Designfax weekly eMagazine

Subscribe Today!

Archives

View Archives

Partners

Manufacturing Center
Product Spotlight

Modern Applications News
Metalworking Ideas For
Today's Job Shops

Tooling and Production
Strategies for large
metalworking plants

What can replace a coil spring? You've got better options!

Traditional coil springs can limit mechanical designs. Wave springs offer a space-saving alternative, providing equivalent force and deflection in up to half the operating height while reducing assembly size and weight. There are four wave spring types that can replace a coil spring. Learn how each variant delivers unique performance capabilities to optimize space, efficiency, and reliability.
Read this informative NEW Smalley technical article.

Next-gen metal bonding: 3M Scotch-Weld 8500 Series

Replace traditional fasteners and streamline assembly with 3M Scotch-Weld Acrylic Adhesive DP8507NS. Engineered for direct bonding to bare or slightly oily metals with minimal surface prep, this high-performance adhesive withstands paint bake cycles up to 200 C (392 F), resists corrosion, and holds strong down to -40 C. Upgrade durability, aesthetics, and design flexibility. Bonds many plastics too!
View the video.

3 things you need to get right when 3D printing gears

When businesses decide to 3D print their own gears, they can reduce lead times and costs associated with replacements, prototypes, and small-batch production runs significantly. According to the experts at igus, however, "achieving industrial-grade reliability requires more than just a digital file; there are several fundamental technical basics you must master first to ensure your gears can withstand the rigors of real-world use."
Read this informative igus tech tip.

DURACON polymer with 30% recycled content

Daicel Corporation's High Performance Polymers SBU has launched four new DURACON^® POM grades featuring 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. Unveiled at CHINAPLAS 2026, the lineup includes Standard, Low VOC, Sliding, and Tough options. Leveraging advanced compounding expertise, Daicel maintains quality and mechanical performance comparable to standard virgin resin grades for demanding global industrial and automotive components.
Learn more.

Renishaw unveils revolutionary LIBERTAS™ 3DP tech

Renishaw's new LIBERTAS software technology addresses two of the most persistent challenges in metal AM: poor downskin surface finish and the need for support structures. Users have greater freedom to manufacture complex geometries.
Read the full article.

Innovate like a PRO: Protolabs' new AI-enabled manufacturing platform

ProDesk by Protolabs accelerates innovation for product development and procurement teams. It features real-time, AI-powered quoting with design for manufacturability (DFM) analysis across injection molding, CNC machining, and 3D printing. The platform enables seamless team collaboration and customizes quotes with instant feedback on materials, lead times, secondary operations, and finishes prior to production.
Learn more.

SDP/SI Shaftloc Fastening System

Shaftloc is a unique, reusable locking device for securely mounting mechanical components like gears and sprockets onto shafts without the need for keyways, set screws, or adhesives. Its simple, two-piece design offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional fasteners, providing high clamping force and vibration resistance. Installed with standard tools, Shaftloc is perfect for designers seeking flexible, hubless mounting solutions. Available in four styles.
Learn more from SDP/SI.

How Autodesk Research uses Markforged 3D printing

In advanced R&D, "good enough" doesn't cut it. To pioneer its Performance-Aided Design (PAD) workflow, Autodesk Research partnered with Markforged to close the gap between digital simulation and reality. Using sensors and digital twins, PAD replaces delayed field reports with real-time feedback. To test this high-stakes system, Autodesk built massive UAV platforms -- including a 300-lb aircraft. Facing extreme dynamic loads and weather, these drones provide the ultimate torture test for rapid design iteration.
View the video.

Top Tech Tip: How do you 3D print STL files?

Learn the basics of 3D printing STL files -- the files that serve as the digital foundation for 3D printing -- and a whole lot more from the experts at Xometry. These files have advantages, of course, but did you know they have disadvantages too? Also learn about STL tools and programs, and how to reduce file size or even repair a file you are having trouble with.
Read the Xometry article.

When metals can't survive: Machined ceramics as an alternative

Technical Ceramics are so hard and wear resistant that they cannot be machined with conventional tools -- but they can outlast and outperform other materials in demanding or harsh applications. INSACO's proprietary diamond grinding process and specialized techniques developed over many decades allow the company to produce and document parts to exacting specifications consistently. Learn all about the alternatives you have when metals just can't take it.
Read the INSACO article.

Radio Flyer cuts ebike prototype time radically with Fuse X1 large-format SLS 3D printer

Radio Flyer cut prototype lead times for its Flyer Loop cargo ebike frame from two months to two days using Formlabs' new Fuse X1 SLS large-format 3D printer. "We can now print an entire Flyer Loop cargo ebike overnight and be gluing it together the next day," said Agostino LoBello, product development engineer at Radio Flyer. "I can iterate three times as often with nine times less labor." The Fuse X1 delivers production-quality parts with 50% lower costs and triple the throughput of comparable industrial systems, featuring automated powder handling and a compact, easy-to-install design. [Credit: Image courtesy of Formlabs]
View the video.

