Natalie Lloyd - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Natalie Lloyd

We also acknowledge the contributions of students and staff from four institutions in participati... more We also acknowledge the contributions of students and staff from four institutions in participating in interviews and the survey; the contribution of student members of the Curtin Civil Engineering Association and the Reference Group for their calibration of the questionnaire; and members of the Reference Group and the critical reviewer appointed by the NCSEHE for graciously providing feedback on the research outcomes. The Reference group members were;

The mechanical properties of concrete at early ages are of interest in particular to the precast ... more The mechanical properties of concrete at early ages are of interest in particular to the precast industry. The safe lifting of precast at early age rely in-part on the concrete developing sufficient capacity to prevent premature pull-out of cast-in anchors. The design of these anchors partially relies on the efficacy of standard concrete compressive cylinder tests to reflect the in-place concrete strength and the tensile strength of the early age concrete. The capacity of anchors may be determined by the pull-out capacity design method (CCD) which is based on empirical research of anchors in concrete at 28 days or more.
The aim of this research was to examine the compressive and tensile strength development of concrete in early ages, compare this with data for mature ages (post 28 days) utilising both cylinder and core samples and correlate the data with pull-out anchor tests at various ages. In so doing, the research was to establish if the tensile and compressive strength development varied in early age concrete as the material matured and how this impacted on the anchor capacity predicted to test ratio. Research included testing of over 200 compressive and tensile cylinders, and companion tests of compressive cores and pull-out tests on cast-in anchors in slabs. Results show that the tensile strength development was different for early age concrete compared to mature aged concrete but the robustness of the CCD method was adequate for modelling.

WAND, Feb 1, 2018

Work integrated learning (WIL) and internships are an important part of the suite of employabilit... more Work integrated learning (WIL) and internships are an important part of the suite of employability activities utilised by universities in their increasing efforts to ensure that graduates make a successful transition to the workplace. In Engineering, this is not only desirable but a compulsory part of the course, recommended by Engineers Australia as part of program accreditation criteria. Engineering has a long history of ensuring that graduates have been exposed to the workplace before they enter the profession, including via summer placements, and evidence of unpaid work experience. Research across other professions has indicated that unpaid internships may be subject to "class based privilege" (Shade & Jacobsen, 2015, p 188) and induce financial stress for students (Grant-Smith & Gillett Swan, 2017). With increasing economic pressures on students, lowered levels of employment and short and part-time project based employment in the "gig economy", the nature and quality of internships adds another dimension to the picture for graduate employability. Unpaid placements may be an additional employability barrier for engineering students from equity groups including women in non-traditional areas, low SES students, and those from non-English speaking backgrounds. Preliminary findings will be presented from research (funded by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education) into the lived experience of student engineers in both paid and unpaid internships, including the barriers faced by individuals from equity groups, and potential improvements to their outcomes that industry and universities can facilitate

We propose to express engineering education as a Bourdieusian field. For engineering education to... more We propose to express engineering education as a Bourdieusian field. For engineering education to be considered a field distinct from higher education, specific capital and specific logic for pursuing and gaining that capital needs identifying. Bourdieu suggests that information on capital and specific logic of a field can be obtained through observing the trajectory of that field. In this research, the trajectory was the recent historical transformation of engineering education. Drawing from documentation of engineering education changes over the period 1980-present, we give evidence that engineering education is a field with specific capital, informed by and responding to industry, with implicit rules. We argue that viewing engineering education as field allows for exposure of the positions of engineering education participants related to their capital or power. This exposure facilitates analysis of issues of practice in engineering education.

With increasing corporate governance requirements the nature of Australian construction contracto... more With increasing corporate governance requirements the nature of Australian construction contractors’ (CC) internal tender review procedures is changing. A research program is underway to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of such changes and whether they are producing improved CC business results. To facilitate this objective a better understanding of current CC tendering practices and procedures was sought through detailed semi-structured qualitative interviews with 18 CCs, including five of Australia's largest contractors. Drawing from these interviews and extracts of tender procedures provided by nine of the CCs, a new internal tender procedure qualitative flowchart is developed, running from prospect identification to contract award. Many CCs now spend more than 10% (some over 15%) of their tender period hours addressing their internal tender reviews due to increased involvement of legal, commercial, finance and risk departments. Many CCs advised their key tender foc...

