Design of reactive foils for joining amorphous alloys. Amorphous alloys or metallic glasses are special materials that retain the random structure of a liquid but in a solid form. They can show special properties of very high strength, toughness and corrosion resistance. The enormous difficulty in joining amorphous alloys to make larger assemblies is greatly curbing their uptake in technology. In this research, state of the art experimental and computational tools will be used to investigate the ....Design of reactive foils for joining amorphous alloys. Amorphous alloys or metallic glasses are special materials that retain the random structure of a liquid but in a solid form. They can show special properties of very high strength, toughness and corrosion resistance. The enormous difficulty in joining amorphous alloys to make larger assemblies is greatly curbing their uptake in technology. In this research, state of the art experimental and computational tools will be used to investigate the extremely fast high temperature reactions occurring in reactive foils of layered metals which, when inserted at the proposed join and ignited, quickly produce a bond. The research will lay the foundation for a robust and reliable means for joining amorphous alloys by means of reactive foils. Read moreRead less
Surface Nanocrystallization and Surface Alloying of Nonferrous Alloys. The research will offer materials scientists a totally new way to undertake surface modification for nonferrous alloys. The low temperature surface alloying technique to be developed will considerably improve the surface durability, therefore increase the service life of components. Combination of the surface alloying treatment with the ageing process can save energy and lower the cost of product. This will enhance Austral ....Surface Nanocrystallization and Surface Alloying of Nonferrous Alloys. The research will offer materials scientists a totally new way to undertake surface modification for nonferrous alloys. The low temperature surface alloying technique to be developed will considerably improve the surface durability, therefore increase the service life of components. Combination of the surface alloying treatment with the ageing process can save energy and lower the cost of product. This will enhance Australia's competitive ability in international markets. The study of atomic diffusion in nanomaterials will significantly contribute to material science and increase Australian research reputation in the world. In addition, the project initiates the research on surface nanocrystallization in Australia. Read moreRead less
New generation pulsed magnetron sputtering for the synthesis of advanced materials. Magnetron sputtering underpins the manufacture of many products ranging from semiconductor microelectronics to energy efficient windows. This project will create a new generation sputtering process fully compatible with current technology but capable of synthesising new phases and new film microstructures with greatly enhanced performance.
Prediction of Atomic Transport Properties in Multicomponent Engineering Alloys. Technological advances bring demands for new engineering materials and the improvement of existing ones. Since almost every property of such materials depends directly or indirectly on matter transport, it is imperative that the materials designer can accurately predict its direction and extent. This theoretical project, supported and tested by computer simulation, will provide this knowledge. It will develop a toolb ....Prediction of Atomic Transport Properties in Multicomponent Engineering Alloys. Technological advances bring demands for new engineering materials and the improvement of existing ones. Since almost every property of such materials depends directly or indirectly on matter transport, it is imperative that the materials designer can accurately predict its direction and extent. This theoretical project, supported and tested by computer simulation, will provide this knowledge. It will develop a toolbox of robust and versatile expressions for predicting and interpreting matter transport in alloy systems at high temperatures. With these expressions in hand, the designer will be in a superior position to tailor the properties of such materials.Read moreRead less
Engineering alloy design reimagined as a driven system. This project investigates a new approach to engineering alloy design that explicitly takes into account, and exploits, the energy delivered into an alloy during deformation processing. The work intends to resolve fundamental questions concerning the effect of deformation processing of the evolution of the material structure and the effect this structure has on the resulting mechanical and corrosion properties. The new structures resulting f ....Engineering alloy design reimagined as a driven system. This project investigates a new approach to engineering alloy design that explicitly takes into account, and exploits, the energy delivered into an alloy during deformation processing. The work intends to resolve fundamental questions concerning the effect of deformation processing of the evolution of the material structure and the effect this structure has on the resulting mechanical and corrosion properties. The new structures resulting from this approach are remarkably fine and uniform suggesting they will be both strong and corrosion resistant. The proposed work intends to uncover the origins of both these structures and new properties, and exploit them for the design of new engineering alloys with greatly improved properties.Read moreRead less
