Current Research

The School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering within The University of Queensland is one of the leading providers of engineering research in Australia. With an annual research income of more than $15 million, the School is internationally known for its high levels of industry collaboration, research quality and output and commercialisation of discoveries.

Current Research section

Materials Engineering

Materials Engineering


Materials Engineering research at UQ is concentrated on the net shape processing of the light metals, particularly casting and solidification of aluminium and magnesium and the powder processing of aluminium. Research is also conducted in corrosion and polymers, including biopolymers. Please see more information on Materials Engineering research via the following links: 

 

Mechanical Research

Mechanical Research

Mechanical Engineering at UQ conducts research in a number of research areas including hypersonics, geothermal energy and combustion.

Mining Engineering

Mining Engineering

Mining Engineering at UQ is a major research provider to the minerals industry worldwide. Fundamental and applied research is conducted within the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, through Centres within the Sustainable Minerals Institute and Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) such as CRC Mining.

The Academic staff of the Division of Mining Engineering are active in the following areas of mining research:

Mine Automation Engineering

The University of Queensland conducts research in mine automation in close collaboration with CRCMining and equipment manufacturers including Caterpillar and P&H. Current projects are directed at developing systems to automate shovel swing loading and to prevent collisions between shovel dippers and truck trays. A recent final year student project examined the effect of shovel load variance on truck loads, whilst another student is currently quantifying the production loss due to truck bunching that results from such variance. A further line of investigation concerns the use of remote support environments (sometimes called Collaboration Centres) for the diagnosis, analysis and ultimately control of mining plant.

Contact Professor Paul Lever


Engineering Asset Management

Maintenance costs account for approximately 40 per cent of the operating costs of a large surface mine. Under the supervision of Professor Peter Knights, research conducted at The University of Queensland has focused on:

Development of software to enable value-driven decisions for resolving conflicts between operations and maintenance. This software allows the value implications (as determined by revenue less costs) of maintenance and operational decisions to be jointly quantified. Development of life cycle models for optimising machine and component rebuild and / or replacement decisions. As part of the newly funded CRCMining program, these models will be extended to include the energy and productivity cost impacts of worn ground engaging tools, enabling optimal GET replacement to be optimised according to digging conditions. The determination of the economic impact of machine downtime considering direct and indirect losses. Professor Knights was invited to present a keynote paper at the ICOMS conference in Perth in 2008 related to this work.

Contact Professor Peter Knights

Mine Planning and Orebody Modeling

Work currently being conducted by PhD students within the Division of Mining Engineering related to mine planning and orebody modelling focuses on:
  • Short and medium term production scheduling of sublevel stoping operations using mixed integer linear programming
  • Determination and modeling of undulating footwall contacts in Weipa bauxite deposits. This project is supported by Rio Tinto Alcan
  • Production reconciliation of mineral sands mining on Stradbroke island. This project is being conducted by an international PhD student from Sri Lanka supported by an international grant.
Contact Professor Peter Knights


Mineral Economics

Mineral economics is a field that examines the supply and demand fundamentals of mineral commodities as well as the way that mines are managed. Current work being conducted by the Division of Mining Engineering focuses on the role of coal in the economic development of Australia and her major trading partners. This work is supported by Peabody Energy (USA) and involved a multi-disciplinary team from the Schools of Economics, History, Chemical Engineering as well as the Division of Mining Engineering.


Coal Spontaneous Combustion

Coal spontaneous combustion research at The University of Queensland is focused on benchmarking leading practice in assessment and management planning under the direction of Dr Basil Beamish. This work is directly funded by industry support, including consultancy contracts. Projects in progress include:

The use of adiabatic oven testing to assess spontaneous combustion propensity of coals from Australia, New Zealand, The United States of America, Indonesia and India, and relationships with coal quality (final year undergraduate student projects)

Bulk coal testing using a 2-metre column to assess hot spot development rates and associated gas evolution patterns (one PhD student project, one Industry Masters by Research student project, two final year undergraduate student projects)

Numerical modelling of coal spontaneous combustion in coal piles (Collaborative project with Istanbul Technical University, one PhD student project) Development of training modules (one final year undergraduate student project)

Consultancy project work on spontaneous combustion management of clean coal products

Contact Dr Basil Beamish


Heat and Ventilation

Mine Ventilation and Heat management research at UQ is conducted under the supervision of Dr Saiied Aminossadati. Current projects include:

  • Use of fibre optic networks for real time monitoring and control of underground mine ventilation
  • Air flow and heat management in coal stockpiles, and Novel cooling systems for haul truck tyres
Contact Dr Saiied Aminossadati


Computer Applications and Virtual Reality Simulation

The Division of Mining Engineering has maintained an active program in Computer Applications and Virtual Reality (VR) Simulation in mining for a number of years. Some of the projects completed include:
  • Longwall Development Simulations Real-time Dragline diggability indices
  • Development of a Virtual Reality models for the UQ Experimental mine; rock mechanics laboratory applications and the CRCMining
Research Centres and Groups

Research Centres and Groups

The School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering is associated with a large number of research centres and groups. These specialist academic groupings draw together expertise from around the world to drive research innovation and deliver benefits to industry and society.  

The School has also developed strong links with other research institutions, government and industry through staff participation in Co-operative Research Centres (CRCs) and National Research Centres, including the prestigious ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals.

Research centres and groups associated with the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering are listed below: 

Materials Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Mining Engineering