CONTEXT Internships, one type of Work Integrated Learning (WIL), are an important part of the dev... more CONTEXT Internships, one type of Work Integrated Learning (WIL), are an important part of the development of employability competencies. Research across professions other than engineering has indicated that unpaid internships may be subject to class based privilege and induce financial stress. Educational practices in engineering enabling unpaid internships may further disadvantage students from equity groups: low socio economic status, disability, culturally or linguistically diverse, rural or remote students, and women in non-traditional areas.

The small scale study, informed by literature into eportfolio best practice, surveyed universitie... more The small scale study, informed by literature into eportfolio best practice, surveyed universities on their use of eportfolios in Engineering and ICT. Questions focused on choice of platforms, scale of use (i.e. whole of program versus single unit use) and the standards or outcomes against which the portfolios were framed. Ten universities responded. Responses were analysed, using NVivo, and were clustered into thematic categories. The initial study determined that eportfolio use ranged from student initiated, individual unit use to whole of program embedded use with some eportfolios having a specific work integrated learning focus. The most developed process and support seemed to be at one university which had developed a whole of program/course approach where the intention was to develop and maintain the eportfolio across all units and explicitly teach students the skills of critical reflection throughout - though the specific implementation was still relatively new. It is believe...

International Journal of Engineering Education, 2017

Globalisation has created demands for engineers with competencies enabling their proactive engage... more Globalisation has created demands for engineers with competencies enabling their proactive engagement in a globalindustry. This demand has created pressure on institutions to design engineering programs that can produce inter-nationalised engineers with globally mobile competencies. This paper presents a review of current research ininternationalisation of engineering education, with particular focus on issues of international accreditation and globalapplicability. With justification of the need for an international collaboration in transforming engineering education, thisreview highlights concerns about the applicability of a Western accreditation discourse to African countries and theefficacy of global and regional efforts towards accreditation and globalisation. The existing systems of internationalaccreditation and reciprocity agreements are critically reviewed and concerns for internationalisation are discussed.Published issues of accreditation in higher education in Africa are...

Studies in Continuing Education, 2021

ABSTRACT Australian universities have a remit to produce work-ready graduates and engage students... more ABSTRACT Australian universities have a remit to produce work-ready graduates and engage students from equity groups. In engineering education, accredited Australian programs commonly respond to Engineers Australia’s required engagement with professional practice by mandating completion of a specified number of hours in work-integrated learning (WIL) placements as a graduation requirement. Placements are frequently self-sourced, under/unpaid, full-time and available at set times. These conditions, largely beyond students’ control, limit options for students supporting themselves through paid work and for students with family commitments. In an investigation framed by the theory of practice architectures, we addressed the question: What are the institutional preconditions shaping WIL placement practices that enable and constrain particular students’ access to, experience in, and leverage of professional learning at work for their future careers? Our analysis of three individual student interviews identified key student practices—applying for, doing, and leveraging placements—that are enabled and constrained by material-economic arrangements in family, university and work life, cultural-discursive arrangements in career development activities and social-political arrangements in personal and engineering networks. Identifying this architecture of practices is an important step towards an equitable transformation of WIL engineering placements.

Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction, 2014

Clay bricks are used for house construction in Western Australia. Clay bricks produce large amoun... more Clay bricks are used for house construction in Western Australia. Clay bricks produce large amounts of construction and demolition waste, and have a large carbon footprint. In order to achieve energy savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, there is a need to use an alternative wall system. The objective of this paper is to undertake a sustainability assessment of the replacement of clay brick walls with in-situ composite sandwich walls (CSW). A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool has been applied to assess the carbon footprint and embodied energy consumption for non-insulated and insulated brick and CSW. The LCA analysis identified the stages or inputs/process causing the most significant impacts for determining further improvement opportunities. The findings indicate that a significant GHG reduction and energy saving can be achieved.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact on concrete breakout capacity of anchor... more The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact on concrete breakout capacity of anchors in tension due to delay in the installation using the puddle-in technique. The puddle-in technique is the process of installing an insert (anchor) into fresh concrete once the surface has been finished. The installation was delayed by up to 160 minutes. Another installation method, pre-installation, is the attachment of the insert to the formwork or reinforcement before the concrete has been poured.

