Materials used in the manufacturing of critical military equipment are inherently difficult and costly to machine.
Australian industry must establish and demonstrate cutting-edge capability in the efficient and economical manufacture of these components in order to maintain international competitiveness within global supply chains.
This project is aimed at innovation in new tooling and manufacturing practices, and establishing local supply chain solutions for Defence.
Along with industry partner Sutton Tools and with research expertise from RMIT and SUT, DMTC has made further progress towards producing a new generation of cutting tools produced using laser-based additive manufacturing techniques.
The performance of these new tools has been tested and benchmarked against standard cutting tools, demonstrating comparable outcomes to date.
More broadly, the team is developing a knowledge base in cutting processes, additive manufacturing and coatings that will enable research partners to build on their existing capability and expertise.
Read more about this work here.