VTE March 2019

VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER

Avalon signals a boom for Australian engineering

Australia’s aerospace & defence industries are flying high – it’s time to join the squardron

The Business of Boeing: Interview with Boeing Chief Engineer AGM Details: SAE-A Annual General Meeting MEAA Tech Paper: Sound absorption via additive manufacturing process Avalon Airshow 2019: Avalon update on new projects & plans

March 2019 Issue 19 Representing mobility engineers since 1927 www.saea.com.au

VTE | Contents

Contents MARCH 2019

More high-tech student exchange openings

Special Features 20

Avalon Airshow - the engineering door opens for Australians

24

The Business of Boeing - Boeing Defence Chief Engineer interview

26

MEAA paper - Sound Absorption of Micro-Perforated Panel

VTE News 7

General News

10

Automotive News

13

Motorsport News

14

Truck News

16

Rail News

17

Overseas News

8

Auto Aftermarket Expo in Melbourne 2019

10

PACCAR starts building its new plant

15

Society News 4

Notes from the Chair - Welcome from Adrian Feeney

5

SAE News

6

SAE Events

Avalon Australian Awards

21

Products 26

New Products - for engineering The Business of Boeing

On the Cover Avalon Airshow 2019 displays Australia’s capabilties in aerospace and defence

24

About the SAE-A SAE-A was founded in 1927 to address the need for further education for all facets surrounding Automotive Engineering, and now encompasses all mobility engineering industries in the Australasian region. The SAE-A is a non-profit organisation that works to serve the needs of its members and to promote the relevance of mobility related technologies to governments, industry and the community in general.

The editor, publisher, printer, the Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia (SAE-A) and their employees, directors, servants, agents and associated or related entities (Publishing Entities) are not responsible for the accuracy or correctness of the text, pictures or other material comprising the contributions and advertisements contained in this publication or for the consequences of any use made of the products, services and other information referred to in this publication. The Publishing Entities expressly disclaim all liability of whatsoever nature for any consequences arising from the use or reliance on material contained in this publication whether caused to a reader of this publication or otherwise. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publishing Entities. The responsibility for the accuracy or correctness of information and other material is that of the individual contributors and the Publishing Entities do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or correctness of information or other material supplied by others. To the extent permissible by law, the Publishing Entities exclude all liability pursuant to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) or other applicable laws arising from statute or common law.

Readers should make their own inquiries prior to the use of, or reliance on, any information or other material contained in this publication, and where necessary seek professional advice. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without the written permission of SAE-A is strictly prohibited.

www.saea.com.au

VTE | 3

Introduction | Secretary, CEO and Chairman Society of Automotive Engineers

VTE Published By: Society of Automotive Engineers - Australasia

Adrian Feeney

ABN: 95 004 248 604

Secretary, CEO and Chairman Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia

Address: PO Box 103, Werribee Vic 3030 Phone: 0403 267 166 Email: info@sae-a.com.au Web: www.saea.com.au

Board of Directors: Chairman CEO & Secretary Adrian Feeney Committee:

Kai Morganti Mounir Kiwan Membership & Subscriptions Name: Rose De Amicis Email: rose@sae-a.com.au

Magazine Production: Editor Mandy Parry-Jones Trading Terms Media Email: mandypj@optusnet.com.au Mobile: 0409 806 986 Design Brigid Fraser Email: fraseram@optusnet.com.au Mobile: 0413 009 122 Advertising Jill Johnson Jill Johnson Media Email: jj@jilljohnsonmedia.com.au Mobile: 0409 217 624

Dear member, Welcome to 2019 and to the next stage in the growth of SAE. We have made several changes to our operation, the most significant being the appointment of an event coordinator, Amanda Bain who started in early January this year. We have been working on an event calendar which will be released on our website in the next few weeks as certain events are confirmed, events that we hope will be of interest to our members.

The other changes include reopening our offices, now located at 464 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, but you may know it better as VACC House. We are extremely grateful to Geoff Gwilym and his board at VACC for the generous offer of office space in their building, we are located on the 3rd floor. Please note that our postal address remains unchanged at PO Box 103 Werribee, Victoria 3030 This quarterly magazine is now four pages bigger, this is to cater for the large volume of quality material available to our editor to include in the magazine, it did not make any sense to have to cull quality articles due to a lack of pages. I trust you find the magazine of interest and if you have any feedback or perhaps wish for us to publish an article on your behalf, please contact the office with the details We are also launching a brand-new electronic newsletter, which will come out monthly,

starting in March, keep an open eye for this new way of communicating with our members.

Last year, Formula SAE broke all records and created a real buzz around the event when we held it at the Winton Raceway in Central Victoria. We will be back at Winton this year and planning is well underway with the local authoties, including the Shires of Benalla and Wangaratta as they are on-board to really get involved to promote us to their constituents.

More details will be provided in the coming months Finally, I want to advise you of our Annual General Meeting and dinner to be held on the 16 May 2019. This is the first AGM since administration and signals the return to normality for our proud society. As we go to print, we are working on the details including venue location, menus, guest speakers etc.

However, I can announce that we are calling for nominations for up to five board members, so when we issue the nomination forms, I ask that you give this due consideration. We are looking for keen, hands-on people to help direct the society to ensure we remain viable and relevant.

Financially things are looking very good, but we need to keep up this good work whilst delivering quality services to our members, are you such a person to help?

Thank you to our Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors

VTE Industry Partner:

Gold Sponsor

Excellerate Australia

Silver Sponsor 4 | March 2019

Bronze Sponsors

SAE | News

VALE Philip Morcom It is with great sadness that we are advised of the recent passing of a long and well respected member of the SAE-A, Mr Philip Morcom.

Mr Morcom was a valued member of the Society since joining in 1956 and became a Life Member in 1991.

The SAE-A is especially thankful for his service on the Queensland Division committee during this time.

On behalf of the SAE-A Board of Directors, the national office team and members of the Society, we extend our sincerest condolences to his family and friends.

In 1946 Mr Morcom began his apprenticeship becoming a fitter and turner with Nason & Co, Engine Reconditioning in Brisbane. He worked reconditioning motorcycle, car, truck, tractor, marine and aircraft engines.

Then in 1952 he became a fitter and turner/ toolmaker at Ogden Industries, Melbourne, then Metal Products, Albion, reconditioning engines.

In 1955 Mr Morcom joined the RACQ as a Technical Engineer in Water St, Brisbane.

He travelled throughout Queensland for five weeks every third month.

By 1956 he had joined the Institution of Automotive and Aeronautical Engineers, now SAE-A and completed a Diploma in Practical Motor Engineering with BIET and in 1957 joined the Ford Motor Company of Australia as Zone Service Manager for Southern Queensland.

In 1958 he transferred to Townsville as Zone Service Manager for North Queensland, moving back to Brisbane in 1960 as Regional Trainer for Ford dealerships in Queensland and Northern New South Wales, and as Zone Service Manager for the Brisbane, Ipswich and Redcliffe dealerships.

In 1969 he was appointed State Chairman and National Council Member for SAE-A and chaired the National SAE-A convention in Brisbane.

From 1971 – 1982 Mr Morcom was service manager for the Ford, Mitsubishi and Honda dealerships in Townsville.

In 1983 he joined PRO_MA Systems (Aust) Pty Ltd as an independent Distributor and established Morcom Marketing International in partnership with wife, Muriel.

He was appointed Regional Manager for PRO-MA for North Queensland, and served as the representative for North Queensland for the SAE-A committee.

In 1991, he was honoured with a Life Membership of SAE-A. The in 1997 he returned to Brisbane to continue running his business and later rejoined the SAE-A committee.

Kai Morganti retires from FSAE-A Board

Turbocharging has seen significant growth in the passenger car market after years of development on racing circuits.

Advances in Turbocharged Racing Engines combines 10 essential SAE technical papers with introductory content from the editor on turbocharged engine use in F1, WRC and WEC – recognizing how forced induction in racing has impacted production vehicle powertrains. Topics featured in this book include: • Fundamental aspects of design and operation of turbocharged engines • Turbocharged engine research by Toyota, SwRI and US EPA, Honda, and Caterpillar.

This book provides an historical and relevant insight into research and development of racing engines.

The goal is to provide the latest advancements in turbocharged engines through examples and case studies that appeal to engineers.

Mr Morganti is well known to SAE-A members having worked at Melbourne University, and also for his diligent work and dedication to the FSAE event.

www.saea.com.au

Racing continues to provide the pre-eminent directive for advancing powertrain development for automakers worldwide. Formula One, World Rally and World Endurance Championships all provide engineering teams the most demanding and rigorous testing opportunities for the latest engine and technology designs.

• Electric turbocharger usage in F1

Mr Kai Morganti who has been chair of the FSAE and board member for six years is retiring from that position.

Members and the board of the SAE-A would sincerely like to thank Mr Morganti for his work particularly during the past few

Advances in Turbocharged Racing Engines PT-199

years when the Society was dealing with the heavy workload following exiting from administration.

SAE International has published Alberto Boretti’s book in both digital and print and members can save up to 20% off list price.

VTE | 5

SAE | Events

Confirmed SAE-A Events For full details, please visit the SAE website – www.saea.com.au/Events Thursday 28 March 2019 GoProto Site Tour – Melbourne Tuesday 2 April 2019 Volvo Group Trucks Operations Plant Tour Queensland Wednesday 1 May 2019 HSV Production Facility Site Tour – Melbourne Thursday 16 May 2019 Annual General Meeting and Dinner – Batman’s Hill on Collins Hotel, Melbourne Tuesday 3 December 2019 20 Years of Formula SAE-A Celebration – Melbourne Thursday 5 – Sunday 8 December 2019 Formula SAE-A – Winton Motor Raceway – Benalla, Victoria

Site tour numbers are limited so to ensure you don’t miss out, register now.

SAE-A Events in the Pipeline Dates are to be confirmed, please visit the SAE website for updates.

APV Tech Centre Site Tour – Melbourne BAE Systems Australia Site Tour – Melbourne Bombardier Site Tour – Melbourne Bosch Conference – Melbourne DAF Trucks Site Tour –Melbourne Hoffman Engineering Site Tour – Melbourne Siemens Site Tour – Melbourne Sydney Motorsport Park Site Tour – Sydney Walkinshaw Andretti Unite Site Tour – Melbourne

6 | March 2019

General | News

Generally manufacturing performance 20th National is good Manufacturing The Australian Industry Group Week in Melbourne Australian Performance of in May Manufacturing Index (Australian PMI) recovered by a further 1.5 points to 54.0 in February, ending an unseasonably slow summer with its best monthly result since October 2018 – readings above 50 points indicate expansion in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase.

National Manufacturing Week is Australia’s is the largest gathering of manufacturing decision-makers under one roof and one place – the manufacturing community can come together to be inspired, innovate and connect.

