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Retaining magnets from JW Winco: Universal and clever

JW Winco has expanded its magnet line to support more applications with new materials, shapes, systems, and even raw magnets. Learn about their latest offerings, including retaining magnets designed for corrosive environments (GN 50.8), encapsulated magnets designed for sensitive or painted surfaces (GN 51.8), handle magnets (GN 53.3), and powerful magnets designed to handle challenging environs (GN 52.6).
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New polymer bearings are PFAS- and PTFE-free

igus has developed a new polymer bearing material called iglide JPF that is free of both per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). This innovation marks an important step in the company's efforts to create sustainable alternatives to conventional plain bearings. JPF is a dry-running, wear-resistant polymer that offers comparable friction and wear performance to iglide J. It delivers high wear resistance and durability.
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New high-speed PSLA 270 printer from 3D Systems

The all-new PSLA 270 projector-based polymer 3D-printing platform and associated new materials from 3D Systems enable faster production times for a wide range of applications. This machine's high throughput and accuracy make it ideal for industries like healthcare, aerospace, automotive, and manufacturing, where precise and durable components are critical. Complementary Wash and Cure systems streamline post-processing and ensure high-quality finished parts.
Learn more including materials and build sizes.

New slim and ergonomic compression latch

Southco has launched the E3 Compact MIM compression latch, bringing new ergonomic and safety features to its durable family of latches in a low-profile package. The E3 Compact MIM compression latch is metal injection molded and has a shorter head (4 mm vs. the normal 6.4 mm), 180-degree ergonomic actuation, and visual indicators machined into the latch and color coded to easily show when it is open or closed. Features a sleek, low-profile, polished look.
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Optimizing seal selection: From O-rings to press-in-place

What is the right seal for my application? The Sealing & Shielding Team at Parker Hannifin is looking to help you out in this blog. Learn some basics and possible modifications, including application and manufacturing considerations, gland options, mating hardware, and more. They are always very helpful over there at Parker.
Read the Parker blog.

Adjustable Spot Cooler provides precise industrial cooling

EXAIR's Adjustable Spot Cooler System offers a low-cost, reliable, and maintenance-free solution for industrial spot cooling needs. This tool offers precision control, versatility, and ease of use for a variety of applications including milling, machining, soldering, gas sampling, welding, and more. Utilizing cool and clean compressed air, the Spot Cooler allows users to precisely adjust temperatures from as low as -30°F (-34°C) to room temperature with the simple turn of a knob.
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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.

Fastest large-format SLA 3D printer in the world

Built on Formlabs' next-generation Low Force Display print engine, the new Form 4L SLA 3D printer delivers unmatched reliability with a 99% print success rate compared to other SLA 3D printers. These benefits, combined with a build volume nearly 5x the size of Form 4, allow Form 4L users to solve big problems and print smaller parts at high volume. Large-scale prints finished in under six hours.
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SOLIDWORKS catch up: What's new in Assemblies?

The last couple of major releases of SOLIDWORKS each introduced significant new Assembly modeling features and workflows. Want to know what's new? Catch up on what you might have missed out on since your last upgrade -- and get a first look at highlights from the upcoming SOLIDWORKS 2025. Some very useful changes!
View the video.

Did you know you can 3D print rubber?

3D-printing materials just keep getting better -- and now there are more choices than ever. Watch as Walter Voit, SVP Polymer Materials, Desktop Metal, describes the 3D printing of DuraChain Elastic ToughRubber photopolymers, which produce tough and resilient end-use parts while eliminating the need for a two-part resin. DuraChain photopolymers also demonstrate a long pot life of roughly one year, depending on environmental conditions, making them more suitable for volume production and reducing waste from spoiled, unused material. These materials are offered exclusively on the ETEC Xtreme 8K top-down DLP systems. ETEC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Desktop Metal.
Learn about this exciting material.
Learn about the ETEC Xtreme 8K DLP systems -- and what makes them so much better.

Best high-speed rotary bearing in THK history

THK has developed its best-performing, high-speed rotary bearing ever: the High-Speed, Double-Row Angular Contact Ring BWH. This rotary bearing has balls aligned inside a cage between the inner and outer rings and is part of the THK Rotary Series, along with the cross-roller ring. The main features of this product are its ability to receive loads in all directions as well as its high rigidity and rotational accuracy, which are equal to that of cross-roller rings. By adopting a new structure to change the rolling elements from rollers to balls, this product achieves the greatest high-speed performance ever offered by THK.
Learn more.

Large bore zero-backlash jaw couplings from Ruland

Ruland Manufacturing has expanded its jaw coupling line to meet the demands of high-torque applications, now offering bore sizes up to 1-3/4 in. or 45 mm and torque capacities of 2,655 in.-lb (300 Nm). Target uses are in precision systems with high deceleration and acceleration curves, such as semiconductor, solar, conveyor, and warehouse automation applications. Features include zero-backlash, industry-leading misalignment capabilities, and a balanced design that reduces vibration at speeds up to 8,000 rpm.
Learn more.

How Nord-Lock washers work

Can you get a design and functional edge with a wedge? In this animated video, Nord-Lock explains the principle behind their original wedge-locking technology, which secures bolted joints even when exposed to severe vibration and dynamic loads. The company says it is impossible for this washer type to loosen unintentionally, due to the wedge created underneath the bolt head and nut.
View the video.

