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Australia's first composite
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- 10 June 2005 -
FEATURE PREVIEW
The Australian approach
to composites in
civil engineering
Gerard Van Erp, Craig Cattell and Stephen Ayers
of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, present
an overview of Australian research into infrastructure applications
of composites.
As in many other developed nations in Europe and North America,
Australian asset owners are actively seeking solutions for
the rehabilitation and replacement of deteriorating civil
infrastructure. While the reasons for this interest are somewhat
different in Australia than in other parts of the world, major
asset owners are faced with the same problem of having decreasing
budgets to address an ever increasing demand for structural
replacements or upgrades.
Over the past ten years, Australian researchers have actively
pursued the development of new structural systems utilising
fibre composites to address this industry need. While much
of this work has gone largely unnoticed by the rest of the
world, the research is now paying dividends with a range of
new systems providing design solutions which not only offer
unprecedented levels of functionality but do so at a cost
which is directly competitive with traditional structural
materials. Several of these systems have been successfully
demonstrated in real world projects and are now being developed
into commercial offerings.
In addition to this work, the Australian composites industry
has been investing in a programme to put composites technology
on a more competitive footing with traditional structural
materials such as timber, steel and reinforced concrete. Current
programmes include the development of design documentation
such as codes and standards, as well as the establishment
of an appropriate regulatory framework which can ensure confidence
in manufacture, supply and installation of composite products.
This article presents an overview of
Australian research into the infrastructure applications of
fibre composites and the associated industry development programmes.
The complete feature will be published in the June 2005 issue
of Reinforced Plastics. For further information please
e-mail
us.
Reinforced Plastics © Copyright 2007, Elsevier Ltd, All rights reserved.