Ultimate capacity information for lifting inserts, and its associated supplementary reinforcement... more Ultimate capacity information for lifting inserts, and its associated supplementary reinforcement, used in lifting concrete thin walled element are summarised in this paper. Based on recent research, the capacity of a lifting insert is influenced by the capability of supplementary reinforcement to distribute stresses when anchor loads are applied. This paper shows various reinforcement combinations and how they influence the ultimate capacities of plate style edgelift anchor. Tests were conducted in direct tension, total of 97 tests, and in a shear direction, total of 8 tests. The test results show that by using double N12 perimeter bars with a double layer SL82 mesh, compared against centrally placed SL82 shrinkage mesh and centrally placed N16 perimeter bar, the anchor capacity is increased, by a tensile ultimate anchor capacity of 25% at 20MPa, fcm and a shear anchor ultimate load capacity increase of 20%. These tests show that a N16 perimeter bar and a N16 shear bar installed with a plate edgelift anchor, the tensile ultimate load is reduced on average by 20%, at 16MPa, when compared to the same reinforcement configuration without a shear bar.

The subject of ductility of suspended slabs constructed with Class L mesh as primary reinforcemen... more The subject of ductility of suspended slabs constructed with Class L mesh as primary reinforcement led to widespread industry discussion over recent years which led to the current provisions in Australian Standard 3600-Concrete Structures (2009) [1] which outlines the analysis, design and detailing of such slabs. The aim of this research program was to examine the behaviourin terms of ultimate strength and ductility parameters-of simply supported one way reinforced concrete slabs with differing reinforcement types with relatively consistent tensile steel reinforcing ratios of the order of 0.4%. Eight slabs were constructed with a range of reinforcing including (i) class L mesh only, (ii) class N reinforcing bar only, (iii) combination of L class mesh and N class bar or (iv) reinforcing consisting of two layers of class L mesh. The classification of the reinforcing is in accordance to Australian and New Zealand Standard 4671-Steel Reinforcing Materials (2001) [2]. The behaviour of slabs reinforced with L class mesh and steel fibre reinforced concrete was also investigated. This paper presents the test data for 8 test slabs. Four of the slabs were duplicate tests; Control 1 and Control 2 had the same reinforcing arrangement consisting of mesh SL 102; and CS2 and N10 slabs both had 4 N10-220 in both directions of slab. The testing of duplicate tests enabled an assessment of the variability of test data and sensitivity of the ductility parameter W 1 /W 0 .

cipremier.net

... 5. Davidovits, J. 1991 “Geopolymers: inorganic geopolymeric new materials ... edu.au/R?func=d... more ... 5. Davidovits, J. 1991 “Geopolymers: inorganic geopolymeric new materials ... edu.au/R?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=20465&local_base=gen01-era02 7. Sumajouw, MDJ and Rangan, BV 2006 “Low-Calcium Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete: Reinforced Beams ...

A teaching excellence project initiated by the authors aims to enhance student engagement and out... more A teaching excellence project initiated by the authors aims to enhance student engagement and outcomes in the Bachelor of Civil and Construction Engineering cap-stone research units; Civil Engineering Research Project 1 and 2, is reported here. The aim will be achieved through the enhancement of teaching, assessment and scholarship of teaching and learning. The aim will assist with the continued improvement of the Units as articulated in the School Plan (for unit satisfaction rates to exceed 80%). The project is currently underway with implementation of significant changes in Project 1 and Project 2 units in semester 1, 2015 (February – July) with faculty and student preliminary feedback indicating enhancement of teaching and learning, and collegial relationships.

SP-261: 10th ACI International Conference on Recent Advances in Concrete Technology and Sustainability Issues, 2009

Geopolymer is a specialized material resulting from the reaction of a source material that is ric... more Geopolymer is a specialized material resulting from the reaction of a source material that is rich in silica and alumina with alkaline solution. It is essentially portland cement free concrete. This material is being studied extensively and shows promise as a greener alternative to normal portland cement concrete. It has been found that geopolymer concrete has good engineering properties with a reduced carbon footprint resulting from the total replacement of normal portland cement. The research undertaken at Curtin University of Technology has included studies on geopolymer concrete mixture proportions, structural behavior, and durability. This paper presents the results on mixture proportions development to enhance workability and strength of geopolymer concrete. The influence of factors such as: curing temperature and régime, aggregate shape, strength, moisture content, preparation and grading, and the addition of superplasticizers, on workability and strength are presented.

