Materials & Manufacturing Processes

Mission

• contribution of knowledge
• research training for our postgraduate students
• improvement of manufacturing efficiency through collaborative R&D with industry

Our research interests include:

• Fundamental understanding on aspects of (and hence improvements of) a number of manufacturing processes: welding (friction stir welding being the current focus), solidification and die casting, and deformation processing.
• Microstructure development during manufacturing processes and the resulting properties
• Die/tool materials and performance/failure mechanisms of the materials (including surface engineering/coatings) used in a number of forming processes

People associated with the group are:

Associate Professor Zhan W. Chen
(BE, ME, Ph.D – Materials Engineering)
Research interests:
Materials welding/joining (with a current focus on friction stir welding), solidification and die casting, semi-solid metals forming, extrusion, die materials and properties, performance analysis of die surface coatings

Dr. Timotius Pasang
(BE, Ph.D – Materials Engineering) – Research Fellow
Research interests:
Fracture behaviour of high strength aluminium alloys, die materials and performance, isothermal extrusion control

Zhipeng Xu
(BE, ME – Mechanical Engineering) – Research Assistant
Research topic:
Mechanical and metallurgical phenomena at the tool/workpiece interfaces during friction stir welding

Lyle Williams
(BE – Mechanical Engineering) – ME student
Research topic:
The effect of inclusion type on the flow rate of aluminium alloy melt through the filter during Prefill inclusion measurement

Yin Qi
(BE – Mechanical Engineering) – ME student
Research topic:
Determination of mechanical interaction and plastic flow at the tool pin/workpiece during friction stir welding

Dominque Au
(BE – Process and Materials Engineering) – MPhil student (starting)
Research topic: The effects of heat treatment atmosphere on the microstructure and properties of tool steels