Development of Ultrahigh Strength Magnesium Extrusion Alloys for Manufacturing Lightweight Aircraft Framework. Australian Federal and State Governments and the private sector have made substantial investments in magnesium metal and alloys in the past 10 years in order to establish a magnesium industry that can bring Australia the wealth that has been generated by the iron and aluminium industries. One of the key steps to achieve this goal is to continuously and substantially increase the interna ....Development of Ultrahigh Strength Magnesium Extrusion Alloys for Manufacturing Lightweight Aircraft Framework. Australian Federal and State Governments and the private sector have made substantial investments in magnesium metal and alloys in the past 10 years in order to establish a magnesium industry that can bring Australia the wealth that has been generated by the iron and aluminium industries. One of the key steps to achieve this goal is to continuously and substantially increase the international demand for the magnesium metal which is currently only 1/1700 that of iron and 1/50 that of aluminium. This project has the potential to increase the international magnesium market and to provide a platform for overseas commercialisation of Australian technologies.Read moreRead less
Reducing the environmental impact of steel making through direct strip casting. This project will investigate direct strip casting of steel, a technology that reduces the environmental footprint of liquid steel processing by up to 90 per cent. With the industry partner Baosteel, the project hopes to expand the application of this process to more steel grades and to also assess possible new steel grades with improved properties.
Structure-property relationships of next generation aero-engine materials. We aim to design a novel manufacturing process for superalloy aero-engine parts with superior mechanical properties. This is significant because optimisation of the hot-forging route of the most commonly used Alloy 718 will enable targeted control of its nanoscale precipitate microstructure leading to substantial increases in the high-temperature strength. The expected scientific outcomes are new physical metallurgy knowl ....Structure-property relationships of next generation aero-engine materials. We aim to design a novel manufacturing process for superalloy aero-engine parts with superior mechanical properties. This is significant because optimisation of the hot-forging route of the most commonly used Alloy 718 will enable targeted control of its nanoscale precipitate microstructure leading to substantial increases in the high-temperature strength. The expected scientific outcomes are new physical metallurgy knowledge of the microstructure-property relationships of superalloys. The expected technological and societal outcomes include enhanced aero-engine material performance, creating benefits such as shorter flights over longer distances, and safer, more fuel-efficient air travel.Read moreRead less
Advancing the Australian specialty alloy processing capability. This project aims to advance Australia’s specialty alloy processing capability by developing novel processing routes to overcome current bottlenecks that prevent supply meeting demand. New knowledge will be generated on alternative means of the processing of Rene 41, a Nickel-based superalloy with limited formability through a comprehensive experimental and modelling-based research program. Rene 41 is strategically important for man ....Advancing the Australian specialty alloy processing capability. This project aims to advance Australia’s specialty alloy processing capability by developing novel processing routes to overcome current bottlenecks that prevent supply meeting demand. New knowledge will be generated on alternative means of the processing of Rene 41, a Nickel-based superalloy with limited formability through a comprehensive experimental and modelling-based research program. Rene 41 is strategically important for manufacturing next generation turbofan engines. The expected outcome is the identification of innovative processing routes to provide stronger, defect-free specialty alloys for aerospace applications, vital to Australia’s advanced manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Batch annealing of 3rd generation advanced high strength steels. This project is focused on resolving processing issues to deliver advanced high strength steels. These materials will be invaluable for car manufacturers, who are looking for ways to lighten cars and increase fuel efficiency to comply with legislation on carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. The use of breakthrough third generation advanced high strength steels may allow a reduction in mass of 10–20 per cent over existing grad ....Batch annealing of 3rd generation advanced high strength steels. This project is focused on resolving processing issues to deliver advanced high strength steels. These materials will be invaluable for car manufacturers, who are looking for ways to lighten cars and increase fuel efficiency to comply with legislation on carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. The use of breakthrough third generation advanced high strength steels may allow a reduction in mass of 10–20 per cent over existing grades. However, these new steels require modifications to their processing compared with existing steel grades and new questions about how the microstructure evolves during processing must be answered before the processes can be optimised and the new steels can go into production.Read moreRead less
