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One-part epoxy changes from red to clear under UV

Master Bond UV15RCL is a low-viscosity, cationic-type UV-curing system with a special color-changing feature. The red material changes to clear once exposed to UV light, indicating that there is UV light access across the adhesive material. Although this change in color from red to clear does not indicate a full cure, it does confirm that the UV light has reached the polymer. This epoxy is an excellent electrical insulator. UV15RCL adheres well to metals, glass, ceramics, and many plastics, including acrylics and polycarbonates.
Learn more.

SPIROL Press-N-Lok™ Pin for plastic housings

The Press-N-Lok™ Pin was designed to permanently retain two plastic components to each other. As the pin is inserted, the plastic backfills into the area around the two opposing barbs, resulting in maximum retention. Assembly time is quicker, and it requires lower assembly equipment costs compared to screws and adhesives -- just Press-N-Lok™!
Learn more about the new Press-N-Lok™ Pin.

Why hybrid bearings are becoming the new industry standard

A combination of steel outer and inner rings with ceramic balls or rollers is giving hybrid bearings unique properties, making them suitable for use in a wide range of modern applications. SKF hybrid bearings make use of silicon nitride (twice as hard as bearing steel) rolling elements and are available as ball bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, and in custom designs. From electric erosion prevention to friction reduction and extended maintenance intervals, learn all about next-gen hybrid bearings.
Read the SKF technical article.

3M and Ansys train engineers on simulating adhesives

Ansys and 3M have created an advanced simulation training program enabling engineers to enhance the design and sustainability of their products when using tapes and adhesives as part of the design. Simulation enables engineers to validate engineering decisions when analyzing advanced polymeric materials -- especially when bonding components made of different materials. Understand the behavior of adhesives under real-world conditions for accurate modeling and design.
Read this informative Ansys blog.

New FATH T-slotted rail components in black from AutomationDirect

Automation-Direct has added a wide assortment of black-colored FATH T-slotted hardware components to match their SureFrame black anodized T-slotted rails, including: cube connectors (2D and 3D) and angle connectors, joining plates of many types, brackets, and pivot joints. Also included are foot consoles, linear bearings in silver and black, cam lever brakes, and L-handle brakes. FATH T-slotted hardware components are easy to install, allow for numerous T-slotted structure configurations, and have a 1-year warranty against defects.
Learn more.

Weird stuff: Moon dust simulant for 3D printing

Crafted from a lunar regolith simulant, Basalt Moon Dust Filamet™ (not a typo) available from The Virtual Foundry closely mirrors the makeup of lunar regolith found in mare regions of the Moon. It enables users with standard fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printers to print with unparalleled realism. Try out your ideas before you go for that big space contract, or help your kid get an A on that special science project.
Learn more.

Break the mold with custom injection molding by Rogan

With 90 years of industry experience, Rogan Corporation possesses the expertise to deliver custom injection molding solutions that set businesses apart. As a low-cost, high-volume solution, injection molding is the most widely used plastics manufacturing process. Rogan processes include single-shot, two-shot, overmolding, and assembly. Elevate your parts with secondary operations: drilling and tapping, hot stamping, special finishes, punch press, gluing, painting, and more.
Learn more.

World's first current-carrying fastening technology

PEM^® eConnect™ current-carrying pins from Penn-Engineering provide superior electrical connections in applications that demand high performance from internal components, such as automotive electronics. This first-to-market tech provides repeatable, consistent electrical joints and superior installation unmatched by traditional fastening methods. Features include quick and secure automated installation, no hot spots or poor conductivity, and captivation options that include self-clinching and broaching styles.
Learn more about eConnect pins.

New interactive digital catalog from EXAIR

EXAIR's latest catalog offers readers an incredible source of innovative solutions for common industrial problems like conveying, cooling, cleaning, blowoff, drying, coating, and static buildup. This fully digital and interactive version of Catalog 35 is designed for easy browsing and added accessibility. Customers can view, download, print, and save either the full catalog or specific pages and sections. EXAIR products are designed to conserve compressed air and increase personnel safety in the process. Loaded with useful information.
Check out EXAIR's online catalog.

5 cost-saving design tips for CNC machining

Make sure your parts meet expectations the first time around. Xometry's director of application engineering, Greg Paulsen, presents five expert tips for cutting costs when designing custom CNC machined parts. This video covers corners and radii, designing for deep pockets, thread depths, thin walls, and more. Always excellent info from Paulsen at Xometry.
View the video.

What can you secure with a retaining ring? 20 examples

From the watch dial on your wrist to a wind turbine, no application is too small or too big for a Smalley retaining ring to secure. Light to heavy-duty loads? Carbon steel to exotic materials? No problem. See how retaining rings are used in slip clutches, bike locks, hip replacements, and even the Louvre Pyramid.
See the Smalley design applications.

Load fasteners with integrated RFID

A crane, rope, or chain may be required when something needs lifting -- plus anchoring points on the load. JW Winco offers a wide range of solutions to fasten the load securely, including: lifting eye bolts and rings (with or without rotation), eye rings with ball bearings, threaded lifting pins, shackles, lifting points for welding, and more. Some, such as the GN 581 Safety Swivel Lifting Eye Bolts, even have integrated RFID tags to clearly identify specific lifting points during wear and safety inspections and manage them digitally and without system interruption.
Learn more.

