Intelligent Materials Processing: Microstructure And Texture Control In Bcc Metals. In Australia, steel companies are continuing to search for cost effective steel compositions and processing routes. Concurrently, applications for Ti alloys in chemical, medical and aerospace industries are continuing to widen. As an outcome of this project, the basis for the optimisation of processing routes in order to achieve enhanced product properties at lower cost will be established. In the course of this ....Intelligent Materials Processing: Microstructure And Texture Control In Bcc Metals. In Australia, steel companies are continuing to search for cost effective steel compositions and processing routes. Concurrently, applications for Ti alloys in chemical, medical and aerospace industries are continuing to widen. As an outcome of this project, the basis for the optimisation of processing routes in order to achieve enhanced product properties at lower cost will be established. In the course of this work, a new model for the prediction of microstructure and texture evolution during recrystallisation will be developed and new process routes will be designed. Read moreRead less
Innovative coupled composite steel-concrete shear wall and frame systems. This project aims to develop an innovative coupled composite steel-concrete shear wall and frame system that revolutionises and improves the economical design and construction of multi-storey buildings. The proposed system uses novel cost-effective composite structural components that can be prefabricated and easily assembled on-site using innovative blind bolting techniques to speed up construction. The project will offer ....Innovative coupled composite steel-concrete shear wall and frame systems. This project aims to develop an innovative coupled composite steel-concrete shear wall and frame system that revolutionises and improves the economical design and construction of multi-storey buildings. The proposed system uses novel cost-effective composite structural components that can be prefabricated and easily assembled on-site using innovative blind bolting techniques to speed up construction. The project will offer a promising opportunity to promote prefabricated and modular construction which is believed will have a major benefit in shaping the future construction industry. This will provide significant benefits to Australian structural engineers and the construction industry in advancing their knowledge in composite construction.Read moreRead less
Development of new steel products by thin strip casting and direct thermomechanical processing. The development of strip casting is now being driven by the opportunity to produce steel products with much lower utilization of energy, land and water and lower greenhouse gas emissions. However, this process represents a radical departure from conventional steel processes and therefore the factors that determine the final properties of the strip need to be understood and controlled under high rates ....Development of new steel products by thin strip casting and direct thermomechanical processing. The development of strip casting is now being driven by the opportunity to produce steel products with much lower utilization of energy, land and water and lower greenhouse gas emissions. However, this process represents a radical departure from conventional steel processes and therefore the factors that determine the final properties of the strip need to be understood and controlled under high rates of change. We believe that these challenges actually represent an opportunity to develop new high performance steel products that exploit the unique processing conditions of strip casting and that can use much more recycled material as a feed.Read moreRead less
Durability of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) strengthened steel structures against environment-assisted degradation. This research project will challenge conventional methods of repairing or strengthening steel structures by using carbon fibre reinforced polymer with advanced epoxy. The outcome of this research is to remove the biggest barrier to the full utilization of such advanced material in civil, offshore and mining industry.
Giant magnetic hardening in flash-annealed nanocomposite magnets. One of the most important properties required for permanent magnets is the coercivity. Recent results from an international collaboration between the Chief Investigator and researchers from the Japanese materials industry have shown that rapid heating can enhance the coercivity of chromium-added iron-neodymium-boron-based nanocomposite magnets by 30 times. The aim of this project is to clarify the mechanism of this giant magnetic ....Giant magnetic hardening in flash-annealed nanocomposite magnets. One of the most important properties required for permanent magnets is the coercivity. Recent results from an international collaboration between the Chief Investigator and researchers from the Japanese materials industry have shown that rapid heating can enhance the coercivity of chromium-added iron-neodymium-boron-based nanocomposite magnets by 30 times. The aim of this project is to clarify the mechanism of this giant magnetic hardening effect and thereby establish a basis for further development of economically viable nanocomposite magnets with low neodymium content. Our novel flash-annealing process will allow exploration of new nanocomposite alloys, which may lead to Australian-owned patents.Read moreRead less
Interface Engineering of Multilayer Nanostructures. Nanostructured multilayers can outperform coatings of their constituent layers in both hardness and strength. It is believed that the nature of interfaces in these materials is critical since they mediate dislocation motion and crack propagation. This project will use advanced synthesis, microanalysis and theoretical methods to investigate multilayer coatings with sharp, diffuse and rough interfaces in order to reveal their failure mechanisms u ....Interface Engineering of Multilayer Nanostructures. Nanostructured multilayers can outperform coatings of their constituent layers in both hardness and strength. It is believed that the nature of interfaces in these materials is critical since they mediate dislocation motion and crack propagation. This project will use advanced synthesis, microanalysis and theoretical methods to investigate multilayer coatings with sharp, diffuse and rough interfaces in order to reveal their failure mechanisms under stress. This will enable us to understand the principles required to design the strongest structures and facilitate the selection of materials and deposition parameters in order to produce coatings optimised for a range of demanding applications.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.
Baseline-free Methods for Early Damage Diagnosis using Nonlinear Ultrasound. To address the significant limitation of existing non-destructive evaluation techniques in detecting and characterising early damage, this project aims to discover the physical nature of self-generated nonlinear waves by structural damage and to explore its potential for an entirely new class of non-destructive evaluation and structural health monitoring techniques. Major applications are expected to include a baseline- ....Baseline-free Methods for Early Damage Diagnosis using Nonlinear Ultrasound. To address the significant limitation of existing non-destructive evaluation techniques in detecting and characterising early damage, this project aims to discover the physical nature of self-generated nonlinear waves by structural damage and to explore its potential for an entirely new class of non-destructive evaluation and structural health monitoring techniques. Major applications are expected to include a baseline-free structural health monitoring technique capable of detecting and quantifying barely-visible impact damage in advanced composite materials, non-destructive evaluation of structures made by additive manufacturing, and detection of hard-to-inspect locations in unitised structures.Read moreRead less