012 Internal Combustion Engine Division Fall Technical Conference, American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Due to diminishing petroleum reserves and the environmental consequences of exhaust gases from petroleum fuelled engines, alternative fuels are becoming increasingly important for diesel engines. The processed form of vegetable oil (Biodiesel) and waste products (waste cooking oil) offer attractive alternative fuels for compression ignition engines. In this study experimental work has been carried out to investigate engine performance parameters and emissions characteristics for direct injection diesel engine using coconut biodiesel and waste cooking oil blends without any engine modifications. A total of three fuel samples, such as DF (100% low-sulfur diesel fuel), CB10 (10% coconut biodiesel and 90% DF), and C5W5 (5% CB + 5% waste cooking oil and 90% DF) respectively are used. Engine performance test was performed at 100% load keeping throttle 100% wide open with variable speeds of 1500 to 2400 rpm at an interval of 100 rpm. Whereas, emission tests were carried out at 2300 rpm at 100% and 80% throttle position. As the results of investigations, there has been a decrease in torque and brake power, where increase in specific fuel consumption has been observed for blend fuels over the entire speed range as compared to diesel fuel. In case of engine exhaust gas emissions, lower HC, CO, CO2 emissions and higher NOx emissions, were found for fuel blends compared to diesel fuel. However, sound level for both blend fuels was lower as compared to diesel fuel. It can be concluded that CB10 and C5W5 can be used in diesel engines without any engine modifications and have beneficial effects both in terms of emission reductions and alternative petroleum diesel fuel. However, C5W5 produced better results compared to CB10.

Luo, X, Li, Y, Ren, XT & Wang, JJ 1970, 'Automatic road surface profiling with sensors fusion', 2012 12th International Conference on Control Automation Robotics & Vision (ICARCV), 2012 12th International Conference on Control Automation Robotics & Vision (ICARCV 2012), IEEE, Guangzhou, China, pp. 608-613.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper addresses the issue of automatically profiling the road surface based on sensor fusion. Road surface profiling in this research paper includes road boundary detection, white line detection and lane division. We propose an approach to perform automatic and robust road surface profiling with the fusion of the following sensors: LADAR (Laser Detection and Ranging), GPS (Global Positioning System), INS (Inertial Navigation System), cameras and an odometer. The LADAR is the most important in our research since we propose a new technique that utilizes laser remission to detect white lines. A prototype system has also been developed for testing with the capability of converting profiling results into video files for easy reference and management. The system is able to work under severe weather and light condition, and profiling all lanes within road boundary at one run. Experimental results on a wide variety of roads have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed system. © 2012 IEEE.

Mirlatifi, S & Fatahi, B 1970, 'Numerical Analysis of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Wall as Bridge Abutment', Proceedings of the 11th Australia - New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics - Ground Engineering in a Changing World (ANZ 2012), Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics, Geomechanical Society and New Zealand Geotechnical Society, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 1383-1388.
View description>>

This paper presents the finite element analysis of a geosynthetic reinforced soil wall as a bridge abutment built in Tehran, and the predictions are compared with the available field measurements. This abutment is analysed using both Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) for stability analysis and Finite Element Method (FEM) for deformation analysis. Two dimensional plane strain finite element model is adopted for the simulation. Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) geogrid with high tensile moduli and low creep characteristics has been adopted in this project to limit the deformation of the bridge abutment. In this model, the backfill soil and geogrids simulated adopting Mohr-Coulomb model, and the elasto-plastic material model that only works in tension, respectively. Bridge abutments can be stabilised by including geosynthetic layers with high tensile moduli satisfying both stability and deformation criteria reducing the construction cost and time, post construction deformations, and future maintenance cost.

Moshiri, F, Garven, C, Gerber, C, Valipour, HR, Shrestha, J & Crews, K 1970, 'An investigation on TCC joints using expanded polystyrene light-weight concrete', World Conference on Timber Engineering 2012, WCTE 2012, Curran association, Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 130-135.
View description>>

Interest in timber-concrete composite (TCC) floors has increased over the last 30 years. TCC technology relies on timber and concrete members acting compositely together. There are only few researches about the effect of concrete on the structural behaviour of TCCs. For example, the application of light weight concrete (LWC) provides an interesting alternative to minimize the dead load on the timber component. However, LWC exhibits lower strength properties and higher shrinkage compared to conventional concrete. The experimental aspect of the research consists of push-out tests and aims to characterise stiffness, load capacity and failure mode of TCC joints with LWC. The test results are compared to that of TCC joints with conventional concrete (reference) and that found in the literature. This research suggests that there is strong potential for moderate LWC (ρ > 2000 kg/m3) in TCC with limited effect on the structural performance of the TCC element. Whilst the low compressive strength of lighter LWC (ρ < 2000 kg/m3) may have limited applications.

Nabavi, F, Nejadi, S & Samali, B 1970, 'Investigation on the mathematical models of chloride diffusion coefficient in concrete exposed to marine environment', From Materials to Structures: Advancement Through Innovation - Proceedings of the 22nd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, ACMSM 2012, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, pp. 1153-1158.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Degradation of reinforced concrete (RC) in maritime structures has become aworldwide problem due to its excessive costs of maintenance, repair, and replacement in addition to its environmental impacts and safety issues. Degradation of both concrete and steel which is the main reason of reduction in the service life of RC structures strongly depends on the diffusion process of moisture and aggressive species. In this paper, the major and popular mathematical models of diffusion process in concrete are surveyed and investigated. Predominantly in these models, the coefficient of chloride diffusion into the concrete is assumed to be constant. Whereas, experimental records indicate that diffusion coefficient is a function of time. Subsequently, data analysis and comparisons between the existing analytical models for predicting the diffusion coefficient with the existing experimental database are carried out in this study. Clearly, these comparisons reveal that there are gaps between the existing mathematical models and previously recorded experimental results. Perhaps, these gaps may be interpreted as influence of the other affecting parameters on the diffusion coefficient such as temperature, aggregate size and relative humidity in addition to the water cement ratio. Accordingly, the existing mathematical models are not adequate enough to predict the diffusion coefficient precisely and further studies need to be performed. At the present, an extensive experimental and analytical research in this regard is being conducted in the CBIR group, University of Technology Sydney. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group.

