The 2017 ACI Conference and Exhibition was held at the Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove, in Queensland on Wednesday and Thursday, 29 – 30 March 2017, with a half-day technical workshop on Tuesday 28 March 2017.
The 50 speakers from across industry, R&D organisations and academia reflected the conference theme “Shaping the future with composites” . They reported on current developments and innovations in materials, science, manufacturing processes and technologies across defence, aerospace, marine, automotive and mass transport, infrastructure and sport and recreation markets.
Speakers and delegates came from across Australia and as far afield as China, Iran, Korea, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, North America and the UK. The program of speakers and topics is listed below.
The exhibition provided an excellent platform for delegates, suppliers and teaching and research organisations to network, renew and build new relationships and talk about opportunities to advance their business and careers and to join global and domestic industry composite professionals seeking to innovate with composite materials.
In its 14th year, this annual conference, hosted by Composites Australia with the support of SAMPE-Australia and the Engineers Australia technical society – the Australian Composite Structures Society (ACSS) – has proven to be a valuable forum for the sharing of industry and scientific knowledge on new and emerging developments in composites technologies, opportunities for new applications and markets as well as sessions to advance business management and marketing.
A very big “THANK YOU” to our conference sponsors: Allnex, Pacific Resins, Swinburne University of Technology, Henkel, IMCD, Regina Glass Fibre, Gurit and Employsure for their support of the Australian composites industry.
Speakers and topics
Please lodge requests for copies of presentations / papers to the author direct or email Composites Australia. Interested in presenting at the 2018 ACI conference? Please email the conference manager.
Keynote speaker
Dr. John D. Russell, the Technical Director of the United States Air Force Research Laboratory’s Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies Division presented the Keynote Address at the conference opening on the topic: Carbon Fiber Composites for Next Generation Military Aircraft
Plenary speakers
Professor Peter Schubel, Director of the Centre for Future Materials, University of Southern Queensland
Overview of the UK Composites Strategy – Using a national strategy to drive innovation
Dr Jens Goennemann, Managing Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre
Advancing Australian manufacturing
Mr Greg Williams, Senior Consultant – CSIRO Futures
Advanced manufacturing – unlocking future growth
Prof. Bronwyn Fox, Director, Manufacturing Futures Research Institute and Dr Nishar Hameed, Research Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology
Automated Manufacturing of Next Generation Composites in an Industry 4.0 Environment
Prof. Gangadhara Prusty, Professor, UNSW Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, UNSW Australia
Robotic Manufacture of Advanced Composites – Current Trends and Opportunities
Simon Karpeles, General Manager – Engineering, RPC Technologies
Composites as Structural Cast-in-Place Formwork for Major Civil Sewer Applications
Helen Creagh, Customer Experience Manager, WorkCover Queensland
Navigating Through Workplace Injuries- Best Practice and Practical Tips for Employers
David Reid, Business Development Manager, Employsure
Why Does Understanding your Obligations Under the Fair Work Act Matter?
Steve Brennan, Managing Director, BI Glass Fibre Pty Ltd
Let’s Talk About the Wonderful World of Glass Fibre Reinforced Composites
Dr Floreana Coman, Managing Director, Fabrics and Composites Science and Technologies (FCST)
The Art and Science of Employing Carbon and Other Reinforcing Tows to Shape Composites in the Future
Dr Michael Heitzmann, Group Leader Composite Materials and Processes, The University of Queensland
High Temperature Composites: A Parallel Universe
Dr Max Dehghan, Business Development Manager, ExcelPlas
Characterization and Failure Analysis of Composite Materials
Professor Cheng Yan, School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
TOPIC: Fabrication and characterization of nano carbon composites
Peter Turner, PhD Student, University of Queensland
Towards the Design of an In Situ Braiding System for the Manufacture of Confined Concrete Columns
Dr Rikard Heslehurst, Director, Heslehurst and Associates P/L
Paper 1. Delamination Secondary Behaviour Under Axial Compressive Loading
Paper 2. Successful Application of Composite Materials-A Deeper Materials Understanding
Dr Chuang Feng, Research Fellow (Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow) with the School of Engineering at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Paper 1. Eigenvalue Buckling Analysis of Functionally Graded Graphene Platelets Reinforced Cylindrical Shells
Paper 2. Vibration of functionally graded trapezoidal nanocomposite plates reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets (Winner of the ACSS Best Paper Prize with co-authors Zhan Zhao, Sritawat Kitipornchai and Jie Yang)
