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
Ultra-lightweight alloys with unique multi-dimensional property profiles. Lightweight alloys with high specific-strength are an essential prerequisite in modern and future technologies. To be useful, they must also possess ductility and inherent corrosion resistance. The latter two properties, however, are inversely correlated with strength. This project proposes to break this paradox - not only in terms of a paradigm change regarding multi-property alloy design - but as applied to the most ligh ....Ultra-lightweight alloys with unique multi-dimensional property profiles. Lightweight alloys with high specific-strength are an essential prerequisite in modern and future technologies. To be useful, they must also possess ductility and inherent corrosion resistance. The latter two properties, however, are inversely correlated with strength. This project proposes to break this paradox - not only in terms of a paradigm change regarding multi-property alloy design - but as applied to the most lightweight engineering alloy system in existence, Magnesium-Lithium (Mg-Li), for which the impact on specific properties is immense. The aim is to develop ultra-lightweight Mg-Li based alloys with formidable property profiles via alloy design and thermomechanical processing. The expected outcome is a new class of structural corrosion resistant metal.Read moreRead less
Crystallography to deform and anneal metals. This project aims to study how the micromechanisms of plastic deformation affect the annealing behaviour of metals. This project will create a computational platform built on a reconstruction algorithm for three-dimensionally reconstructing experimentally-derived orientation data to generate the complete microstructure of crystalline material. It will reconstruct complex deformation and recrystallising structures in metals, through to the boundaries, ....Crystallography to deform and anneal metals. This project aims to study how the micromechanisms of plastic deformation affect the annealing behaviour of metals. This project will create a computational platform built on a reconstruction algorithm for three-dimensionally reconstructing experimentally-derived orientation data to generate the complete microstructure of crystalline material. It will reconstruct complex deformation and recrystallising structures in metals, through to the boundaries, phases and interfaces present in metals and ceramics. The intended outcome is the explanation of unresolved phenomena associated with thermomechanical processing of metals and alloys, useful for materials science, structural geology and condensed matter physics.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the diverse property profile of ultra-lightweight magnesium alloys. This project aims to develop the theory behind why micro alloying contributes to the formation of surface film properties. The exemplar is a prototype Magnesium-Lithium (Mg-Li) base alloy, with high specific-strength and corrosion resistance. This project will lead to the development of a new processable ultra-lightweight, corrosion resistant Mg-Li alloy family that is stronger than the prototype alloy, and with, at le ....Unlocking the diverse property profile of ultra-lightweight magnesium alloys. This project aims to develop the theory behind why micro alloying contributes to the formation of surface film properties. The exemplar is a prototype Magnesium-Lithium (Mg-Li) base alloy, with high specific-strength and corrosion resistance. This project will lead to the development of a new processable ultra-lightweight, corrosion resistant Mg-Li alloy family that is stronger than the prototype alloy, and with, at least, comparable ductility and corrosion resistance. Not only will the outcomes of the work be a fundamental advance to the fields of metallurgy and corrosion science, they will lead to the identification of an optimised compositional window for creating our second generation Mg-Li alloy family capable of being manufactured into ultra-lightweight, corrosion resistant metal products.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
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100160
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$477,237.00
Summary
Characterise high-performance, green steels for the hydrogen economy. This project aims to develop the knowledge around microstructures and hydrogen interactions of a range of advanced steels that can be produced with low carbon emissions by the industry partner. These steels can lead to solutions for the hydrogen pipes and vessels without concern of hydrogen embrittlement, which play a crucial role in enabling a safe hydrogen economy in Australia. This partnership will allow the industry partne ....Characterise high-performance, green steels for the hydrogen economy. This project aims to develop the knowledge around microstructures and hydrogen interactions of a range of advanced steels that can be produced with low carbon emissions by the industry partner. These steels can lead to solutions for the hydrogen pipes and vessels without concern of hydrogen embrittlement, which play a crucial role in enabling a safe hydrogen economy in Australia. This partnership will allow the industry partner to access the advanced characterisation tools and will also expose the Fellow with the opportunity to develop and manufacture new steels in industry. This will also de-risk the KIP’s investment in Australia for a new steel mill dedicating to the new green steels for supporting Australia’s hydrogen infrastructure.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100003
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$280,000.00
Summary
Flexible forming facility for low cost light weight applications. Flexible forming facility for low-cost light-weight applications: This project will establish Australia’s first flexible roll forming facility. The facility will be unique in the world, being specifically designed to roll form the most advanced high strength alloys into complex three-dimensional shapes and investigate their material behaviour under a wide range of loading conditions. This technology represents a step change in com ....Flexible forming facility for low cost light weight applications. Flexible forming facility for low-cost light-weight applications: This project will establish Australia’s first flexible roll forming facility. The facility will be unique in the world, being specifically designed to roll form the most advanced high strength alloys into complex three-dimensional shapes and investigate their material behaviour under a wide range of loading conditions. This technology represents a step change in commercial processing and has the capacity to form materials with high strength and limited ductility. This will lead to the development of new techniques for the manufacture of new advanced materials including advanced high strength steels, composites, nano structured metals and light metal alloys for automotive and aerospace applications.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100123
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$190,000.00
Summary
Quench and deformation dilatometer for studying phase transformations. Quench and deformation dilatometer for studying phase transformations: The quenching and deformation dilatometer is a high precision thermal analysis tool used to measure phase transformations in situ. This technique can make time-resolved measurements of transformations under the extreme conditions of heating, cooling and deformation that are experienced during industrial processing. This instrument will be the only one in A ....Quench and deformation dilatometer for studying phase transformations. Quench and deformation dilatometer for studying phase transformations: The quenching and deformation dilatometer is a high precision thermal analysis tool used to measure phase transformations in situ. This technique can make time-resolved measurements of transformations under the extreme conditions of heating, cooling and deformation that are experienced during industrial processing. This instrument will be the only one in Australia capable of temperature changes above 2000 degrees Celsius and will also be the only one equipped with a cryogenic module. The instrument is intended to be used to characterise new processing technologies and new alloy systems such as advanced high strength steels, age hardenable magnesium, high entropy alloys, and cluster hardening aluminium alloys.Read moreRead less
Growing a multi-scale internal structure: new wrought metals for energy conservation. This research aims to reduce the weight of wrought metal parts so that transport and machinery will use less energy. It will establish how to grow novel multi-scale internal structures and will thereby pioneer a new class of metals that display superior properties.