The Australian PMI has been stable or positive (50 points or higher) since August 2016 (30 consecutive months), but its trend has suggested slowing growth rates since its recent peak in March 2018.

“Australia’s manufacturing sector strengthened in February after faltering in the closing months of 2018 and clawing back some lost ground in January,” Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said.

“Production, sales, exports and employment all gained ground. While positive, manufacturing performance is not back at the levels we saw in the first half of 2018 and only three of the six sub-sectors were in clear positive territory in February.

“The important machinery & equipment sub-sector was flat while chemicals and food & beverages which is the largest manufacturing sub-sector maintained healthy levels of growth.”

Key Findings for February:

Australian PMI expanded in February with only finished stocks indicating contraction (down 3.2 points to 44.5). New orders (down 0.3 points to 52.0) and deliveries from suppliers (down 2.7 points to 52.9) stayed positive but moderated, while production (up 3.9 points to 57.9) and employment (up 6.6 points to 57.7) strengthened markedly.

Three of the six manufacturing sectors expanded in February with the largest sector, food & beverages, continuing to perform well (down 0.5 points to 54.7). Machinery & equipment remained flat (down 0.3 points to 50.7) while metal products (down 1.7 points to 46.5) and building materials, wood & furniture (down 2.9 points to 48.0) experienced worsening contractions.

Six of the seven activity indexes in the

WA powers-up on battery exports The rapid uptake of electric vehicles and battery-based energy storage systems around the world is driving global demand for lithium-ion batteries.

Electric vehicle and battery manufacturers are securing sources of minerals, materials and components to meet this increase in demand representing a significant opportunity for the State.

produces non-battery minerals used in the manufacture of electric vehicles and energy storage systems, including rare earth elements that are necessary for the production of electric motors.

Western Australia has substantial reserves of all the battery minerals used in the manufacture of rechargeable batteries, including: large quantities of lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and alumina.

The Western Australian State Government is committed to growing the state into a leading exporter of future battery minerals, materials, technologies and expertise.

WA is a global leader in lithium production and also home to the fourth largest vanadium and manganese resources, the second largest reserves of cobalt and the largest nickel resources. It also www.saea.com.au

The Future Battery Industry Strategy aims to grow Western Australia’s future battery industry and transform it into a significant source of economic development, diversification, jobs and skills.

National Manufacturing Week allows visitors to source the latest solutions from the widest range of suppliers and hear from expert speakers about new trends and processes that will position businesses to thrive in the global manufacturing sector.

This year’s theme is Industrial Evolution, which represents the transformation of Australia’s manufacturing sector into a highly-integrated, skills-based and collaborative environment.

With the global manufacturing landscape more competitive than ever, Australian manufacturers need to invest in the latest technologies, adopt more efficient processes and develop advanced skills in order to deliver cutting edge customised products to the global market.

National Manufacturing Week 2019 will display six product zones, which include automation and robotics, engineering, industrial internet of things (IIoT), safety, welding technology and manufacturing solutions.

Co-located with Austech, this free-to-attend expo and conference will run from 14-17 May 2019 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

A report on National Manufacturing Week will be in a later issue of Vehicle Technology Engineer.

More information is at www.nationalmanufacturingweek.com.au/ en-gb.html VTE | 7

News | General

The new high tech jobs for Gen Z FCAI applauds Systems research has shown $56B for roads and BAE what Gen Z wants on the job, and the electric vehicles skills needed to get that job.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has applauded the release of Infrastructure Australia’s Infrastructure Priority List which presents a record $58bn project pipeline.

The List guides the next 15 years of Australian infrastructure investment and includes a strong focus on reducing congestion and increasing safety initiatives in Australian urban and regional road systems.

A new addition to this year’s Priority List is a study into the provision of a national electric vehicle fast-charging network. Designated a “high priority initiative,” the focus on providing electric vehicle infrastructure is identified as a “forward-thinking, ambitious solution to support Australia’s future prosperity.”

These are some of the roles that BAE thinks will be the ones for the future: • Systems Farmer – scientists capable of ‘growing’ mechanical parts from chemical processes. Technologists are on the verge of synthetic biology and chemical engineering and expect to be doing things like ‘growing’ macroscale multifunction aircraft parts, with desirable nanoscale features.

• AI Translator – tuning artificial intelligence robots to be a working partner to humans. This is known as cobotics and the AI Translator will be responsible for training humans and AI assistants, helping them develop a relationship. This will involve tuning the AI assistant, tailoring it to the human worker’s needs while correcting any machine or human errors.

It is expected that these may be career options for the 2030s and 2040s and form

part of the technology of the future.

According to the research conducted for BAE three in four young people aged 16 to 24 want direction on how to future proof their careers and 70 percent wanted direction on which skills will be in demand.

Research from BAE Systems also found that nearly half of young people said that they expected to work in industries that don’t yet exist and are excited about opportunities such as working with robots.

The research was conducted by Censuswide with 1000 16 to 24 year-old respondents in the UK. It was carried out between 11-14 January 2019.

Industry Growth Centres podcasts for the future of manufacturing The Industry Growth Centres Initiative has just released a podcast series, Future Clicks, which focuses on the future of Australian industries.

Tony Weber, CEO of the FCAI, commended the initiatives included in the report.

“Electric vehicles are a key component in the way of the future, so it is very pleasing to see further acknowledgement and real-world planning from Australian regulators on this technology.

“At the same time, road safety and congestion continue to present major issues for many Australian commuters, so action on this topic is also very important.

“We encourage Federal, State and Territory Governments to allocate funding and resources for these critically important infrastructure projects,” Mr Weber said.

8 | March 2019

Hosted by award winning writer and presenter, Bernie Hobbs, Future Clicks features stories and interviews with some of Australia’s leading businesses and innovators.

Future Clicks gives a great insight on how the Industry Growth Centres Initiative is helping Australian businesses and innovators to: • seize opportunities for growth • collaborate and transform their industries • work together with researchers to capitalise on new ideas • tackle future skills needs, drive cultural change and solve complex problems.

The government is funding six Growth Centres in sectors of competitive strength and strategic priority.

The Growth Centres are not-for-profit organisations, each led by a board of industry experts. By building capability and

collaborative networks, industry sectors will be able to build stronger futures for themselves.

The Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, AMGC is working with the sector to drive cultural change, increase competitiveness, unlock new commercial opportunities and foster innovation.

Activities include: Delivering the AMGC Sector Competitiveness Plan delivering the Advanced Manufacturing Early Stage Research Fund in collaboration with the department co-funding over a dozen industry led collaborative projects to develop new materials, innovative products and enhanced industrial processes providing practical advice to help manufacturers build resilience.

The podcasts are at www.industry.gov.au/ data-and-publications/future-clicks-podcast-all

General | News

More high-tech student exchange openings The cream of France and Australia’s students will have the opportunity to be immersed in the latest engineering technologies in both countries under a new Memorandum of Understanding between Flinders University, the French Embassy and leading technology firm Thales.

Professor Karl Sammut, director of the Centre for Maritime Engineering, Control and Imaging at Flinders, welcomes visiting French engineering exchange student Titouan Le Marec at Tonsley

The MoU launches a reciprocal program for French students to be based at Flinders University for periods of up to six months as part of research internships that will be the shared responsibility of Flinders and Thales, and supported by the French Embassy.

arrangement through which Flinders University students are undertaking placements in France.

worth of defence manufacturing in Australia including the future submarine and future frigate projects.

This new program reciprocates an existing

The arrangement will see high performing students selected for internships supported

by Thales and delivered at Flinders University.

Thales Chief Technical Officer Dr John Best says the exchange of research knowledge is central to advancing the defence sector.

South Australia is a focal point for $90bn

“This is all about attracting and nurturing the best and brightest in both Australia and France, opening up fantastic opportunities for closer collaboration with Thales on a global scale.

“To ensure these students have hands-on, practical experience in the research, design and development of world-class high technology solutions, we’re designing activities that will allow them to engage with Thales before, during and after the internship, including company briefings and site visits that will inform their research projects,” Dr Best said.

STEM imbalance needs to be addressed

Science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills are vital to Australia’s economy.

STEM skills contribute to more than a quarter of Australia’s economic activity, and are associated with 75 percent of the fastest growing occupations, innovations and higher paying jobs.

And yet, the gender distribution of people who hold STEM qualifications is highly skewed against women in Australia. Males account for 84 percent of all people who hold STEM qualifications. Only one in four information technology graduates, and fewer than one in 10 engineering graduates in Australia is female.

How to rectify this gender imbalance, one that is particularly prevalent in the manufacturing industry given its reliance on STEM skills, was a key issue discussed at the second meeting www.saea.com.au

of the Industry, Innovation and Science Women’s Advisory Roundtable.

Chaired by the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, the Hon Karen Andrews MP, the Roundtable is designed to inject fresh ideas into Government policies and programs, accelerate change, and result in more women pursuing careers in technology and science — all of which is essential to the growth of advanced manufacturing.

“Improving women’s participation in STEM and business requires action from all sectors – government, industry, and the education and research sectors,” Minister Andrews said.

“Whilst we don’t know what the jobs of

the future are going to be, there has been significant research that shows 75 percent of the jobs of the future are going to require skills in the STEM subjects. We have to start from a very strong base in those science and maths subjects at school.

“So many of the jobs of the future will be built on science and technology, so if Australia is to prosper we must engage and draw on the talent of all Australians.

“Increasing participation in STEM by girls and women isn’t just about equity and individual opportunity: it is about the strength of Australia’s research and our scientific and business capability,” Minister Andrews said.

VTE | 9

News | Auto

Auto Aftermarket Expo in Melbourne 2019 The largest automotive industry event of the year, the 2019 Australian Auto Aftermarket Expo, takes place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 4-6 April 2019 and Vehicle Technology Engineer will have a rundown of the show in the next issue.

Each show attracts more than 400 exhibitors and runs a series of free seminars for industry, as engineers it is a worthwhile exercise to become familiar with the aftermarket industry as it offers a range of diverse job opportunities.

The free seminars start on the Expo’s opening day, with two presentations on Thursday 4 April from 2:00pm.

Bosch awarded $2.3m for AV testing Cutting-edge automated vehicle technology will be tested in rural Victoria this year in the first on-road trial approved under the new Automated Driving System (ADS) permit scheme.

It was announced that Bosch has been awarded $2.3 million from the Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) Trial Grants Program and granted the state’s first ADS permit for on-road testing of highly automated driving systems.

different conditions including traffic, weather and infrastructure.

Last year, Victoria finalised regulations to support the ADS permit scheme, which authorises the use of automated vehicles for testing and development on our roads.

