ENHANCED PERFORMANCE OF AUTOMOTIVE SHEET ALLOYS VIA CONTROL OF COMPOSITION, THERMAL PROCESSING AND NANOSTRUCTURE. This project involves characterisation using modern facilities of the form and identity of atomic-scale clusters of alloying elements in selected automotive sheet alloys that have been subjected to single and multiple ageing treatments and examination and modelling of deformation mechanisms and behaviour in such alloys. The aim is to establish the precise role of clusters of solute a ....ENHANCED PERFORMANCE OF AUTOMOTIVE SHEET ALLOYS VIA CONTROL OF COMPOSITION, THERMAL PROCESSING AND NANOSTRUCTURE. This project involves characterisation using modern facilities of the form and identity of atomic-scale clusters of alloying elements in selected automotive sheet alloys that have been subjected to single and multiple ageing treatments and examination and modelling of deformation mechanisms and behaviour in such alloys. The aim is to establish the precise role of clusters of solute atoms and vacancies in the formation of precipitate phases that control the final strength and deformation behaviour of the alloys, and to provide useful guidelines for further improvements in strength of these alloys via the control of alloy composition and of multiple ageing treatments.Read moreRead less
New Wrought Magnesium Alloys: Manipulating the Annealed Microstructure. One of the main impediments to increased use of wrought magnesium is its characteristic but mediocre mechanical properties. The proposed work paves the way for new improved wrought magnesium alloys by determining how the constituent nano-structures, micro-structures and deformation conditions can be manipulated to control the evolution of properties during annealing. The project will deliver mathematical models describing th ....New Wrought Magnesium Alloys: Manipulating the Annealed Microstructure. One of the main impediments to increased use of wrought magnesium is its characteristic but mediocre mechanical properties. The proposed work paves the way for new improved wrought magnesium alloys by determining how the constituent nano-structures, micro-structures and deformation conditions can be manipulated to control the evolution of properties during annealing. The project will deliver mathematical models describing the annealed microstructure and mechanical properties. The work will also explore the potential of a recent discovery made by the CI of a simple technique to randomise the alignment of the annealed atomic lattice structure, which promises to markedly improve formability.Read moreRead less
Modelling twinning transitions in light metals: a new foundation for alloy and process development. Australia's quest to become a world leader in light metals technology is being held back by a lack of quantitative understanding of the metallurgical behaviour of magnesium, which is the lightest engineering metal, and titanium, which is the strongest light metal. In particular, there is poor knowledge of the influence of material parameters on deformation twinning. This knowledge is vital for eff ....Modelling twinning transitions in light metals: a new foundation for alloy and process development. Australia's quest to become a world leader in light metals technology is being held back by a lack of quantitative understanding of the metallurgical behaviour of magnesium, which is the lightest engineering metal, and titanium, which is the strongest light metal. In particular, there is poor knowledge of the influence of material parameters on deformation twinning. This knowledge is vital for efficient production and optimised alloy and part design. This proposal aims to develop a quantitative understanding of transitions in twinning activation for improved performance in fatigue, crash behaviour, structural integrity, forming, forging, extruding, hot rolling and annealing.Read moreRead less
Transmission electron microscopy investigation of the deformation mechanisms of nanostructured materials. Structural materials with high strength and high ductility are desirable because high strength allows structural components to carry high load and high ductility is essential to prevent catastrophic failure. The combination of high strength and high ductility has never been achieved in coarse-grained materials but has been realized in some nanostructured materials. This project aims to unde ....Transmission electron microscopy investigation of the deformation mechanisms of nanostructured materials. Structural materials with high strength and high ductility are desirable because high strength allows structural components to carry high load and high ductility is essential to prevent catastrophic failure. The combination of high strength and high ductility has never been achieved in coarse-grained materials but has been realized in some nanostructured materials. This project aims to understand the mechanisms responsible for the combined high strength and high ductility in nanostructured materials. The results obtained from this research will be very important for guiding the structural design of materials with high strength and high ductility which will find a wide range of civil and defence applications.Read moreRead less
A Microstructure Based Approach to Steel Design for Improved Crash Performance. There is a continual need for the automotive industry to develop vehicles with increased fuel efficiency and safety. This research will establish how different types of new advanced steels can contribute to improved crash worthiness, while also helping to increase fuel efficiency through lighter weight. This will lead to the development of new steels that offer even better crash performance while also providing more ....A Microstructure Based Approach to Steel Design for Improved Crash Performance. There is a continual need for the automotive industry to develop vehicles with increased fuel efficiency and safety. This research will establish how different types of new advanced steels can contribute to improved crash worthiness, while also helping to increase fuel efficiency through lighter weight. This will lead to the development of new steels that offer even better crash performance while also providing more realistic computer models for car designers.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775656
