James Cook University Subject Handbook - 2001

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Chemical Engineering

Sugar Processing

Control of vacuum pans.
Modelling of crystallisers.
Novel sugar extraction processes.
By products from molasses, bagasse and filter mud.
Sugar dryer modelling.
Process modelling for waste minimisation.

Mineral Processing

Electro refining of copper.
Fluid dynamics and slimes transport in electro refining cells.
Metal extraction kinetics (Nickel/Cobalt separation).

Fire and Safety

Catalytic combustion involving heat transfer.
Modelling of heat transfer across fire retardant coatings.

Rheology and Surface Forces

Rheology of complex fluids.
Surface chemistry and rheology of colloidal dispersions.
Surface forces in colloidal dispersions.
Control of particulate fluid rheology of surface forces.
Viscoelastic behaviour of sugar molasses.
Flocculation and dewatering of tailings.
Pipeline transportation.
Acid mine drainage of tailing dam.

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Civil and Environmental Engineering has a significant role in three Cooperative Research Centres and especially in the Reef Research Centre.

The principal research interests at present are in the following fields:

Ocean and Coastal Engineering

Studies of waves, water circulation and storm surge in the Great Barrier Reef region have been research interests for many years. Numerical modelling of these phenomena, is a specialisation of the School. Related projects include:
Simulation of tropical cyclone storm surge.
Numerical modelling of Great Barrier Reef circulation.
Wave prediction in coral reef areas.
Determination of the frequency of coastal flooding.
Numerical modelling of dredge plume movement.
Pontoon dynamics in the Great Barrier Reef.
Great Barrier Reef – Engineering guidelines: design, construction and operation.

Geomechanics

The School has a long history of postgraduate training and research in geotechnical engineering. There are research projects in a wide variety of geotechnical problem areas including:
Seismic piezocone penetrometer investigations in soft soils.
Slope stability in tropical environments.
Resistance of short piers to combined uplift and lateral loading.
Bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations in granular soils.
Strengths and compressibility of clays.
Reliability-based geotechnical designs.
Artificial neural networks, application in geomechanics.
Characteristics of soft clays of coastal North Queensland.

Hydraulic and Fluid Mechanics

Advances in analytical, numerical and experimental techniques are collectively employed to examine in detail the following natural convection problems:
Specific fluid mechanic features under current research are:
Vertical thermal/viscous boundary layers.
Stratified intrusions.
Side-arm circulation due to incident radiation.
These research problems are related to a variety of areas in the engineered and natural environment e.g. building ventilation, reservoir water quality and both near-shore and coastal ocean engineering.

Structural Engineering

Structural engineers design and supervise the construction of a wide range of structural forms including buildings, bridges, dams, towers, off-shore oil and gas platforms, tanks and silos. Structural engineering techniques are also used in the design of mine shafts, tunnels and large underground chambers to provide facilities such as car parks or power stations.
Research activities in structural engineering are both analytical and experimental in nature and are directed at investigations into:
Bending, buckling and dynamic behaviour of fibre-reinforced composite plates.
Strength of concrete-filled steel tubular beams and columns.
Rehabilitation and retrofitting of timber, steel and concrete structural members by advanced composite jacketing.
Non-destructive characterisation of flaws in composite structures.
Time-invariant and time-variant reliability analysis of structural elements and systems.
Reliability assessment of existing structures subject to deterioration.
Analysis and assessment of concrete bridges.
The analytical work relies heavily on the use of modern computer techniques.

Wind Engineering

A strong interest in the engineering aspects of tropical cyclones has been developed within the school. A major aspect of this work is the design of buildings, particularly housing, to resist strong winds. It involves wind tunnel measurements, structural testing and analytical studies and is undertaken in collaboration with the James Cook Cyclone Structural Testing Station, a special research and development unit located within the School. Specific areas of research include:
Wind tunnel measurement of wind forces on structures and wind velocity fields.
Analysis of damage risk from tropical cyclones.
Development of criteria for design against tropical cyclones.
Improving comfort level in houses through natural ventilation.
Structural behaviour of housing construction under wind loads (including full-scale house testing).
Computer modelling of structural behaviour of houses.

