Coca-Cola Amatil is reducing the carbon footprint of its 600ml PET bottles by 22% with the help of stainless steel.

Innovation in process technology and the successful application of stainless steel has led to efficiency gains and sustainable outcomes for one of the world's most recognised brands in the food and beverage industry.

In 2011, Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) announced a $450 million investment in PET bottle self-manufacture, or ‘blowfill’ technology at its production facilities across Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

Blow-fill technology is a manufacturing technique that allows companies to produce their own PET (polyethylene terephthalate)

Stainless steel is the material of choice to specify for severe weather conditions.

The overhead netting of Perth Zoo's Australian Wetlands and Penguin Plunge Exhibit was badly damaged when a severe hailstorm and winds of up to 128km/h swept through Perth in March 2010.

During the storm, a tree collapsed onto the netting which was made from a nylon material.

The original concept for this major renovation project was to use stainless steel overhead netting and painted or galvanised steel for the cabling and the majority of other supporting infrastructure components.

However, when ASSDA members Structural Dynamics was awarded subcontractor

BACKGROUND

Almost all of the stainless steels in use have 16% chromium or more and have nickel or other additions to make them austenitic and hence formable, tough and readily weldable. However, the formal definition of a stainless steel is that it is an iron- and carbon-based alloy with more than 10.5% chromium. Historically, the corrosion mitigation industry regarded alloys with more than 12% chromium as stainless steels mainly because those alloys did not corrode in mild environments. Because of the perceived problem of high initial price when using stainless steels, alloys that are ‘barely’ stainless (and with low nickel

This is an abridged version of a story that first appeared under the same title in Stainless Steel Focus No. 07/2012.

The Nickel Institute's director of promotion, Peter Cutler, and consultant Gary Coates, reveal some of the reasons for the continuing popularity of nickel in stainless steels.

Stainless steel is everywhere in our world and contributes to all aspects of our lives. We find stainless steel in our homes, in our buildings and offices, in the vehicles we travel in and in every imaginable industrial sector. Yet the first patents for stainless steel were issued only 100 years ago.

How

The Fibonacci spiral and the intersecting spines of a nautilus shell have inspired an impressive 23m high stainless steel sculpture at Kangaroo Point Park overlooking Brisbane's river.

Designed by UK public space artist Wolfgang Buttress, Venus Rising features 10,790 individual welds and over 7km of grade 316 and 2205 duplex stainless steel tube, pipe and round bar supplied by ASSDA Sponsor, Sandvik.

Having worked with stainless steel for over 25 years, Buttress said that the material’s strength, ability to look good over time with minimal maintenance, and the flexibility of finishes works well both practically and aesthetically.

“The variety

The Go-Between Bridge

With 14,000 vehicles crossing Brisbane's Go-Between Bridge every day, stainless reinforcement is playing a vital structural role on Brisbane's first inner city bridge in over 40 years.

Formerly known as the Hale Street Link, the Go-Between Bridge connects Merivale and Montague Streets in West End to Coronation Drive and the Inner City Bypass in Milton.

Constructed as part of the Brisbane City Council’s TransApex plan, the Go-Between Bridge was designed to improve cross-river accessibility, reduce inner city traffic congestion, increase accessibility to Brisbane’s recreational and cultural precincts and cater for future residential developments in West End and

Stainless is a key feature in the urban design and revamp of one of the Gold Coast's most iconic and vibrant tourist destinations.

The $25 million Surfers Foreshore Project was commissioned by the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) to redevelop the beachfront area between Laycock Street and View Avenue in Surfers Paradise.

Aimed at improving infrastructure and visitor recreation, the new promenade features new lifeguard towers, amenity blocks, beach shelters, picnic areas with barbeques, and increased pedestrian and disability access to the beach.

Managing Contractor Abigroup Contractors Pty Ltd appointed ASSDA member and Accredited Fabricator J&T Mechanical Installation to

Stainless steel can provide excellent service underground. It is stronger than polymers and copper and its resistance to chlorides and acidic acids is significantly better than carbon or galvanised steels.

The performance of stainless steel buried in soil depends on the nature of the buried environment. If the soil has a high resistivity and is well drained, performance can be excellent even in conditions where other unprotected materials suffer degradation.

BASIC RULES

The Nickel Institute guidelines for burial of bare stainless steel in soil require:

• No stray currents (see below) or anaerobic bacteria.
• pH greater than 4.5.
• Resistivity greater than

As bottled water continues to gain popularity in Australia, maintaining the quality and purity of the water extracted from natural springs is paramount.

This is just one example within the food and beverage sector where hygiene is vitally important and, therefore, stainless steel continues to be the material of choice for processing and storage facilities.

In 2011, Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) commissioned ‘Project Flint’ to upgrade three spring water storage tanks for their Moorabbin plant in Victoria plus an additional two tanks for their Thebarton plant in South Australia.

GEA Process Engineering Australia engaged Byford Equipment on behalf of CCA to

Where Strength Meets Style

Innovation in zoo enclosure design is a key feature of the recently completed $7.5 million makeover of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

The project brief was to create a chimpanzee habitat akin to their native home that would encourage social interaction and allow the zoo’s primate keepers to manage animal husbandry and the group’s changing demographic. The enclosure’s transparency and the ability to withstand the chimpanzee’s remarkable strength and intelligence were essential.

