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New and advanced materials

Industry Commission inquiry report

Released 04 / 08 / 1995

This report was signed on 8 March 1995, and released by the Commonwealth Government on 4 August 1995.

The report contains the findings of the Industry Commission public inquiry on the research, development, production and processing by Australian firms and organisations of new and advanced industrial materials based on metals, ceramics, polymers and composites of those materials.

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  • Contents

Preliminaries
Cover, Copyright, Signing Page, Acknowledgements, Contents, Abbreviations, Glossary, Terms of Reference, Overview

1 The inquiry
1.1 What are new and advanced materials?
1.2 Properties
1.3 Material life-cycles
1.4 Development drivers
1.5 Structure of the report

2 Producers and users
2.1 World and Australian production
2.2 World and Australian use
2.3 Aluminium alloys
2.4 Metal-matrix composites
2.5 Advanced ceramics
2.6 Advanced polymers and advanced polymer composites
2.7 Rare earths
2.8 Magnesium
2.9 Titanium metal and alloys
2.10 Steel
2.11 Nickel metal and alloys

3 Research institutions and research and development assistance
3.1 CSIRO
3.2 Defence Science and Technology Organisation
3.3 Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
3.4 Co-operative Research Centres
3.5 Universities
3.6 Research and development assistance

4 Commercialisation of new and advanced materials
4.1 Some crucial issues
4.2 Diffusion of materials technology

5 Supply conditions
5.1 Production technologies
5.2 Economies of scale and scope
5.3 Access to technology
5.4 Control of intellectual property
5.5 Technology adoption
5.6 Education, training and skills
5.7 Collaboration
5.8 Availability of capital
5.9 Marketing
5.10 Influence of government regulation
5.11 State government involvement

6 World wide demand conditions and trends
6.1 Substitutability and performance-price trade-offs
6.2 User awareness
6.3 Demand trends

7 Competitiveness of Australian producers and users
7.1 Sources of competitive advantage

8 Value adding and economic significance
8.1 Value adding
8.2 Value adding in use

9 Potential for production in Australia
9.1 Aluminium alloys
9.2 Metal-matrix composites
9.3 Advanced ceramics
9.4 Advanced polymers and advanced polymer composites
9.5 Rare earths
9.6 Magnesium
9.7 Titanium metal and alloys
9.8 Steel
9.9 Nickel metal and alloys
9.10 Building on strengths

10 Making the most use of new and advanced materials
10.1 Awareness raising
10.2 Education
10.3 Research and development

INQUIRY PROCEDURES

A Conduct of the Inquiry

CASE STUDIES

B1 Aluminium and aluminium alloys
B2 Metal-matrix composites
B3 Advanced Ceramics
B4 Advanced polymers and composites
B5 Rare earths
B6 Magnesium
B7 Titanium metal and alloys
B8 Production technologies
B9 The automotive industry
B10 Biomedical applications for new and advanced materials
B11 The steel industry
B12 Nickel metal and alloys

UPTAKE ISSUES

C1 Education, training and awareness
C2 Research and development assistance schemes

References

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