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Institute for Frontier Materials
Deakin University is seeking an outstanding scholar for a full-time PhD project and scholarship to support the ARC Linkage Project 'Concrete Enriched with Carbon Nanotubes for Advanced Future Construction', led by Prof Frank Collins. The successful candidate will commence by 01 March 2016 and will be based at the Melbourne Burwood Campus.
Project description

Concrete, the most consumed construction material globally, is brittle which necessitates embedded steel reinforcement. An advanced construction material based on enrichment of concrete with carbon nanotubes (CNT), one of the strongest known fibres, may partially substitute conventional bulky and heavier steel reinforcement thereby creating economies (e.g. thinner section sizes), and reduced CO₂ emissions by expending less steel and cement for construction.
This project provides the opportunity to undertake a highly original PhD that will that make a contribution to an emerging area of engineering. The student will investigate carbon nanotube-cement composites, with the aim of producing high strength and construction-scale concrete. Experimental and modelling research work will be undertaken to investigate the rheology of fresh concrete, analysis of the microstructure, crack control of hardened concrete, and testing large-scale prototypes by undertake preparation of samples, mechanical and modelling of crack propagation.
Aims of the project

The project aims to advance CNT pastes to large-scale concrete, a vastly unexplored research field that will:

• Develop a protocol for optimal CNT fabrication. To convert CNT-cement paste mixtures to larger-scale concrete mixtures several research hurdles will be addressed: Suitable rheology of fresh concrete will be tailored to optimize fabrication; (ii) determining the best dispersion and inter-play with aggregate particles within concrete; (iii) Improving the typically weak aggregate-cement paste interfacial transition zone (ITZ) in concrete, with CNTs nucleating dense calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) that may lead to significant improvement in strength and durability.
• Adopt a multi-scale approach to crack bridging. An understanding of the mechanisms of how CNTs arrest cracks at the nano-scale of crack nucleation, how this is supported by crack control by aggregates and the presence of larger graphene fibres will provide a platform for larger-scale assessments.
• Investigate large-scale reinforced concrete (RC) beams undertaken to assess the mechanical behaviour under load, with-and without combinations of CNT, graphene fibres, and reinforcing steel in a laboratory setting.
• Develop “starting recipes” suitable for commercial trials in common construction applications to show the translational aspect of the project from pastes to construction applications.