Nejadi, S & Aslani, F 1970, 'Bond of deformed reinforcing steel bars embedded in steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete', Proceedings for the BOND IN CONCRETE 2012: Bond, Anchorage, Detailing conference, Bond in Concrete, Publisher creations, Manerbio (Brescia), Italy, pp. 757-764.
View description>>

Steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) is a relatively new composite material which congregates the benefits of the SCC technology with the profits derived from the fiber addition to a brittle cementitious matrix. Steel-concrete composite floors, reinforced concrete floors supported by columns or walls and floors on an elastic foundations belong to the category of structural elements in which the conventional steel reinforcement can be partially replaced by the use of SFRSCC. When discussing deformation capacity of structural elements or civil engineering structures manufactured using SFRSCC, one must be able to describe thoroughly both the behavior of the concrete matrix reinforced with steel fibers and the interaction between this composite matrix and discrete steel reinforcement of the conventional type. However, even though the knowledge on bond behavior is essential for evaluating the overall behavior of structural components containing reinforcement and steel fibers, information is hardly available in this area. In this study, bond characteristics of deformed reinforcing steel bars embedded in SFRSCC is investigated.

Ngadimin, A, Vessalas, K, Thomas, P & Hamedanimojarrad, P 1970, 'Investigation of flint glass for partial replacement of fine aggregate in fly ash cement-based mortars', From Materials to Structures: Advancement through Innovation - PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE ON THE MECHANICS OF STRUCTURES AND MATERIALS, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, pp. 1159-1164.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper reports on the findings of an investigation into the evaluation of using flint glass (FG) sourced from post-consumer products, available in Australiaâswaste stream, as a replacement of fine aggregate in fly ash (FA) cement-based mortars.Workability, compressive strength and strength activity index were assessed in 3 phases of the research study, which includes: (1) partial replacement of sand by FG at 5%, 10% and 15%; (2) partial replacement of Portland Cement (PC) with FA at 10%, 20% and 30% using a fixed amount of FG; and, (3) variation of water/cementitious material ratio (w/cm) from 0.45 to 0.55 using a fixed amount of FA and FG. Results indicate that FG is suitable for partial substitute of fine sand in mortars up to 15% in terms of compressive strength; however, the value of strength attained is highly dependant on the w/cm used.

Nicholas, A, Ariyaratne, W & Crews, K 1970, 'Capacity of compression members in heritage timber truss bridge', Bridge Maintenance, Safety, Management, Resilience and Sustainability - Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management, International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management, CRC Press, Lake Maggiore, Italy, pp. 1895-1902.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

New South Wales Roads and Maritime Services are responsible for maintaining a number of timber bridges on the road network. Many of these are truss bridges which were designed over 100 years ago, and are listed on the State Heritage Register. Since the introduction of the limit state design method for Australian bridge design in the Austroads Bridge Design Code in 1992, there has not been an associated limit states timber bridge design code in Australia. A research and testing program was conducted at the University of Technology, Sydney in 2010 and 2011 in order to develop guidelines to allow reasonable prediction of the capacity of members in these heritage timber truss bridges. The four primary areas that were studied were buckling modes of column assemblies, properties of Australian hardwoods used in timber bridges, shear capacity of timber spacers with bolts along the grain loaded perpendicular to grain, and stress relaxation of timber members loaded in bending with permanent deflections. From this testing and analysis, new guidelines for the design and assessment of heritage timber truss bridges have been developed. The guidelines make use of a critical elastic buckling analysis, as well as a simple interaction formula for bending and compression

Nimbalkar, S, Indraratna, B & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 1970, 'Performance Improvement of Railway Ballast Using Shock Mats and Synthetic Grids', GeoCongress 2012, GeoCongress 2012, American Society of Civil Engineers, JAPAN, pp. 1622-1631.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Railways in Australia still play a significant role in the intrastate transport of passenger and freight. In recent years, the increased demand for heavier and faster trains has posed greater challenges to railway industry to improve efficiency and stability of track while decreasing track maintenance costs. The ballast layer plays a key role in governing the stability and performance of rail tracks. However, high traffic induced stresses always result in large plastic deformations and degradation of ballast, which in turn leads to significant loss of track stability. This problem becomes severe under impact loading because it accelerates the breakage of ballast particles. Therefore, understanding the complex mechanisms involved with the transfer of impact loads on the substructure and their effect on ballast breakage and degradation is essential when designing new tracks and rehabilitating existing ones. The field trial in Bulli (near Wollongong) demonstrated that in case of train with wheel flats, extremely high pressure can be transmitted to the ballast bed. Installing resilient mats such as rubber pads (shock mats) in rail tracks can lead to attenuation of impact forces and subsequent mitigation of ballast degradation. In view of this, a series of laboratory tests using a high capacity drop-weight impact testing equipment has been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of shock mats. This paper describes large-scale laboratory testing and full-scale instrumented field trial carried out to quantify the geotechnical behavior of ballast improved by using shock mats and synthetic grids respectively. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Noushini, A, Vessalas, K, Ghosni, N & Samali, B 1970, 'Effect of polyvinyl alcohol fibre and fly ash on flexural tensile properties of concrete', From Materials to Structures: Advancement through Innovation - PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE ON THE MECHANICS OF STRUCTURES AND MATERIALS, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1165-1170.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper investigates the effect of synthetic fibre and fly ash (FA) on post peak response and fracture properties of concrete. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibres were added as intrinsic reinforcement to concrete and30%of cementwas replaced with fly ash as an environmental friendly additive to reduce cement consumption. Samples were prepared abiding by relevant standards and tested accordingly. Limit of Proportionality (LOP) of the mentioned concretes has been assessed. Notched rectangular prisms have been tested to evaluate the residual flexural tensile strength and limit of proportionality of conventional and FA modified concrete as well as fibre reinforced concrete (FRC). Cylindrical samples have been tested to determine the compressive strength and indirect tensile strength of each concrete. Tests have been conducted at 28 days of ageing. Results gathered from different mix designs are compared to control and other mixes.

