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A South African delegation which included two CSIR researchers visited Poland recently to investigate potential collaboration opportunities between the two countries that would support the national titanium (Ti) strategy. |
A South African delegation visited Poland recently to investigate potential research and development (R&D) projects for collaboration between the two countries that would support the national titanium (Ti) strategy. They found that the research conducted on investment casting of titanium within the CSIR is very much on par, if not slightly ahead, of that being done in Poland.
The delegation included the CSIR's Dr Willie du Preez and Pierre Rossouw, whose research group focuses on processing the light metals titanium and aluminium. Rossouw says that the visit, which included nine Polish organisations, was limited to manufacturing facilities and research institutions with titanium capabilities.
"The visit was organised and funded by the Department of Science and Technology and included eight representatives from industry and universities, including us. There are a number of similarities between Poland and South Africa, although we have a far wider range of natural resources, especially in the metals category."
Their busy schedule saw the delegation visiting at least two organisations per day. They visited the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the Polish Academy of Sciences; the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (IAMT); the Foundry Research Institute; AGH University of Science and Technology; the aerospace component manufacturer Hispano-Suiza Polska; Rzeszow University of Technology; the aerospace manufacturer WSK PZL (UTC) that is partly owned by Pratt & Whitney; a small family business called Ultratech and the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences. They also met with the President of the Aviation Valley Corporation and two academics at the Division of Applied Plasticity at the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
"Unfortunately, Poland does not do a great deal of research into titanium, as it is not a natural resource. However, we have identified several opportunities for collaboration with some of these organisations," says Rossouw. "In most cases we have more to offer them than the other way around, but there are a few possibilities that we found exciting. Among these are the high temperature characterisation of metals and shell face coat interactions during investment casting, as currently applied by the Foundry Research Institute, and training opportunities for engineers from non-competitive organisations at Hispano-Suiza Polska."
The two academics whom they met, Professors Ryszard Pecherski and Andre Styczynski, were also very keen on working with researchers from the CSIR and sharing their knowledge and research on Ti alloys.
Enquiries: CSIR Communication
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