Context: An innovative shift undertaken in a third year structural design unit (concrete and stee... more Context: An innovative shift undertaken in a third year structural design unit (concrete and steel design) was implemented in 2013. This shift aligned with a University-wide transformation of learning to reduce or replace lecture contact time and move learning to active, student-centred workshops. Coupled with the transformation was the introduction of two industry-engaged design projects for team-based learning and assessment tasks. The initiative required the commitment of staff to re-align teaching and redevelop teaching materials, and design and implement new learning activities, feedback and assessments. This paper reflects on the initial and subsequent current iteration. Purpose or goal: The introduction of student-centred workshops and projects for team based learning sought to increase student engagement and improve students' competencies in communication skills and engineering application ability, in line with the University's graduate attributes and Engineers Austr...

Synopsis: AS3850 Tilt-up Concrete Construction [1] is the current standard for design of lifting ... more Synopsis: AS3850 Tilt-up Concrete Construction [1] is the current standard for design of lifting anchors and bracing in Australia. However, this standard does not provide a recommendation for calculating the capacity of edge-lifting anchors (normally placed in the edge of thin wall elements) which are commonly used in the precast industry throughout Australia. These anchors may experience a load under tension or combined tension and shear during the lifting process.

'Engineers do not need to know how to write'. This statement expresses a common belief am... more 'Engineers do not need to know how to write'. This statement expresses a common belief amongst engineering undergraduate students, which is often compounded by a resistance to communication practice. This attitude is contrary to engineering industry and Engineers Australia expectations, which value communication and rate written communication as a key competency required for engineers (Male et al., 2011). Whilst communication skills form an important part of engineering curricula, some engineering faculty members express the view that it is not their role to teach language and communication skills. The responsibility for the development of these skills is often passed on to the language specialists or the University's Learning Centres. However, communicating technological information involves interpreting and using specialised disciplinary discourse. Therefore, engineering discipline lecturers have a key role to play in teaching their students disciplinary discourse (Airey, 2011). This paper is an exploration of the realities of integrating language instruction by a Civil Engineering discipline lecturer in a core second year unit. An important aspect of the research is students' resistance to the integration efforts, which was primarily due to their expectations of purely technical content for the unit. Another interesting aspect was the resistance to the change in the pedagogical approach taken to integrate language and communication all skills. This paper will question/problematise this resistance to better understand how integration efforts can move forward

We also acknowledge the contributions of students and staff from four institutions in participati... more We also acknowledge the contributions of students and staff from four institutions in participating in interviews and the survey; the contribution of student members of the Curtin Civil Engineering Association and the Reference Group for their calibration of the questionnaire; and members of the Reference Group and the critical reviewer appointed by the NCSEHE for graciously providing feedback on the research outcomes. The Reference group members were;

The mechanical properties of concrete at early ages are of interest in particular to the precast ... more The mechanical properties of concrete at early ages are of interest in particular to the precast industry. The safe lifting of precast at early age rely in-part on the concrete developing sufficient capacity to prevent premature pull-out of cast-in anchors. The design of these anchors partially relies on the efficacy of standard concrete compressive cylinder tests to reflect the in-place concrete strength and the tensile strength of the early age concrete. The capacity of anchors may be determined by the pull-out capacity design method (CCD) which is based on empirical research of anchors in concrete at 28 days or more.
The aim of this research was to examine the compressive and tensile strength development of concrete in early ages, compare this with data for mature ages (post 28 days) utilising both cylinder and core samples and correlate the data with pull-out anchor tests at various ages. In so doing, the research was to establish if the tensile and compressive strength development varied in early age concrete as the material matured and how this impacted on the anchor capacity predicted to test ratio. Research included testing of over 200 compressive and tensile cylinders, and companion tests of compressive cores and pull-out tests on cast-in anchors in slabs. Results show that the tensile strength development was different for early age concrete compared to mature aged concrete but the robustness of the CCD method was adequate for modelling.