Pourghasemi, HR, Moradi, HR, Mohammadi, M, Pradhan, B, Mostafazadeh, R & Goli Jirandeh, A 1970, 'Landslide hazard assessment using remote sensing data, GIS and weights-of-evidence model (South of Golestan Province, Iran)', Asia Pacific Conference on Environmental Science and Technology (APEST 2012), Advances in Biomedical Engineering, pp. 30-36.

Pourghasemi, HR, Pradhan, B & Gokceoglu, C 1970, 'Remote Sensing Data Derived Parameters and its Use in Landslide Susceptibility Assessment Using Shannon’s Entropy and GIS', Applied Mechanics and Materials, Trans Tech Publications, Ltd., pp. 486-491.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

In recent years, the growth of urban populations in hazardous areas has increased the impact of natural disasters in both developed and developing countries. The purpose of the current study is to assess the landslide susceptibility in Kalaleh township of Golestan province, Iran. In this study the Shannon’s entropy approach was applied. A total of 82 landslide locations were identified primarily from aerial photographs and field surveys. Then eighteen landslides conditioning factors were prepared in GIS. These landslide conditioning factors are: slope degree, slope aspect, altitude, plan curvature, profile curvature, tangential curvature, surface area ratio (SAR), lithology, land use, soil texture, distance from faults, distance from rivers, distance from roads, fault density, road density, topographic wetness index (TWI), stream power index (SPI), and sediment transport index (STI). Using these conditioning factors, landslide susceptibility index was calculated using Shannon’s entropy. For model validation, the results of the analyses were then compared with the field-verified landslide locations. Additionally, the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves for landslide susceptibility maps were drawn and the area under curve values was calculated. Verification results showed 82.15% accuracy. According to the results of the AUC (area under curve) evaluation, the map produced exhibits satisfactory properties.

Pradhan, B, Latif, ZA & Aman, SNA 1970, 'Application of Airborne LiDAR-Derived Parameters and Probabilistic-Based Frequency Ratio Model in Landslide Susceptibility Mapping', Applied Mechanics and Materials, Trans Tech Publications, Ltd., pp. 442-447.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The escalating number of occurrences of natural hazards such as landslides has raised a great interest among the geoscientists. Due to the extremely high number of point’s returns, airborne LiDAR permits the formation of more accurate DEM compared to other space borne and airborne remote sensing techniques. This study aims to assess the capability of LiDAR derived parameters in landslide susceptibility mapping. Due to frequent occurrence of landslides, Ulu Klang in Selangor state in Malaysia has been considered as application site. A high resolution of airborne LiDAR DEM was constructed to produce topographic attributes such as slope, curvature and aspect. These data were utilized to derive secondary deliverables of landslide parameters such as topographic wetness index (TWI), surface area ratio (SAR) and stream power index (SPI). A probabilistic based frequency ratio model was applied to establish the spatial relationship between the landslide locations and each landslide related factors. Subsequently, factor ratings were summed up to yield Landslide Susceptibility Index (LSI) and finally a landslide susceptibility map was prepared. To test the model performance, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was carried out together with area under curve (AUC) analysis. The produced landslide susceptibility map demonstrated that high resolution airborne LiDAR data has huge potential in landslide susceptibility mapping.

Rijal, R, Samali, B, Shrestha, R, Gerber, G & Crews, K 1970, 'Dynamic performance of timber flooring systems', From Materials to Structures: Advancement through Innovation - Proceedings Of The 22nd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1065-1070.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This paper presents the modal parameters of a LVL timber flooring system with overall dimensions of 8.4Ã1.8m acquired from its finite element (FE) model. The FE model of the floor was created by joining three identical models of a timber floor module (beam) side by side rigidly. The overall length of each floor module was 8.4m and width of top flange was 0.6 m. The individual modules were tested under application of impact load using modal hammer under identical pin-roller boundary conditions. The calibrated FE model of the module was extended to model the flooring system. The behaviour of the floor is assessed based on the modal parameters. Results from the FE model will be correlated with results from experimental tests to be conducted in near future on the floor with the given dimensions at University of Technology Sydney.

Rismanchi, B, Saidur, R, Masjuki, HH & Mahlia, TMI 1970, 'Cost-benefit analysis of using cold thermal energy storage systems in building applications', Energy Procedia, 2nd International Conference on Advances in Energy Engineering (ICAEE), Elsevier BV, Bangkok, THAILAND, pp. 493-498.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Rujikiatkamjorn, C, Heitor, A & Indraratna, B 1970, 'The effect of dry unit weight, suction and imparted energy on the modulus of a compacted mixture of sand and kaolin', ADVANCES IN TRANSPORTATION GEOTECHNICS II, 2nd International Conference on Transportation Geotechnics (ICTG), CRC Press, JAPAN, pp. 440-445.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Rujikiatkamjorn, C, Indraratna, B & Bergado, DT 1970, '3D Numerical Modeling of Hexagonal Wire Mesh Reinforced Embankment on Soft Bangkok Clay', GeoCongress 2012, GeoCongress 2012, American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 2263-2272.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

The numerical modeling of the full scale test embankment reinforced with hexagonal wire mesh was analyzed using finite difference method under threedimensional (3D) conditions to reflect the actual embankment dimensions. In the analysis, the 3D finite difference simulation using 5 times of vertical laboratory permeability can reasonably predict its behavior on soft foundation. In comparison with the field measurements, the predicted results from 3D analysis reasonably agreed with measured data including vertical settlement, excess pore pressures and lateral displacements. Thus, the actual embankment geometry and the selected permeability influenced the behavior of the reinforced embankment constructed on soft ground foundation. The simulated maximum tension lines in the reinforcements tend to follow the coherent gravity failure plane. The maximum tension at the bottom of the reinforced embankment occurred near midpoint portion away from the facing due to the settlement profile of the soft soil foundation. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Rujikiatkamjorn, C, Indraratna, B & Fatahi, B 1970, 'Numerical prediction of unsaturated ground behavior influenced by vegetation and vacuum consolidation', 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils 2012, Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils Theory and Practice, Kasetsart University, Thailand, pp. 701-706.
View description>>

