–Update 26 September 2024-
✨ It was inspiring to connect with industry, academia and Defence leaders last week in Canberra and contribute to exploring the art of the possible at the ADSTAR Australian Defence Science Technology And Research Summit.
Dr Rodney Thomson (Engineering Manager) took to the stage presenting on “Cost-effective Manufacture of Ultra-High Temperature Composites for Hypersonic and Space Applications”.
📸 Check out some images captured of Paul Falzon and Rodney Thomson in action and our demonstrator rocket nozzles on display at ADSTAR2024.
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🚀 The Australian Defence Science, Technology and Research (ADSTAR) Summit brings the innovation, science and technology enterprise together, a must-attend event for SMEs to connect with Defence, government, industry, and academic sectors.
Attendees will hear from senior leaders and experts, as well as industry including Advanced Composite Structures Australia (ACS Australia). Dr Rodney Thomson, engineering manager at ACS Australia will be presenting on “Cost-effective Manufacture of Ultra-High Temperature Composites for Hypersonic and Space Applications”!
Register to attend and hear from Rodney at the ADSTAR Summit via this link: https://www.adstarsummit.com.au/register
📅 Tuesday 17 – Thursday 19 September 2024
📍 National Convention Centre Canberra, ACT, Australia
📝 Presentation Abstract: Hypersonic flight speeds (greater than five times the speed of sound) require materials capable of withstanding temperatures over 2,000°C. Under these conditions, conventional materials break down due to the high heat loads generated from complex aerodynamic flow. Ceramic materials may be capable of withstanding these ultra-high temperatures, but inherent brittleness makes them unsuitable for structural applications. The addition of carbon or ceramic reinforcing fibres to form ultra-high temperature composite materials overcomes the toughness limitation.
This presentation will outline how ACS Australia is developing advanced materials and manufacturing processes for ultra-high temperature composite structures. Current state-of-the-art production processes are complex requiring specialised equipment, with cycle times often measured in months. As a result, these parts can be very costly, which is a significant impediment to higher uptake in civil and defence applications. ACS Australia’s development program aims to address these issues, increasing the production rate and reducing the costs of these materials. ACS Australia has invested significantly into developing sovereign industrial capability, including at the material sciences level to characterise and enhance the performance of hypersonic systems, as well as using process automation to reduce manufacturing costs. This will enable future supply of cost-effective Australian-made hypersonic and space vehicle components for growing civil and defence markets.
The development to date has involved collaboration with academia, defence and Australian industry to establish sovereign manufacturing capabilities in key hypersonic technologies in Australia. In particular, ACS Australia has been supporting the Defence Science and Technology Group for over three years in the development and supply of ultra-high temperature composites to support ongoing research programs. The presentation will detail recent progress and plans for future development and supply of ultra-high temperature composite components to civil and defence programs.
👨Presenter Biography: Dr Rodney Thomson leads the ACS Australia engineering team and is also responsible for quality management. He has over 25 years of experience in the design and implementation of composite structures for aerospace, maritime, land transport and energy applications. He is an internationally recognised expert specialising in composite design and optimisation, damage and failure modelling, composite structures for crashworthiness, bird-strike and energy absorption.
For further details please don’t hesitate to contact us.