Month: April 2021

Digital manufacturing technologies like 3D concrete printing (3DCP) have immense potential to save time, effort and material in construction. They also promise to push the boundaries of architectural innovation, yet technical challenges remain in making 3D-printed concrete strong enough for use in more free-form structures. In a new experimental study, researchers at RMIT looked to the natural strength of lobster shells to design special 3D printing patterns. Their bio-mimicking spiral patterns improved the overall durability of the 3D printed concrete, as well as enabling the strength to be precisely directed for structural support where needed. When the team combined the twisting patterns with a specialised concrete mix enhanced with steel fibres, the resulting material was stronger than traditionally-made concrete. Lead researcher Dr Jonathan Tran, a senior lecturer in structured materials and design at RMIT, said 3D printing and additive manufacturing opened up opportunities in construction for boosting both efficiency and creativity. “3D concrete printing technology has real potential to revolutionise the construction industry, and our aim is to…

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Christian Porter, said vehicle research & development is vital to the nation’s prosperity with Australia being a significant competitor on the global stage. “By extending the automotive research and development tariff concession, the Morrison Government is supporting the ongoing design and development of cars here at home, and providing ongoing job opportunities for our highly-skilled workforce,” Minister Porter said. “We’re supporting highly-skilled Australians such as engineers, designers, technical, automotive and other specialists to remain in these important jobs. “It’s also evidence that while automotive manufacturing in Australia has changed over the past 10-15 years, we still have a healthy sector with well-paid jobs right along the value chain.” Ford Australia, which employs more than 2,500 staff, is a key beneficiary of the tariff concession, along with Toyota Motor Corporation Australia and Robert Bosch Australia. The tariff concession is demand-driven and was worth more than $4m on goods imported from 35 countries in 2018 and 2019. This extension capitalises on the Government’s investment in the…

Co-located with sister company Brabham Automotive in Adelaide, South Australia, BusTech Group is gearing up to produce at least 60 electric buses for the NSW Government over the next 18 months after its recent inclusion on a list of approved electric bus suppliers. It also has orders for electric buses in Queensland, which it aims to start delivering in the second half of this year. The all-electric buses aimed at the Australian market will use a Proterra battery pack and drivetrain following a partnership with the US company. Owned by SA-based Fusion Capital, which also owns Brabham Automotive, the company rebranded as BusTech Group in December 2020 following the 2019 purchase of Queensland-based Bustech, bringing it into the same group as SA-based Precision Buses. BusTech Group executive chairman Christian Reynolds says the two manufacturers first collaborated under a joint venture agreement back in 2017. “We could see the opportunity to take more of a leading position within the bus space so we worked through a transaction…

The Government is investing $1.5bn into the Modern Manufacturing Strategy. Manufacturers can apply for a grant to help strengthen their local supply chain, handle mass production, upskill employees, scale up and improve competitiveness. According to Saeid Nikdel, quality management expert at SAI Global, COVID-19 restrictions across the world have impeded availability of goods due to parts and components held up in international supply chains. The problem has highlighted the Australian manufacturing sector’s dependence on overseas markets for the supply of machinery, tools, parts and product components. Most of the machinery brought into Australia comes from the US and Europe, while product components and parts mostly come from China. In the last 12 months, local manufacturers, assemblers and distributors have faced delays almost twice as long as in 2019. “These have impacted their ability to produce local goods” says Nikdel. “Manufacturers have also struggled to scale up operations to meet the increase in demand. It has been a wake-up call for…

All seven activity indices in the Australian PMI expanded in March (readings above 50 points indicate expansion in activity, with higher results indicating a faster rate of expansion), with the new orders index (up 3.6 points to 63.5) suggesting further strong production in the coming months. All six manufacturing sectors in the Australian PMI reported positive trading conditions, with especially buoyant conditions in the machinery & equipment (up 0.6 points to 65.0) and textiles, clothing, footwear, paper & printing products (up 3.5 points to 66.1) sectors. “The strong recovery in Australian manufacturing gathered further pace in March, with growth across the full range of sectors,” said Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox. “Production and sales continued to expand despite pulling back from very rapid rates of growth in February. Employment growth surged with manufacturers’ confidence boosted by buoyant levels of new orders. “The machinery & equipment sector benefitted from higher demand from across the industrial, mining…

Shaping a part is performed by various machining processes using different cutting strategies. Progress in machining tools resulted in modern machines that enable combined and whole process operations; processes that were separated in the past. Moreover, advanced machine tool capabilities enable progressive machining strategies to achieve maximum performance. The metalworking industry must deal with different engineering materials. Progress in material science and metallurgy brought in exotic new materials, and technologies to create materials with pre-defined properties. Producing components from such materials has significantly improved the working parameters of parts, but machining has become more difficult. A cutting tool, the smallest element of the technological system, is the link between the machine and material. To realise the advantages of high-tech machine tools and productive machining strategies, the cutting tool must meet appropriate requirements. Finding a decent answer to the ever-growing demands of modern metalworking is the base for new developments in the cutting tool field. The metalworking industry has been through a rough time with…