In late 2017, VicRoads called for expressions of interest from companies, industry bodies and other transport technology organisations to apply for funding to spur the development of these emerging technologies. which it is hoped will lead to reduced deaths and serious injuries. Other successful applicants will be announced soon.

Bosch is currently developing its automated vehicle technology and will begin testing on high-speed rural roads later in 2019. The aim of the Bosch trial is to use the stateof-the-art technology to improve safety on rural Victorian roads – where drivers are five times as likely to be killed in a crash than in metropolitan areas.

The testing will be conducted on roads that expose the automated vehicle to a range of

The $9 million Connected and Automated Vehicle Trial Grants Program is funded through the Andrews Labor Government’s $1.4 billion Towards Zero Action Plan.

The trials will support Victoria’s readiness for CAV technologies and the knowledge gained will provide a better understanding of the infrastructure required to get these vehicles on the road, maximising their safety benefits.

Holden will not sign over to Inchcape in Australia According to Holden boss Dave Buttner the reported distribution takeover by Inchcape which was reported by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) is ‘scuttlebutt’.

Day two of the Expo, Friday 5 April, features a total of four seminars covering a broad scope of industry and business development topics. The third and final day of the Expo has four free seminars.

Registration is online at www.autoaftermarketexpo.com.au and free of charge or you can register at the show.

10 | March 2019

Several news outlets reported on the AFR story that claimed talks were underway between UK based international automotive retailer Inchcape and Holden.

meeting that there was “absolutely no way” that it was happening. This was the first time that Holden has denied the changes to distribution in Australia.

It was claimed that if Inchcape imported the vehicles it would not have to bear the same costs, which could lead to cheaper vehicles.

CarAdvice said that the high-level dealer meeting had been planned for some time and was not held in reaction to the report about distribution.

However, CarAdvice recently reported that Mr Buttner told Holden dealers in a confidential

Auto | News

Ford Australia and VW in combined ute project and more …

Ford Australia issued a press statement in January that it would be leading a design project to create the next generation Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok however, it will be designed and developed in the US. This is not the first announcement from Ford of a collaboration with Volkswagen as the companies had already told the media that they signed an agreement to develop commercial vans, and work together to develop next generation vehicles such as electric and self driving cars.

Volkswagen CEO Dr Herbert Diess and Ford CEO Jim Hackett confirmed that the companies intend to develop commercial vans and medium-sized pickups for global markets beginning as early as 2022. The alliance will drive significant scale and efficiencies and enable both companies to share investments in vehicle architectures that deliver distinct capabilities and technologies.

“It is no secret that our industry is undergoing fundamental change, resulting from widespread electrification, ever stricter emission regulation, digitization, the shift towards autonomous driving, and not least changing customer preferences,” Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said.

“In such an environment, it just makes sense to share investment, pool innovation

www.saea.com.au

capabilities and create scale effects in clearly defined areas.”

Even if all goes well, in Australia it may mean a number of engineering redundancies, which may affect the powertrain and platform development areas.

It has been reported that a Ford spokesman said it could mean around 130 redundancies.

Overseas, Ford has stated that it will inject US$1 billion into its domestic plants in Chicago and add 500 more jobs, this is on the back of a US$11 billion restructure that will decrease its salaried workforce of 70,000 cutting thousands of jobs in Europe.

In Australia, more than 100 job losses were confirmed this year at Ford, these were 40 salaried workers, 75 hourly workers and 90 contractors based in Broadmeadows, Lara and Geelong.

“Ford Motor Company is assigning new design work to Ford Australia to support global projects as the company continues to drive improvements to its global Product Development (PD) operations.

“The Australian-based Asia Pacific Product

Jim Hackett and Herbert Diess

Development Centre will take on additional global PD projects, boosting local expertise in advanced electrical engineering, interior and exterior automotive design and engineering, and feature integration,” Ford stated in a media release.

“Ford is revamping its global Product Development operations to better meet local market needs and improve efficiency and quality, which includes a move to five modular and flexible architectures.

“As part of those changes, elements of the Ranger platform will integrate with Ford’s single, global body on frame flexible architecture, which will be led out of the United States.

“Certain Powertrain commodities and systems currently engineered in Australia will also move to other Powertrain sites globally, enabling complexity reduction and scale efficiencies.”

VTE | 11

News | Auto

KPMG 2019 Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index Since the first Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index (AVRI) was published in January 2018, there has been a huge acceleration in investment in AV technology, policy adoption by governments to encourage AVs, and media coverage of the topic.

To help maintain the momentum and report the latest developments, KPMG has updated the index for 2019. The new AVRI adds five new countries including Norway, Finland and Israel, it measures consumer opinion on AVs and provides greater insights into countries, drawing on the expertise of colleagues in KPMG’s firms.

Once again, The Netherlands ranked #1. It is working with neighbouring countries to adopt AV technology for freight, with a plan to launch platoons of more than 100 driverless trucks on major routes from Amsterdam to Antwerp and Rotterdam to the Ruhr valley.

Second-ranked Singapore has created a test town for driverless vehicles complete with traffic lights, bus stops, skyscrapers and machines to recreate its extremely wet tropical weather.

Countries were assessed on 25 different measures within four pillars:

1. policy and legislation 2. technology and innovation 3. infrastructure 4. consumer acceptance.

KPMG conducted consumer opinion research to understand public sentiment about AVs. The findings revealed correlation between countries lower in AV preparedness having the most positive opinion regarding AVs. Australia ranked 15th, gaining top marks in the ‘supportive category’ – amidst broader signs of positive policy and legislative changes – and scored highly on connectivity infrastructure, specifically the availability of high-performance mobile internet.

“Australia has performed well in certain areas but still needs improvement on others. For example, our lower rating on technology and

innovation will hopefully be boosted in future by the recent establishment of a federal body for transport technologies, which aims to unify the states’ and territories’ governments and agencies delivering future transport technologies,” Praveen Thakur, KPMG Partner, Management Consulting said.

You can download a copy of this KPMG readiness index the at www.assets.kpmg/content/ dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2019/02/2019-autonomous-vehicles-readiness-index.pdf

QUT 12-month road trip with AI on-board QUT researchers will take an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system on a road trip of south-east Queensland to ensure the autonomous cars of the future will be smart enough to handle tough Australian road conditions.

Professor Michael Milford will lead a team of researchers from the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision in a project that could help shape the future of road infrastructure.

The project, which is part of the Cooperative and Highly Automated Driving (CHAD) Pilot run in partnership with Queensland Department of Transport and iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre, involves a driver taking an electric Renault fitted with high-tech sensors and computers on a 1200km road trip including a wide range of road and driving conditions.

“During this trip, you could say AI will become our ultimate back-seat driver,” Professor Milford said.

“Engineers at QUT’s Research Engineering Facility have developed a research car platform equipped with a range of state-ofthe-art camera and LIDAR sensors used on autonomous vehicles.

12 | March 2019

“So, as we drive, AI will watch and determine if it could perform the same as a human driver in all conditions.

“The big problem that faces autonomous vehicles right now is that at the moment they don’t drive as well as humans in all possible conditions.

“We’re targeting how the car might use infrastructure, such as lane markings and street signage, to help it to drive well.”

Professor Milford said past studies and his team’s initial experiments show that autonomous cars could have difficulties on

rural roads which often lacked lane markings on the side or even a centre line.

Professor Milford said early testing of the system had already revealed how a paint spill on the road from the back of a truck could confuse a self-driving AI system into wrongly identifying it as a lane marking.

During the 1200km of testing spread over three months, the research team will assess the car’s AI data each day to analyse how it responded to the road conditions, lane markings and road signs. The program is expected to run for 12 months.

Motorsport | News

Great work Griffith Racing Team After an article in last issue’s VTE about FSAE-A and a small gripe regarding a bit of good media PR from the teams we congratulate Griffith Racing for their post-event publication – 2019 Update Griffith Racing Team (GRT).

This was outstanding, the production and content was just what is needed to promote the team and thank the everyone concerned – well done GRT. This is some of what was in the GRT publication: What an amazing 12 months it has been for the students and partners of Griffith Racing Team, 2018 saw the retirement of the beloved 2017 GRT car ‘Krystal’ and the production of the 2018 GRT car ‘Ellie’.

The team worked around the clock to keep Krystal on the road during 2018, getting a total of 250 kms hard testing at our sponsors’ Xtreme Karting. This gave our five drivers valuable seat time, and allowed the team to gain important data, test suspension setups, test cooling system ducting and even test a new fuel system design.

It was great to see Krystal getting used after the 2017 competition.

Ellie saw a complete overhaul, including direct acting suspension, steering re-design, custom intake and exhaust and a new compact fuel system design.

We can’t go past the success of the 2018 GRT car ‘Ellie’, and this update is intended for our many sponsors and affiliates, to keep them updated and thank them for the continued success of Griffith Racing Team.

From a timber jig full of chrome moly tubing to a competitive open wheel race car for the 2018 FSAE-A competition, Ellie has been a huge success.

GRT started off 2018 at full pace, completing the entire chassis in May, allowing the team to enjoy the build process and experiment with the complete redesigned suspension and engine package.

Thanks to the ever hard working Gary at GLS engineering, GRT was able to test three intake setups, resulting in greater mid range torque and smoother throttle response.

Furthermore, our shocks were rebuilt by Afco Shock Doctor, which allowed the team to lay down 130 kms of pre-comp testing, which the team used to dial-in the brakes and get valuable seat time for the drivers.

What a competition (at Winton)! New track, new facilities and international Universities.

Griffith Racing Team was proud to achieve its highest overall position to date.

Thank you to all FSAE volunteers and staff that had to endure the heat, the wind, the rain and all the students. This competition wouldn’t be possible without you.

Griffith was: 5th Overall - Internal Combustion 1st Cost and Manufacturing - Internal Combustion

2nd Acceleration - Internal Combustion 2nd Endurance - Internal Combustion.

The success of GRT would not be possible without the help of all the FSAE teams and culture that is spread worldwide.

Unlike other racing series, FSAE brings together some of the best students and universities and allows them to collaborate on all levels.

GRT would like to specially thank Monash University for its continued support and the use of their facilities, University of Queensland for their friendship and knowledge transfer, University of Auckland for being awesome pit buddies and of course all the other universities and teams that supported GRT down at Winton.

REDARC signs on for Solar Team Challenge REDARC Electronics has signed on as the major sponsor of the TAFE SA Solar Car Team who are preparing to take their SAV (solar-articulated vehicle) to the next three World Solar Challenges.

The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide covers approximately 3000km and is held every two years. In 2017, the event attracted 42 entries from 19 countries.

Project manager Greg Bassani, who is also TAFE SA Acting Director, Mining, Engineering, Transport, Building & Construction, said his team was thrilled with the continuing support of REDARC. “They have been a generous sponsor over many years and so supportive which enables us to be innovative in the design of our vehicle,” he said.