Composite Structures of High-Strength Steel and Concrete. This project plans to investigate the use in building frames of composite steel-concrete members that use high-strength steel (HSS) instead of mild steel (MS). HSS is finding increased use in construction, and HSS has a much greater strength-to-weight ratio than MS, leading to lighter composite structures, less material usage and smaller foundations. Overall, this reduces the cost and carbon footprint of steel-framed buildings. The invest ....Composite Structures of High-Strength Steel and Concrete. This project plans to investigate the use in building frames of composite steel-concrete members that use high-strength steel (HSS) instead of mild steel (MS). HSS is finding increased use in construction, and HSS has a much greater strength-to-weight ratio than MS, leading to lighter composite structures, less material usage and smaller foundations. Overall, this reduces the cost and carbon footprint of steel-framed buildings. The investigation is planned to involve physical testing, numerical studies, developing structural models and crafting design guidance for T-beams, columns and joints. The major intended outcome of the project is design guidance that will support the expanded use of HSS.Read moreRead less
Next generation flexible high current micro-electronic interconnects. The project aims to reduce the temperatures required for the manufacture of electronic circuitry through the use of low melting temperature metallic gallium-based alloys. The project will use a range of innovative techniques to generate methods that these low temperature alloys can rapidly transition from a liquid state to a solid intermetallic in short timeframes at low-temperatures. The outcomes from this project include red ....Next generation flexible high current micro-electronic interconnects. The project aims to reduce the temperatures required for the manufacture of electronic circuitry through the use of low melting temperature metallic gallium-based alloys. The project will use a range of innovative techniques to generate methods that these low temperature alloys can rapidly transition from a liquid state to a solid intermetallic in short timeframes at low-temperatures. The outcomes from this project include reduced energy costs during electronic manufacture and the development of techniques that will enable sensitive next-generation components to be assembled by removing the need to use elevated temperatures.Read moreRead less
Embrittlement-tolerant alloys for safe hydrogen transmission and storage. Hydrogen embrittlement in steels is a major impediment to a safe hydrogen economy. This project will determine how hydrogen affects the deformation behaviour of steel, providing the fundamental information that is required to develop alloys that can be safely used in infrastructure for a future Australian hydrogen industry. We will utilise new technologies that allow us, for the first time, to determine the position of hyd ....Embrittlement-tolerant alloys for safe hydrogen transmission and storage. Hydrogen embrittlement in steels is a major impediment to a safe hydrogen economy. This project will determine how hydrogen affects the deformation behaviour of steel, providing the fundamental information that is required to develop alloys that can be safely used in infrastructure for a future Australian hydrogen industry. We will utilise new technologies that allow us, for the first time, to determine the position of hydrogen atoms around micro-scale features and to compare it to local mechanical behaviour, determined by micro-mechanical tests. The systematic investigation of the effect of hydrogen on different micro-components within steel will allow the development of microstructure-guided alloy design principles.Read moreRead less
On demand three-dimensional printing of stainless steel parts. On demand three-dimensional printing of stainless steel parts. This project aims to revolutionize the security of supply of critical stainless steel parts by producing them on-site and on demand, using three dimensional metal printing. Australia’s oil and gas industry uses tonnes of stainless steel for critical processing components in production plants. Australia is also one of the few developed nations without appreciable productio ....On demand three-dimensional printing of stainless steel parts. On demand three-dimensional printing of stainless steel parts. This project aims to revolutionize the security of supply of critical stainless steel parts by producing them on-site and on demand, using three dimensional metal printing. Australia’s oil and gas industry uses tonnes of stainless steel for critical processing components in production plants. Australia is also one of the few developed nations without appreciable production and processing facilities for stainless steels, so relies on specialist overseas suppliers. This is a major risk to the industry, which stores billions of dollars’ worth of replacement parts, including stainless steels, in inventory. This project should reduce reliance on overseas steel suppliers and free up hundreds of millions of dollars of capital invested in the inventory stores of replacement stainless steel parts.Read moreRead less
The design of new die-castable bulk metallic glasses exhibiting superior mechanical performance. The most dramatic illustration of non-equilibrium processing of a metal is the formation of an amorphous solid that can possess physical and/or functional properties superior to its equilibrium crystalline counterpart. This project will generate new types of net-shape-processed amorphous alloys with an excellent combination of properties.