Systems Engineering and Management

Systems Engineering is the application of scientific and engineering knowledge to the planning, design, evaluation, construction and management of complex problem situations within both man-made and natural environments. Particular interests include studies of transportation and energy systems, marine systems, particularly those relating to the Great Barrier Reef region and environmental systems. These interests are reflected in the following projects:
Development of an operational model of a single bulk export commodity port.
Transportation systems analysis including safety, congestion, energy and environmental considerations.
Hospital theatre management and information systems.
Operations management in the agriculture sector.
Sustainable transportation and sustainable cities.
True cost of road travel.

Environmental Engineering

Protecting and sustaining the environment is possibly the greatest challenge humans face. Environmental Engineering at James Cook emphasises environmental planning, waste management, site rehabilitation and air, water and noise pollution control.
Particular areas of research interests include:
Environmental impacts of civil engineering projects.
Water quality modelling of reservoir.
Solid and hazardous waste management.
Ballast water discharges in the Great Barrier Reef.
Improved river bank stabilisation practices in the wet tropics.

Electrical and Computer Engineering

RF Electronics

High power linear amplifier for mobile radio.
Analogue to Digital Conversion Techniques and Systems.

Satellite Communications/Remote Sensing

Remote sensing.
Design and development of satellite ground stations.
DSP-based satellite beacon receivers.
A low-cost receiving system for weather satellites (JCUMetSat).
Satellite signal attenuation due to rain, including research on effects of elevation angle on satellite receivers in areas of heavy rain, analysis of radar-derived rainfall patterns and determination of rain-rate patterns.

Aids for the Disabled

Biomedical instrumentation.
A range of aids has been developed, including computer interfaces for people with disabilities and a synthesised voice communication system for persons with severe muscular disabilities.

Control Systems

Multi-dimensional systems theory.
Large-scale system control and estimation theory.
Robust and optimal control systems.
Robotic systems, including autonomous robotic vehicles and instrumentation.
Process control systems.
System identification.

Digital Systems

Embedded microprocessor systems for industrial and research applications.
Digital Communication Systems.

Communications

COFDM.
Data communication systems.
Spread-Spectrum Techniques.
Microwave over-ocean propagation.
Development of a range of communications instruments, including a Spread-Spectrum Network Analyser, a FM Exciter using DSP techniques and Microwave radiometers.

Instrumentation

Non-contact distance measurements using radar.
Data Acquisition Systems for industrial and research applications, including satellite transmission analysis, environment monitoring and control, power system transient recording, remote data loggers and embedded monitoring systems.
Industrial application of microwaves, including systems to monitor height and materials in hazardous environments, furnace temperature measurements using microwave radiometers and control systems for harvesting machinery.

Power Systems/Applications

ELF field investigations.
Geomagnetic field measurements.
Automatic detection of power lines for wire-strike avoidance systems.

Applied Superconductivity

Measurements of surface resistance of superconducting materials at microwave frequencies.
Measurements of microwave properties of superconducting and dielectric materials for communication systems.
Applications of high Tc devices in wireless communication.
Power handling capabilities of high Tc films.
Superconducting microwave passive circuits.

Engineering Education

Student learning.
Appropriate pedagogies for engineering.
Flexible learning and teaching through resource-based and Internet-supported methodologies.

Mechanical Engineering

Application of computational porous media mechanics to the crushing of prepared sugar cane.
Computational modelling of crystallisation.
CFD Modelling of pan boiling.
Natural convection in cavities.
Particle image velocimetry.
Fracture mechanics.
Calibration of elasto-plastic constitutive models.
Finite element modelling of hyper-elastic materials.
Finite element analysis of non-linear material and geometric problems.
Development of friction models for contact mechanics.
The effect of humidity on heat and mass transfer across narrow cavities.
Discrete element modelling of dragline bucket filling.
Characterisation of blasted rock and soil as a continuum and at a discrete level.
Failure analysis of components.
CFD modelling of aerator driven flows in aquaculture ponds.
Heat transfer analysis of furnace tap holes including solidification.
Development of advanced insulation materials.
Development of finite element procedures for large strain modelling and contact.
Vibration control.
Tribology and wear.