“In 2017, we set a precedent by entering the cab of our Solar Articulated Vehicle into the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. In 2019, we expect to be adding the trailer to the prime mover to show the capability of fully solarwww.saea.com.au

powered articulated vehicles for long distance freight haulage.”

Mr Bassani said TAFE SA students gained valuable knowledge and skills through their involvement in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

“Our students learn teamwork and entrepreneurial skills and gain expertise in solar car design and operation, and importantly, they also see the potential applications for renewable energy technology across a wide range of industries, including transport,” he said.

REDARC Electronics is a technology-based company that designs, manufactures and provides patented, fully integrated, portable vehicular power solutions.

The company’s state-of-the-art facility at Lonsdale includes a 100kw solar power plant

pic (L-R): Anthony Kittel REDARC Managing Director and Brett Mahoney TAFE SA Executive Director Business Development

and a Tesla battery bank, with 370 solar panels capable of generating 140 megawatt hours of energy per year.

Mr Bassani said involvement in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge reinforced TAFE SA’s commitment to training people for careers in industries that were aware of their environmental obligations and looking to minimise their carbon footprints.

VTE | 13

News | Truck

SEA Australia launches electric trucks in US Australian automotive tech company, SEA Electric, announced that it will launch its brand in the United States – with two display trucks. The vehicles are based on popular Ford and Isuzu platforms and will form part of a showcase at the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.

In April the trucks, which are at an advanced build stage, will also appear at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo.

The Ford F-59 ‘Stripped Chassis’ is being built at Ford’s DCP assembly facility in Detroit while the Isuzu NRR is being assembled nearby at a third-party plant.

As part of its expansion the company has established a site in Los Angeles where it has recently appointed its first US-based employees to oversee the newest products and future projects through US certification and distribution.

Establishing a foothold in the United States is a logical first step forward for the company according to SEA Electric Group Managing Director, Tony Fairweather.

“We see a lot of opportunities in the States, it’s an extremely large commercial vehicle market with a strong interest in sustainability – the US is an important part of our growth plans,” he said.

“The country’s high urbanisation and sprawling cities also provide conditions where EV can deliver operators a lot of efficiency gains, not to mention the obvious environmental benefits,” said Mr Fairweather.

The Ford F-59 Stripped Chassis is powered by the SEA-Drive 120b power-system which produces 150kW of continuous power and 250kW of maximum power.

In addition to this the vehicle delivers continuous torque of 1230Nm and a maximum torque figure of 2500Nm SEA Electric said in a statement.

The Pantech-bodied Isuzu NRR also features the SEA-Drive 120b power-system.

With operating ranges of up to 350 kilometres, both vehicles according to SEA Electric remove ‘range angst’ for operators.

Following the Work Truck Show, both vehicles will enter in-service trials with major US fleets.

SEA Electric also has a Ford Transit van program underway which will enter a trial stage in April.

This van features the SEA Drive 70 powersystem which provides continuous power of 75kW, maximum power of 134kW and 700Nm of maximum torque for an operating range of up to 350km also (220 miles).

Batteries for all three vehicles can be fully charged overnight in 4-6 hours using a 20kW on-board charger.

This allows them to be plugged-in and charged from any three-phase power source.

Mr Fairweather said that the SEA-Drive powered vehicles were ideal for urban and metropolitan back-to-base distribution applications.

“For back-to-base operations EV technology is extremely attractive because at the end of the working day, these vehicles are conveniently charged overnight and ready to go again the next morning,” he said.

“Operators can expect a payback period of less than four years on their SEA-Drive powered truck or van, so with a battery lifecycle of approximately 10 years, there are great efficiencies to be gained over the whole life of the vehicle.”

The company confirmed the US venture builds on its Australian operations, which has seen it become the EV technology supplier of choice for the domestic market.

SEA Electric is also well advanced in expanding its local assembly presence in the Latrobe Valley, in southeast Victoria, where it plans on providing capacity to produce up to 2400 CBU van, light commuter bus and truck units per annum.

Kenworth and Toyota collaborate for zero emission truck Kenworth Truck Company and Toyota Motor North America are collaborating to develop 10 zero-emission Kenworth T680s powered by Toyota hydrogen fuel cell electric powertrains.

This collaboration is part of a US$41 million Zero and Near-Zero Emissions Freight Facilities (ZANZEFF) grant preliminarily awarded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), with the Port of Los Angeles as the prime applicant.

across the Los Angeles basin and to inland cities – such as Ontario and San Bernardino – while generating zero emissions other than water vapor, thanks to their fully electric hydrogen fuel cell powertrain integrations co-developed by Kenworth and Toyota.

The grant monies are part of a larger US$82 million program that will put fuel cell electric tractors, hydrogen fueling infrastructure, and zero emissions cargo handling equipment into operation in the ports and Los Angeles basin in 2020.

The Kenworth T680s with the Toyota hydrogen fuel cell electric powertrains combine hydrogen gas and air to produce electricity. The electricity powers electric motors to move the trucks, while also charging the lithium-ion batteries to optimize performance as needed. Sophisticated power

The Kenworth T680s will transport cargo 14 | March 2019

management systems will apportion the electrical power from the fuel cells to the motors, batteries, and other components, such as electrified power steering and brake air compressors. The hydrogen fuel cell electric powered Kenworth T680s will have a range of over 300 miles under normal operating conditions.

Truck | News

PACCAR starts building its new Australian plant On Friday 25 January, PACCAR Australia held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the Bayswater, Victoria plant expansion. The expansion was first announced at the DAF Australian assembly launch in August last year.

The three-year project will involve a 1500 metre factory extension, with upgrades to the paint shop featuring four new paint robots and improved layouts for frame, and cab build featuring a 2.1 metre framer, cab trim, engine assembly and final line stations.

The final test operation is also being relocated away from the main plant and a new 9300 metre on-site warehouse will be constructed.

The project will improve efficiency, quality, safety and will reduce plant congestion, while also preparing PACCAR Australia for future growth producing locally made Kenworth and DAF trucks.

Overseas, PACCAR exhibited three zero emission vehicles at the Consumer Electrics Show (CES) 2019 show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

CES is one of the world’s largest showcases for the latest in technological innovation.

On display from PACCAR was a battery-

electric Peterbilt Model 579EV, a batteryelectric Peterbilt Model 220EV and a hydrogen fuel cell electric Kenworth T680 developed in collaboration with Toyota. These zero emission trucks have been designed for a range of customer applications, including

over-the-road goods transportation, port operations and urban distribution.

Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF are field-testing battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid powertrain vehicles with customers in North America and Europe.

WABCO supplies Daimler new auto/ manual transmissions WABCO Holdings, a global supplier of braking control systems and other advanced technologies for commercial vehicles, announced a global long-term agreement to supply its next generation automated manual transmission control technology to Daimler.

WABCO will develop and introduce its next generation AMT control technology into Daimler’s global truck and bus series production.

With a lighter-weight, robust and more

compact design, WABCO’s new gearbox control unit reduces noise levels, optimizes gear shifting performance and increases driver comfort. In addition, the innovative new system is designed to support an extensive

range of different truck types, gearboxes and market specific functionalities, which will support global AMT technology to increase penetration in all regions.

Phil Taylor retires from Isuzu

Isuzu Australia Limited (IAL) announced that director and chief executive officer Phil Taylor retired from the company on 28 February 2019.

Mr Taylor’s journey with IAL began in Queensland in the early ‘90s during which time he took on several roles in fleet and retail sales and worked to grow the breadth and reach of Isuzu’s Queensland dealer network.

Mr Taylor eventually made the move to a national position based at Isuzu’s Port Melbourne head office 18 years ago. www.saea.com.au

With an eminent career spanning 28 years at IAL, Mr Taylor’s vision for improved performance combined with a passion for great product has seen IAL’s unshakeable position as a top-selling truck brand in Australia – making him one of the most successful and formidable leaders in a very competitive industry.

VTE | 15

News | Rail

HCMT train moves ARA appoints young leaders The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) has appointed eight talented to a new home The High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT) Project entered an exciting new phase when the first new seven-carriage train was hauled from the manufacturing facility in Newport to the new purpose-built Pakenham East depot to continue its testing.

Four diesel locomotives, a power car and 22 wagons hauled the 160-metre new train across Melbourne’s metro network to the new depot in Pakenham East.

under 35 year-old rail professionals to its inaugural Young Leaders Advisory Board (Y-LAB) to harness the ideas of young talent in the industry.

The Y-LAB will report into the ARA Board, providing a younger perspective on Board priorities as well as tabling new ideas and opportunities for the rail industry.

“This is an exciting new initiative to formally engage the future leaders of our industry,” said ARA CEO Danny Broad.

“Our industry is changing fast, with over $100 billion invested in new projects over the next 10 years, and with new technologies being introduced, we need to engage the future leaders of our industry in key decisions and we are excited to do this through Y-LAB,” he said.

“The eight appointed individuals represent the diversity of roles and segments of the rail sector, bringing young engineers, planners, compliance and general managers from

rail operators, manufacturers, suppliers, contractors and consultants to the table.”

Y-LAB begins work at its first meeting in midMarch in Melbourne and will consider two key priorities on the ARA Board agenda; the promotion and branding of our industry and addressing the skilled labour shortages in rail over the next 10 years.

The engineering appointees are: • Jessica Ghaleb, Track and Civil Engineer, Jacobs • Mike Groves, Infrastructure Maintenance Engineer, Network Rail Consulting • Abdul Jamal, Design Engineer, John Holland Group • Amy Lezela, Head of Engineering, Rolling Stock, Metro Trains Melbourne.

The train will now undergo further stationary and track testing ahead of mainline testing on the metropolitan rail network this year.

The 65 High Capacity Metro Trains will be assembled by about 175 local workers at Newport during peak production, with 100 workers already onsite working on the second train.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS 2019 Formula SAE-A Competition - 5 - 8 December 2019 - Winton Motor Raceway, VIC

BE PART OF FORMULA SAE-A AS A VOLUNTEER OFFICIAL Volunteers required for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday Formula SAE-Australasia is the region’s premier student design competition. The event requires teams to design and build small open-wheel racing cars. Teams are judged not only on speed, but also on energy efficiency, cost and a business presentation. Formula SAE graduates are highly sought after because they possess industry-relevant skills and can create immediate value for employers.

To run such a large event, we rely on the generous support of our volunteers. Volunteering offers you the opportunity to see new ideas at work, and share the experience with 750+ university students.

Volunteers receive daily meals, and a commemorative Formula SAE-A polo shirt.

