Click this link if you cannot read the issue below: Designfax - Tech for OEM Design Engineers

April 5, 2011

Volume 7, Issue 13

Unit Conversion Tool

Convert popular spring units such as force, or retaining ring thrust capacities, into metric units with Smalley's new engineering tool. A simple conversion tool allows for units to be converted such as mass and weight, angular measurements, velocities, temperatures, pressures and densities and more. Additional engineering tools allow engineers to design custom wave springs and Spirolox® retaining rings. Custom designs can be manufactured from .200" to 90".
Click here for conversion tool.

In this issue of Designfax

Self-Aware Machine Control Systems
Contactless Power Supply Design
Gas Turbine System For Power Generation
Wheels: Tiny Pump Keeps Tires Inflated
Engineer's Toolbox: Customizable PEEK Implants
Videos+: Technologies And Inspiration In Action

Volvo Designers Crash-Test Inboard Boat Engine
SpaceClaim 2011 Sheet Metal Tools

Most Popular Last Issue:

Wheels: Underride-Guard Crashes
Engineer's Toolbox: Blue-Laser Scanner

Products: Electrical/Electronic, Mechanical, Motion, Fluid Power

*Cover image: Laser-sintered implants use PEEK polymer and EOS machines

News

Army deploying 'Individual Gunshot Detector'

DuPont and Nike Golf collaborate to reinvent golf ball technology

Blind spot detection systems in 25% of new cars by 2016, says ABI Research

Eaton innovation monitors hydraulic hose condition in real time

A little addition with BIG performance...
	The LM 0830 Linear DC Servomotor, measuring just 8x12x30 mm and weighing only 17 grams, provides a peak force of up to 2.74 N. The forcer rod, with a diameter of 4 mm, is available in lengths ranging from 15 to 40 mm. The LM0830 includes three analogue hall sensors and speed control feedback, eliminating the need for additional encoder. Click here for more info.

Feature Articles

The future of machines: Self-aware control systems

Machine builders have made advances in developing technology that can complete repetitive tasks with great speed. See how you can integrate the next generation of machines into your control systems in this excellent article by National Instruments' Christian Fritz.

Read the full article

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Electromagnetic design software speeds development of contactless power supply

An innovative contactless distributed power supply system for modular automation components is being developed by a team lead by Professor Hans-Peter Schmidt at The University of Applied Sciences in Amberg, Germany, with the help of Opera electromagnetic design software.

Read the full article

New turbines promise giant leap in efficiency for power stations

Sandia National Laboratories researchers are moving into the demonstration phase of a novel gas turbine system for power generation, with the promise that thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency will be increased to as much as 50% — an improvement of 50% for nuclear power stations equipped with steam turbines, or a 40% improvement for simple gas turbines.

Read the full article

Wheels: Tiny pump aims to keep tires inflated

DeviceLab, a full-service product development company based in Orange County, CA, recently completed the design and development work on the Loewe on-wheel pump for Wheelpump Corporation. The patented device, integrated into typical passenger car wheels, adds a small pulse of air into the tire camber, if necessary, with each wheel rotation.

Read the full article

Engineer's Toolbox: Customizable craniofacial implant is plastic laser-sintering first

The first PEEK craniofacial test implants to be produced with laser sintering were recently presented by EOS, a leading manufacturer of laser-sintering systems, at the co-located Pacific Design & Manufacturing/MD&M West shows. Using the new process, a craniofacial test implant can be customized to an individual patient using CT-scan geometry.

Read the full article

Most Popular Last Issue

Wheels: Tests show big-rig underride guards often fail in crashes

Engineer's Toolbox: Blue-laser scanner perfect for reverse engineering

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action

NEW! Volvo designers crash-test inboard boat engine.
	Late last year, Volvo Penta crash-tested a new system that separates its high-end Inboard Performance System (IPS) drive (featuring forward-facing propellers and installed in a hole through the hull) cleanly and safely from the hull of a boat should the vessel run aground or the drive smashes into something underwater. To ensure that the calculated simulations were correct, engineers conducted tests on the same kind of crash track used to test cars and trucks. The part of the boat with the IPS drive was fitted on a 10-ton vehicle that was driven into an obstacle at 30 km/h (17 mph). The tests were filmed using a high-speed camera, the collision forces were measured, and the smash-up proved that the designers' computer simulations were an almost exact match for the results of the physical crash tests. Wham. View the video

NEW! SpaceClaim 2011: What's new with STL and sheet metal
	SpaceClaim 2011 enhancements include that you can work with imported STL files, explore unbelievable sheet metal tools, manage large assemblies, access an awesome free TraceParts library, and other mind-blowing upgrades. There's even a borrow-a-license feature! Check out the latest that SpaceClaim engineering software has to offer. (Top middle video) View the video