Chapter 13
I Colonial Origins
II First World War
III Between The World Wars
IV The Second World War
V Post-second World War
VI After The Joint Project
i Change at Salsbury and Woomera
ii An Australian Empire
iii Multi-National Collaboration
iv Re-Organisation
v Applied Research in the 70s and 80s
vi Armour
vii Organic Materials
viii Aeronautics
ix Surveillance, Detection and Information
VII Science And Decisions At The Top
VIII Armed Services Technology
IX New Tasks And Projects
X Transfer Of Research And Development
XI Acknowledgement
References
Index
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Organic Materials
Chemistry had been the central subject for the earliest defence science work and continued to be of importance in ARL and WRE but was a particular feature of the activities of MRL. In the 1970s, the growing use of polymeric materials to replace conventional materials such as steel and aluminium in defence material presented new problems and new opportunities. Among the topics which were addressed at MRL under the leadership of Dr P. Dunn were the stress cracking of polyamides, organo-metallic compounds, degradation and stabilization of polymers, anti-fouling compounds, textiles and surface coatings.Problems with the performance of plastics, rubbers, textiles and other organic materials in the harsh environment of military use, and the Australian climate, both temperate and tropical, demanded a sound understanding of polymer chemistry, the causes of deterioration, and the role of stabilizers for life extension.
Novel spectroscopic and analytical techniques were developed for detecting oxidation products and the study of stabilizer reactions. A new approach to polymer stabilization based on graft copolymerization was studied. The importance of trace impurities introduced during polymerization was realised.
In the study of the protection of commercial polymers by ultra-violet light absorbers, new information was obtained, and the deleterious effect of the degradation products of the U.V. stabilizers themselves was demonstrated.[64]
A major problem was the deterioration of nylon in parachutes, which deteriorated slowly even when stored. So important is parachute reliability to human survival that random testing to destruction of stored samples is not entirely reliable. A 'safe life' prediction was required. MRL scientists observed that nylon parachute material emitted a faint light which increased with time and which could be correlated with the loss in tensile strength of the fibres. This practical result led to a new pulsed chemiluminescent method for studying the kinetics of degradation in its early stages. This, in conjunction with a new microburst strength tester, has led to reliability in the prediction of parachute performance.
Field trials of military materials had been carried out at the Joint Tropical Trials Research Unit (JTRU) near Innisfail since 1962. In 1977, the unit was amalgamated with the Army Tropical Trials Establishment at nearby Cowley Beach, to form the Joint Tropical Trials Research Establishment (JTTRE) with enhanced on-site laboratory facilities. This provided hot/wet cleared and jungle sites, hot/wet saline, hot/dry, and marine immersion sites to test the results of the researchers and to reveal new problems.
Organisations in Australian Science at Work - Army Tropical Trials Establishment; Joint Tropical Trials Establishment (J.T.T.R.E.); Joint Tropical Trials Research Unit (J.T.R.U.)
People in Bright Sparcs - Dunn, Dr P.
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Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering |  |
© 1988 Print Edition pages 957 - 958, Online Edition 2000
Published by Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, using the Web Academic Resource Publisher
http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/940.html