Pyrosearch facilities

The Centre offers a wide range of high temperature test work facilities, which enable materials to be treated under controlled conditions of composition, temperature and gas atmosphere.

Samples from less than one gram to kilogram size can be handled in a variety of furnaces at temperatures up to 1650°C (higher temperatures may be achieved at special request). The test work can also be combined with microstructural analysis with SEM and EPMA and with thermodynamic predictions.

For trace elements, the state-of-the-art Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry technique is can be applied. Experimental studies are integrated with thermodynamic modeling, and thermodynamic calculations, performed using FactSage^TM Software, are used to identify the areas where new data are most needed and to plan the conditions of the experiment. The experimental results are used to improve the thermodynamic databases.

Our major research facilities include:

• Pyrometallurgy Lab: 25 high temperature furnaces (up to 1650°C with ^+/-1°C accuracy) for heat treatment, phase equilibria and slag viscosity studies
• Metallography Lab with a variety of sample preparation equipment
• Materials testing lab with equipment for materials strength and hardness tests.
• Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis: advanced micro imaging and analysis equipment including JEOL 8200 EPMA, Field Emission High Resolution SEM JEOL 7001s, Philips F20 TEM
• FactSage^© software and databases

Other research facilities are available through our research partners across Australia.