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.
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
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
Development of economical beam-column connections for robust composite steel-concrete structural frames. The proposed construction systems will offer a competitive and more robust alternative for developers, building owners and occupants. The successful development of the proposed construction systems will lead to an increased market for blind bolts, steel circular hollow sections, steel Universal Beams and metal decking. An added benefit of the proposed systems is an anticipated improvement in ....Development of economical beam-column connections for robust composite steel-concrete structural frames. The proposed construction systems will offer a competitive and more robust alternative for developers, building owners and occupants. The successful development of the proposed construction systems will lead to an increased market for blind bolts, steel circular hollow sections, steel Universal Beams and metal decking. An added benefit of the proposed systems is an anticipated improvement in performance, relative to existing systems, under low probability, high consequence events such as 2500-year return period level earthquakes (in the relevant region) or blast loading. These unique and innovative structural solutions should drive the competitive advantage of Australian engineers in international markets.Read moreRead less
Reducing tool wear through novel surface treatments and improved lubrication. High strength steels can be used to make vehicles lighter and safer but forming them into parts requires large forces. This can lead to problems with tool wear and poor surface finish. This project will lead to improved understanding of what makes a lubricant effective and how to design a tool surface to reduce wear. This new knowledge will lead to improved tool designs and products. The competitiveness of the Australi ....Reducing tool wear through novel surface treatments and improved lubrication. High strength steels can be used to make vehicles lighter and safer but forming them into parts requires large forces. This can lead to problems with tool wear and poor surface finish. This project will lead to improved understanding of what makes a lubricant effective and how to design a tool surface to reduce wear. This new knowledge will lead to improved tool designs and products. The competitiveness of the Australian automotive manufacturing industry will be improved and there will be benefits for the local tooling industry, especially in the competition for overseas markets.Read moreRead less
Lower-cost processing of formable magnesium alloys. This project aims to develop higher speed extrusion and rolling of magnesium alloys through the enhanced control of alloying elements and processing schedules. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of novel alloys and processing technologies that can produce lighter, better performing magnesium products with lower processing costs. This project will deliver magnesium products that can improve fuel efficiency, resulting in lo ....Lower-cost processing of formable magnesium alloys. This project aims to develop higher speed extrusion and rolling of magnesium alloys through the enhanced control of alloying elements and processing schedules. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of novel alloys and processing technologies that can produce lighter, better performing magnesium products with lower processing costs. This project will deliver magnesium products that can improve fuel efficiency, resulting in lower emissions and less environmental pollution, along with lightweight portable consumer goods.Read moreRead less
Advanced shield materials for compact fusion energy. We aim to predict how materials used for shielding sensitive components in nuclear fusion reactors will degrade over time. We will use this knowledge to design advanced alloys for radiation shield, which are critical for the development of more compact fusion reactors design, with lower construction cost, and shorter assembly time. These advanced shield materials may also be used in other applications in radiation fields (e.g. space, nuclear m ....Advanced shield materials for compact fusion energy. We aim to predict how materials used for shielding sensitive components in nuclear fusion reactors will degrade over time. We will use this knowledge to design advanced alloys for radiation shield, which are critical for the development of more compact fusion reactors design, with lower construction cost, and shorter assembly time. These advanced shield materials may also be used in other applications in radiation fields (e.g. space, nuclear medicine). The project also seeks to extend the Australian nuclear research capability by developing an innovative technique to study radiation damage using the OPAL reactor at ANSTO.Read moreRead less
Strength Enhancement of Aluminium Extrusion Alloys via Novel Thermal Processes and Alloy Composition Control. The aluminium industry in Australia produces ~4% of total goods and services exports nationally and over $2 billon per year in export earnings. The importance of developing energy-efficient processing and manufacturing technologies for aluminium and its alloys is reflected in the Federal Government's Light Metals Action Agenda. The proposed project has the potential to establish a platfo ....Strength Enhancement of Aluminium Extrusion Alloys via Novel Thermal Processes and Alloy Composition Control. The aluminium industry in Australia produces ~4% of total goods and services exports nationally and over $2 billon per year in export earnings. The importance of developing energy-efficient processing and manufacturing technologies for aluminium and its alloys is reflected in the Federal Government's Light Metals Action Agenda. The proposed project has the potential to establish a platform for intelligent design and development of thermal processing technologies for aluminium extrusion alloys with improved mechanical properties. Such technologies are expected to help the Australian aluminium industry to expand its international market share.Read moreRead less