WAND, Feb 1, 2018

Work integrated learning (WIL) and internships are an important part of the suite of employabilit... more Work integrated learning (WIL) and internships are an important part of the suite of employability activities utilised by universities in their increasing efforts to ensure that graduates make a successful transition to the workplace. In Engineering, this is not only desirable but a compulsory part of the course, recommended by Engineers Australia as part of program accreditation criteria. Engineering has a long history of ensuring that graduates have been exposed to the workplace before they enter the profession, including via summer placements, and evidence of unpaid work experience. Research across other professions has indicated that unpaid internships may be subject to "class based privilege" (Shade & Jacobsen, 2015, p 188) and induce financial stress for students (Grant-Smith & Gillett Swan, 2017). With increasing economic pressures on students, lowered levels of employment and short and part-time project based employment in the "gig economy", the nature and quality of internships adds another dimension to the picture for graduate employability. Unpaid placements may be an additional employability barrier for engineering students from equity groups including women in non-traditional areas, low SES students, and those from non-English speaking backgrounds. Preliminary findings will be presented from research (funded by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education) into the lived experience of student engineers in both paid and unpaid internships, including the barriers faced by individuals from equity groups, and potential improvements to their outcomes that industry and universities can facilitate

We propose to express engineering education as a Bourdieusian field. For engineering education to... more We propose to express engineering education as a Bourdieusian field. For engineering education to be considered a field distinct from higher education, specific capital and specific logic for pursuing and gaining that capital needs identifying. Bourdieu suggests that information on capital and specific logic of a field can be obtained through observing the trajectory of that field. In this research, the trajectory was the recent historical transformation of engineering education. Drawing from documentation of engineering education changes over the period 1980-present, we give evidence that engineering education is a field with specific capital, informed by and responding to industry, with implicit rules. We argue that viewing engineering education as field allows for exposure of the positions of engineering education participants related to their capital or power. This exposure facilitates analysis of issues of practice in engineering education.

With increasing corporate governance requirements the nature of Australian construction contracto... more With increasing corporate governance requirements the nature of Australian construction contractors’ (CC) internal tender review procedures is changing. A research program is underway to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of such changes and whether they are producing improved CC business results. To facilitate this objective a better understanding of current CC tendering practices and procedures was sought through detailed semi-structured qualitative interviews with 18 CCs, including five of Australia's largest contractors. Drawing from these interviews and extracts of tender procedures provided by nine of the CCs, a new internal tender procedure qualitative flowchart is developed, running from prospect identification to contract award. Many CCs now spend more than 10% (some over 15%) of their tender period hours addressing their internal tender reviews due to increased involvement of legal, commercial, finance and risk departments. Many CCs advised their key tender foc...

CONTEXT Internships, one type of Work Integrated Learning (WIL), are an important part of the dev... more CONTEXT Internships, one type of Work Integrated Learning (WIL), are an important part of the development of employability competencies. Research across professions other than engineering has indicated that unpaid internships may be subject to class based privilege and induce financial stress. Educational practices in engineering enabling unpaid internships may further disadvantage students from equity groups: low socio economic status, disability, culturally or linguistically diverse, rural or remote students, and women in non-traditional areas.

The small scale study, informed by literature into eportfolio best practice, surveyed universitie... more The small scale study, informed by literature into eportfolio best practice, surveyed universities on their use of eportfolios in Engineering and ICT. Questions focused on choice of platforms, scale of use (i.e. whole of program versus single unit use) and the standards or outcomes against which the portfolios were framed. Ten universities responded. Responses were analysed, using NVivo, and were clustered into thematic categories. The initial study determined that eportfolio use ranged from student initiated, individual unit use to whole of program embedded use with some eportfolios having a specific work integrated learning focus. The most developed process and support seemed to be at one university which had developed a whole of program/course approach where the intention was to develop and maintain the eportfolio across all units and explicitly teach students the skills of critical reflection throughout - though the specific implementation was still relatively new. It is believe...

International Journal of Engineering Education, 2017

Globalisation has created demands for engineers with competencies enabling their proactive engage... more Globalisation has created demands for engineers with competencies enabling their proactive engagement in a globalindustry. This demand has created pressure on institutions to design engineering programs that can produce inter-nationalised engineers with globally mobile competencies. This paper presents a review of current research ininternationalisation of engineering education, with particular focus on issues of international accreditation and globalapplicability. With justification of the need for an international collaboration in transforming engineering education, thisreview highlights concerns about the applicability of a Western accreditation discourse to African countries and theefficacy of global and regional efforts towards accreditation and globalisation. The existing systems of internationalaccreditation and reciprocity agreements are critically reviewed and concerns for internationalisation are discussed.Published issues of accreditation in higher education in Africa are...