ASSDA member Ronstan Tensile Architecture was contracted by the builder, the Lipman Group, to be the specialist contractor for the technical design

Fabricating equipment for the chemical sector requires solid high quality materials and superior workmanship. In April 2011, ASSDA member and Accredited Fabricator U-Neek Bending Co Pty Ltd put the finishing touches on a radiant helical coil at their factory in Dandenong, Victoria.

The coil, designed as a heater for Titanium Tetrachloride (TiCl4) production, is 11.4 metres long with a diameter of 3.05 metres and required more than 7 tonnes of high grade Inconel Alloy.

U-Neek’s Business Development Manager, John Lovell, said the client chose to have this material shipped from America.
“At around US$1000 a metre, Inconel Alloy is a

The greatest challenge we face is the control of our own success. With 7 billion people on earth, all with an insatiable appetite for a high standard of living, the newest dimension of materials competition is sustainability.

Sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (UN World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). In real terms, that means making choices that do minimum damage to our environment, but support a high level of human development.

The built environment is an excellent place to start. Buildings last

Stainless steel’s star has ascended in the public’s conscience as thousands of Westfield Sydney shoppers enjoy the world-class design and materials on show in its newest retail development.

Covering 103,000m2, the $1.2 billion Westfield Sydney development is bound by the Pitt Street Mall and Market and Castlereagh Streets in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. It integrates Westfield Centrepoint, the Centrepoint Convention Centre, Imperial Arcade and Skygarden, plus a new office tower at 85 Castlereagh Street and an extensively modified and refurbished tower at 100 Market Street.

While the size of the project is enormous, it’s the design that’s turning heads.

Synergy of Lightness and Strength

Artist Wendy Mills’ interest in an ancient Sumerian myth helped bring her vision to reality for a stainless steel sculpture at Willoughby City Council’s new cultural centre.

Described as the cultural home of the North Shore, The Concourse (Chatswood, NSW) incorporates a concert hall, theatre, library, outdoor urban screen, restaurants and retail stores.

Council worked through Pamille Berg Consulting to commission Ms Mills to create an artwork for the library’s water court, which is located below ground level. The 6.1m sculpture, fabricated by ASSDA Accredited Fabrications Australia, is visible from above as well as from

A worrying trend among Australia's major resource companies is the increasing amount of engineering, detailing and fabrication work being sent offshore - a move that has had significant impact on local fabrication. But there are some positive signs in the food and beverage sector that local fabricators are more than capable of meeting design and fabrication expectations.

When ASSDA member and Accredited Fabricator, A&G Engineering, put in a bid to build 10 x 100 hectolitre beer fermenters for Casella Estate - a company best known for their Yellowtail wine label - they had to compete against companies as far

Australian Stainless is a leading industry magazine devoted to showcasing the unique diversity and durability of stainless steel. Since its inception in 1993, Australian Stainless has assisted and encouraged specifiers and end users of stainless steel, with a focus on local fabrication.

For 17 years, Australian Stainless has been enjoyed by more than 8,000 readers across the country. In October 2009, Australian Stainless Online was launched to provide a readily available live news feed to a wider audience around the world. Australian Stainless is published by the Australian Stainless Steel Development Association (ASSDA), a non-profit industry

If a job requires greater corrosion resistance than grade 304 can provide, grade 316 is the 'next step up'. Grade 316 has virtually the same mechanical, physical and fabrication characteristics as 304 with better corrosion resistance, particularly to pitting corrosion in chloride environments.

Grade 316 (U NS S31600) is the second most popular grade accounting for about 20% of all stainless steel produced.

This article follows on from "304 -the place to start" in Issue 10 which is also available on ASSDA's website at www.assda.asn.au

COMPOSITION
Table 1 compares three related grades - 316, 316L and 31 6H.

Grade 316L

The devastation of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake resulted in a revision of standards specifying building materials and products to be used in differing environments. 

One of the products that came under close scrutiny was wall ties (also known as brick ties).

Assessment of the damage after the earthquake found that many walls had 'peeled away' from building structures due to deteriorated wall ties.

A wall tie connects masonry to the structural backing which supports the wall. The most common wall ties are manufactured out of galvanised steel.

Australian Standard AS 3700 - 1998 revised the conditions under which wall ties

Stainless steels are now cheaper than ever, but there is still room to minimise costs (see Table 1), which will improve the bottom line for individual companies, projects and the industry as a whole.

Australia is a relatively 'small fish' in the global stainless industry and, without the benefit of local stainless steel production, loses some flexibility on product availability. Unless you're a very large consumer of stainless steel to a single specification or Standard, ordering to common specifications will reduce costs and increase availability of products.

Suppliers are likely to have products to common specifications. Ordering them reduces the

Stainless steel forms a significant part of a beef abattoir, including the conveyors, fixed and elevated platforms, sterilisers, chutes, hand wash basins and, of late, water supply and wastewater piping. The stainless component may now expand even further in new abattoirs with the recent development of cast stainless steel skids and forged hooks for use on dressing conveyors.

Dressing conveyors in beef abattoirs traditionally use rollers rather than a skid system or, in some cases, extruded aluminium skids and hooks are used. Both of these systems have limited service lives due to the weight of the beasts. They also result