Infrastructure asset protection and management

Research

The deterioration of large engineering infrastructure systems (eg, bridges and ports) represents trillions of dollars in public and private domains world-wide. In practice, decisions related to the assessment of engineering structures are based on uncertain and incomplete information. Uncertainties arise due to the variability in environmental factors, extreme events (eg, bushfires and hailstorm), methods of inspection and data collection, to name a few. Despite continuous improvements in accuracy of the current deterministic models and computational tools, a solution to the problem of identification of the uncertainties of the model parameters is yet to be found. The overarching aim of our research is to develop a holistic theoretical framework to allow the assessment of performance of engineering structures using reliability analysis and artificial intelligence. Specifically, our major research areas are:

  • Intelligent structural health monitoring of engineering infrastructure using unmanned vehicles and artificial intelligence
  • Reliability-based life-cycle performance assessment of engineering infrastructure (eg, corrosion resistance assessment of engineering structures under marine environment, and aerodynamic performance assessment of bridges under strong wind conditions)
  • Learning from nature – bioinspired engineering for engineering infrastructure protection

Industrial partners

VicRoads, Road Maritime Services (RMS), Australian Road Research Board, Metro Trains, Port of Melbourne, Australian UAV Pty Ltd, Uaviation Pty Ltd, Silverpond Pty Ltd, Atlite (Australia) Pty Ltd, Ian Bennie & Associates Pty Ltd, Chongqing Ideal Tech Co., Ltd (China), Chongqing Communication, Engineering Quality Testing Co. Ltd (China), Benjamin Gideon and Associates (Indonesia)

Research facilities and equipment

Unmanned vehicles

Drones, Unmanned Boat, Underwater Robots

Non-destructive testing equipment

Interferometric Radar (IBIS-S), Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Testers (Pundit UPV), Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Array (MIRA, Pundit Array), Impulse response (Impact Echo), Ground Penetrating Radar System, GPR (Hi-Bright, Aladdin), Optical measurement system (ARAMIS), Infrared Thermography camera (FLIR)

Selected research grants and contracts

2020–2022: ARC LP190100208 ($540,000 ARC cash; $30,000 Industry cash)

2018–2021: ARC DP180100915 ($352,616)

2016–2021: ARC IH150100006 ($5,000,000)

2016–2019: ARC LP160100259 ($406,091 ARC cash; $30,6500 Government and industry cash)

2020–2024: Melbourne-Chongqing Road Infrastructure Research Centre ($400,000)

2020–2024: Layman Property Group ($200,000)

2021–2024: Guangdong Holdings Co. Ltd ($200,000)

2019–2022: DualFun Technology Pty. Ltd ($200,000)

2018–2021: OSAR PhD scholarships ($495,000)

2016–2018: Australia-Indonesia Centre ($98,885)

2014–2020: CRC Bushfire Natural Hazards ($660,000)

2012–2014: China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation ($210,000)

Contact us

Selected industrial projects

Jetty Inspection, Port of Melbourne

Data collection using UAV

Image reconstruction of jetty in virtual environment for structural health assessment

Structural health monitoring of Heritage Eltham Rail Trestle Bridge

Monitor the dynamic behaviour of wooden Eltham Rail Trestle Bridge built in 1902, Australia, bridge using IBIS-S.

Monitoring the deformation of the bridge’s timber column using ARAMIS

Structural health monitoring of Merlynston Creek bridge

Structural health monitoring of bridges using non-destructive testing and computational modelling

Structural health monitoring using UAV imagery including drone and unmanned boat

drone under a bridge, a unmanned boat and birds eye view of a river
an industrial underwater drone

Media

University researchers’ success in ARC Linkage Projects, The University of Melbourne (2020)

Impact of climate change on the integrity of the superstructure of deteriorated U.S. bridges, NewScientist (2019)

Government surrenders to pier pressure [PDF], The Voice of Docklands, Melbourne (2019)

Tullamarine Freeway sign may have fallen due to sustained wind pressure, engineering experts say, ABC News Melbourne (2019)

A bridge too far?, Pursuit (2018, The University of Melbourne’s research news platform)

Designing bridges: where safety and beauty intersect, ABC Studios & Media Production (2018)

Laos dam collapse (2018): Agence France-Presse (Paris, France), Channels TV (Lagos, Nigeria), Digital Journal (Canada), Daily Mail Australia, Yahoo News, The Citizen (South Africa), AT&T WorldNet, The Indian Express, Channel NewsAsia (Singapore), Voice of Asia, France 24, NDTV (India), Brinkwire (UK), Breitbart News Network (US), 7News (Melbourne, Australia)

Radar-in-a-suitcase makes bridges safer, The Australia–Indonesia Centre (2017)