Studies in Continuing Education, 2021

ABSTRACT Australian universities have a remit to produce work-ready graduates and engage students... more ABSTRACT Australian universities have a remit to produce work-ready graduates and engage students from equity groups. In engineering education, accredited Australian programs commonly respond to Engineers Australia’s required engagement with professional practice by mandating completion of a specified number of hours in work-integrated learning (WIL) placements as a graduation requirement. Placements are frequently self-sourced, under/unpaid, full-time and available at set times. These conditions, largely beyond students’ control, limit options for students supporting themselves through paid work and for students with family commitments. In an investigation framed by the theory of practice architectures, we addressed the question: What are the institutional preconditions shaping WIL placement practices that enable and constrain particular students’ access to, experience in, and leverage of professional learning at work for their future careers? Our analysis of three individual student interviews identified key student practices—applying for, doing, and leveraging placements—that are enabled and constrained by material-economic arrangements in family, university and work life, cultural-discursive arrangements in career development activities and social-political arrangements in personal and engineering networks. Identifying this architecture of practices is an important step towards an equitable transformation of WIL engineering placements.

Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction, 2014

Clay bricks are used for house construction in Western Australia. Clay bricks produce large amoun... more Clay bricks are used for house construction in Western Australia. Clay bricks produce large amounts of construction and demolition waste, and have a large carbon footprint. In order to achieve energy savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, there is a need to use an alternative wall system. The objective of this paper is to undertake a sustainability assessment of the replacement of clay brick walls with in-situ composite sandwich walls (CSW). A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool has been applied to assess the carbon footprint and embodied energy consumption for non-insulated and insulated brick and CSW. The LCA analysis identified the stages or inputs/process causing the most significant impacts for determining further improvement opportunities. The findings indicate that a significant GHG reduction and energy saving can be achieved.

The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact on concrete breakout capacity of anchor... more The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact on concrete breakout capacity of anchors in tension due to delay in the installation using the puddle-in technique. The puddle-in technique is the process of installing an insert (anchor) into fresh concrete once the surface has been finished. The installation was delayed by up to 160 minutes. Another installation method, pre-installation, is the attachment of the insert to the formwork or reinforcement before the concrete has been poured.

Ultimate capacity information for lifting inserts, and its associated supplementary reinforcement... more Ultimate capacity information for lifting inserts, and its associated supplementary reinforcement, used in lifting concrete thin walled element are summarised in this paper. Based on recent research, the capacity of a lifting insert is influenced by the capability of supplementary reinforcement to distribute stresses when anchor loads are applied. This paper shows various reinforcement combinations and how they influence the ultimate capacities of plate style edgelift anchor. Tests were conducted in direct tension, total of 97 tests, and in a shear direction, total of 8 tests. The test results show that by using double N12 perimeter bars with a double layer SL82 mesh, compared against centrally placed SL82 shrinkage mesh and centrally placed N16 perimeter bar, the anchor capacity is increased, by a tensile ultimate anchor capacity of 25% at 20MPa, fcm and a shear anchor ultimate load capacity increase of 20%. These tests show that a N16 perimeter bar and a N16 shear bar installed with a plate edgelift anchor, the tensile ultimate load is reduced on average by 20%, at 16MPa, when compared to the same reinforcement configuration without a shear bar.

The subject of ductility of suspended slabs constructed with Class L mesh as primary reinforcemen... more The subject of ductility of suspended slabs constructed with Class L mesh as primary reinforcement led to widespread industry discussion over recent years which led to the current provisions in Australian Standard 3600-Concrete Structures (2009) [1] which outlines the analysis, design and detailing of such slabs. The aim of this research program was to examine the behaviourin terms of ultimate strength and ductility parameters-of simply supported one way reinforced concrete slabs with differing reinforcement types with relatively consistent tensile steel reinforcing ratios of the order of 0.4%. Eight slabs were constructed with a range of reinforcing including (i) class L mesh only, (ii) class N reinforcing bar only, (iii) combination of L class mesh and N class bar or (iv) reinforcing consisting of two layers of class L mesh. The classification of the reinforcing is in accordance to Australian and New Zealand Standard 4671-Steel Reinforcing Materials (2001) [2]. The behaviour of slabs reinforced with L class mesh and steel fibre reinforced concrete was also investigated. This paper presents the test data for 8 test slabs. Four of the slabs were duplicate tests; Control 1 and Control 2 had the same reinforcing arrangement consisting of mesh SL 102; and CS2 and N10 slabs both had 4 N10-220 in both directions of slab. The testing of duplicate tests enabled an assessment of the variability of test data and sensitivity of the ductility parameter W 1 /W 0 .

cipremier.net

... 5. Davidovits, J. 1991 “Geopolymers: inorganic geopolymeric new materials ... edu.au/R?func=d... more ... 5. Davidovits, J. 1991 “Geopolymers: inorganic geopolymeric new materials ... edu.au/R?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=20465&local_base=gen01-era02 7. Sumajouw, MDJ and Rangan, BV 2006 “Low-Calcium Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete: Reinforced Beams ...

A teaching excellence project initiated by the authors aims to enhance student engagement and out... more A teaching excellence project initiated by the authors aims to enhance student engagement and outcomes in the Bachelor of Civil and Construction Engineering cap-stone research units; Civil Engineering Research Project 1 and 2, is reported here. The aim will be achieved through the enhancement of teaching, assessment and scholarship of teaching and learning. The aim will assist with the continued improvement of the Units as articulated in the School Plan (for unit satisfaction rates to exceed 80%). The project is currently underway with implementation of significant changes in Project 1 and Project 2 units in semester 1, 2015 (February – July) with faculty and student preliminary feedback indicating enhancement of teaching and learning, and collegial relationships.

SP-261: 10th ACI International Conference on Recent Advances in Concrete Technology and Sustainability Issues, 2009

Geopolymer is a specialized material resulting from the reaction of a source material that is ric... more Geopolymer is a specialized material resulting from the reaction of a source material that is rich in silica and alumina with alkaline solution. It is essentially portland cement free concrete. This material is being studied extensively and shows promise as a greener alternative to normal portland cement concrete. It has been found that geopolymer concrete has good engineering properties with a reduced carbon footprint resulting from the total replacement of normal portland cement. The research undertaken at Curtin University of Technology has included studies on geopolymer concrete mixture proportions, structural behavior, and durability. This paper presents the results on mixture proportions development to enhance workability and strength of geopolymer concrete. The influence of factors such as: curing temperature and régime, aggregate shape, strength, moisture content, preparation and grading, and the addition of superplasticizers, on workability and strength are presented.

Context: An innovative shift undertaken in a third year structural design unit (concrete and stee... more Context: An innovative shift undertaken in a third year structural design unit (concrete and steel design) was implemented in 2013. This shift aligned with a University-wide transformation of learning to reduce or replace lecture contact time and move learning to active, student-centred workshops. Coupled with the transformation was the introduction of two industry-engaged design projects for team-based learning and assessment tasks. The initiative required the commitment of staff to re-align teaching and redevelop teaching materials, and design and implement new learning activities, feedback and assessments. This paper reflects on the initial and subsequent current iteration. Purpose or goal: The introduction of student-centred workshops and projects for team based learning sought to increase student engagement and improve students' competencies in communication skills and engineering application ability, in line with the University's graduate attributes and Engineers Austr...

Synopsis: AS3850 Tilt-up Concrete Construction [1] is the current standard for design of lifting ... more Synopsis: AS3850 Tilt-up Concrete Construction [1] is the current standard for design of lifting anchors and bracing in Australia. However, this standard does not provide a recommendation for calculating the capacity of edge-lifting anchors (normally placed in the edge of thin wall elements) which are commonly used in the precast industry throughout Australia. These anchors may experience a load under tension or combined tension and shear during the lifting process.

'Engineers do not need to know how to write'. This statement expresses a common belief am... more 'Engineers do not need to know how to write'. This statement expresses a common belief amongst engineering undergraduate students, which is often compounded by a resistance to communication practice. This attitude is contrary to engineering industry and Engineers Australia expectations, which value communication and rate written communication as a key competency required for engineers (Male et al., 2011). Whilst communication skills form an important part of engineering curricula, some engineering faculty members express the view that it is not their role to teach language and communication skills. The responsibility for the development of these skills is often passed on to the language specialists or the University's Learning Centres. However, communicating technological information involves interpreting and using specialised disciplinary discourse. Therefore, engineering discipline lecturers have a key role to play in teaching their students disciplinary discourse (Airey, 2011). This paper is an exploration of the realities of integrating language instruction by a Civil Engineering discipline lecturer in a core second year unit. An important aspect of the research is students' resistance to the integration efforts, which was primarily due to their expectations of purely technical content for the unit. Another interesting aspect was the resistance to the change in the pedagogical approach taken to integrate language and communication all skills. This paper will question/problematise this resistance to better understand how integration efforts can move forward