Bioengineering including native vegetation is an ancient method of improving the stability of slopes. In modern railway engineering, this technique is re-captured for increasing the soil stiffness and shear strength of subgrade beneath rail tracks. Currently this practice has become increasingly popular in Australia for stabilising railway corridors built over expansive clays and compressive soft soils. This paper looks at the stabilisation role by suction generated by both the natural vegetation and the artificial vacuum application using the numerical analysis. For demonstrating the role of native vegetation, a mathematical model for the rate of root water uptake was incorporated in the analysis. The soil moisture content distribution and the soil marric suction profile adjacent to the tree were numerically captured based on the general effective stress theory of unsaturated soil. For vacuum application, the equivalent plane strain theory was employed to simulate radial consolidation and artificially applied suction. The performance of both techniques on track constructed on soft formation was discussed and compared in terms of settlement and associated pore pressure.

Rujikiatkamjorn, C, Indraratna, B, Ngo, NT & Coop, M 1970, 'A laboratory study of railway ballast behaviour under various fouling degree', GA 2012 - 5th Asian Regional Conference on Geosynthetics: Geosynthetics for Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change, pp. 507-514.
View description>>

This paper presents a laboratory study of interface behavior between ballast and geogrid under various degree of fouling by coal fines. The stress-displacement behaviour of fresh and fouled ballast with geogrid was investigated through a series of large-scale direct shear tests where the fouling degree varied from 0% to 95% Void Contamination Index (VCI), at normal stresses ranging from 15kPa to 75kPa. The results showed that geogrid enhances the shear strength and increases apparent angle of shearing resistance, while only slightly reduces the vertical displacement of the composite geogrid-ballast system. However, when ballast was contaminated by coal fines, the influences of geogrid reinforcement decreased in proportion to the increasing level of fouling. A conceptual normalized shear strength model was introduced to calculate this decrease in peak shear stress and peak angle of shearing resistance caused by coal fouling.

Rujikiatkamjorn, C, Ngo, NT, Indraratna, B, J. S, V & Coop, M 1970, 'Simulation of Fresh and Fouled Ballast Behavior using Discrete Element Method', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services, pp. 1585-1591.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Sadeghi Hokmabadi, A, Fatahi, B, Far, H & Samali, B 1970, 'Effects of soil-pile-structure interaction on seismic response of moment resisting buildings on soft soil', 3rd International Conference on New Developments in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Near East University Press, Turkey, Turkey, pp. 377-385.
View description>>

Dynamic response of structures sitting on soft soils is influenced by the soil properties, and the response is significantly different to the fixed base condition owing to the interaction between the ground and the structure, In order to study this effect, a fifteen storey moment resisting building frame, representing a conventional type of regular mid-rise building frame, resting ,on soil type Ee according to Australian Earthquake action code with the shear wave velocity equal to 150 mls is adopted. The numerical analysis using FLAC2D software is carried out for three different cases, namely: (1) fixed-base structure representing the situation excluding the soil-structure interaction (SSI); (2) structure supported by shallow foundation on soft soil; and (3) structure supported by pile foundation in soft soil. Benchmark earthquakes including the 1995 Kobe, the 1994 Northridge, the 1968 Hachinohe, and the 1940 EI Centro earthquakes are adopted. Results indicate that considering soil-structure interaction in both cases with shallow and pile fouudations is vital, and the conventional desigu procedure excluding soil-structure interaction is not adequate to guarantee the structural safety for the moment resisting buildings resting on the soft soil.

Sakal, A, Ball, JE, Seed, AW & Larsen, J 1970, 'Ensemble Hydro-meteorological Forecast for the Nattai Catchment', Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Hydroinformatics 'Understanding Changing Climate and Environment and Finding Solutions', International Conference on Hydroinformatics, TuTech Verlag - TuTech Innovation GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, pp. 1-7.
View description>>

Australia is one of the driest inhabited continents on earth with extremely variable climate conditions, characterised with high intensity short duration rainfall events or long lasting droughts. These dynamic climate conditions introduce a challenge to develop an accurate and reliable forecasting system. To enable effective operational decisions under those conditions an integrated hydro-meteorological forecasting system has been developed. This integrated forecasting system utilises the Short Term Ensemble Prediction System (STEPS) for rainfall forecasts along with the spatially distributed physically based hydrological model Mike SHE to capture these spatial rainfall variations. The STEPS rainfall forecasting scheme merges an extrapolation radar rainfall forecast with a high resolution Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) to predict the rainfall field over the catchment. The Mike SHE catchment model is used then to forecast river discharge at the catchment outlet. Presented in this paper is the integration of the STEPS meteorological forecast with the catchment model Mike SHE and its application to the Nattai Catchment embedded in the Mike FloodWatch real-time forecasting shell.

Satsangi, R, Vessalas, K & Russell, S 1970, 'Assessment of bottom ash use as fine aggregate replacement in concrete', From Materials to Structures: Advancement Through Innovation - Proceedings of the 22nd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, ACMSM 2012, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, pp. 1183-1186.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Concrete is the most common construction material used worldwide. Fine aggregate constitutes approximately 25% of the total volume of concrete. Currently, most fine aggregate used in concrete consists of naturally occurring sands, which are sourced from sand quarries. In the future, Sydney will face a sand shortage, with most quarries becoming exhausted. This will likely lead to increased demand in using sands hauled from longer distances, adversely impacting the environment. This project investigates the feasibility of using bottom ash (BA) as a novel sand replacement in concrete. BA is defined as a by-product of coal burning power stations. The BAs used in this study were sourced from 3 different power stations in NSW to assess the practicality of using BA for replacement of sand in concrete. Compared to control concrete, Bayswater BA concretes showed improved performance at 20% replacement of sand content with higher compressive strength and lower drying shrinkage. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group.