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$490,000.00
Summary
High Rate Testing System for Materials and Structures. Human or natural disasters such as terrorist attack or tsunami take place and they have catastrophic consequences, in terms of fatalities and psyche of fear among the population, as well as enormous financial loss. Vehicle accident is another example. In Australia, 1636 people were killed in 1481 road crashes, in 2005 alone. There is a great demand for research into devising novel materials and structures for optimum performance under such c ....High Rate Testing System for Materials and Structures. Human or natural disasters such as terrorist attack or tsunami take place and they have catastrophic consequences, in terms of fatalities and psyche of fear among the population, as well as enormous financial loss. Vehicle accident is another example. In Australia, 1636 people were killed in 1481 road crashes, in 2005 alone. There is a great demand for research into devising novel materials and structures for optimum performance under such circumstances. The proposed new high rate testing system will significantly advance research in this area. The facility will directly support a range of research projects in material and structural design in military and civil vehicles, aerospace industry and defence.Read moreRead less
Dynamically responding metals: a new generation of engineering alloys. The manufacture of engineering metals is a major Australian industry and the worldwide metal manufacturing sector is estimated to be worth $1 trillion USD per annum. Advanced materials and, particularly the light metals, are both designated national research priority areas. The availability of new classes of metals with greatly improved combinations of properties will profoundly affect not only metal use by existing industry, ....Dynamically responding metals: a new generation of engineering alloys. The manufacture of engineering metals is a major Australian industry and the worldwide metal manufacturing sector is estimated to be worth $1 trillion USD per annum. Advanced materials and, particularly the light metals, are both designated national research priority areas. The availability of new classes of metals with greatly improved combinations of properties will profoundly affect not only metal use by existing industry, through the introduction of new, stronger and safer metal grades, but also allows for new engineering designs which will lead, for example, to lighter and more efficient automobiles and more sustainable construction.Read moreRead less
Nonlinear modelling, analysis and prediction of optimal conditions for cold roll forming. This project investigates fundamental analytical and experimental aspects of the highly nonlinear process of cold roll forming of flat steel strip to shaped product in order to gain predictive understanding and determine optimal process conditions. The project aims to develop an innovative software system that will permit operators to balance and optimize mill productivity, energy consumption, mill downtim ....Nonlinear modelling, analysis and prediction of optimal conditions for cold roll forming. This project investigates fundamental analytical and experimental aspects of the highly nonlinear process of cold roll forming of flat steel strip to shaped product in order to gain predictive understanding and determine optimal process conditions. The project aims to develop an innovative software system that will permit operators to balance and optimize mill productivity, energy consumption, mill downtime, and product change over times and facilitate the development of new productsRead moreRead less
Optimal transitional surface for a new continuous press forming process. This project addresses the National Research Priority - Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries through smart information use. This project aims to gain fundamental scientific understanding of a manufacturing process with the aim of developing a tool that will enhance existing manufacturing processes and controls from an 'art of expertise' to a scientific understanding and improvement. Th ....Optimal transitional surface for a new continuous press forming process. This project addresses the National Research Priority - Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries through smart information use. This project aims to gain fundamental scientific understanding of a manufacturing process with the aim of developing a tool that will enhance existing manufacturing processes and controls from an 'art of expertise' to a scientific understanding and improvement. This manufacturing area represents a niche market for Australian manufacturing and the development of a product that enhances productivity and reduces costs has the potential to elevate Australian manufacturers in the export market and create economic benefit for Australia.Read moreRead less
Corrosion Resistance of Nanocrystalline Materials. Novel structure and the associated unique properties of nanostructured materials confer potentials for their exciting industrial applications, such as drug delivery to specified locations for cancer treatment, exceptionally high sensitivity sensors, miniaturisation in computers/electronic/communication industry, nano electro-mechanical systems, catalytic applications and exceptionally high strength materials. In most of the applications, the nan ....Corrosion Resistance of Nanocrystalline Materials. Novel structure and the associated unique properties of nanostructured materials confer potentials for their exciting industrial applications, such as drug delivery to specified locations for cancer treatment, exceptionally high sensitivity sensors, miniaturisation in computers/electronic/communication industry, nano electro-mechanical systems, catalytic applications and exceptionally high strength materials. In most of the applications, the nanomaterials have to demonstrate acceptable corrosion resistance in the operation environment. However, corrosion resistance of nanostructured materials has not been investigated. The proposal will investigate the mechanistic aspect of localized corrosion and cracking of nanostructured materials.Read moreRead less