The AMDTR group owns and has access to a large array of testing equipment and post-test analysis facilities that can cater to the requirements of any research project. Our testing and analysis capabilities are primarily focused on exposure studies and high temperature testing in various environments including air, molten metals, molten salts and high temperature gases.
Test equipment
The testing equipment available to the AMDTR group can be found across several laboratories located at the Gardens Point campus, this includes the high temperature corrosion laboratory in E block and the mechanical testing laboratory in O block. We are also able to custom make testing apparatus to suit a specific need. Click on any of the following links to find out more about any of our specific collection of equipment.
Find out more about our furnaces
Find out more about our mechanical strength testing equipment
Find out more about our gloveboxes and other controlled environment testing equipment
Find out more about our exposure testing capabilities
Find out more about our molten salt characterisation capabilities
Analysis equipment
The AMDTR group has access to a variety of equipment for implementing microscopy, spectroscopy, X-ray and many other techniques for post-test analysis of samples. The researchers within the group are highly trained in some of these analysis techniques, and if there is a particular analysis required beyond our capabilities, the university can provide highly skilled technicians to carry out the analysis work. The analysis equipment is provided to the AMDTR group by QUT’s Central Analytical Research Facility (CARF), which is located in P block of the Gardens Point Campus.
Find out more about the analysis equipment available from CARF.
Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEMs) – AMDTR researchers are trained on a variety of scanning electron microscopes, this includes the JEOL JSA 6360A, Zeiss Sigma VP, Jeol 7001F, TESCAN MIRA3 and the Phenom XL G2 Desktop SEM. SEM is primarily useful for high magnification imaging, and elemental analysis. Many of the SE microscopes available are capable of Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) analysis and are fitted with an Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) detector for elemental analysis of a sample. Our group has used these microscopes for metallographic analysis.
Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEMs) – Our CARF facility has two transmission electron microscopes, the JEOL 2100 and 1400. TEMs provide useful compositional, topographical, morphological and crystalline information about a specimen. The images are taken at a much higher magnification, so the chemical information and images are at a spatial resolution equal to the level of atomic dimensions. The ability to take Selective Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) patterns provides information about the crystal structure of a material.
X-Ray Analysis – CARF has various equipment suitable for carrying out X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis, including the Bruker D8 Advance, Rigaku Smartlab, Rigaku Oxford Single Crystal XRD Gemini, PANalytical AXIOS and the SPECTRO XEPOS. XRD can be used to identify and determine the abundance of a particular phase present in a sample. XRF is useful for quantitative chemical characterisation of crystalline and non-crystalline solids.
Thermal & Mechanical Properties Analysis – CARF’s physical and mechanical properties laboratory has various equipment suitable for carrying out thermal analysis and determining mechanical properties. The thermal analysis equipment includes a collection of Netzsch branded equipment such as the 402C Dilatometer, STA 449F3 Jupiter simultaneous thermal analyser, LFA 467 Hyperflash and HFM 436 Lambda Heatflow meter. The thermal analysis equipment can determine sample mass changes during a thermal event, heat capacity, latent heat, endothermic/exothermic events, thermal conductivity/diffusivity and thermal expansion. The mechanical properties equipment include a Hysitron TI 950 TriboIndentor, Anton Paar MCR302 Rheometer, Matsuzawa Micro Vickers Hardness tester and a Tytron 250 MTS. The mechanical properties that can be determined include nano-chemical characterisation, viscosity, hardness and low load tensile test measurements.