Shafie, SM, T.M.I.Mahlia, Masjuki, HH & Rismanchi, B 1970, 'Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation from rice husk in Malaysia', Energy Procedia, 2nd International Conference on Advances in Energy Engineering (ICAEE), Elsevier BV, Bangkok, THAILAND, pp. 499-504.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Shashikant, V, Shariff, ARM, Nordin, L & Pradhan, B 1970, 'Estimation of above ground biomass of oil palm trees by PALSAR', 2012 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering (CHUSER), 2012 IEEE Colloquium on Humanities, Science and Engineering (CHUSER), IEEE, pp. 838-841.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Shashikant, V, Shariff, ARM, Nordin, L & Pradhan, B 1970, 'NDVI of oil palm trees by landsat-5 Imagery', 33rd Asian Conference on Remote Sensing 2012, ACRS 2012, pp. 1876-1879.
View description>>

Oil Palm plantations in Malaysia are managed to allow the optimum yield rate. Most plantations have a series of techniques for managing the palms. Good management provides sound recommendations and reliable management decisions of the oil palm trees. One of the techniques is the application of remote sensing which is used as a tool to determine decisions about the oil palm plantations. It is important that decisions to manage these palms are made based on fair and reliable information. Landsat-5 has capability to determine some of these information and facts. NDVI derived from the Landsat-5 can be used to determine the greenness of these palm plantations. Oil palm trees greenness can be obtained. This information can be used in determining the fertilizer application that contributes to the yield of oil palm plantations.

Shearman, L, Gerber, C & Crews, K 1970, 'Stressed cross-laminated-timber for bridge applications', From Materials to Structures: Advancement through Innovation - PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE ON THE MECHANICS OF STRUCTURES AND MATERIALS, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1071-1076.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

An increasing focus on environmentally suitable construction solutions, EngineeredWood Products (EWPs) are growing in popularity. This project aims is to investigate an EWP decking system applicable for the refurbishment of existing bridges and for new structures. Stress Laminated Timber (SLT) systems have been widely implemented worldwide and provide a structurally sound decking solution for bridges. This technology forms the background of the current research whereby the structural feasibility of stressing Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) â in substitution to solid wood boards â with Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) webs in T beam and cellular systems is investigated. This research focuses on serviceability testing to identify the systemâs behaviour under line loading to characterise the system stiffness and pad loading to understand the load distribution ability of the system. The project includes a review of SLT technology and discusses the application CLT in stressed bridge decking. Laboratory tests have been completed and analysed comprehensively. This analysis includes the system stiffness and load distribution. Recommendations for system improvement and further research are also put forward.

Shrestha, CK, Keshavarzi, A, Khabbaz, H & Ball, J 1970, 'Experimental study of the flow structure interactions between Bridge Piers', Proceedings of the 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, HWRS 2012, Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium and the International Conference on Water Resources and Environment Research, Engineers australia, Sydney, Australia, pp. 308-315.
View description>>

The detailed study of three dimensional flow structures around two bridge piers is presented in this paper. Eight sets of laboratory experiments were carried out with no pier, a single pier and two piers with different spacing between piers. Two bridge piers were aligned in the direction of flow and at the centre of a laboratory flume. The experimental tests were performed in a flume with 19 m length, 0.61 m wide and 0.60 m deep, under different flow conditions. Three dimensional flow velocities were captured at different grid points and different depths within the flow using a micro Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV). The velocity was captured at a frequency of 50Hz. The contour plots of three velocity components, turbulence intensities, Reynolds shear stresses and the turbulence kinetic energy as well as the vector plot and flow streamlines were presented in this paper. It was found that significant flow structure interactions are generated with increasing the spacing between the piers. In addition, the results indicated that the flow structure between the piers and at the downstream side of the piers varied significantly. Furthermore, it was found that when the spacing between bridge piers is increased, the effect of the upstream pier starts decreasing and eventually each piers act as an individual pier.

Shrestha, R, Mak, J & Crews, K 1970, 'Experimental investigation on epoxy bonded shear connection for timber-concrete composites', World Conference on Timber Engineering 2012, WCTE 2012, World Conference on Timber Engineering, Rijun Shrestha, James Mak, Keith Crews, Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 466-472.
View description>>

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on epoxy bonded shear connections for timber-concrete composites, with and without mechanical fasteners. The results of the tests showed that connections with high stiffness and strength, comparable to that of notch type connections, could be achieved by using epoxy for bonding timber and concrete. Addition of a mechanical fastener to the epoxy bonded connection had the advantage of delaying the failure of the connection and thereby avoiding brittle failure mode associated with epoxy bonded connections. The coach screw also facilitated in maintaining good contact between concrete and LVL. Observation of the failed specimens showed that failure in all connections was concentrated either in the LVL or concrete close to the interface and no interface failure was observed.

Sorourian, S, Keshavarzi, A, Samali, B & Ball, J 1970, 'Study of blockage effect on scouring pattern downstream of a box culvert', From Materials to Structures: Advancement Through Innovation - Proceedings of the 22nd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, ACMSM 2012, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 741-744.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

This experimental study is concerning with the scouring at the outlet of a box culverts. The blockage of culverts has considered as an important factor on the scouring pattern at the outlet of the box culverts. To investigate the effect of blockage on scouring pattern at the downstream of box culvert, some experimental tests were carried out in a laboratory flume located in the Hydraulic Laboratory of University of Technology Sydney (UTS). The experimental tests were carried on in both blocked and non-blocked conditions and consequentially the effect of blockage on depth of scour hole is investigated. It was found that for flow with Froude number of 0.09 there is a 15% increase in the depth of scour hole for a box culvert with 40 precent blockage. Furthermore, the scour depth in blocked condition with the Froude number of 0.12 was 22% deeper than box culvert with non-blocked condition. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group.

Stuart, BH, Thomas, P & Hunt, AM 1970, 'The characterisation of ochres used in Australian Aboriginal paintings', 2nd International Congress - Chemistry for Cultural Heritage Abstracts, 2nd International Congress - Chemistry for Cultural Heritage.

