Design of Cost-effective Compositionally Complex Alloys. This project aims to develop low-cost and corrosion resistant compositionally complex alloys and associated processes to concurrently achieve high strength and high toughness using an innovative design strategy. The project expects to overcome the major limitations of this new type of alloys, enabling their practical applications in industry, creating new knowledge of materials science. Expected outcomes include commercialisation ready ne ....Design of Cost-effective Compositionally Complex Alloys. This project aims to develop low-cost and corrosion resistant compositionally complex alloys and associated processes to concurrently achieve high strength and high toughness using an innovative design strategy. The project expects to overcome the major limitations of this new type of alloys, enabling their practical applications in industry, creating new knowledge of materials science. Expected outcomes include commercialisation ready new alloys, breakthrough fundamental understanding of the mechanisms and long-term institutional collaboration. This should provide significant benefits, such as enhancement of Australia’s capacity of alloy development and manufacturing and strengthening the country’s world leading position in this area.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
Interaction of Local and Distortional Buckling in Thin-Walled High Strength Steel Sections. Recent research at the University of Sydney has shown that the local and distortional buckling modes in thin-walled high strength steel sections may have adverse interaction. Cold-Formed steel sections of this type are used in residential construction, ceiling systems, partitioning systems in offices and other light gauge applications. The project will develop mathematical models of the interaction beha ....Interaction of Local and Distortional Buckling in Thin-Walled High Strength Steel Sections. Recent research at the University of Sydney has shown that the local and distortional buckling modes in thin-walled high strength steel sections may have adverse interaction. Cold-Formed steel sections of this type are used in residential construction, ceiling systems, partitioning systems in offices and other light gauge applications. The project will develop mathematical models of the interaction behaviour of sections of this type for a wide range of section geometries. A major outcome will be design methods which accurately quantify the interaction behaviour based on the models. Testing will be undertaken to support the theoretical developments and to calibrate the design models.Read moreRead less
Sustainable and robust Australian Ni-based superalloy manufacturing. This project aims to solve challenges related to microstructural defect formation in the manufacturing of a critical Ni-based superalloy. It will generate new knowledge on its microstructure evolution and defect origin via a combined experimental and computational approach. Expected outcomes are advanced manufacturing routes with higher yield of defect free materials, using more scrap as input. This will enable robust and susta ....Sustainable and robust Australian Ni-based superalloy manufacturing. This project aims to solve challenges related to microstructural defect formation in the manufacturing of a critical Ni-based superalloy. It will generate new knowledge on its microstructure evolution and defect origin via a combined experimental and computational approach. Expected outcomes are advanced manufacturing routes with higher yield of defect free materials, using more scrap as input. This will enable robust and sustainable alloy manufacturing for power generation, defence, and aerospace industries. Commercial benefits are opportunities to domestically source alloys with reduced dependency on international trade. Environmental and societal benefits include lower emissions due to better mechanical design and workforce training.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
High-resolution in situ annealing studies of sub-micron grain structures. The proposed research is an extension of considerable ongoing collaboration between the applicants and will utilise advanced characterisation techniques to provide a more fundamental understanding than that presently available of the thermal stability of particle-containing nanocrystalline alloys. The project will reinforce the strong collaboration between our research groups and will expose Australian researchers to cutti ....High-resolution in situ annealing studies of sub-micron grain structures. The proposed research is an extension of considerable ongoing collaboration between the applicants and will utilise advanced characterisation techniques to provide a more fundamental understanding than that presently available of the thermal stability of particle-containing nanocrystalline alloys. The project will reinforce the strong collaboration between our research groups and will expose Australian researchers to cutting-edge research techniques, with particular emphasis on broadening the training experience of early career researchers. Several joint journal papers are expected from this work.
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The thermal stability of nanocrystalline alloys produced by severe plastic straining. An exciting class of materials has emerged with grain sizes two orders of magnitude finer than that produced by conventional processing. These nanocrystalline alloys are produced by intense plastic straining termed equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE). The aim of the project is to incorporate novel experimental techniques, using single crystals, in situ annealing and 3-D computer simulation to develop a fun ....The thermal stability of nanocrystalline alloys produced by severe plastic straining. An exciting class of materials has emerged with grain sizes two orders of magnitude finer than that produced by conventional processing. These nanocrystalline alloys are produced by intense plastic straining termed equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE). The aim of the project is to incorporate novel experimental techniques, using single crystals, in situ annealing and 3-D computer simulation to develop a fundamental understanding of microstructural stability during ECAE and subsequent thermal treatment. Such advances in our understanding of boundary mobility in fine-scale microstructures is important for evaluating their stability and, hence, the possible commercial exploitation of these materials.Read moreRead less