16 | March 2019

To learn more, please visit www.saea.com.au/formulasae Complete the volunteer form at www.saea.com.au/volunteer FORMULA SAE-A IS PROUDLY ORGANISED BY SAE-AUSTRALASIA

Overseas | News

Fiat Chrysler to invest $4.5b in the US Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) confirmed plans to invest a total of US$4.5 billion in five of its existing Michigan plants, and to work with the city of Detroit and state of Michigan on building a new assembly plant within city limits.

The move would increase capacity to meet growing demand for its Jeep and Ram brands, including production of two new Jeep-branded white space products, as well as electrified models.

The proposed projects would create nearly 6500 new jobs.

The plant represents the next steps in a US manufacturing realignment that FCA began in 2016. In response to a shift in consumer demand toward SUVs and trucks, the company discontinued compact car production and retooled plants in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan to make full use of available capacity to expand the Jeep and Ram brands.

“Today’s announcement represents the next step in that strategy. It allows Jeep to enter two white space segments that offer significant margin opportunities and will enable new electrified Jeep products, including at least four plug-in hybrid vehicles and the flexibility to produce fully batteryelectric vehicles,” FCA chief executive Mike Manley said.

FCA plans to invest US$1.6 billion to convert the two plants that comprise the Mack Avenue Engine Complex into the future assembly site for the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee, as well as an all-new three-row full-size Jeep SUV and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models, adding 3850 new jobs to support production.

The company intends to start construction of the new Detroit facility by the end of Q2 2019 and expects to create 1100 new jobs at Jefferson North.

Approximately 700 new jobs were added in December 2017 to support production, and $1.48 billion in the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (Michigan) to build the nextgeneration Ram 1500 truck.

Overall FCA has committed to invest nearly $14.5 billion in its US manufacturing operations, creating nearly 30,000 new jobs since June 2009.

BAE & Rheinmetall joint UK business Rheinmetall and BAE Systems have signed an agreement to create a joint UK based military vehicle design, manufacturing and support business.

The new joint venture will be headquartered at BAE Systems’ facility in Telford, England and will sustain more than 400 jobs in the UK, as well as preserve key technology and engineering skills.

The joint venture will be known as Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL). In addition to managing and growing the existing combat

vehicle support business, the intent is to play a major role in the delivery of the British army’s new mechanised infantry vehicle (MIV) and other strategic combat vehicles programs.

RBSL will also form an integral part of Rheinmetall’s vehicle systems division and will participate in and contribute to various global military vehicle pursuits and contracts.

Advanced research grant for aerospace and electric flight testing The Wolfson Foundation has donated £1.5m to fund stateof-the-art equipment that will advance research into sustainable, electric transport at the University of Nottingham.

The Aerospace and Electric Flight Test Cell Propulsion Unit will take pride of place in the new Power Electronics and Machines Centre, a flagship research facility which is due to open in summer 2020.

“The aerospace industry faces significant technological challenges as it strives towards all-electric flight propulsion in the coming decades. This significant new grant will support the University’s position at the forefront of the revolution in automotive, aerospace and marine transportation, expanding our capacity to discover sustainable ways of transporting goods and people and reduce the global dependency on conventional fuel sources,” Pro-ViceChancellor for the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Sam Kingman said.

The Wolfson Foundation funds research infrastructure underpinning international quality research.

Due to be fully operational in mid-2020 and supported by £9.4m from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (RPIF), which is run by Research England, the new centre will provide novel facilities for experimental work, including a 3500m2 laboratory space.

Critically, it will offer electrical power infrastructure of up to 5MW, enabling research at a scale and power level appropriate to the development of technology demonstrators leading to the exploitation and commercialisation of research.

Building trust between self driving vehicles and humans Jaguar Land Rover has developed a system that projects the direction of travel onto the road ahead of self-driving vehicles, to tell other road users what the vehicle will to do next.

The intelligent technology beams a series of projections onto the road to show the future intentions of the vehicle – for example stopping and turning left or right – as part of research into how people can develop their trust in autonomous technology.

In the future, the projections could even be used to share obstacle detection and journey updates with pedestrians. www.saea.com.au

Trials were set up by a team of advanced engineers, working in Jaguar Land Rover’s Future Mobility division, supported by cognitive psychologists, after studies showed 41 percent of drivers and pedestrians are worried about sharing the road with autonomous vehicles.

The trust trial program also included fitting of ‘virtual eyes’ to the intelligent pods to see

if making eye contact improved trust in the technology.

VTE | 17

Feature | Avalon

Avalon Airshow –

the engineering door is open As a spectacle, the Avalon Airshow is a very worthy contender but that’s for sheer entertainment and we won’t be exploring that in Vehicle Technology Engineer. There was a plethora of media from aircraft, defence magazines and the general media who will report on trade and general admission numbers, flying displays and a myriad of general aviation topics. We’re here for the business of engineering and how that relates to the current environment in Australia for engineers in aerospace and defence, or those trying to get a foot in the door.

Fortunately, as the saying goes – when one door closes another opens – so for those engineers older and young for whom the

automotive door has shut, the aerospace door has opened.

There are many companies operating in Australia, some with large and some with niche engineering workforces in this arena, many are looking at expanding their engineering numbers as this is a growth area.

This report on the Avalon Airshow is really in two parts – one discussing some of the news that hurtled out from companies and government during the show, the second an interview with Hugh Webster an engineer at Boeing Defence Australia who explains what engineers in the aerospace and defence sector can expect to be doing, and how to get a foot in the door.

Airbus

The Pacific region is a key market for Airbus.

Customers from the region have ordered more than 300 commercial and military aircraft and more than 600 helicopters from the manufacturer. The company also has a major industrial presence in the region via its Brisbanebased subsidiary Airbus Australia Pacific.

Airbus Helicopters announced Australiabased Pacific Crown Helicopters and John Cameron Aviation as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) partners, joining New Zealand operators Airwork NZ and Heli Support NZ. Airbus Australia Pacific’s Managing Director Andrew Mathewson said the appointment of these well-established and professional MRO providers were a valuable extension of the Airbus brand in the region.

He highlighted that the appointment of the MRO partners offers owners and operators of Airbus Helicopters in the region an extended network of completion and customisation options, and new service options.

“Airbus would continue to seek out and 20 | March 2019

approve existing maintenance centres as authorised Airbus repair centres throughout Australia and New Zealand. We are currently working closely with organisations located in Victoria and Western Australia, with a view to appoint them and further expand the MRO network,” Mr Mathewson said.

During the airshow, Airbus Australia Pacific was awarded a two-year contract extension to provide sustainment services through to 2024, including engineering, maintenance, and supply support for the Royal Australian Air Force’s C130J fleet.

“Airbus reduced sustainment costs by $10 million over the 2019 to 2024 period. The contract extension out to 2024 will secure the ongoing employment of approximately 220 industry personnel, located at RAAF Base Richmond,” Minister for defence, Christopher Pyne said.

“Australian content is valued at approximately $110 million for the two-year extension and

comprises about 62 percent of the contract,” Minister for defence industry, Steven Ciobo said.

The RAAF No 37 Squadron operates 12 C130J Hercules from RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales. The fleet has been supported under contract with Airbus since March 2009.

Apart from a large range of aircraft on display, Airbus also showed off its Zephyr a new solarpowered stratospheric High Altitude Pseudo Satellite which is currently undergoing trials in Western Australia.

Avalon | Feature

THE WINNERS: AVALON 2019 National Civil Innovation Award: InnovAero Pty Limited (WA) AVALON 2019 National Defence Innovation Award: Defence Innovations Pty Limited (VIC) AVALON 2019 Defence SME Innovation Grant ($15,000): Cryoclock Pty Limited (SA) AVALON 2019 Young Civil Innovator Award ($15,000): Mr Graham Bell, Monash University & NextAero Pty Limited (VIC) AVALON 2019 Young Defence Innovator Award ($15,000): Mr Jimmy Toton, RMIT University and DMTC Limited (VIC)

Avalon Australian Awards Seven Australian innovators were presented with AVALON 2019 Innovation Awards worth $45,000 by the Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Steve Ciobo MP. The winners include an SME whose Sapphire Crystal clock has ‘fast-forwarded’ Defence’s Jindalee radar upgrade by 20 years and a young innovator using 3-D printing technology to build extremely complex rocket motor nozzles that will reduce space launch costs by up to 25 percent.

The Minister also presented the three Innovation Pitchfest Prizes; for Best Innovation, Best Pitch and Most Relevant to

the Aerospace Domain.

The Innovation Awards program was created

by Aerospace Australia Limited, organiser of AVALON 2019.

The first Innovation Awards were presented six years ago at Avalon 2013 and since then some $350,000 worth of SME Innovation Grants and Young Innovator Awards have been presented.

AVALON 2019 Innovation Award for Space Operations and Technology: Inovor technologies Pty Limited (SA) AVALON 2019 Innovation Award for Autonomous and Unmanned Systems and ISR: Cryoclock Pty Limited AVALON 2019 Innovation Award for Training: Toll Helicopters ACE Training Centre AVALON 2019 Innovation Award for Aeronautics and Counter-Drone Systems: InnovAero Pty Limited Three award contenders won a High Commendation The winners of the SME Innovation Grant and the Young Innovator Awards were presented with cheques for $15,000 each and a small financial contribution to further innovation and the development of professional skills.

Young Defence Innovator cuts through Titanium PhD candidate Jimmy Toton from RMIT University in Melbourne, has won the 2019 Young Defence Innovator Award and $15,000 prize at the Avalon International Airshow for his research, which was conducted with Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) and industry partner Sutton Tools.

Because the metals used in defence and aerospace are so strong, making high quality tools to cut them is a major and expensive challenge.

This collaborative project conducted at RMIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct is the first convincing demonstration of 3D printed steel tools that can cut titanium alloys as well as, or in some cases better than, conventional steel tools.

“Now that we’ve shown what’s possible, the full potential of 3D printing can start being applied to this industry, where it could improve productivity and tool life while reducing cost,” Mr Toton said.

The team’s high-performance steel milling cutters were made using Laser Metal Deposition technology, which works by feeding metal powder into a laser beam. As the laser moves and the metal solidifies at the trailing edge, a 3D object is built layer by layer. This additive manufacturing process also allows for objects to be built with complex internal and external structures. www.saea.com.au

Mr Toton overcame significant challenges in getting the layers to ‘print’ to form strong, crack-free parts as he took this from initial concept through to development. He is now working towards establishing a print-to-order capability for Australia’s advanced manufacturing supply chains.

“Manufacturers need to take full advantage of these new opportunities to become or remain competitive, especially in cases where manufacturing costs are high,” Mr Toton said. “There is real opportunity now to be leading with this technology.”

DMTC Chief Executive Officer, Dr Mark Hodge, said the importance of productivity and cost efficiency to Australian manufacturers should not be underestimated.

