A tranquil oasis has been created amid the bustle of Brisbane's Central Business District, with the help of stainless. 

The Workhorse of Hydrometallurgy

Posted 17 May 200

Stainless steel has earned a reputation as the material of choice for the mining and hydrometallurgical industries. This article discusses suitable grades and applications and the emerging opportunities for stainless steel in these industries.

ASSDA's Stainless Steel Specialist Course has been incorporated into apprenticeship education by Australia's largest private provider of engineering training.

Stainless steels are widely used in the food industries, including wine production, because of their corrosion resistance and ease of cleaning which result in negligible product contamination.

A stainless steel stackable wine storage and fermentation system has been adapted to carry water for use in hospitals. 

Two 2205 duplex stainless steel elution columns over 12 metres long have been installed in a replacement project at Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines in Western Australia. 

Nearly four tonnes of stainless steel has been used to extend and upgrade facilities at Cape Clairault Winery in Western Australia's Margaret River region.

Stainless steel spiral handrails provide a stunning support for climbers of Perth's new Bell Tower complex.

A combination of grades 304 and 316L stainless steel has been utilised for all contact surfaces in Murray Goulburn's milk processing plant in Rochester, Victoria, which was upgraded in 2000.

The first edition of Australian Stainless featured the flagpole which towers over the new Federal Parliament building in Canberra. Ten years on and fifteen years since it was erected, the flagpole is well on the way towards its planned 200 year life. A condition survey was recently carried out by an ASSDA member for the Joint Houses of Parliament Committee.

Polished stainless steel poles represent a barren wartime landscape at the Korean War Memorial in Canberra. The history of the conflict is etched in curved stainless steel panels. 

Principles of Mig Welding

According to the AWS Welding Handbook volume 2, MIG welding is "an arc welding process that uses an arc between a continuous filler metal electrode and the weld pool. The process is used with shielding from an externally supplied gas and without the application of pressure". The wire is usually supplied in spools and fed through to the welding arc by an electric feed motor, with no manual control ofthe wire feeding process ie semiautomatic.

Sea World's latest attractions, polar bear cubs Lia and Lutik, have captured the public's attention since their arrival from Russia late last year. The one-year-old siblings join resident polar bears Kanook and Ping Ping, who have already given the park one of its most successful years since Polar Bear Shores was built in 2000.

The Tasmanian Government has embarked on a series of bridge renewal projects, using stainless steel reinforced pre-cast concrete to replace old timber structures.

World Class and Australian Made

The Australian stainless steel industry is committed to providing high quality, durable products for the architecture industry.

The superior strength of stainless steel has long made it the material of choice for prison toilet facilities. Innovative styling has now opened up a new market in public restrooms. Increasingly, venues are turning to stainless steel to make their facilities safer and reduce costs in the long term. 

Accurate specification of a surface finish is vital for extracting maximum functionality and durability from stainless steel components. Read Part 2. Read Part 3.

A contaminant-free surface is a critical requirement of the food processing sector and electropolishing is a highly effective way to achieve the level of surface smoothness required for keeping stainless steel components scrupulously clean. 

A new technique for manufacturing high pressure cavity plate for heat exchange applications developed by the Australian stainless steel industry increases the options available to the food processing and manufacturing sectors. 

Lightweight stainless steel sheet, polished to a high level of reflectivity, has been chosen to interpret the layered feathers of one of Australia's national icons, the dancing brolga.