Subhani, M, Li, J & Samali, B 1970, 'Behaviour of stress wave propagation in utility timber pole', From Materials to Structures: Advancement through Innovation - PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE ON THE MECHANICS OF STRUCTURES AND MATERIALS, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, pp. 1077-1082.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Non-destructive testing has been used for many years to evaluate the in situ condition of timber piles. Longitudinal impact is usually applied on the top of piles to induce longitudinal wave to detect faults in piles due to the fact that the longitudinalwave has less dispersive nature at lowfrequency. On the other hand,when it comes to evaluation of poles in situ, it is different as poles are partly embedded in soil and it is more practical to produce bending waves, as the top of the pole is not easily accessible. However, bending wave is known for its highly dispersive nature; especially in the low frequency range which is usually induced in low strain integrity testing. As bending wave can be considered as a hybrid of longitudinal and shear waves, it will be helpful, if it could detect the component of these twowaves separately.To do so, components of displacements or accelerations along radial and longitudinal directions need to be determined. By applying Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on the signals, the dominant frequencies can be obtained. It has been found that, the longitudinal component decreases along radial direction which indicates the presence of bending wave component and this finding allows to the application of ContinuousWavelet Transform (CWT) on the longitudinal component of wave signals in order to obtain phase velocity. Phase velocities at different frequencies are then determined to draw the dispersive curve and compare with analytical phase velocity curve. The dispersion curve matched well with the analytical curve.

Sullivan, CE, Stuart, BH & Thomas, P 1970, 'An investigation of the preservation of burial goods produced from modern materials', 6th European Academy of Forensic Science Conference Abstracts, 6th European Academy of Forensic Science Conference.

Swaminathan, K, Grassman, TJ, Yang, L-M, Chmielewski, D, Mills, M & Ringel, SA 1970, 'Impact of threading dislocation density on metamorphic In_xGa_1-xAs and In_zGa_1-zP p-i-n photodetectors on GaAs', Optical Components and Materials IX, SPIE OPTO, SPIE.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Tabatabaiefar, HR, Fatahi, B & Samali, B 1970, 'Effects of soil dynamic properties and bedrock depth on seismic response of building frames incorporation soil-structure interaction', 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils 2012, Asian-Pacific conferences on unsaturated soils, Kasetsart University, Pattaya, Thailand, pp. 504-510.
View description>>

In this study, a ten storey moment resisting building frame, resting on a shallow foundation, is selected in conjunction with three soil types with the shear wave velocities less than 600m/s, representing classes Ce, De and Ee, according to AS 1170.4. Different bedrock depths including 10m, 20m, and 30 m are employed in the numerical modelling using finite difference software FLAC 2D. Fully nonlinear dynamic analysis under influence of different earthquake records is conducted, and the results of the three different cases are compared and discussed. The results indicate that the dynamic properties of the subsoil such as shear wave velocity as well as bedrock depth play significant roles in seismic response of the building frames under the influence of soil-structure interaction. As the shear wave velocity of the subsoil decreases and bedrock depth increases, lateral deflections and inter-storey drifts of the structures increase. The mentioned effects can change the performance level of the structures from life safe to near collapse or total collapse. Therefore, the conventional design procedure excluding SSI is no longer adequate to guarantee the structural safety for the building frames resting on soft soil deposits.

Tao, M, Wu, C & Li, X 1970, 'Numerical simulation of unloading process of rocks under high initial stress', ISRM Regional Symposium - 7th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium, ARMS 2012, pp. 253-261.
View description>>

The object of this study is to investigate the unloading failure mechanism of hard rocks in the unloading process. A commercial finite element program LS-DYNA was employed to simulate the rock unloading process. The implicit and explicit methods were performed in sequence to simulate the static initialization-dynamic unloading process of rocks. The numerical results indicated that the rock failure can be induced by releasing of the initial stress, and the previous result of the equivalent initial stress release rate (EISRR) theory based on the 1D stress state is not suitable for 3D stress state. In 3D stress state, a new definition of equivalent strain energy release rate (ESERR) was introduced. The further study indicated that the ESERR can characterize the effect of different confining stresses and different unloading path on rock unloading. A significant finding is that the ESERR can quantitatively describe the characteristics of the unloading process under 3D stress state. This finding indicated that in practical underground excavation engineering, dynamically controlling the ESERR can be used to increase excavation potential of rocks and minimize the needed external excavation energy by using the initial energy.’

Tennakoon, N, Indraratna, B, Nimbalkar, S & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 1970, 'Deformation and Degradation of Clay fouled Ballast Subjected to Monotonic Loading', Proceedings of the International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, International Conference on Ground Improvement & Ground Control, Research Publishing Services.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Thomas, D, Ding, GK & Crews, KI 1970, 'Multi-Storey Residential Timber Buildings in Australia: Where is the education', Australasian Universities Building Educators Association (AUBEA), 37th AUBEA International Conference: Proceedings, Australian Universities Building Education Association Annual Conference, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, pp. 163-170.
View description>>

There is a growing interest in the construction of medium rise residential timber buildings internationally. A number of developers in Australia are seeking to complete the first structural timber residential building over four storeys high. The most widely advertised is a 10-storey timber apartment building in planning for the city of Melbourne, to be built to 'Passive House' standards. Amongst a number of challenges that face Australian building companies adopting this innovative construction technique is the lack of skill and experience in construction professionals that have worked on medium rise timber structural buildings. The current practice for the design of structural frame for residential buildings over four storeys high is in the use reinforced concrete and steel. Previous studies have revealed that although construction professionals have an interest in innovative timber structures their preference for working with concrete and steel is based on previous education and familiarity with the materials. Preliminary investigations have revealed that Australian university degree courses in Architecture, Civil/Construction Engineering and Construction Project Management receive little or no education on engineered timber medium rise residential buildings construction. This paper aims at investigating the current uptake, demand, opportunities and barriers for timber use in residential buildings. This paper presents the results of semi-structured interviews with Australian construction professionals and tertiary education providers and highlights the challenges they face in adapting to innovations entering their industry. Finally this paper presents strategies on how these two sectors can work cooperatively to incorporate multi storey timber building education into universities across Australia.