Couplings solve misalignments more precisely with targeted center designs

ALS Couplings from Miki Pulley feature a simplistic, three-piece construction and are available in three different types for more precisely handling parallel, angular, or axial misalignment applications. The key feature of this coupling design is its center element. Each of the three models has a center member that has a unique and durable material and shape. Also called a "spider," the center is designed to address and resolve the type of misalignment targeted. Ideal for unidirectional continuous movement or rapid bidirectional motion.
Learn more.

What is 3D-MID? Molded parts with integrated electronics from HARTING

3D-MID (three-dimensional mechatronic integrated devices) technology combines electronic and mechanical functionalities into a single, 3D component. It replaces the traditional printed circuit board and opens up many new opportunities. It takes injection-molded parts and uses laser-direct structuring to etch areas of conductor structures, which are filled with a copper plating process to create very precise electronic circuits. HARTING, the technology's developer, says it's "Like a PCB, but 3D." Tons of possibilities.
View the video.

Make nylon 3D-printed prototypes and parts in the office

The new SLS 300 from 3D Systems is an affordable, turnkey, closed-loop 3D-printing system designed to operate in a smaller-footprint environment. SLS 300 makes selective laser sintering available to a broader range of customers with a high-reliability, affordable solution to produce end-use parts. Users can produce tough, durable parts from a range of production-grade nylon materials. Amazing fill, finishing, and clean-up systems.
Learn more.

Heavy-duty data science helps engineers discover new materials for solar cells and LEDs

Schematic illustration of the workflow for the high-throughput design of organic-inorganic hybrid halide semiconductors for solar cells and light emitting diodes. [Credit: Yang lab/Energy & Environmental Science]

 

 

 

 

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a high-throughput computational method to design new materials for next-generation solar cells and LEDs. Their approach generated 13 new material candidates for solar cells and 23 new candidates for LEDs. Calculations predicted that these materials, called hybrid halide semiconductors, would be stable and exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties.

The team published their findings on May 22, 2019, in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.

Hybrid halide semiconductors are materials that consist of an inorganic framework housing organic cations. They show unique material properties that are not found in organic or inorganic materials alone.

A subclass of these materials, called hybrid halide perovskites, have attracted a lot of attention as promising materials for next-generation solar cells and LED devices because of their exceptional optoelectronic properties and inexpensive fabrication costs. However, hybrid perovskites are not very stable and contain lead, making them unsuitable for commercial devices.

Seeking alternatives to perovskites, a team of researchers led by Kesong Yang, a nanoengineering professor at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, used computational tools, data mining, and data screening techniques to discover new hybrid halide materials beyond perovskites that are stable and lead-free. "We are looking past perovskite structures to find a new space to design hybrid semiconductor materials for optoelectronics." Yang said.

Yang's team started by going through the two largest quantum materials databases, AFLOW and The Materials Project, and analyzing all compounds that were similar in chemical composition to lead halide perovskites. Then they extracted 24 prototype structures to use as templates for generating hybrid organic-inorganic materials structures.

Next, they performed high-throughput quantum mechanics calculations on the prototype structures to build a comprehensive quantum materials repository containing 4,507 hypothetical hybrid halide compounds. Using efficient data-mining and data-screening algorithms, Yang's team rapidly identified 13 candidates for solar cell materials and 23 candidates for LEDs out of all the hypothetical compounds.

One representative candidate material, (MA)2GeI4, with a Pearson symbol tI14. [Credit: Yang lab]

 

 

"A high-throughput study of organic-inorganic hybrid materials is not trivial," Yang said. It took several years to develop a complete software framework equipped with data-generation, data-mining, and data-screening algorithms for hybrid halide materials. It also took his team a great deal of effort to make the software framework work seamlessly with the software they used for high-throughput calculations.

"Compared to other computational design approaches, we have explored a significantly large structural and chemical space to identify novel halide semiconductor materials," said Yuheng Li, a nanoengineering PhD candidate in Yang's group and the first author of the study. This work could also inspire a new wave of experimental efforts to validate computationally predicted materials, Li said.

Moving forward, Yang and his team are using their high-throughput approach to discover new solar cell and LED materials from other types of crystal structures. They are also developing new data-mining modules to discover other types of functional materials for energy-conversion, optoelectronic, and spintronic applications.

Behind the scenes: SDSC's "Comet" supercomputer powers the research
Yang attributes much of his project's success to the utilization of the Comet supercomputer at UC San Diego's San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). "Our large-scale quantum mechanics calculations required a large number of computational resources," he explained. "Since 2016, we have been awarded with computing time -- some 3.46 million core hours on Comet, which made the project possible."

While Comet powered the simulations in this study, Yang said that SDSC staff also played a crucial role in his research. Ron Hawkins, SDSC's director of industry relations, and Jerry Greenberg, a computational research specialist with the Center, ensured that adequate support was provided to Yang and his team. The researchers especially relied on the SDSC staff for the study's compilation and installation of computational codes on Comet, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Yang, who was connected with SDSC via the Center's Triton Shared Computing Cluster (TSCC) campus cluster at UC San Diego, said that Comet has saved them more than time. "The value of these awarded computing resources is about $115,600, which also saved our project a great deal of money," he said.

Source: University of California San Diego

Published June 2019

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