July 05, 2023 | