Uniken

Creator
University of New South Wales. Public Affairs Unit
Call Number
Nf 378.944 UNI
Created/Published
Kensington, N.S.W. : University of New South Wales, [1975]-2015
Issue
1989, no. 14 (15 Sept., 1989)
Images
8
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Text

Uniken  

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES  

No. 274 (No. 14 of 1989)  

Published fortnightly by the News Service  

Registered by Australia Post Publication No. NBF 4388  

15 September 1989  

Friction meter device  

boon for  

road safety  

Road slipperiness is said to  

be major cause of accidents  

world-wide. road surface  

that has been “polished”  

smooth by traffic may cause  

vehicle to brake too slowly or  

veer out of control. But the  

naked eye perceives only  

extreme smoothness. So  

device that can predict loss of  

friction soon enough to permit  

remedial action would be  

boon to roads and traffic  

authorities.  

And team of Road Traffic  

Authority and UNSW engineers is  

about to test one such device. The  

Yandell-Mee Texture Friction  

Meter, named after its joint design-  

ers, Dr William Yandell, Senior  

Lecturer in the Department of  

Geotechnical Engineering and Dr  

David Mee, formerly of the School  

of Electrical Engineering and  

Computer Science, is small  

computer-controlled instrument  

that can accurately sample  

pavement surface texture to give in  

seconds the sideways (steering)  

force and braking friction for  

several travelling speeds.  

The theory underlying the  

device took 12 years to evolve.  

“Six students gained PhDs work-  

ing on it,” said Dr Yandell who  

supervised their work.  

Conventional measuring de-  

vices measure at one speed only  

one type of friction at time  

steering or braking. But, as Dr  

Yandell explained, road surface  

which shows high friction for  

steering at high speeds may have  

very low braking friction.  

United Kingdom authorities  

presently use truck with fifth  

wheel to measure surface friction.  

The truck costs $600,000, com-  

pared to $30,000 for the Yandell-  

Mee meter, and measures only one  

kind of friction at time.  

Dr Yandell points out that  

slipperiness doesn’t depend on road  

surface texture alone. Truck tyres,  

being made of different kind of  

rubber from car tyres, have less  

grip on the road; so trucks take  

twice as long to brake as cars, even  

though truck brakes are very  

powerful.  

“That’s why, if truck’s  

behind you, you should never brake  

suddenly,” Dr Yandell said.  

It is also why his new meter  

has been designed to accommodate  

software that can simulate truck  

tread as well as car tread. Friction  

high enough for cars may be too  

low for trucks.  

While the University’s research  

and development company,  

Unisearch Ltd, has already ar-  

ranged for the Australian company,  

Dynatest P.M.S., to construct and  

market the Yandell-Mee Texture  

Friction Meter internationally, the  

Commonwealth Government has  

ventured $58,000 for 12-month  

joint project to test the device  

thoroughly by measuring its per-  

formance against the best conven-  

tional tools.  

It will be lined up against the  

NSW Roads and Traffic Authority-  

owned SCRIM sideways force-  

measuring truck, British design,  

and will be used to validate the  

precision of the Swedish RST  

Coarse Texture Measuring Truck  

which the Authority is hiring for  

the trial. This model has eleven  

lasers across its front bumper bar to  

measure pavement profile (bumps  

and ruts) and surface texture, to an  

accuracy of one millimetre, travel-  

ling at 50kms an hour.  

Continued on page  

Thumbs up for  

new Courses  

Careers date  

Memorial ceremony  

for Sir Philip Baxter  

Memorial Ceremony  

will be held on Tuesday 19  

September for man long  

known as the ‘essential  

founder’ of the University of  

NSW, Emeritus Professor Sir  

Philip Baxter, who died on  

September. The ceremony  

will be held at 4.15 pm in the  

Sir John Clancy Auditorium,  

UNSW.  

Sir Philip, 84, was Director  

(1953-54) and the first Vice-  

Chancellor of the University from  

1955 to 1969 when he retired from  

the University.  

He had also been Chairman of  

the Australian Atomic Energy  

Commission from 1957 to 1972.  

Sir Philip had been associated with  

atomic energy activities in Aus-  

tralia since their beginnings. He  

became member of the Industrial  

Atomic Energy Policy Committee  

in 1950, shortly after its  

establishment by the Common-  

wealth Government.  

At the time he was Foundation  

Professor of Chemical Engineering  

in the New South Wales University  

of Technology (now UNSW).  

Sir Philip was bom in Wales in  

Continued on page  

Travelling science show-new home  

UNSW’s Travelling Sci-  

ence Exhibition, established  

three years ago to tour  

suburban high schools, is to  

have permanent home on  

campus, making it available  

to all high school students in  

NSW.  

Science Exposition Centre,  

to be administered by full-time  

director, will be established at  

UNSW to host organised tours  

from the many schools within the  

daily travel distance of the campus,  

to provide home for the mobile  

exhibition and to function as an  

administrative and meeting centre.  

The announcement came at  

luncheon on September when the  

acting Chairman of the Chamber of  

Mines, Metals and Extractive  

Industries (NSW), Mr Vince  

Gaud, announced $lO,OOO  

sponsorship for UNSW Science  

Exposition.  

Mr Gauci said the Chamber  

aimed to encourage secondary  

school students to consider science-  

related courses at tertiary level.  

“The hands-on approach which the  

Expo will allow is not currently  

available anywhere else and it is  

hoped that it will travel to country  

centres in the future,” he said.  

UNSW Pro-Vice-Chancellor,  

Professor Alan Gilbert, said the  

Chamber had made major practi-  

cal commitment to one of Aus-  

tralia’s most pressing needs: the  

direction of young Australians, and  

particularly talented young  

Australians, towards science, engi-  

neering and applied science.  

“The University has been pre-  

senting mobile Science Exhibi-  

tion to secondary school students in  

their schools for three years,”  

Professor Gilbert said.  

“The enterprise developed  

from the need expressed by the  

NSW manufacturing industry, ini-  

tially through the Rotary Club of  

Continued on page  

The Yandell-Mee Texture Friction  

Meter. It analyses television  

image of sharp beam of light  

which shines on the road surface  

as the test vehicle moves along  

the road.  

Dr William Yandell and Mr Mohammad Sjahdanulirwan, PhD student  

who operates the Friction Meter.  

Emeritus Professor Sir Philip  

Baxter. Courtesy: Archives  

UNSW will be opening Its doors next year to  

students wishing to undertake the new Bachelor  

of Industrial Design course. As the photo above  

shows there was no shortage of inquiries about  

the course at Courses and Careers Day held on  

September.  

Most faculties indicated that attendance was  

higher than in previous years. The ‘rush’ period  

was from 10am to 1pm.  

See page for more photos of Courses and  

Careers Day.  

Cite

Citation options:
Work identifier

http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252619683

APA citation

University of New South Wales. Public Affairs Unit & University of New South Wales, issuing body. (1975). Uniken Retrieved June 11, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252619683

MLA citation

University of New South Wales. Public Affairs Unit and University of New South Wales, issuing body. Uniken Kensington, N.S.W: University of New South Wales, 1975. Web. 11 June 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252619683>

Harvard/Australian citation

University of New South Wales. Public Affairs Unit & University of New South Wales, issuing body. 1975, Uniken University of New South Wales, Kensington, N.S.W viewed 11 June 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252619683

Wikipedia citation

{{Citation
  | author1=University of New South Wales. Public Affairs Unit.
  | author2=University of New South Wales, issuing body.
  | title=Uniken.
  | year=1975
  | section=volumes : illustrations ; 30-43 cm.
  | issn=0312-7877
  | issue=1989, no. 14 (15 Sept., 1989)
  | location=Kensington, N.S.W
  | publisher=University of New South Wales
  | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252619683
  | id=nla.obj-252619683
  | access-date=11 June 2025
  | via=Trove
}}

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