Our research

Valuable collaborations with other research institutions and industries have always been at the top of our agenda. Over the years, our laboratory has established active research programs with many leading research teams, industries, and individuals around the world, such as those in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, UK and USA. It has been those collaborations, partnerships and friendships that have provided complementary expertise and research infrastructure for many of our research programs. Over the years, our research has been essential for solving numerous complex issues and achieving satisfactory solutions in various manufacturing fields.

We warmly welcome new collaboration partnerships. If you are interested in a joint research program, please feel free to contact us.

The following are consulting areas our staff engage in:

Manufacturing processes

Mechanics of machining, metal forming, composite forming, cutting, grinding, polishing, lapping, laser processing, process design, damage-free machining.

Bio-manufacturing

Biomechanics, biomaterials, fabrication of implants and prostheses.

Nanotechnology

Nanomechanics, nanomaterials, nano-surface fabrication, thin films; nano-wires, nanotubes, nano-composites, molecular dynamics analysis, cross-scale analysis.

Characterisation of advanced materials

Mechanical properties, stress-induced phase transformations, constitutive modelling of materials, interface properties, subsurface damage analysis.

Tribology

Nano-friction, nano-wear, wear of cutting tools, friction and wear of biomedical elements.

Continuum mechanics

Stress and deformation analysis, elasticity and plasticity, molecular dynamics analysis, analytical modelling, mechanics of anisotropic materials, residual stress analysis.

Numerical analysis

Numerical analysis, finite element modelling, development of numerical methods and algorithms.

We work in the area of manufacturing engineering in general, but our focus is on interdisciplinary research involving multiscale mechanics, characterisation of material properties, and development of new manufacturing technologies for industry.

We carry out both fundamental research and innovations for industrial production. Our research covers a broad range of activities from nano to macro length scales, and from quasi-static deformation to the behaviour of materials subjected to extremely high strain rates.

We have undertaken numerous research projects, with funding support from both domestic and international industry partners, the Australian Research Council, and overseas funding bodies. Below is a selection of these projects, offering insights into our Laboratory's research capabilities. The following is a list of some selected projects. They'll provide you with some information about the research capacity of our laboratory.

• Integrity prediction of ground precision surfaces.
• Surface quality improvement of rolled metal strips through rolling lubrication.
• Machining-induced damage mechanisms in KDP crystals.
• Heat conduction characterisation of buried insulation layers in silicon-on-insulator systems.
• Scaling microfluidics for cell manufacture.
• ARC Research Hub for Computational Particle Technology.
• ARC Training Centre for Automated Manufacture of Advanced Composites (AMAC).
• Plasma Focused Ion Beam for Nanoscale Characterisation of Materials.
• Control of lubrication in cold strip rolling of metals.
• A new roll surface treatment technology towards lower wear and higher fatigue life.
• Innovation for anchorage wedge manufacturing.
• Multi-scale fabrication facility for complex 3D surface generation from nano to macro dimensions.
• Dynamic phase behaviour characterisation facility for nanostructured interfaces and solids.
• An innovative manufacturing technology enabling new generations of hip joint prostheses.
• Experimental study on hybrid-ECC materials and high-velocity impact response of hybrid-ECC panels.
• High-velocity impact responses of engineered cementitious composite panels.
• Damage-free surfacing of large brittle wafers with on-machine flatness control.
• Mechanisms of mixed lubrication in rolling.
• Non-destructive characterisation of residual stresses for the silicon-on-sapphire technology.
• Novel cutting picks for the mining industry and Australian standards.
• Transmission electron microscope-nanoindenter for nano-mechanical testing.
• Advanced processing and characterisation facility for functional polymers and polymer nanofibres.
• Developing a new technology: advanced surface hardening and grinding in a single operation.
• Towards new generations of lubricants using nanoparticles.
• A multiscale system for characterizing surface and subsurface properties of advanced materials.
• Effect of chemo-mechanical grinding of surface integrity of single crystal silicon substrates.
• Flexible manufacturing systems.
• Australian research network for advanced materials.
• Flow diagnostics facility for microstructured systems.
• Australian Research Network for multi-scale manufacturing and characterisation.
• Advanced computational techniques for micro/nano multiscale systems of NEMS/BioMEMS.
• Nanotribology of carbon nanotube reinforced composites: the processing-microstructure-property principles and technology.
• Surface polymorphism of hard brittle materials.
• Developing a micro polisher for small aspherical surfaces with magnetorheological & electrorheological fluids.
• High speed micro-machining for 3D micro parts.
• Mechanisms and novel technology for precision slicing of large monocrystalline silicon wafers.
• Surface integrity characterization of sapphire wafers for wireless and fibre optic semiconductor industry.
• A stress transfer principle for carbon nanotube reinforced materials under complex loading.
• Development of New Superabrasives Cutting Tool Technology.
• Integrated Precision Machining of Complex Profiles
• High speed machining.
• Tribology of carbon nanotube reinforced composites.
• 3D optical surface profiling.
• Mechanical characterisation of carbon nanotubes.
• Constitutive modelling of silicon.
• Developing a reliable eco-grinding technology using cold air.
• Damage-free polishing of silicon wafers.
• Large wafer flatness characterisation.
• Micro-tribology of advanced materials.
• Thermoforming mechanism for a cost-effective manufacturing of composite structures.
• Mechanics characterisation of monocrystalline silicon for MEMS.
• X-ray diffraction stress analysis.
• Mechanisms of nano-grinding silicon monocrystals.
• Precision lapping and polishing.
• A boiler tube erosion model for the sugar industry.
• Thermoforming of fibre-reinforced sheets.
• Machining characteristics and material properties of plastic spectacle lenses.
• The machinability-processing-property relationships of fibre-reinforced composites.
• Practical causality modelling of grinding processes.
• Nano-cutting mechanisms of metallic and ceramic materials.
• Ductile-regime grinding of advanced ceramics.
• Mechanisms of sheet stamping by deformable forming tools.
• CNC precision grinding.
• Mechanism of residual stress in-ground components and its inherent dependence upon grinding conditions.
• Micro-machining of brittle materials.