July 8, 2014

Linkage grant major boost to high-speed rail push

UOW researchers to develop the world’s best high-speed rail testing facility following $1.2million grant.

Researchers at UOW and their industry partners are on track to develop the world’s best high-speed rail testing facility this year following the biggest Federal Government Linkage grant ever awarded to UOW’s Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences.

High-speed rail is expected to become the primary mode of transport for Australia for both freight and commuter movement but the rail industry has to tackle some engineering issues first to allow this technology to proceed.

High-speed rail transport expert Professor Buddhima Indraratna highlighted the issues now being tackled as:

·  the prevention of track degradation by impact and high cyclic loads

·  mitigating differential settlements and failure of soft foundations in coastal terrains and

·  the impediments to free-draining of track caused by the contamination of ballast along coal freight corridors

In the latest round of Federal Government Linkage grants Professor Indraratna’s research team received $735,000 and a further $450,000 from the industry partners with the total approaching $1.2 million making it the biggest single Linkage grant within the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences. The contributing industry partners are the National Jute Board of Government of India, Coffey Geotechnics Pty Ltd, Douglas Partners Pty Ltd, Menard-Bachy Pty Ltd and Soilwicks Australia.

Linkage grant team members are Professor Indraratna (team leader, UOW), Associate Professor Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn (UOW), Professor Scott Sloan and Professor John Carter (Newcastle), Professor David Potts (Imperial College, University of London), and industry partners Dr Richard Kelly (Coffey Geotechnics), Mr Tapobrata Sanyal (NJB India), Mr Geoffrey McIntosh (Douglas Partners), Mr Philippe Vincent (Menard-Bachy) and Mr Greg Ryan (Soilwicks).

Along Australia’s coast, the abundance of soft clay often hampers the design and construction of transport infrastructure including embankments. The use of vacuum pressure and prefabricated vertical drains ensure rapid drainage and consolidation of the clay, thus increasing its shear strength and bearing capacity while reducing long-term deformation. The main aim of the Linkage grant project is to achieve technological advancement in sustainable and cost effective prefabricated vertical drains-vacuum systems by minimising the time to achieve the desired degree of consolidation, thereby controlling post construction settlement and lateral movement.

“Extensive laboratory and field studies supported by numerical modelling aim to result in new industry guides and standards,” Professor Indraratna said.

The latest Linkage grant builds on a 2013 Linkage project awarded to Professor Indraratna and other team members which examined the benefits of stone columns for stabilising soft soil foundations through numerical and experimental processes. Professor Indraratna, who is the Director of the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering and the Program Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Geotechnical Sciences and Engineering, said this Linkage project will supplement the nature of R & D works to be undertaken by him using the National Facility for Cyclic Testing of High-Speed Rail to be designed and built at UOW in the near future, under the successful ARC-LIEF grant of about $1.7 million including the support from industry and several other universities.

“It will be the first of its kind in the world and designed and built in-house in conjunction with other rail testing equipment housed in the SMART Infrastructure Facility at UOW. Through extensive physical modelling and performance monitoring, this unique high-speed rail testing facility will provide improved safety, speed and passenger comfort, as well as greater efficiency in long distance freight mobility. It will revolutionise Australia’s future in track modernisation apart from ambitious plans to export the technology to India and Southeast Asia,” Professor Indraratna said.

 Media contact: Professor Buddhima Indraratna, +61 2 4221 3046.