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

'a tree a rock a cloud', by Brisbane-based artist Barbara Heath, blends symbols of the innovation and achievement of business with images from the area's original landscape.

The five metre long, three and a half metre wide and tall sculpture, located outside Central Plaza Two, features 21 stainless steel 'fins' and a gold titanium-clad stainless steel cloud, all mounted on a stainless steel base plate. The base plate is hidden from view by stones in a pool of water.

The resulting

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.

Hydrometallurgy involves the extraction and refining of metals in aqueous solutions. It encompasses a range of processes such as leaching, solvent extraction, ion exchange, electrorefining, electrowinning, precipitation and solid/liquid separation for numerous metals including copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, uranium, gold, silver, aluminium and rare earths. As stainless steel is the 'workhorse' material for many of these processes, especially

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

ASSDA member First Choice Training Group is delivering the Stainless Steel Specialist Course as part of the Standard Apprenticeship Certificate Three in Engineering Fabrication (Trade).

Principal Training Consultant, Carl Spruce said the Stainless Steel Specialist Course provided theory lacking in the stainless steel industry.

"There has been a perception that there needs to be better training in the industry and that the existing training was not appropriate," Mr Spruce said.

"Customisation for the stainless steel industry required specialised information and ASSDA

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.

Long life can be expected from stainless steel equipment provided care is taken with:

> Vessel design
> Grade selection
> Fabrication procedures
> Maintenance practices.

The precautions to be taken are not complicated but are most important - neglecting to follow them can lead to rapid failure.

VESSEL DESIGN
Much can be done in the detailed design to improve corrosion resistance. The two cardinal rules are:

1. Design for complete and free

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

STAKVATs feature internal temperature control tubes and a sloped design for complete drainage and radius corners for protection against crevice corrosion and bacteria collection.

Each vat has a storage capacity of 900 litres, can be stacked five high and easily transported on a tray truck. They are also fork-liftable four ways.

The vats are made from grade 316 stainless steel sheet and grade 304 tube. Standard BSM grade 316 fittings are used for the outlets, with door handles and locking pins

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. 

Elution columns are used in the mettalurgical process of extracting gold from carbon.

Carbon impregnated with gold is hot washed with caustic cyanide in the elution columns to dissolve the gold out of the carbon. The gold solution is pumped away while the barren carbon remains in the columns and then is removed for reuse.

The columns hold temperatures of 140°C and operate under pressures of 550 kilopascals (KPa).

he previous columns, constructed from

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.

The project involved the installation of four 5 000 litre red wine hopper fermenters, four 12 000 litre and one 4 500 litre white wine storage tanks and the upgrade of 15 existing tanks of 1 000 -12 000 litre capacities.

Each hopper has a 20 degree sloping bottom to allow complete drainage after service. The design reduces the need for manual cleaning, a potentially dangerous practice due to the build-up of carbon dioxide in the

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

Grade 316 stainless steel tube was used to construct handrails for an internal spiral staircase and for an observation platform on the building's sixth floor.

170 metres of tube was used for the staircase, which was spiralled and fixed to the mild steel structure of the building. Washers and neoprene gaskets were used to separate the stainless steel from the mild steel, avoiding corrosion issues caused by dissimilar metal contact.

The handrails were fabricated by Tubelok Metals Australia in their Cannington (Western Australia) workshop

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 plant comprises an evaporator to concentrate cow's milk and spray dryer to produce various milk powders. Approximately 100 000 litres of milk is processed per hour, with the majority of product for export to over 100 countries. The evaporator and dryer represent more than half of the total project, a capital investment of around A$50 million.

The stainless surfaces and components carry milk feed, evaporated vapour, milk concentrate, milk

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.

The statistics: the 81m high structure is constructed mainly from 16mm thick hot rolled 304L plate: the base plates are 321 and the clusters supporting the flagpole proper are unpolished, cast 304 equivalent (CF-8). The four triangular legs rise diagonally

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. 

ASSDA member MME Surface Finishing polished 1000 lineal metres of 25 nominal bore schedule 10, grade 316 pipe to make 260 poles standing 3.8m high. These were welded and gusseted to 12mm thick plates, chemically anchored to a concrete slab, by the fabricator, ACT Stainless Steel.

The other main components of the Memorial,also fabricated and installed by ACT and polished by MME, are the curved stainless steel panels inside a central viewing

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.

Most materials, except aluminium, use what is termed a ‘constant potential power source’, and this automatically regulates the arc gap by

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 use of stainless steel in the construction of the polar bear enclosure contributes to giving park visitors a close look at the playful cubs and the adult bears. Large underwater viewing windows, supported by stainless steel frames, allow the public to watch the bears swimming

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

The Barnes Creek bridge is the first of three to be rebuilt on Brunie Island, south of Hobart. It utilised 7.5 tonnes of grade 316 and duplex 2205 stainless reinforcing bar in a size range of 12 to 25mm supplied by ASSDA member Arminox Australia Pty Ltd.

The Tasmanian Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources specified stainless steel for the reinforcing to save on ongoing maintenance costs. The location of the bridge presents construction and maintenance challenges,

World Class and Australian Made

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

Vee-cut technology is an example of precision fabrication catering to the demands of architects and designers.

Following the importation of a Japanese vee-cutting machine, Australian manufacturers now offer extremely accurate sheet metal folding, resulting in excellent optical features.

The Amada machine operated by Vee-Cut Australia in Sydney produces tight radius curves with precision, while hardly altering the surface tension of the stainless sheet. This produces minimal distortion even with the use of mirror finishes. The machine is capable

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. 

Vandalism in public facilities is a widespread occurrence, with some pub and club owners forced to replace a toilet every few weeks. While the initial outlay may be higher for stainless fittings, the cost of replacing and installing a ceramic pan can be recouped after just one instance of vandalism. Unbreakable

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

Coated abrasives are important in generating the right surface finish for corrosion resistance, cleanliness, aesthetics or other requirements.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Primary manufacturing processes such as casting, forging or rolling produce a surface finish which may be adequate for the end function. If not, there are secondary processes such as machining, cutting, grinding, lapping or mass finishing using tumbling techniques or barrel finishing.

Surface finishing techniques may be mechanical, electrical, thermal or chemical or a combination. The

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. 

Pillsbury Australia in Melbourne's outer east is one of a growing number of food processors who have opted for electropolishing for hygienic and durable stainless steel components. Pillsbury produces the fresh pasta brand Latina Fresh. The range consists of filled pasta types like ravioli and tortellini for which the fillings are cooked during manufacture, but the consumer completes the cooking process at home. For some years

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. 

'Laser welded cavity plate' has been developed by ASSDA member J Furphy & Sons, a Shepparton fabricator of stainless steel tanks and processing equipment, as an alternative to resistance or plug welded dimple plate used for the heating or cooling jackets on stainless steel tanks, vessels and silos.

A wide range of industries stands to benefit from the new cavity plate, from dairy, brewing, food, wine, pulp and

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. 

Designing and creating a trio of life-size sculptures has occupied much of Allen Minogue's time since his retirement as an engineer and designer.

The birds, inspired by a visit to the Northern Territory, have cast grade 316 legs and heads and feathers made from 2B finish 316 sheet in four
thicknesses, from 0.55mm to 1.2mm.

The feathers are all individually shaped using a hand guillotine and other hand tools. They are then