October 19, 2015

Welding research enabling critical manufacturing

Welding and automation expertise developed at the University of Wollongong (UOW) is supporting Australian manufacturing as part of a major new defence contract.

UOW’s welding automation group will be a critical part of the estimated $1.3 billion contract awarded to Thales Australia to supply the Australian Defence Force with 1,100 four-wheel drive vehicles over three and a half years from 2017.

The highly mobile armoured vehicle, known as the Hawkei, will be built in Australia and will provide Australian soldiers with increased protection and mobility.

The Hawkei follows on from the success of the larger Bushmaster vehicle, which has protected Australian and other troops in some of the most challenging combat environments on earth.

The contract will lengthen the welding group’s research and development contribution to defence projects, particularly in robotic welding automation and armour materials, as part of the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC).

The announcement comes as the welding group’s contribution to the naval research and development was recognised with the National Innovation Award at the Pacific 2015 Maritime Exposition.

The award is for a range of technologies developed with partners Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and ship builder Forgacs, for maritime welding and fabrication of air warfare destroyers.

Dr Zengxi (Stephen) Pan said the welding group has been able to provide a combination of expertise in welding, robotics and materials, which are critical solutions for complex and unique industrial projects.

“We have developed robotic welding that enables Thales to weld the uniquely shaped Bushmaster hull in a fast, automated way,” Dr Pan said.

Through the automation technology, robots are programmed according to design drawings as well as using sensors to adjust for obstacles to assemble and complete 90 per cent of the vehicle's welds, greatly reducing manufacturing time and costs.

“Also, our study of preheating requirements for armour plate welding now make it possible to remove the time-consuming pre-heating process during the welding of high strength armour plates,” he said.

“We have just started a new three-year project with them on robotic welding solution for the Hawkei vehicle. Most other universities don’t have experts in all these areas.”

The flexible and adaptable welding technology is finding uses beyond its original purpose in a wide range of assembly techniques, allowing Australia’s smaller defence industry manufacturers to scale up production and compete in competitive global market.

“Research and development is crucial for the survival of Australian manufacturing industry,” Dr Pan said.

“Without the technical advantage in product design, manufacturing and material study, our manufacturing industry will lose its competitive advantage with other countries.

“We are working towards lean automation solutions suitable for the Australian manufacturing industry and the DMTC projects show we have already made strides in these efforts.”

The success of the group's research and innovation was recognised when DMTC’s Armour Applications Program won the 2013 Defence Science and Technology Organisation Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia.

DMTC CEO Mark Hodge noted that UOW’s research was a critical enabler of DMTC’s capability offering to Defence and the defence industry.

“Thales’ CEO was quite direct in thanking DMTC for the key role our research played in the award of the Hawkei contract,” Dr Hodge said. “The importance of the research support to our programs from the University of Wollongong in this program in particular, cannot be underestimated.”