Wahid Ferdous, PhD Candidate, University of Southern Queensland
Performance of an Innovative Composite Railway Sleeper
Ali A. Mohammed, PhD candidate at the Centre for Future Materials at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Composite Repair Systems for Damaged Concrete Columns
Dr Nigel St John, Head Advanced Materials & Fabrication, Defence Science and Technology Group
Dimensional Stability of Composite Materials
Prof. Hubert Debski, Researcher, Lublin University of Technology
Nonlinear Stability Analysis of Composite Profiles Under Uniaxial Compression
Prof. Xiao-Ling Zhao, Chair of Civil Engineering, Monash University
Hybrid Construction Using Seawater Sea Sand Concrete and FRP
Chengyuan Shang, Senior Engineer, Aerospace Research Institute of Materials & Processing Technology, Beijing, China
Study on Processability and Thermal Properties of a Novel Phthalontrile Resin System
Dr Luke Djukic, Chief Technical Officer, Omni Tanker Pty Ltd
Analysis and Testing of Thermoplastic Liners with Enhanced Chemical Resistance for Transport of Liquid Dangerous Goods
Dr Xuesen Zeng, Senior Research Fellow & Centre Manager for the Centre for Future Materials, University of Southern Queensland
Modelling Enable Low Cost Composites Manufacturing
Hossein Mohammad Khanlou, PhD Student, School of Engineering, Griffith University, QLD
Process Boundaries of the Degradation of Mechanical Properties for Natural- Fibre Bio-Polymer Composites
Mahdireza Yarigarravesh, PhD Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran
Effect of Alkaline and Sea Water Solutions on the Bond at the Interface Between Bidirectional Aramid Fiber and Masonry
Christopher Kourloufas, Aeronautical Engineer
Effect of Saltwater Absorption/ Desorption Cycling on Strength
Michael Kemp, General Manager – Engineering, Wagners CFT Manufacturing Pty Ltd
Utilising Composites to Extend Performance Capability of Aging Infrastructure – a Case Study on the Chesterhope Bridge Cycleway Project, Hastings NZ
Charles MacDonald, Strategic and Technical Advisor, Sydney Motorway Corporation
An In Depth Analysis of WestConnex Project
Frank Cristiano, General Manager, Tricomposite & Hugh O’Donnell, Managing Director, High Performance Consortium
Tricomposite – Looking Outside our Industry for a Breakthrough in our Thinking and Performance
Dr Lucy Cranitch, Materials Scientist, PATH
Selling Composites, Answers to Common Customer Questions
Andreas Horbach, Technical Services Manager, Alliancys
Let’s Talk Innovation
Manny Tesfaye, Director of Technical Services, SCIGRIP Structural Adhesives
Innovative Adhesive Technologies for Composite Marine Structures
Raymond Ten Broeke, Field & Customer Support Engineer, AkzoNobel Polymer Chemistry
Recent Developments in Polyester Curing Systems
Hongfei Zheng, Engineer, China Aerospace Research Institute of Materials & Processing Technology
Study on Cryogenic Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composite Pressure Vessel
Flight Lieutenant Chris Kourloufas, F/A- 18A/B Structural Integrity with the Australian Defence Aviation Safety Authority
Managing Composite Structural Integrity Hazards – A RAAF F/A-18A/B Case Study
Dr Ying Li, Senior Lecturer, Nanyang Polytechnics
Reinforcing Capability of Hierarchical Structures in Starch-Based Biocomposites
Prof. Thiru Aravinthan, Professor of Structural Engineering, Centre for Future Materials, University of Southern Queensland
Civil Composites in Australia – Past, Present and Future
Yueyou Wang, Graduate Student, Aerospace Research Institute of Materials and Processing Technology, Beijing, China
High Performance Quartz/Cyanate Ester Composites Fabricated by RTM Process at Ambient Temperature
Dr Sylwester Samborski, Researcher, Lublin University of Technology, Poland
Strain Energy Release Rate Distribution Along Delamination Front in CFRP Laminates with Mechanical Couplings
Dr Peiluo Shi, Senior Engineer, Aerospace Research Institute of Materials and Processing Technology Beijing 100076, China
M55J Carbon Fiber-Cyanate Ester Composites’ Properties and Application
Dr Allan Manalo, Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Centre for Future Materials, ,University of Southern Queensland
Developments and Applications on FRP Reinforcing Bars in Concrete Structures
Simeon Cheuk, PhD Candidate, Monash University
Effect of Carbon Black Powder Protective Layer on Reusable Carbon Fibre Epoxy Resin Composite Rocket Combustion Chamber
Dr Si-Woo Park, Division Manager of the Mechanical System Research Division at the Korea Textile Machinery Research Institute Korea Textile Machinery Research Institute
Compression Molding Analysis of LFT-D System for Vehicle Trailing Arm
Dr Dae Kyu Park, Director of the Headquarter of R&D at the Korea Textile Machinery Research Institute
A Study on the Tensile Properties of CFRP Composites Using Long Fiber Thermoplastic-Direct (LFT-D) Process
Jianbao Zhang, Senior Engineer with the Aerospace Research Institute of Materials and Processing Technology, Beijing, China
Study on the Mechanical Properties of Intersection Ply Composite Laminate
Dr Mazhar. H. Peerzada, Associate Professor at the Fibre Reinforced Composite Laboratory, Mehran University of Engineering, Jamshoro, Pakistan
Bi-Axial Bias Weave Method for Preform