Making thin Kevlar fibre tissue for reinforcement of carbon-fibre composites for aerospace applications Prerequisite skills: Understanding of engineering materials and mechanical design are preferred. Disciplines: Materials, Mechanical Carbon-fibre composites are brittle because both carbon fibres and epoxy are brittle materials. Very thin Kevlar fibres (ductile fibres) tissues can be inserted between carbon fibre layers, which will significantly enhance the impact resistance of the modified carbon fibre composites. The key is to make very thin Kevlar fibre tissues (as thin as possible). The project is mainly experimental. Hu, Xiaozhi, Professor Co-supervisor: Jiang, Bin PhD Adhesive bonding of metals and composites for aerospace applications Prerequisite skills: Understanding of engineering materials and mechanical design are preferred. Disciplines: Materials, Mechanical Carbon fibres are becoming increasingly popular for various industrial applications. Adhesive bonding of these composites with metals can be critical to the composite structures. We will test various methods to improve the adhesive bonding of composites and metals. The project is experimental. Huang, David, Professor Future generation broadband wireless communications Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic Prerequisite skills: Communication systems (ELEC3302/4402) This project is focused on promising technologies for future broadband wireless communications systems including: • Massive Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (MIMO) Systems
Viscous flow around cylindrical structures has been attracting sustained research activities in fluid mechanics; and in recent decades, the study has been further driven by developments in coastal civil engineering, offshore oil and gas industry and ocean wave energy. Enormous effort has been expended on understanding the force behaviour exerted by the flow on bluff bodies, the boundary layer development and separation, and the vortex dynamics in the wake, due to its significance in both academics and engineering applications. For instance, the Kármán vortex can contribute to vortex-induced vibration and noise. This project aims to provide a quantitative numerical analysis of flow past two cylinders at extremely low Reynolds number (typically smaller than 50), where depending on the cylinders' arrangement, the flow interference may completely alter the flow feature compared to that around a single structure, and thus brings new understanding to this less well studied subject. Students involved in this project will have the opportunity to access the largest supercomputer in southern hemisphere. The project is suitable for students who aim to work in ocean engineering or pursue a higher degree in fluid mechanics after their undergraduate study. Trevelyan, James, Professor Studying Engineering Practice and Engineering Education Disciplines: Chemical & Process, Civil, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Mining, Ocean Systems, Oil & Gas, Petroleum, Software What do engineers really do? What does engineering work actually involve? How does it happen? How do engineers learn to do it? What can you expect to be doing as a novice engineer? How do novice engineers adjust to the difference between expectations and reality? Surprisingly these issues have not been carefully researched until recently. We have started to do this over the last 10 years with some surprising results. This work seems to be unique: you will have the opportunity to help shape a new research field and learn some challenging research techniques. This work started because we noticed that the cost of engineering and most engineered services in industrialised countries seems to be less than developing countries, contrary to what might be expected. This includes the basic elements of any society: water supply, electricity, transport, communications. In Pakistan, for example, water can cost 20 - 40 times as much as in Perth, and millions of poor people cannot afford water to wash their hands. This research will help you learn more about the vital roles that engineers and engineering play in any economy. You will be able to work on some challenging issues that go to the roots of our industrialised societies.