A multidisciplinary team has been awarded a grant to replicate spider silk, which has high strength and potential use in new products.Lead researcher Dr Sean Blamires from University of NSW’s Evolution & Ecology Research Centre said spider silk was stronger than steel or kevlar. “Tapping into its secrets could herald a revolution in manufacturing,” he said, with several high-performance materials possible, from ultra-tough ropes to prosthetics.“In this age of massive amounts of plastics pollution, the creation of spider silk materials using cutting edge genetic and spinning technologies would be of great interest to industry."https://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/secrets-in-spider-spider-silk-could-herald-a-revolution-in-manuf
Monash University researchers have developed an apple-picking robot that displayed a better than 85 per cent success rate in field trials.It seeks to "address chronic labour shortages Australia’s agricultural sector is experiencing brought on by COVID-19, as well as tackling the future food crisis."“Our developed vision system can not only positively identify apples in a tree within its range in an outdoors orchard environment by means of deep learning, but also identify and categorise obstacles [for]... the "optimum trajectory for apple extraction" said research lead Dr Chao Chen.Source: https://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/monash-researchers-develop-robot-apple-harvester
Australian researchers have identified a way to reuse some of the estimated 6.8 billion disposable facemasks used daily around the world, describing a road-making material that meets civil engineering standards and contains the equivalent of 3 million shredded masks per kilometre.“This initial study looked at the feasibility of recycling single-use face masks into roads and we were thrilled to find it not only works, but also delivers real engineering benefits,” said Dr Mohammad Saberian, lead author of the paper published in Science of the Total Environment.The mix also includes recycled concrete aggregate. Thttps://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/rmit-engineers-present-a-road-to-reusing-billions-of-disposable-masks
An RMIT University researcher team, led by the School of Engineering’s Professor Yufei Wu, has invented a process it calls “Rubberized Concrete Processing Technology (RCP-Tech).” It says it can create materials up to 35 per cent stronger than traditional concrete, and can use recycled construction waste.The researchers used a mix of course and fine aggregates, rubber tyre waste, cement and water, which was then compressed to its minimum volume using pressure in a customised mould.Wu said RCP-Tech could "improve performance of any type of concrete material" and "[address] the performance issues affiliated with waste recycling in concrete."https://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/rmit-team-d
Nanollose's origins are in a co-founder noticing a leathery substance in a batch of wine that went bad.15 years later, the company says it is close to selling the first commercial garment out of "microbial cellulose". Its lyocell rayon fibres come from fermented food waste (currently the focus is coconut water by-products) instead of wood pulp, and it is in partnership with a global rayon leader to industrialise this "tree-free" substitute.It says the lyocell is stronger than tree-derived rayon, needs less water and chemical additives in processing, and doesn't contribute to deforestation. https://www.aumanufacturing.com.au/biomaterials-startup-looks-past-pulp-pandemic
RMIT researchers have used lobster-inspired spiral shapes to increase the strength of 3D printed concrete structures.Natural materials like lobster exoskeletons had “evolved into high-performance structures over millions of years” according to lead researcher Dr Jonathan Tran."...lobster shells are naturally strong and naturally curved, we know this could help us deliver stronger concrete shapes like arches and flowing or twisted structures.”The team's work, published in 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, favourably compared these “helicoidal patterns" against other patterns. The most commonly-used 3DP build method is lines laid down on top of each other in parallel. More: https://www