Thomas, D, Ding, GK & Crews, KI 1970, 'Sustainable timber use in the Australian housing market: Are consumers willing to pay the price?', Proceedings of the XXXVIII IAHS World Congress: Visions for the future of housing : Mega cities, IAHS World Congress on Housing Science, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 1076-1082.
View description>>

A large proportion of traditional Australian homes contained timber floors and timber exterior cladding until the advent of the standard concrete slab/brick veneer house. Up to 95% of new homes are built by project home companies and the majority of these contain an external envelope consisting of concrete flooring, clay brick walls and concrete tile or steel sheet roofing. This design is currently driven by consumer's expectation of low cost, durable homes that are completed within restricted time limits. There is now a price premium on bespoke housing projects that differ materially or otherwise from a limited set of designs offered by project home firms. The adoption of concrete and brick homes originated from a perceived advantage of longevity, low maintenance and thermal comfort. Innovation in wood treatments, wood protection and insulation have provided solutions to these issues so that timber is now a viable option with added benefits such as environmental sustainability and erection speed. Australian consumers have a growing awareness and desire to live in a way that is sustainable and are making choices that reflect this attitude. This has been demonstrated through the high adoption rate of recent government-supported schemes such as subsidized insulation and solar panel installation. This paper aims at investigating homeowner's perception of timber as a sustainable building product, the desire of homeowners to use sustainable building products, and the willingness of homeowners to pay a premium to live sustainably. This paper highlights Australian homeowners reluctance to use the most sustainable building materials even when they are willing to pay for a more environmentally sustainable home. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey to homeowners in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and some strategies on how to increase the use of timber in new housing projects in Australia.

Wei, W, Fan, X, Li, J & Cao, L 1970, 'Model the complex dependence structures of financial variables by using canonical vine', Proceedings of the 21st ACM international conference on Information and knowledge management, CIKM'12: 21st ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management, ACM, Maui, Hawaii, USA, pp. 1382-1391.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Financial variables such as asset returns in the massive market contain various hierarchical and horizontal relationships forming complicated dependence structures. Modeling and mining of these structures is challenging due to their own high structural complexities as well as the stylized facts of the market data. This paper introduces a new canonical vine dependence model to identify the asymmetric and non-linear dependence structures of asset returns without any prior independence assumptions. To simplify the model while maintaining its merit, a partial correlation based method is proposed to optimize the canonical vine. Compared with the original canonical vine, the new model can still maintain the most important dependence but many unimportant nodes are removed to simplify the canonical vine structure. Our model is applied to construct and analyze dependence structures of European stocks as case studies. Its performance is evaluated by measuring portfolio of Value at Risk, a widely used risk management measure. In comparison to a very recent canonical vine model and the 'full' model, our experimental results demonstrate that our model has a much better quality of Value at Risk, providing insightful knowledge for investors to control and reduce the aggregation risk of the portfolio. © 2012 ACM.

Xiang Luo, Xiang Thomas Ren, Yan Li & Jianguo Jack Wang 1970, 'Mobile surveying system for road assets monitoring and management', 2012 7th IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ICIEA), 2012 7th IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ICIEA), IEEE, Singapore, pp. 1688-1693.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Road assets' condition has a critical impact on road safety and efficiency. It is a big challenge to accurately and efficiently monitor and manage road assets. This paper proposes a mobile surveying system that is cost efficient and robust to acquire and manage road assets information in highly dynamic environments like highways and urban streets, where the data collection has previously been laborious and even dangerous for the staff performing the survey. Equipped with laser measurement systems, camera, proprioceptive sensors and novel sensor fusion algorithms; the proposed system can survey and manage road assets expeditiously. Laser sensors measure surroundings with range and remission data. Range data is processed to build up 3D model of surveyed objectives with position and attitude information from proprioceptive sensors. Remission data is used for extracting traffic lanes and signs on the roads. Each traffic lane's clearance of structures, like bridges and tunnels, is calculated and marked on the 3D model, and compared with the signs captured by the camera. Road surface condition is measured by both inertial and laser sensors. Any abnormal circumstance detected is reported automatically. The surveying results are presented in a user friendly interface and saved as videos for convenient data management. Experimental results of a prototype system demonstrate its performance for road assets monitoring and management. © 2012 IEEE.

Yan, N, Li, J, Dackermann, U & Samali, B 1970, 'Numerical and experimental investigations of stress wave propagation in utility poles under soil influence', From materials to structures: Advancement through innovation, Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, CRC Press, Sydney, Australia, pp. 593-598.
View/Download from: Publisher's site
View description>>

Over the past decades, different types of non-destructive testing (NDT) methods have been developed for the condition assessment of timber structures. Stress wave methods, which are based on stress wave propagation theory, are considered to be simple and cost-effective tools for identifying damage as well as embedment length of timber poles/piles. However, due to the lack of understanding on wave propagation in such structures, especially under the influence of surroundings such as soil, these methods encounter difficulties in producing reliable results. In this paper, an investigation was carried out on the wave propagation behaviour in utility timber poles under consideration of soil effects. The commercial finite element (FE) analysis software ANSYS was used to simulate stress wave propagation in a timber utility pole under the influence of soil. In order to verify the numerical findings, laboratory testing was also conducted in dual course with the numerical modelling.

Zabihi, Z, Samali, B, Shrestha, R, Gerber, C & Crews, K 1970, 'Serviceability and ultimate performance of long span timber floor modules', World Conference on Timber Engineering 2012, WCTE 2012, Curran association, Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 378-385.
View description>>

The advent of engineered wood products (EVVP's) such as LVL and glulam as well as a new generation of adhesives has provided the means to fabricate large section, long spanning structural members with similar structural properties to that of steel or concrete, which have attracted a great deal of renewed interest in long-span timber constructions. This paper presents the results of the tests conducted on LVL timber floor modules, with overall lengths of 6.3 m and 8.4 m (6m and 8m clear span, respectively), under serviceability load, as well as the results of 3 destructive tests conducted on 8m clear span LVL timber modules. All serviceability and destructive tests were conducted under four point bending load, and the performance of these long span 'timber only' floor modules arc investigated for serviceability and ultimate limit states. The linear characteristics of the modules, the composite behaviour of the section as well as the failure modes of the system are assessed and discussed in this paper.

