New Approaches to Understanding Grain Boundary Chemistry. This project will provide a fundamentally better understanding of the relationship between grain boundary segregation and the recrystallisation behaviour of steel and Al alloys. This knowledge will lead to more efficient thermomechanical processing techniques, which will be of benefit to Australia's steel and light alloy industries. The experimental techniques to be developed will be the first of their kind. They have enormous potential f ....New Approaches to Understanding Grain Boundary Chemistry. This project will provide a fundamentally better understanding of the relationship between grain boundary segregation and the recrystallisation behaviour of steel and Al alloys. This knowledge will lead to more efficient thermomechanical processing techniques, which will be of benefit to Australia's steel and light alloy industries. The experimental techniques to be developed will be the first of their kind. They have enormous potential for use in future segregation studies of other alloy systems and are expected to make a major contribution to fundamental and applied research over the next few years.Read moreRead less
Studies on metal dusting : reaction mechanisms and their control. Gases which are supersaturated with carbon can react at high temperatures with steels and nickel-base alloys to destroy them, producing a dust of carbon plus metal and/or metal carbides. The mechanism is not properly understood, and the rate of the process impossible to predict. This program will dissect the mechanism using kinetic studies and electron microscopy of precisely located parts of the reacting system. Ways of controll ....Studies on metal dusting : reaction mechanisms and their control. Gases which are supersaturated with carbon can react at high temperatures with steels and nickel-base alloys to destroy them, producing a dust of carbon plus metal and/or metal carbides. The mechanism is not properly understood, and the rate of the process impossible to predict. This program will dissect the mechanism using kinetic studies and electron microscopy of precisely located parts of the reacting system. Ways of controlling the process via alloy compositional changes will be explored.Read moreRead less
"Metal dusting" of austenitic alloys: mechanisms and interventions. "Metal dusting" is a catastrophic form of metal corrosion which we do not yet understand. It affects industries important to Australia: reforming of natural gas and (potentially) ceramic oxide fuel cells. This project aims to understand the process of austenitic alloy dusting, and thereby design materials to resist this form of attack. This will allow new natural gas processing industries in Australia to be internationally compe ...."Metal dusting" of austenitic alloys: mechanisms and interventions. "Metal dusting" is a catastrophic form of metal corrosion which we do not yet understand. It affects industries important to Australia: reforming of natural gas and (potentially) ceramic oxide fuel cells. This project aims to understand the process of austenitic alloy dusting, and thereby design materials to resist this form of attack. This will allow new natural gas processing industries in Australia to be internationally competitive.
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Controlling corrosion of steel by carbon dioxide-rich gases at high temperatures. A growing difficulty for Australia is the need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions whilst maintaining the economic advantages of coal fired power stations. Technologies for capturing CO2 from these stations are being developed, but inevitably involve the need to handle hot CO2-rich gases. These are surprisingly corrosive to the materials of which power stations are constructed, in a way which is not fully unde ....Controlling corrosion of steel by carbon dioxide-rich gases at high temperatures. A growing difficulty for Australia is the need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions whilst maintaining the economic advantages of coal fired power stations. Technologies for capturing CO2 from these stations are being developed, but inevitably involve the need to handle hot CO2-rich gases. These are surprisingly corrosive to the materials of which power stations are constructed, in a way which is not fully understood. This project aims to achieve this understanding, and to provide the basis for future alloy design.Read moreRead less
Tribological contact of work roll in hot rolling. Steel and aluminium manufacturers form their products by shaping a hot metal billet using, for example, presses and rollers which contact the rapidly cooling metal in the production line. The economic benefits of lubrication, reduced rolling force (up to 25%), reduced roll wear and extended roll life (up to 40%), reduced down time due to roll change, and better strip quality are very significant for these manufacturing processes. This comprehens ....Tribological contact of work roll in hot rolling. Steel and aluminium manufacturers form their products by shaping a hot metal billet using, for example, presses and rollers which contact the rapidly cooling metal in the production line. The economic benefits of lubrication, reduced rolling force (up to 25%), reduced roll wear and extended roll life (up to 40%), reduced down time due to roll change, and better strip quality are very significant for these manufacturing processes. This comprehensive program will provide new knowledge on lubrication and roll wear to help Australian manufacturing industry (e.g. steel and aluminium) to better understand and optimise their processes to achieve maximum benefits.Read moreRead less
The development of optimum microstructures in hot worked metals. Hot working is used to obtain the shape and properties of a wide range of metal products. At present our knowledge of how to control the forming process and properties of the final product is limited to laboratory conditions that do not apply in industry. This work will systematically study the deformation behaviour of a range of metals, including steel, titanium, aluminium, magnesium and copper from standard laboratory to real i ....The development of optimum microstructures in hot worked metals. Hot working is used to obtain the shape and properties of a wide range of metal products. At present our knowledge of how to control the forming process and properties of the final product is limited to laboratory conditions that do not apply in industry. This work will systematically study the deformation behaviour of a range of metals, including steel, titanium, aluminium, magnesium and copper from standard laboratory to real industrial conditions. We will develop advanced models to predict the properties of these metals for any hot working process and identify opportunities to develop new high strength products.Read moreRead less
Studies in solid-gas reactions : precipitate formation and dissolution; carbide production and metal dusting. Reducing carbonaceous gases which become supersaturated with carbon can react with both oxides and metals. They reduce iron oxide and, if methane is used, produce iron carbide, a valuable material. However, they react with iron and alloy steels to destroy them, producing a dust of carbon, metal and metal carbides, a process in which iron carbide is thought to form only as a relatively ....Studies in solid-gas reactions : precipitate formation and dissolution; carbide production and metal dusting. Reducing carbonaceous gases which become supersaturated with carbon can react with both oxides and metals. They reduce iron oxide and, if methane is used, produce iron carbide, a valuable material. However, they react with iron and alloy steels to destroy them, producing a dust of carbon, metal and metal carbides, a process in which iron carbide is thought to form only as a relatively short-lived transient species. This program will study both reactions and determine the processes whereby new phases nucleate and grow or disintegrate.Read moreRead less
Design of Improved Shape Memory Steels by Control of Parent Phase Precipitation Strengthening and Stacking Fault Energy. The aim is to develop iron-based precipitation strengthened shape memory alloys that are capable of recoverable strains > 4% and stresses > 200 MPa, for application as low cost one-way memory devices. Innovative solid solution and precipitation strengthening strategies will be employed to modify dislocation behaviour and stacking fault energy and to improve the reversibility o ....Design of Improved Shape Memory Steels by Control of Parent Phase Precipitation Strengthening and Stacking Fault Energy. The aim is to develop iron-based precipitation strengthened shape memory alloys that are capable of recoverable strains > 4% and stresses > 200 MPa, for application as low cost one-way memory devices. Innovative solid solution and precipitation strengthening strategies will be employed to modify dislocation behaviour and stacking fault energy and to improve the reversibility of the martensitic transformation - the key to shape memory behaviour. The interaction of transformation dislocations with strain fields due to coherent particles and solute atoms will be elucidated. Significant increases in shape recovery stress and strain are expected because of increased alloy resistance to irreversible plastic strain.Read moreRead less