Exploiting Annealing Reactions for New Steel Grade Development. Overseas steel markets are demanding thinner and cheaper formable products. The proposed work aims to establish how the reactions that take place during annealing can be exploited to create new products to meet these needs. The processes of recrystallization texture development, which controls the ease with which the product can be drawn into shapes, precipitate dissolution, which impacts on surface quality, and creep, which can lea ....Exploiting Annealing Reactions for New Steel Grade Development. Overseas steel markets are demanding thinner and cheaper formable products. The proposed work aims to establish how the reactions that take place during annealing can be exploited to create new products to meet these needs. The processes of recrystallization texture development, which controls the ease with which the product can be drawn into shapes, precipitate dissolution, which impacts on surface quality, and creep, which can lead to annealing defects in thin products will be studied. The objective is use the knowledge generated to remove over-design of processing parameters and steel composition to develop new cost effective export grades.Read moreRead less
Effect of Chromium and Manganese on the Formations of Graphite and Carbide on the surface of Low Carbon Sheet Steels. Surface graphite and surface carbide are two surface defects observed in cold-rolled low carbon steel sheets after batch annealing under non-oxidising atmosphere. The surface defects detract from the appearance of the steel sheets and diminish the surface treatment potential of the sheets, causing significant and costly material losses. The aims of the project are to study the in ....Effect of Chromium and Manganese on the Formations of Graphite and Carbide on the surface of Low Carbon Sheet Steels. Surface graphite and surface carbide are two surface defects observed in cold-rolled low carbon steel sheets after batch annealing under non-oxidising atmosphere. The surface defects detract from the appearance of the steel sheets and diminish the surface treatment potential of the sheets, causing significant and costly material losses. The aims of the project are to study the inhibition of surface graphite formation by the additions of Chromium and Manganese and to study the mechanism of formation of surface carbide with the aim of developing an alloying / processing strategy which eliminates both the surface graphite and the surface carbide.Read moreRead less
Optimisation of Nanostructure in new Microalloyed Strip Cast Steels for Control of Properties. Australia is an internationally competitive producer of steel and stands to benefit from the improvements in steel design made possible by a more fundamental understanding of the relationship between steel nanostructure and steel properties and performance. Using targeted microalloying additions, this project aims to develop a new class of strip cast steels that can serve entirely new applications and ....Optimisation of Nanostructure in new Microalloyed Strip Cast Steels for Control of Properties. Australia is an internationally competitive producer of steel and stands to benefit from the improvements in steel design made possible by a more fundamental understanding of the relationship between steel nanostructure and steel properties and performance. Using targeted microalloying additions, this project aims to develop a new class of strip cast steels that can serve entirely new applications and so open up new market growth opportunities in Australia's manufacturing industry. This research falls under the national research priority 'Frontier Technologies for Transforming Australian Industry'.Read moreRead less
Nanoarchitectured anti-corrosion coatings for zinc-plated steel. Zinc-plated steel is widely used in buildings, households and vehicles, but the long-term performance is limited due to corrosion resulting from exposure to high humidity or alkaline conditions. Currently, available chromium coatings are toxic, while polymeric coatings lack durability. This project aims to use nanotechnology to develop highly effective, multifunctional anti-corrosive coatings in which long-term protection is achiev ....Nanoarchitectured anti-corrosion coatings for zinc-plated steel. Zinc-plated steel is widely used in buildings, households and vehicles, but the long-term performance is limited due to corrosion resulting from exposure to high humidity or alkaline conditions. Currently, available chromium coatings are toxic, while polymeric coatings lack durability. This project aims to use nanotechnology to develop highly effective, multifunctional anti-corrosive coatings in which long-term protection is achieved by controlling the wettability and self-healing properties. The project is excepted to generate new knowledge in coating materials that limit corrosion and address environmental problems. This advanced manufacturing technology should be of high-value benefit to manufacturers and consumers of zinc-plated steel.Read moreRead less
Microstructure control of hot-dip coated Al-Zn based alloy layers on steel . The process of hot-dip metal coating of steel has evolved to provide reliable products that find widespread application in many industries, including building and construction. This project aims to address and understand an intermittent processing problem using innovative approaches involving characterisation by synchrotron techniques and state-of-the art microscopy. Expected outcomes include increased manufacturing e ....Microstructure control of hot-dip coated Al-Zn based alloy layers on steel . The process of hot-dip metal coating of steel has evolved to provide reliable products that find widespread application in many industries, including building and construction. This project aims to address and understand an intermittent processing problem using innovative approaches involving characterisation by synchrotron techniques and state-of-the art microscopy. Expected outcomes include increased manufacturing efficiencies by identifying the cause of an intermittent processing defect and implementing methods of controlling this defect. This will help BlueScope and Australia maintain a world-leading reputation for high-quality coating products for domestic and export markets.Read moreRead less
Wear-resistant alloys for the mining industry. This project will create new metal matrix composite alloys that are extremely resistant to wear. They will be used in products that are designed and manufactured to meet the highest specifications for robust and reliable use in Australia's mines, which are among the world's most demanding environments.
Fabrication and Characterisation of Magnesium Diboride Superconducting Wires. The newly discovered superconductivity at 40K in magnesium diboride (MgB2) opens a technical window to a range of electric power applications, previously thought accessible only with high temperature superconductors. The aim of the proposed project is to investigate the fabricability and properties of MgB2 superconducting wires using a number of processing techniques established in previous low temperature and high tem ....Fabrication and Characterisation of Magnesium Diboride Superconducting Wires. The newly discovered superconductivity at 40K in magnesium diboride (MgB2) opens a technical window to a range of electric power applications, previously thought accessible only with high temperature superconductors. The aim of the proposed project is to investigate the fabricability and properties of MgB2 superconducting wires using a number of processing techniques established in previous low temperature and high temperature superconductors. The expected outcome is to have a MgB2 conductor that has a higher performance in a field than niobium-titanium (NbTi) alloy, a higher operating temperature (up to 20K), but at a cost less than currently commercial NbTi wire.Read moreRead less