Copper foam -- so many advantages

Copper foam from Goodfellow combines the outstanding thermal conductivity of copper with the structural benefits of a metal foam. These features are of particular interest to design engineers working in the fields of medical products and devices, defense systems and manned flight, power generation, and the manufacture of semiconductor devices. This product has a true skeletal structure with no voids, inclusions, or entrapments. A perennial favorite of Designfax readers.
Learn more.

New patented wave spring engineered for EV market and more

Rotor Clip has just launched its new, patented InterShim™ Wave Spring design, which has been engineered for high-acceleration electric motor applications. It features alternating turns between inactive (flat) and active (waved) turns to ensure reliable performance under torsional loads and precise rotational movement. The highly customizable wave spring's advanced design addresses physical challenges such as extreme forces and vibrations, making it a versatile solution for high-speed and high-stress applications across various industries.
Learn more.

UCLA scientists discover places on the Moon where it's always 'sweater weather'

Researchers found that shadowed areas of a pit (pictured above) in the Mare Tranquillitatis region stay consistently cool during the day and night. The pit likely leads to a similarly temperate lava cave. [Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]

 

 

 

 

By Holly Ober, UCLA

Future human explorers on the Moon might have 99 problems, but staying warm or cool won't be one. A team led by planetary scientists at UCLA has discovered shady locations within pits on the Moon that always hover around a comfortable 63 degrees Fahrenheit (F).

The pits, and caves to which they may lead, would make safer, more thermally stable base camps for lunar exploration and long-term habitation than the rest of the Moon's surface, which heats up to 260 degrees F during the day and drops to 280 F below zero at night.

Pits were first discovered on the Moon in 2009, and since then, scientists have wondered if they led to caves that could be explored or used as shelters. About 16 of the more than 200 pits are probably collapsed lava tubes, said Tyler Horvath, a UCLA doctoral student in planetary science, who led the new research. Two of the most prominent pits have visible overhangs that clearly lead to some sort of cave or void, and there is strong evidence that another's overhang may also lead to a large cave.

Lava tubes, also found on Earth, form when molten lava flows beneath a field of cooled lava or a crust forms over a river of lava, leaving a long, hollow tunnel. If the ceiling of a solidified lava tube collapses, it opens a pit that can lead into the rest of the cavelike tube.

Horvath processed images from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment -- a thermal camera and one of six instruments on NASA's robotic Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter -- to find out if the temperature within the pits diverged from those on the surface.

Focusing on a roughly cylindrical 100-m-deep depression about the length and width of a football field in an area of the Moon known as the Mare Tranquillitatis, Horvath and his colleagues used computer modeling to analyze the thermal properties of the rock and lunar dust and to chart the pit's temperatures over a period of time.

The results, recently published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, revealed that temperatures within the permanently shadowed reaches of the pit fluctuate only slightly throughout the lunar day, remaining at around 63 F. If a cave extends from the bottom of the pit, as images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera suggest, it too would have this relatively comfortable temperature.

A good place for a base? Scientists predict that some lunar pits lead to lava tubes like the one seen here in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The Moon has similar tunnels, which were left behind after molten lava flowed beneath the surface. [Credit: Frank Schulenberg/Creative Commons]

 

 

 

 

The research team, which also included UCLA professor of planetary science David Paige and Paul Hayne of the University of Colorado Boulder, believes the shadowing overhang is responsible for the steady temperature, limiting how hot things get during the day and preventing heat from radiating away at night. Meanwhile, the sunbaked part of the pit floor hits daytime temperatures close to 300 F, some 40 degrees hotter than the Moon's surface.

"Because the Tranquillitatis pit is the closest to the lunar equator, the illuminated floor at noon is probably the hottest place on the entire Moon," said Horvath.

A day on the Moon lasts nearly 15 Earth days, during which the surface is constantly bombarded by sunlight and is frequently hot enough to boil water. Unimaginably cold nights also last about 15 Earth days. Inventing heating and cooling equipment that can operate under these conditions and producing enough energy to power it nonstop could prove an insurmountable barrier to lunar exploration or habitation. Solar power -- NASA's most common form of power generation -- doesn't work at night, after all. (NASA currently has no plans to establish an exploration base camp or habitations on the Moon.)

Building bases in the shadowed parts of these pits allows scientists to focus on other challenges, like growing food, providing oxygen for astronauts, gathering resources for experiments, and expanding the base. The pits or caves would also offer some protection from cosmic rays, solar radiation, and micrometeorites.

"Humans evolved living in caves, and to caves we might return when we live on the Moon," said Paige, who leads the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment.

Diviner has been mapping the Moon continuously since 2009, producing NASA's second largest planetary dataset and providing the most detailed and comprehensive thermal measurements of any object in our solar system, including Earth. The team's current work on lunar pits has improved data from the Diviner experiment.

"Because nobody else had looked at things this small with Diviner, we found that it had a bit of double vision, causing all of our maps to a be a bit blurry," said Horvath. The team worked to align the many images taken by the instrument until they could achieve an accurate thermal reading down to the level of a single pixel. This process yielded much higher resolution maps of the Moon's surface.

Data from the early stages of this lunar pit thermal modeling project were used to help develop the thermal management system of the rover for NASA's proposed Moon Diver mission. Horvath and Hayne were part of the science team for this mission, which aims to have the rover rappel into the Tranquillitatis pit to research the layers of lava flows seen in its walls and to explore any existing cave.

Horvath and Paige are science team members for a new lunar-bound thermal camera (led by Paul Hayne) named L-CIRiS, which will head to the lunar south pole in late 2023 to get the first ground-based thermal images.

Published August 2022

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