Zaid Alkilani, S & Jupp, JR 1970, 'Paving the road for sustainable construction in developing countries: a study of the Jordanian construction industry', Australasian Universities Building Educators Association (AUBEA), 37th Annual International Conference: Proceedings, 37th Annual International Conference, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, pp. 337-346.
View description>>

There is an increasing pressure on governments of developing economies to support sustainable construction procurement. In exploring this issue, this research asks three related questions: (1) how is sustainable procurement perceived in developing economies, (2) how can government regulation influence its application, and (3) what is the role of performance measurement in stimulating sustainable procurement practices? Answers are sought via an investigation exploring the underlying issues and challenges facing the construction industry of a developing country looking to address sustainable procurement. Using primary and secondary data sources, this research presents a case study of the Jordanian construction industry. Findings show that whilst sustainable procurement practices are promoted, it is still in its infancy - in part due to ineffective procurement frameworks and a lack of performance measurement. Current government regulations and policies are identified as an underlying cause, discouraging the development and adoption of sustainable procurement methods. As the Jordanian construction industry shares characteristics with other developing economies, it is expected that the findings of this paper will be of interest to professionals in those construction industries attempting to initiate sustainable procurement via performance measurement.

Zaid Alkilani, S, Jupp, JR & Sawhney, A 1970, 'Readying a developing economy for national performance measurement and benchmarking: A case study of the Jordanian construction industry', Proceedings of the XXVIII IAHS World Congress: Visions for the Future of Housing Mega Cities, IAHS World Congress on Housing Science, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 541-548.
View description>>

In many developing countries, national construction performance measures and benchmarking processes are yet to be formulated, implemented and tracked. This inherent weakness of an economic sector has negative impacts on, productivity, efficiency and performance. This paper takes the Jordanian construction industry as a case study of a developing economy and highlights the significant challenges it faces in implementing performance measurement. Findings from this study reveal a number of specific and general characteristics, and the extent and severity of industry-based barriers. The paper identifies a range of requirements at the national level that must be met to move from a state of relative disarray to an industry ready for the successful implementation of performance measurement and benchmarking. The authors anticipate that the findings of this paper will be of interest to academics and professionals involved in other developing countries construction industries.

Zeng, J, Guo, Y, Zhu, J, Li, Y & Li, J 1970, 'Magnetic Hysteresis Properties Measurement for Magneto-Rheological Elastomer', the 13th International Conference on Electrorheological Fluids and Magnetorheological Suspensions: Book of Abstracts, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, pp. 1-2.

Zhao, X, Ma, C & Gu, P 1970, 'Preface', Energy Procedia, 2nd International Conference on Advances in Energy Engineering (ICAEE), Elsevier BV, Bangkok, THAILAND, pp. 1-1.
View/Download from: Publisher's site

Zhuang, Y, Hong, G & Wang, J 1970, 'Preliminary investigation to combustion in a SI engine with direct ethanol injection and port gasoline injection (EDI+GPI)', Proceedings of the 18th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference, AFMC 2012, Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference, Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, pp. 1-4.
View description>>

Ethanol fuel, as a renewable fuel can play an important role in addressing the critical issue of energy resources if it is used in a proper way. Ethanol direct injection plus gasoline port injection (EDI+GPI) is such a new way to enable substantial improvement in engine efficiency and emission reduction in spark ignition engines. This paper reports our preliminary investigation to the combustion and emissions in this new dual fuel injection system. Experiments were conducted on a single-cylinder spark ignition engine equipped with EDI+GPI. In the experiments, the ethanol/gasoline volumetric percentage (EVP) was varied from 0% (gasoline fuel only) to 71%. Mass burnt fraction and indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) were calculated from the measured cylinder pressure for analysing the combustion process. The variance of IMEP, reduced with the increased EVP, showed that the combustion stability was improved by the direct injection of ethanol fuel. The effect of EVP on initial, early and major combustion time periods showed that ethanol fuel's higher combustion velocity and low ignition energy might contribute to accelerating the flame propagating, shortening the combustion periods and reducing the combustion temperature when EVP was less than 48%. However further increase of EVP when it was over 48% resulted in a negative effect on combustion which might be caused by the ethanol fuel's over cooling effect. Hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emission increased and nitric oxide emission decreased with the increase of EVP.

Zhuang, Y, Wang, J & Hong, G 1970, 'A single cylinder research engine for investigating combustion of direct ethanol injection and port gasoline injection', Proceedings of the 18th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference, AFMC 2012, Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference, Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, pp. 1-4.
View description>>

Ethanol has been used as a renewable fuel in internal combustion (IC) engines. However, the existing method of blending gasoline and ethanol fuels does not take the advantages of ethanol fuel, such as its high Octane number and great latent heat of vaporization, to increase the engine compression ratio and consequently the thermal efficiency. Ethanol direct injection plus gasoline port injection (EDI+GPI) is a new technology for using ethanol fuel more effectively and efficiently in IC engine. To experimentally investigate this new technique, a research engine has been developed by modifying a commercial product representing the cylinder capacity of a down sized passenger car engine. In the development of this research engine, two major tasks were addressed: the two separate fuel systems and the electronic control unit (ECU). The operation of both fuel systems including the high pressure pump and the common rail fuel pressure are electronically controlled. The ECU also controls the throttle position and fuel flow rates in an open loop to provide the flexibility of manual adjustments of engine speed, load and lambda. Sample results are reported to show that the developed engine system has met the basic requirements of experiments in this investigation.

Johir, MA, George, J, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2012, Testing integrated nutrient recovery, SCOPE Newsletter – no 86 - Page 12..

Gopinadhan, M, Majewski, PW, Choo, Y & Osuji, CO 2012, 'Order-disorder transition and alignment dynamics of a block copolymer under high magnetic fields by in situ x-ray scattering'.

Pradhan, B & Buchroithner, MF 2012, 'Terregenous Mass Movements', Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg.