Mechanical engineering

Supervisor: Dr Xianghai An

Eligibility: High achievement in a relevant undergraduate engineering degree (a WAM of 75 or above). This project has the option to be combined with an honours project.

Project Description:

Materials come with characteristic combinations of mechanical properties. For example, ceramics have high stiffness but break easily; metals have high strength and ductility but limited ability to deform elastically. A vital requirement for all structural materials is that they possess an exceptional combination of stiffness, strength, ductility and damage tolerance. However, these characteristics cannot currently be obtained simultaneously. Although materials with different combinations of attributes can be designed by forming composites of different materials, it is still scientifically and technologically challenging to harvest desirable combination of properties.

To address these issues, in this project, we will propose a multi-design strategy, which encompasses the deliberate modulation of the phase constitution and architecture of metal-ceramic interpenetrating-phase composites that can be enabled by the combination of advanced manufacturing techniques. The newly designed materials will push the boundaries of materials properties beyond current benchmark ranges.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes, *dependent on government’s health advice.e.

Supervisors: Dr Xianghai An

Eligibility: High achievement in a relevant undergraduate engineering degree (a WAM of 75 or above). This project has the option to be combined with an honours project.

Project Description:

High-performance alloys are the backbone of decarbonising innovations in manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, and transportation. There is an accelerated demand for high-strength materials to produce lighter, more-reliable structural components. Stronger alloys will substantially improve mechanical and energy efficiencies, which can benefit our economy and environment directly.

However, high-strength materials typically have low ductility and are more vulnerable to fracture. Furthermore, they are also susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement (HE) in many service environments for renewable energy applications such as hydrogen transportation and the bearings of wind turbines.

Hydrogen-induced embrittlement can lead to unpredictable and catastrophic failures at relatively low applied stresses. These critical shortcomings cause serious safety concerns but cannot be readily addressed by traditional materials development approaches that generally render materials property trade-offs between strength and ductility/HE resistance.

Gradient structures are an emerging material-design paradigm inspired by nature that has great potential to overcome these alloy design trade-offs. This project aims to develop an innovative design strategy of gradient segregation engineering (GSE) to produce high-performance alloys by synergistically introducing a chemical gradient via grain boundary (GB) segregation and a physical gradient by nanostructure control.

The novel GSE will entail a synergy of multiscale strengthening mechanisms that offer an exceptional strength-ductility combination and simultaneously enable the hierarchical HE-resisting mechanisms to notably enhance the hydrogen tolerance.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice..

Supervisors: Dr Xianghai An, Prof. Marcela Bilek, Dr Kosta Tsoutas

Eligibility: High achievement in a relevant undergraduate engineering degree (a WAM of 80 or above). This project has the option to be combined with an honours project.

Project Description:

Space is a realm of extremes that combines high-level radiation, fast micrometeorites, extreme temperatures, and abundant plasma. Ensuring the safety and reliability of space infrastructure is pivotal to space activities. A protective coating with exceptional durability is critical to the performance and lifespan of space infrastructures. Currently, polymer composite coatings are strong but very delicate and expensive. Therefore, there is an acute need to develop strong, tough, and durable coatings that are effective in the hostile environment of space.

High entropy alloys (HEA) present a promising material class capable of addressing all these issues. Despite being composed of five or more atomic species, HEAs are metallurgically unique, as they exist as a single crystalline phase and have tuneable properties based on the vast compositional space previously inaccessible, presenting a multitude of new opportunities for materials properties. This project will explore various plasma methods for synthesising HEAs and evaluate their mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. 

Requirement to be on campus: Yes, *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisor: Dr Xianghai An

Eligibility: High achievement in a relevant undergraduate engineering degree (a WAM of 80or above). This project has the option to be combined with an honours project.

Project Description:

The past two decades have witnessed a rapid increase in demand for micro/nano devices and components, such as micro/nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS)/(NEMS) sensors, micro-engines, connectors, micro-pumps, and medical implants, to push the boundary of property and functionality for many evolving technologies.

This essential requirement for device miniaturisation promotes an unprecedented advancement in manufacturing techniques and processes, empowering us to fabricate these small structures at micrometer, submicrometer, and even nanometer scales. During practical application and service, these novel systems would ineluctably suffer from external loading and large deformation. Therefore, their robustness and reliability rely primarily on the mechanical performance of small-sized materials.

However, when the external geometric sizes of materials are diminished into the micro/nanoscale, their mechanical responses are Prof.oundly distinct from those of bulk counterparts. Comprehensively exploring the mechanical behaviour of the micro-/nano-sized materials is not only significant scientifically to furnish principal insights into their deformation physics to enrich the theory of crystal plasticity, but also crucial technologically to empower us to exert control over the design and development of cutting-edge MEME/NEMS with predictable, reliable, and reproducible performances.  

Requirement to be on campus: Yes, *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: A/Prof. Ahmad Jabbarzadeh, Mr. Fankai (Darren) Peng

Eligibility:

• Must have a WAM of 75 or higher.
• Demonstrate a passion for research and hands on experiments.
• Good understanding of physics and fluid mechanics.
• Willing to learn quickly and work in a team
• Good communication skills

Project Description:

Nanobubbles, unlike macro bubbles, can persist in various liquids such as water for extended periods, ranging from days to months. Their high concentration and stability make them beneficial in several applications, including water treatment and fertilization. Despite these known benefits, the fundamental cause of nanobubbles’ stability and many of their properties is still under active investigation in the scientific community. Our recent research, conducted via computational nanotechnology, has identified some unique properties of water-nanobubble systems. We also measured some basic properties of bulk nanobubbles via experiments.

In this project, we still focus on experiment to improve the nanobubbles generation process by using different methods. All properties, including concentration, charge, particle size, and rheological properties, of water-based bulk nanobubbles will be examined. Some other innovative measurement methods will be explored to compare with the accuracy. This comprehensive approach will provide a more complete understanding of nanobubbles and their potential applications.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes, *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisor: Dr Matthew Dunn

Eligibility: WAM>75 and Undergraduate candidates must have already completed at least 96 credit points towards their undergraduate degree at the time of application.

Project Description:

Solid-propellant rocket motors are a mainstay of high-speed propulsion for rockets for both access to space and defence applications. Due to the intense turbulence, compressible flow features (including shocks), particles, high thermal radiation levels and high temperatures found in rocket motor combustion zones, experiments are challenging.

The development of experimental techniques for such conditions are necessary for both understanding the fundamental of rocket motor operation as well as the development and validation of advanced modelling techniques.

The project involves the instrumentation of a small solid rocket motor so that pressure, thrust and fuel grain temperature at several locations can be measured during the motor burn. The technique, feasibility and accuracy of measuring the fuel grain temperature at a number of locations during operation is to be developed and assessed. Methods to measure the pressure in the motor chamber are to be trialled.

Once effective instrumentation and measurement techniques have been developed, the impact of nozzle geometry and initial fuel grain geometry on the thrust, chamber pressure and burn rate will be explored. The measurements will be conducted in the clean combustion laboratory at the University of Sydney allowing access to advanced optical diagnostics including high speed camera imaging will be possible. The student on this project will work closely with the numerical modelling team to provide and valuable insights into the rocket motor operating characteristics validation data for modelling efforts.

Applicants from across engineering and science disciplines are invited to apply. Preference will be given to those studying mechanical or aerospace engineering and those involved in student rocketry teams.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes, *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisor: Prof. Matthew Cleary

Eligibility: WAM>75 and Undergraduate candidates must have already completed at least 96 credit points towards their undergraduate degree at the time of application.

Project Description:

Solid-propellant rocket motors are a mainstay of high-speed propulsion for rockets for both access to space and defence applications. Due to the intense turbulence, compressible flow features (including shocks) and high temperatures found in rocket motor combustion zones, experiments are challenging and must be complemented by accurate and affordable computational models. Such models are necessary for optimisation of the design, including geometry, fuel composition, nozzle integration etc.

This project is a continuation of recent vacation research projects. It will involve extending a Bayesian statistical method for solid rocket motor fuel regression rates based on simple physical models to more sophistics physical models with a larger number of design parameters including geometry and/or fuel composition. There will be opportunities to also work with laboratory researchers conducting experiments on rocket motors.

Applicants from across engineering and science disciplines are invited to apply. Preference will be given to those studying mechanical or aerospace engineering and those involved in student rocketry teams.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes, *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Prof. Assaad Masri, Dr Matthew Dunn, Ian Macfarlane

Eligibility: WAM>75 and Undergraduate candidates must have already completed at least 96 credit points towards their undergraduate degree at the time of application.

Project Description:

Combustion will remain central to the process of decarbonization particularly in power generation, heavy duty transport and high-temperature process industries. The project will investigate fundamental issues associated with the turbulent combustion of green fuels (also referred to as power-fuels, or electro-fuels such as hydrogen and its derivatives).

This is open to final-year students only with HWAM>75

Requirement to be on campus: Yes, *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Prof. Assaad Masri and Dr Agisilaos Kourmatzis

Eligibility: WAM>75 and Undergraduate candidates must have already completed at least 96 credit points towards their undergraduate degree at the time of application.

Project Description:

The project aims at investigating the primary atomization of green fuel blends. Both miscible and immiscible blends will be considered as relevant to future propulsion systems.

This is open to final-year students only with HWAM>75.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes *dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisor: Dr Shuying Wu

Eligibility: WAM>80 and Undergraduate candidates must have already completed at least 96 credit points towards their undergraduate degree at the time of application. Candidates are willing to and interested in working in the lab to gain some hands-on experimental skills.

Project Description:

Flexible and stretchable sensors have recently gained significant attention for their potential in applications such as health monitoring, human-machine interfaces, and soft robotics.  Despite significant progress recently in creating flexible and stretchable sensors, several challenges persist and one of the key challenges lies in achieving high sensitivity while ensuring flexibility and stretchability.

Developing mechanically robust high-performance sensors requires innovative materials and designs capable of withstanding repeated mechanical deformation without compromising sensing performance. Additionally, integrating these sensors with various surfaces, particularly in wearable applications, presents challenges in terms of adhesion, biocompatibility, and long-term stability.

The aim of this project is to develop elastic polymer nanocomposites based on polymers with high elastic stretchability and functional nanomaterials (e.g., conductive, piezoelectric nanomaterials) for creating mechanically robust electromechanical sensors for wearable devices. It is expected that the potential candidates will have background in materials or mechanical engineering and a passion for gaining hands-on lab experience.

Requirement to be on campus: Yes, *dependent on government’s health advice.