Compact industrial sand 3D printer

ExOne has launched the S-Print Pro, a compact industrial sand 3D printer that brings production-grade binder jetting to smaller foundries, pattern shops, and print service providers. Aimed at businesses competing on cost and flexibility, it handles low-volume casting, spare parts, and custom components. The system processes furan binder with silica sand, CeraBeads, or silicon carbide.
Learn more about this capable machine.

Engineer's Toolbox: How to pin a shaft and hub assembly properly

One of the primary benefits of using a coiled spring pin to affix a hub or gear to a shaft is the coiled pin's ability to prevent hole damage. Another is the coiled pin absorbs wider hole tolerances than any other press-fit pin. This translates to lower total manufacturing costs of the assembly. However, there are a few design guidelines that must be adhered to in order to achieve the maximum strength of the pinned system and prevent damage to the assembly.
Read this very informative SPIROL article.

Get reliable labeling done right

Videojet Technologies has released the Videojet 9310 label applicator, designed to simplify everyday labeling on rigid and flexible packaging. Using Intelligent Motion technology, it digitally controls label tension and alignment to ensure consistent placement with minimal manual adjustments. The system features a simple label path, an intuitive touchscreen, and flexible mounting options to reduce downtime and keep production moving.
Learn more.

Your phone is now your smartest hydraulic tool

Commissioning a proportional valve traditionally requires cables, laptops, and complex software. The new Bosch Rexroth 4WRAE valve changes that. Featuring integrated digital electronics and Bluetooth connectivity, it pairs with the "easy2connect" app. Technicians can now visualize performance, adjust settings, diagnose errors, and force solenoids directly from their phones, simplifying setup for IO-Link or analog systems.
Learn more.

Researchers create the densest object on Earth by compressing copper

If copper was found in the core of Saturn it would have the same crystalline structure as the copper pipes found in many homes, according to new research from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Johns Hopkins University.

In a paper published Jan. 9, 2020, by Physical Review Letters, the research team reveals that copper maintains its crystalline structure at pressures ranging from one atmosphere (room pressure) to more than 30 million atmospheres.

Using LLNL's National Ignition Facility, the team compressed microscopic copper samples -- thinner than a human hair -- to pressures of 30 million atmospheres in less than a billionth of a second. These extreme conditions tripled the sample's density, creating the densest object on the planet for a brief moment in time.

In the center of the National Ignition Facility's Target Chamber, researchers created the densest object on the planet for a brief moment in time by compressing microscopic copper samples to pressures of 30 million atmospheres in less than a billionth of a second.

 

 

 

 

"Achieving this microscopic size and these short-lived conditions was a feat unimaginable before the advent of modern engineering," said Dayne Fratanduono, LLNL physicist and lead author of the paper. "Today, experimental physicists can generate and probe the complex behavior of materials at pressures surpassing the conditions found deep within the cores of Saturn and Jupiter. Generating such extreme states of matter requires confining large amounts of energy into extremely tiny volumes, which we accomplished using NIF, the largest and most energetic laser facility in the world."

Preparing the samples and obtaining measurements for this study required leading-edge equipment and diagnostics. The researchers used diamond turning machines to generate microscopic copper "stair steps," whose surface roughness surpassed optical qualities, and precision metrology to measure sample thickness to 1 billionth of a meter. During the experiment, they tracked the copper sample traveling at 50,000 miles per hour using a velocity interferometer -- the world's most sophisticated radar gun.

"Producing high-energy-density states of matter is easy to achieve in practice, but extremely difficult to accurately measure, and NIF is one of the few facilities in the world currently capable of performing such measurements," Fratanduono said. "These unique, precision capabilities enable us to benchmark the compressibility of copper to extreme conditions, so that other scientists in high-energy-density physics may utilize copper as a high-precision standard, much like the National Institute of Standards and Technology provides well-calibrated standards to industry, academia, and government."

To determine how copper stiffness responded to increasing pressure, the research team took a series of X-ray images to monitor the crystalline structure as the copper compressed. They also measured how the speed of sound waves changed as the copper was squeezed. From these measurements, the team benchmarked the behavior of copper at extreme conditions and developed a microscopic interpretation of its quantum behavior.

"Our experiments have shown that we are able to accurately predict the behavior of copper to extreme conditions, and we suspect that this behavior may be common amongst the other noble metals -- metals that possess nearly spherical electron orbitals with one conduction electron per atom," Fratanduono said. "Future work will test our understanding of the quantum behavior of materials at extremes and examine the behavior of more exotic materials."

Co-authors on the paper include Ray Smith, Suzanne Ali, Dave Braun, Amalia Fernandez-Panella, Shuai Zhang, Richard Kraus, Federica Coppari, James McNaney, Michelle Marshall, Leo Kirch, Damian Swift, Marius Millot, and Jon Eggert from LLNL and June Wicks from Johns Hopkins University.

Source: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Published January 2020

Rate this article