Improving mechanical properties through heterogeneous structures. This project aims to explore the mechanisms of how heterogeneous structures have superior mechanical properties relative to homogenous structures by investigating how stacking fault energy affects the mechanical properties of materials. Materials with heterogeneous structures demonstrate superior mechanical properties, partly due to the simultaneous activation of multiple deformation mechanisms. Stacking fault energy plays a criti ....Improving mechanical properties through heterogeneous structures. This project aims to explore the mechanisms of how heterogeneous structures have superior mechanical properties relative to homogenous structures by investigating how stacking fault energy affects the mechanical properties of materials. Materials with heterogeneous structures demonstrate superior mechanical properties, partly due to the simultaneous activation of multiple deformation mechanisms. Stacking fault energy plays a critical role in determining deformation mechanisms, yet the mechanism of this effect on the mechanical properties of materials with heterogeneous structures is not understood. This project is expected to provide guidance in structural and compositional design of heterogeneous metallic structures with optimum mechanical properties, which will significantly benefit Australian metallurgical and related industries.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the twinning stress: confidence inspiring light alloys. The ultimate aim of this research is to reduce fuel consumption through weight reduction. It will achieve this by increasing the performance of the lightest structural metal, magnesium. Contrary to the metals it typically replaces (steel and aluminium), magnesium fails via mechanisms that involve deformation twinning. Better understanding of twinning is needed to enhance performance and give automotive makers confidence to apply t ....Unlocking the twinning stress: confidence inspiring light alloys. The ultimate aim of this research is to reduce fuel consumption through weight reduction. It will achieve this by increasing the performance of the lightest structural metal, magnesium. Contrary to the metals it typically replaces (steel and aluminium), magnesium fails via mechanisms that involve deformation twinning. Better understanding of twinning is needed to enhance performance and give automotive makers confidence to apply the metal more widely. The applicants have recently found evidence that a key missing piece of the puzzle is the role of plastic relaxation. The proposed work will use this idea to develop a new fundamental understanding of twinning using novel in-situ diffraction and modelling techniques.Read moreRead less
A new paradigm for creating fatigue-resistant light metals. Ninety per cent of failures of metal components are caused by fatigue. Fatigue arises from cycles of alternating stress during service which lead to failure at stress levels surprisingly short of the material's static strength. Fatigue is the 'Achilles heel' of complex engineering alloys and places significant limitations on adopting new lightweight solutions for improvements to fuel efficiency in transportation. Aluminium alloys in par ....A new paradigm for creating fatigue-resistant light metals. Ninety per cent of failures of metal components are caused by fatigue. Fatigue arises from cycles of alternating stress during service which lead to failure at stress levels surprisingly short of the material's static strength. Fatigue is the 'Achilles heel' of complex engineering alloys and places significant limitations on adopting new lightweight solutions for improvements to fuel efficiency in transportation. Aluminium alloys in particular have notoriously poor fatigue performance. This project aims to develop a new class of fatigue resistant light alloys whose properties improve, rather than deteriorate, during service. This development is based on a new understanding of the coupling of microstructure evolution and deformation.Read moreRead less
A Unified Crystallographic Theory of Phase Transformations in Solids. Phase transformations control the microstructures that govern the properties of metallic materials. The unified crystallographic theory to be developed will improve the understanding of phase transformation and then enhance the ability to produce high performance metals and alloys. This is particularly important in the automotive and aeronautical industries, as these sectors seek increasing fuel efficiency through weight reduc ....A Unified Crystallographic Theory of Phase Transformations in Solids. Phase transformations control the microstructures that govern the properties of metallic materials. The unified crystallographic theory to be developed will improve the understanding of phase transformation and then enhance the ability to produce high performance metals and alloys. This is particularly important in the automotive and aeronautical industries, as these sectors seek increasing fuel efficiency through weight reduction. The new scientific knowledge generated will significantly impact and contribute to the fields of physical metallurgy and materials science. Furthermore, the research will also strengthen Australia's international leading position in the fields because it is based on the theories developed in Australia.Read moreRead less
Electrical arc machining of polycrystalline diamond with a wheel electrode. This project aims to discover new theories to overcome the core challenge in electrical discharge machining of polycrystalline diamond. Diamond materials provide the ultimate performance in cutting difficult-to-machine materials such as titanium alloys which are widely used in the aerospace and biomedical industries. However, the extremely slow erosion speed of electrical discharge machining severely impedes their applic ....Electrical arc machining of polycrystalline diamond with a wheel electrode. This project aims to discover new theories to overcome the core challenge in electrical discharge machining of polycrystalline diamond. Diamond materials provide the ultimate performance in cutting difficult-to-machine materials such as titanium alloys which are widely used in the aerospace and biomedical industries. However, the extremely slow erosion speed of electrical discharge machining severely impedes their applications. The project will use high energy electrical arcs for the fast machining of polycrystalline diamond. The expected outcome is a new approach and breakthroughs in fundamental knowledge that pave the way for developing new electrical machining methods and lead to significant reductions in manufacturing costs.Read moreRead less