“Supply chain innovations and advances like improved tooling capability all add up to meeting performance benchmarks and positioning Australian companies to win work in local and global supply chains,” he said. “The costs of drills, milling cutters and other tooling over the life of major Defence

equipment contracts can run into the tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars.

“This project opens the way to making these high-performing tools cheaper and faster, here in Australia.”

Sutton Tools Technology Manager, Dr Steve Dowey said having Mr Toton working closely with them as an engineering intern during his research was crucial in ensuring industryrelevant outcomes.

“This project exemplifies the ethos of capability-building through industrial applied research, rather than just focusing on excellent research for its own sake,” Mr Dowey said.

RMIT’s Advanced Manufacturing Precinct Director and Mr Toton’s supervisor, Professor Milan Brandt, said the work was a clear demonstration of the technology’s potential.

“Additive technology is rising globally and Jimmy’s project highlights a market where it can be applied to precisely because of the benefits that this technology offers over conventional manufacturing methods,” Mr Brandt said.

VTE | 21

Feature | Avalon

Quickstep

JSF program update Australian industry has been allocated a large proportion of the next round of regional F-35 JSF program Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade (MRO&U) workshare awards.

Quickstep a manufacturer of advanced carbon fibre composites announced that employment levels at the company have grown significantly and the company now employs 240 people across Australia up from just 40 in 2012, and the company expects to add another 40-50 employees before the end of 2020.

Of the 388 component work assignments awarded in the Asia Pacific region, Australian companies have been awarded 343 of them.

The latest component repair awards have been granted to BAE Systems Australia, Northrop Grumman Australia, General Electric Aviation, MOOG Australia, RUAG Australia, NIOA, and Survitec.

The components covered include avionics, aircraft composites, electric components, valves, electro-optical sensors, auxiliary power units, hydraulics, landing gear, munitions and weapons, pumps, life support, and the canopy.

RUAG delivered its 35,000th component for the F-35 Program, the company is the global source for the uplock actuator system.

The latest awards follow a 2017 announcement that the Asia Pacific warehouse for the F-35 would be located in Australia, and that air vehicle,

propulsion and component MRO&U would also be performed here.

Not only does this cover the RAAF’s 72 F-35As, but also potentially several hundred more F-35s to be operated by Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and forward-deployed USAF, US Navy and USMC aircraft.

It was announced at the show that construction commenced on the $24 million Engine Test Cell upgrade at RAAF Base Amberley in South East Queensland. It will be used to support Australia’s the F-35A fleet as well as existing Super Hornet engines.

“Defence contracted with TAE Aersoapce, a 100 percent Australian owned company, who has now taken possession of the site and commenced work on the upgradd facility which will be able to cope with the increase 43,000lb thrust of the new F135 engine from the existing 20,000lb thrust of the F413 engine,” Minister for Defence, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP said.

Team Reaper General Atomics Aeronautical Systems outlined the progress of Team Reaper Australia towards achieving the Australian Industry Content requirements.

GA-ASI first unveiled Team Reaper Australia at AVALON 2017 when the team consisted of four companies dedicated to the support, development and manufacture of RPA for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). Since then, the team has grown to 10 members.

Last November, the Australian Government named GA-ASI as the provider of the Armed RPA system under Project Air 7003, with the specific variant – the MQ-9A or advanced MQ-9B – to be selected during 2019.

“We’ve brought together a world-class group of companies that make up Team Reaper Australia, and the team continues to grow,” Linden Blue, CEO of GA-ASI said.

“Following the Australian Government’s selection of GA-ASI to provide the Armed RPAS, Team Reaper Australia activity has increased significantly and all team members committed to supporting ADF requirements.”

While the specific support requirements are still in definition between the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and 22 | March 2019

General Atomics, Team Reaper Australia is currently geared towards the following services and capabilities: • Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Lead Partner – Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), logistics • CAE Australia – RPA training devices, training services, support material and courseware • Airspeed – Sovereign payload pods and in-country composite repairs • Flight Data Systems – Aviation services and products, including environmental testing of line-replaceable units, flight data acquisition, monitoring and analysis • Raytheon Australia – Electro-Optical/ Infrared image systems, and integration of payloads and weapons • Collins Aerospace – Fast Attack (FasTAK) Network Joint Fires on Rosetta Data Link Processor Gateway for Digital Joint Fires • Quickstep Technologies – Composite component manufacturing • Sentient Vision Systems – Autonomous

detection systems, including all environmental ViDAR Wide Area Motion Imagery • TAE Aerospace – Honeywell TPE331 Engine MRO and other powerplant-related component manufacturing • Ultra Electronics Australia – Electronic Warfare (EW) payloads With the selection of GA-ASI to supply the ADF RPAS, Australia joins other top-tier military forces in choosing a MQ-9 variant because of its proven, multi-role combat performance and networking/interoperability.

Known as the warfighters’ choice, the MQ-9 is part of GA-ASI’s Predator series of RPAS, which is the world’s most trusted and capable Armed Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) RPAS, and hails from a family of RPA systems that recently surpassed five million flight hours.

Avalon | Feature

STEM A plan detailing how new jobs will be created to help deliver the Liberal National Government’s $200 billion dollar investment in defence capability was launched at Avalon.

Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, released the first Defence Industry Skilling and STEM Strategy. The strategy outlines how the Liberal National Government will help Australian defence industry meet its workforce skills requirements with an initial investment of $32 million over the next three years.

“The strategy is part of the Government’s plan to grow a robust, resilient and internationally competitive Australian defence industrial base that is better able to help meet defence capability requirements,” Minister Ciobo said.

“Australia’s defence industry is about to enter a new era of growth, thanks to our record $200 billion investment in defence capability, with opportunities in trades, advanced manufacturing, engineering, ICT, cyber security and other fields across Australia.

“There is a long-lead time to developing many of the skills needed by defence industry which is why we’ve developed this strategy.”

Minister for Defence, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, said building a strong defence industry will help Australia secure our interests at home, in our region and across the world.

“The Defence and industry partnership is very important to this endeavour; Australia’s defence industry is vital to our national security,” he said.

Highlights of the Defence Industry Skilling and STEM Strategy include: • $4 million for a new model of skilling support grants, administered through the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, that will help reduce the financial barriers SMEs face when up-skilling their workforce • $2.6 million for the 2019-20 continuation of the Schools Pathways Program • An additional 20 places in the Defence

Industry Internship Program. There will now be 50 internship opportunities in defence industry SMEs to facilitate pathways into the sector • Defence will establish the National Defence Industry Skills Office to improve collaboration and coordination between industry stakeholders.

The Office will help facilitate information sharing, put defence industry’s skills concerns in a national context and leverage opportunities for collective action to meet the sector’s workforce needs.

A national defence industry skilling and STEM summit will be held in in the second half of 2019 to facilitate targeted engagement between key stakeholders and the Office.

CSIRO

RMIT

Boeing and CSIRO have announced 20 new joint research projects for 2019 making this the largest research portfolio in the history of their research and development relationship.

A newly expanded centre at RMIT University is set to support the growth of Australia’s defence and aerospace industries – the Sir Lawrence Wackett Centre will focus on every stage of product development from concept, design and testing.

The projects form part of the current $35 million five-year agreement and signal a new direction toward the joint development of space-related technologies.

The new agreement includes four new joint space technology research projects: Space situational awareness for commercial and civil purposes such as monitoring space debris; on-board image processing and analytics for Earth observation satellites; lightweight, radiation shielding materials for spaceflight; on-orbit manufacturing of space structures or satellite components.

The latest projects expand the scope of joint research to five of CSIRO’s domain areas of expertise: advanced manufacturing, data analytics, energy, future insight consulting services, and space technology.

For Boeing, these projects involve teams throughout the company, including space, R&D and Boeing HorizonX. Boeing HorizonX is a pathfinder organisation that accelerates innovation and explores www.saea.com.au

what’s possible outside of Boeing’s traditional market offerings. The new projects were announced at the Avalon International Airshow in Victoria, where the two organisations are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their partnership.

CSIRO’s Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said the record number of joint projects reflected the strength of the relationship between Australia’s national science agency and Boeing.

“Extending our partnership with Boeing into space technology will fuel new discoveries for us while also driving towards Australia’s target of 20,000 jobs in the local space industry by 2030,” Dr Marshall said.

One of the key strengths will be to bring together expertise from across multiple disciplines including science, engineering, architecture, business, industrial design, policy, law and ethics.

“Partnering with a global leader like Boeing is critical for CSIRO to deliver on our purpose – solving the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology.

Boeing has named CSIRO as a supplier of the year three times, including the past two consecutive years VTE | 23

Feature | Boeing

The Business of Boeing It was quite a struggle getting to the Avalon Airshow from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, three hours later I was minutes away from the interview with Hugh Webster from Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) and racing through the already packed trade halls looking for the stand.

I could have and should have taken a deep breath because Hugh is relaxed and quietly spoken and at that point I was neither.

I’m sure it’s part of the necessary persona of a chief engineer to be calm in the face of adversity and it was certainly made very clear to me during our talk that being part of the business of Boeing meant you had to fit in.

But more about that later.

Hugh Webster is Chief Engineer – New Business Strategy & Business Development at BDA, a role that helps to solve some of the most complex challenges facing defence today. Hugh is also a Boeing Technical Fellow, officially recognised within Boeing’s 140,000-strong team as an expert across the strategic threat environment, emerging Australian Defence Force capability requirements, and how defence can make significant contributions to Australia’s sovereign industry capabilities.

In his own words though he says he looks after the technical strategy for Boeing Defence, thinking about what its defence needs are for the future and what is on the horizon.

“What I’m thinking about is for the next five to 10 years,” he said. “The sort of things that will need a bit of tech investment or maybe shift the way the company is focusing.

“So, when the customer comes to us and says we’d like the company to bid on a particular program we have a team of engineers who can provide that support.

“It’s quite exciting in the sense of being able to crystal ball a little bit.”

Crystal balling in his eyes is the evolution of technology, things like artificial intelligence that’s when the excitement creeps into his voice. But how did he get to his current position with the company.

“My background was formerly in the

(Australian) Air Force, I started out as an electrical engineer in the Air Force and spent a fair bit of time working in some radar units and some air defence units – and worked on a number of different programs,” he said.

With BDA, he has worked on quite a few programs as he has been with the company more than 20 years, many of these were in his words ‘fairly’ complex like how to take one complex system like the Wedgetail aircraft and knit it together with a ground based system. He has also had the opportunity to work with Boeing in Seattle.

“That was a fascinating experience from an engineering professional development sense to get exposure to the commercial side of the business. How we make airplanes, what we do there and also with the US side of the business,” he explained.

Fascinating opportunities are open to engineers with such a large and diverse company and it can provide a very rewarding career choice. So how do you get into aerospace engineering?

For Hugh, it is not just one engineering stream that is needed to fill the hundreds of engineering positions that exist just in BDA alone.

“It’s not just one stream of engineering that goes on, if you think about the cross section of work we have at Boeing, engineers are involved with support to aircraft, engineers do research and development on some very, very exciting technologies, we have engineers who do software development … what sort of opportunities are out there, there’s a fair bit.”

According to Hugh it’s far more important to review what makes you tick as an engineer than what sort of engineering you have

studied or worked with. Far more important to have a well rounded and developed nature and pick an area that you’re interested in.

Boeing wants people who fit in well with their existing teams and can work together to get a program operational.

What BDA wants is a good cultural fit, so its less about the specific technical skills and more about the person. They look for self starters who show initiative, who can deal with the bigger picture to understand the importance of working and contributing to a team effort.

“They’re the sort of qualities we’re looking for, not so much do you understand this particular military standard – that’s something you can learn,” Hugh said.

“My team for example, four engineers who work directly for me, of those four, three were not of defence background. One came out of the power industry, and the other two came out of oil and gas.”

BDA employs around 600 engineers and they cover every engineering discipline – from formal systems engineering, software engineering to aircraft manufacturing.

“We also support a lot of aircraft, like the classic hornets from the ‘80s. We have a real spread of engineering needs,” he said.

“Our perspective is that we manage people according to capabilities so we have four directors who specifically look at the skills’ set of the people we have, the growth that’s needed for individuals, how do they transition from project to project.”

The company has comprehensive training programs for their engineers that deal not only

24 | March 2019

Boeing | Feature

What is Boeing Defence?

Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) is a whollyowned subsidiary of The Boeing Company within the Boeing Defense, Space & Security business unit. with continuing education in engineering but also other areas such as developing leadership. This leads to a culture with long term employees who remain with the company because they can move around different areas of interest. You can start with BDA in engineering for defence and end up working in the commercial space or even a different job description altogether. “[You] can work in one particular area for one project and then transition to a totally different area. People stay at Boeing for a long time because although it’s the same company there are so many different parts to it,” Hugh said.

To attract young engineers BDA has grad programs, usually every year but not always as it depends on the needs of the company. The programs are advertised near the end of the calendar year on the company’s website.

Summer internships are also a good stepping stone to the graduate program or even a permanent position because in that way Boeing has had exposure to the person and also the other way around – it is always about the fit.

While BDA doesn’t have a connection with universities, other areas of Boeing do such as some of the research areas like Boeing Research and Technology, and the highly desirable Phantom Works.

Boeing’s Australian research and technology team marked its 10-year anniversary with the global aerospace industry around this time in 2018.

Boeing Research & Technology – Australia (BR&T-Australia), together with government and university partners, has led and collaborated on major technology breakthroughs spanning advanced manufacturing, autonomous systems, defence, and virtual reality/augmented reality systems.

The organisation expanded from an initial team of 30 to 85 researchers based at three sites across Melbourne and Brisbane, including one co-located at the University of Queensland – a first for Boeing in the Asia-Pacific region.

Technologies that have been developed include resin-infused carbon fibre components that make complex aircraft structures lighter and more efficient to manufacture, advanced robots, autonomous systems that detect and avoid objects in the air, and virtual and augmented reality technology that support training aircraft pilots.

Boeing in Australia’s unique research and product development model comes from the collaboration between the 160-plus members of its two innovationfocused organisations, BR&T-Australia and Boeing’s Phantom Works International (PWI), responsible for advanced prototyping and development that develops near-term transformative technological solutions for Boeing customers.

With so much on offer at Boeing there are plenty of reasons to explore the aerospace and defence sectors as a future area of employment.

“We have done a fair bit of work in the last couple of years thinking the long-term horizon, we have pretty strong growth projections,” Hugh said. “We’re looking at growing 100-200 people year-on-year. We’re looking to diversify so it’s not all in Brisbane – there is growth in the industry.”

The company has 2000 employees at 14 Australian sites and three international locations.

BDA’s strength lies in its world-class, innovative solutions for the support, maintenance, modification and upgrade of Boeing and non-Boeing aircraft; military aircrew training design and delivery; and the design, development and support of Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

BDA is organised into three divisions: Command, Control, Communications & Information (C3I) Solutions C3I Solutions manages BDA’s complex, large-scale development programs throughout design and development.

Key C3I Solutions programs include: • LAND 2072 Phase 2B Battlespace Communications System • Helicopter Aircrew Training System Integrated Services & Support Integrated Services & Support (IS&S) delivers world-class through-life sustainment support solutions for military platforms and complex communication systems in order to maximise operational readiness while reducing the cost of ownership. Services include aircraft maintenance and upgrades; component maintenance solutions; technical support; mission-critical infrastructure support to Defence customers; and training systems and services for Australian government, Defence and commercial customers.

Projects and/or key capabilities include: • Army Aviation Training & Training Support • Boeing Australia Component Repair • F/A-18A/B Classic Hornet Deeper Maintenance • F/A-18F Super Hornet Sustainment • CH-47 Delivery and Operational Maintenance Support • P-8A Interim Sustainment Support & Training System Support • Wedgetail Deeper Maintenance Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance The ISR division is structured to enhance and sustain all Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) capability to the highest of standards in partnership with the Australian Government, Turkish Air Force, Korean Air Force and The Boeing Company. The ISR division is focused on leveraging synergies across the Wedgetail programs and partnering closely with our customer and Boeing’s Airborne Surveillance Command and Control (ASC2) organisation in Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

Projects and/or key capabilities include: • Wedgetail In-Service Support • AIR5077 Phase 5A • Peace Eagle & Peace Eye

www.saea.com.au

VTE | 25

Feature | MEAA

Jiaxing Zhan, Zhengqing Liu, Mohammad Fard and John Laurence Davy, RMIT University

Sound Absorption of Micro-Perforated Panel Produced by Additive Manufacturing ABSTRACT This paper investigates the sound absorption of a multilayer acoustic absorber.

INTRODUCTION The micro-perforated sound absorber (MPPA) is usually a thin panel with a large number of sub-millimeter perforations in the front of a rigidly backed air cavity. According to Maa’s [1] research with regard to the acoustic properties of the micro-perforated panels that by providing the correct acoustical resistance and lower the acoustic reactance, the wide-band sound absorptions can be further enhanced. Nowadays, it has been widely applied within acoustic designs to tune the sound absorption peak frequency and to protect the interior trim materials (e.g. porous sound absorbing material). In general, obtaining desired sound absorption by altering geometric design is relatively easy, however it is rather difficult and costly to process such small size of holes by adopting traditional manufacturing methods, e.g. etching, micropunch and laser technology. Furthermore, the conventional processing methods may lead to veneer tear out, partially plugged, tapered, and rough walls, which may have a significant effect on the acoustic performance of a sound absorber.

Some of the literature has presented feasible methods to produce a micro-perforated panel, such as using the infiltration method [2], the MEMS technology [3], and the use of parallel perforated ceramic materials [4].

On the other hand, the actual drilling shapes were usually used instead of conventional circular holes, e.g. slits were punched to reduce the manufacturing process and cost [5, 6]. The acoustic behavior of a micro-slit sound absorber was presented by Maa [7], and the acoustic properties of a microperforated panel with arbitrary cross-sectional perforations were derived by Ning et al.

[8]. Furthermore, the composite acoustic absorption structure was optimized for specific noise control applications. Wang et al. [9] developed a new multilayer acoustic 26 | March 2019

absorption structure via a bionic method, where the sound attenuation for broadband and low-frequency noises was significantly improved. Kim et al. [10] developed a composite helical shaped porous sound absorbing structure by using carbon fiber to enhance the sound absorption. It was lighter and thinner in comparison with conventional materials. Li et al. [11] have been able to improve the low-frequency sound absorption by using a perforated panel with extended tubes (PPET). And most recently, an alternative method of using 3D printing (3DP) technology to fabricate a high precision sound absorber was introduced and first studied by Liu et al. [12-14], and it is necessary to further study this topic In this paper, the micro-perforated panels were produced using 3DP technology.

The multilayer structure of a single microperforated layer backed with a porous sound absorbing material and an air cavity were studied. This type of structure is frequently used in building designs and vehicle interior trim designs (e.g. vehicle seats). Their sound absorption coefficients were both experimentally measured and theoretically predicted. The acoustic properties of the

The acoustic absorber is consisting of a 3D printed micro-perforated panel absorber (MPPA), a porous sound absorbing material and an air cavity mounted in front of a rigid wall. The micro-perforated panel specimens are printed with various thickness, hole spacing, and hole diameters. The sound absorption coefficients of the acoustic absorbers are experimentally measured by using a two-microphone impedance tube method. The experimentally obtained sound absorption coefficients are theoretically validated by using the transfer matrix method (TMM).

The comparisons show that the measured sound absorption coefficients agree fairly well with the prediction results. By adjusting the hole spacing, hole diameter, and thickness of the micro-perforated panel, an acoustic absorber with high sound absorption peaks can be implemented.

The significant improvement of the sound absorption of the acoustic absorber at low to mid frequencies can be attributed to the porous sound absorbing material.

The frequency of maximum sound absorption can be varied by altering the perforation ratio of the perforated panel and/or the depth of the air cavity behind the panel. The results in this paper provide a new approach to produce micro-perforated sound absorbers for acoustic applications.

Figure 1. (a) Schematic diagram of a composite MPPA layer backed by an air cavity, and (b) its acoustical equivalent circuit model.

MEAA | Feature

theoretical model and its measured results are presented and discussed in order to quantify the acoustic effects of the design parameters within the micro-perforated panels.

THEORETICAL FORMULATIONS In this study, the multilayer acoustic absorbers included an MPPA layer, a porous sound absorbing material, and an air cavity. In order to predict the theoretical acoustic properties of a multilayer sound absorber, the transfer matrix method (TMM) was used.

The transfer matrices of each layer were independently calculated and then connected to obtain the total surface impedance and sound absorption coefficient of the system.

It should be noted that Maa’s model [15-17] including end corrections was used to obtain the input acoustic impedance of the MPPA layer and the JCA (Johnson-Champoux-Allard) equivalent fluid model [18-20] was used to obtain the acoustic properties of the porous sound absorbing material.

Acoustic impedance A schematic of the multilayer acoustic absorber is illustrated in Figure 1. In this case, the incident sound wave Pi is normal to the surface of the MPPA layer. The relative acoustic impedance ZM (normalized by dividing by of an MPPA layer is calculated in the terms of the specific acoustic resistance R and the specific acoustic reactance M. The theoretical formula proposed by Maa including the impedance of the MPPA layer and the end corrections can be obtained from the following equations [15, 16]:

acoustic reactance, is the angular is the frequency, f is the frequency, ambient air density, n is the coefficient of the kinematic viscosity of air, is speed of the sound t, d, p are the thickness, hole diameter and open area ratio of an MPPA layer respectively, and x is the perforate constant.

The propagation of a sound wave in a porous sound absorbing material which can be modeled as an equivalent fluid is fully described by the complex wave impedance and the complex wave number. Assume the porous sound absorbing material is motionless and that the frame of the porous sound absorbing material does not undergo displacement and deformation. Therefore, the air inside of a porous sound absorbing material can be replaced by an equivalent fluid [18-20]. The sound propagation in a porous sound absorbing material then can be calculated by a complex effective density, and a complex bulk modulus, . The acoustic impedance Zp of the porous sound absorbing material may be obtained from the JCA equivalent fluid model, and it is given by [18-20]:

MEASUREMENT 3D printed specimens where is the specific heat ratio (adiabatic constant), Po is the static reference pressure, Pr is the Prandtl number for the ambient fluid, is the tortuosity, is the air flow resistivity, is the porosity and and are the viscous characteristic length and thermal characteristic length, respectively.

Sound absorption coefficient

where r is the normalized specific acoustic resistance, m is the normalized specific

where Z0 is the acoustic impedance of air, which is given by is the wave number in the air cavity in front of the rigid wall and it is given by ko = w/c. kc is the complex wave number of the sound waves in the porous sound absorbing material. it can be calculated by kc = w pe/k(w), and h is the thickness of the porous sound absorbing material. The surface acoustic impedance ZS and the sound absorption coefficient of a multilayer sound absorber then can be calculated by [24]:

Applying the transfer matrix method [21], the total transfer matrix Ttotal of a multilayer sound absorber can be obtained by connecting the individual transfer matrices TM , Tp and TA of MPPA layer, porous sound absorbing material and air cavity in order [23, 24]:

Figure 2 shows selected of the 3D printed micro-perforated panel specimens and the porous sound absorbing material used in this study. It uses stereolithography (SLA) technology to produce higher precision level of micro-perforated panel test specimens through the layer by layer approach by using ultraviolet light. In this study, the test specimens were printed with a fine layer resolution of 25.4 µm.

The polymer material named VisiJet-SL (Clear) purchased from 3D-Systems, Inc. was used in this study. It has the average composition of 60-75% of 4,4’. Isopropylidenedicyclohexanol (HBPA), which was oligomeric reaction products with 1-chloro-2, 3-epoxypropane,

Figure 2. Selected 3D printed micro-perforated panel specimens, (a) S#1; (b) S#2; (c) S#3 and (d) porous sound absorbing material used in this study. www.saea.com.au

VTE | 27

Feature | MEAA

Figure 3. Experiment setup and schematic diagram of the two-microphone impedance tube method.

15-25% of 3-ethyl-3-hydroxymethyloxetane, and 1-5% of a mixture containing triarylsulfonium salts. The density (liquid) and density (solid) of VisiJet-SL (Clear) at 25 oC were 1100 kg/m3 and 1170 kg/m3, respectively.

Thus, the printed MPPA layers are lighter than a conventional MPPA made of metal.

material were: airflow resistivity σ = 289,000 N·s/m4, tortuosity α∞ = 1.46, porosity ϕ = 0.85, the viscous and thermal characteristic lengths are Λ = 112 µm and Λ’ = 224 µm, respectively.

These acoustic material properties were already measured, studied and reported by Liu et al. [25, 26].

On the other hand, thickness and diameters of the 3DP specimens and the hole diameters within the samples are 1 mm, 29 mm, and 0.6 mm and 0.8 mm, respectively. The test specimens were printed with different hole spacing (b = 5 mm, 4 mm, 3 mm) to provide a range of open area ratios. The structural parameters of the 3D printed micro-perforated panel specimens are listed in Table 1.

Sound absorption coefficient measurement

test specimens

hole diameter, d (mm)

hole spacing, b (mm)

open area ratio, p (%)

S#1

0.8

5

1.6

S#2

0.8

4

2.8

S#3

0.8

3

4.6

S#4

0.6

5

0.9

S#5

0.6

4

1.6

S#6

0.6

3

2.6

Table 1. Measured structural parameters for the 3D printed micro-perforated test specimens.

Moreover, a 5 mm non-woven porous sound absorbing material is punched to produce a 29 mm diameter test specimen which can be fitted within the impedance tube. This porous sound absorbing material has an average density of 96.6 kg/m3. The acoustic properties of the selected porous sound absorbing

The sound absorption coefficient was experimentally measured according to the ASTM E1050-12 standard [27] by using the two-microphone impedance tube method.

Figure 3 shows the experiment setup and schematic diagram of the two-microphone impedance tube method, where a B&K impedance tube Type 4206 was used to measure the sound absorption coefficient of the test specimens. The inner diameter of the B&K impedance tube was 29 mm, and the sound absorption coefficients were measured across the frequency range from 500 Hz to 6400 Hz. In this method, a random sound signal was generated by a loudspeaker, the incident (Pi) and reflected (Pr) components were determined from the relationship between the acoustic pressure measured by the two microphones. The complex sound reflection coefficient R of a test specimen was calculated from the corrected complex acoustic transfer function H12 between the two microphones. The normal sound absorption coefficient αn was calculated by an = 1–|R|2. In this study, the acoustic absorber used is consisting of a microperforated layer, a porous sound absorbing

Figure 5. Comparison of the sound absorption coefficient from the measurement and prediction of a micro-perforated panel (d = 0.6 mm) backed by a porous sound absorbing material and 5 mm air cavity, (a) S#4, b = 5 mm; (b) S#5, b = 4 mm; and (c) S#6, b = 3 mm.

Figure 4. Comparison of the sound absorption coefficient from the measurement and prediction of a micro-perforated panel (d = 0.8 mm) backed by a porous sound absorbing material and 5 mm air cavity, (a) S#1, b = 5 mm; (b) S#2, b = 4 mm and (c) S#3, b = 3 mm.

28 | March 2019

MEAA | Feature

layer and a 5 mm air cavity behind the porous sound absorbing material.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Comparison of the results Figure 4 and Figure 5 compare the predicted and measured sound absorption coefficient graphs (one-third octave band) for 0.8 mm hole diameter micro-perforated panel, and 0.6 mm hole diameter micro-perforated panel backed by a porous sound absorbing material and 5 mm air cavity, respectively.

The results shown that the sound absorption coefficient graphs (one-third octave band) obtained by the prediction method agree reasonably well with the measured results. The predicted peak sound absorption coefficient values, as well as their corresponding frequencies also agree fairly well with the measured data. One can notice that the maximum sound absorption coefficient values were obtained when the imaginary part of the normalized acoustic impedance equals zero. Moreover, there are some fluctuation peak values visible at frequencies of 800 Hz and 3200 Hz for the experiment data. Those peaks commonly correspond with fundamental modes of the MPPA layer itself and air resonances of the impedance tube. In short, the results confirm that the micro-perforated panel layer can be precisely fabricated using additive manufacture method and it could also provide predictable acoustic absorption performance when backed by a porous sound absorbing material and air cavity.

Effect of open area ratio Figure 6 shows the variation of the sound absorption coefficient of the micro-perforated panel (d = 0.8 mm and d = 0.6 mm) as the open area ratio of the micro-perforated layer increases. The results show that increasing the open area ratio of the micro-perforated layer yields a higher acoustic resonance frequency for the peak sound absorption coefficient. This has been proved to be true for both cases where d = 0.8 mm and d = 0.6 mm micro-perforated panels were backed by a porous sound absorbing material and an air cavity of 5 mm. This is due to an increase in the open area ratio results in the decrease of the total acoustic mass of all the holes, and thus increases the resonant frequency at which the peak the sound absorption coefficient occurs. Furthermore, the porous sound absorbing material and air cavity behind the micro-perforated panel can produce wider sound absorption bandwidth at high frequencies.

Effect of hole diameter and thickness The acoustic effect of the hole diameter and the panel thickness on the sound absorption coefficient of the 3D printed micro-perforated layer when backed by a porous sound www.saea.com.au

absorbing material and 5 mm air cavity, is shown in Figure 7. In Figure 7 (a), all the sample have the identical thickness of t = 1 mm and hole spacing of b = 4 mm. Within the Figure 7 (b), all the sample have the constant hole diameter of d = 0.6 mm and hole spacing of b = 4 mm. It can be observed that the acoustic resonance frequency for the peak sound absorption coefficients shifts towards the high-frequency range, along with the increase of the hole diameter and thickness of the micro-perforated panel.

However, it appears that using the same hole spacing and panel thickness but different hole diameter provides very similar sound absorption curve. In addition, reducing the thickness of the micro-perforated panel has significantly improve the peak sound absorption coefficient value at high-frequency range.

SUMMARY/CONCLUSIONS This paper investigated the sound absorption coefficient of a 3D printed micro-perforated panel which is backed by a porous sound absorbing material and an air cavity. It is shown that a micro-perforated layer can be produced using additive manufacture method. The sound absorption coefficient of a 3D printed micro-perforated layer backed with a porous sound absorbing material and air cavity is measured and theoretically predicted. It has been shown that the measured results agree fairly well with the theoretically predicted model. The influences of the main design parameters, e.g. panel thickness, hole spacing and diameter are presented. In order to obtain the desired peak acoustic absorption frequency as well as a wider frequency range, it is effective and achievable by either adjusting the hole spacing of the micro-perforated layer or form a combination structure by adopting appropriate porous sound absorbing material layer and an air cavity. To enhance the sound absorption coefficient and peak acoustic absorption frequency further, suitable value of hole diameter and panel thickness should be chosen.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to thank Excellerate Australia Ltd and Futuris Automotive Group for their financial support for this research.

Jiaxing Zhan and Zhengqing Liu is grateful to technical staffs at RMIT University, Mr. Patrick Wilkins, Mr. Peter Tkatchyk and Mr. Julian Bradler in preparing a series of specimens and experiments.

Figure 6. Influence of open area ratio on the sound absorption coefficient for (a) d = 0.8 mm micro-perforated panel and (b) d = 0.6 mm micro-perforated panel, backed by a porous sound absorbing material and 5 mm air cavity.

Figure 7. Influence of (a) hole diameter and (b) thickness on the sound absorption coefficient for the 3D printed microperforated panel when backed by a porous sound absorbing material and 5 mm air cavity.

DEFINITIONS/ABBREVIATIONS MPPA – micro-perforated panel absorber TMM – transfer matrix method 3DP – 3D Printing JCA – Johnson-Champoux-Allard SAC – sound absorption coefficient VTE | 29

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In today’s product development landscape there is a high demand for variety, increasing customer expectations, and near constant innovation. And to top it all off, product lifetimes are shrinking.

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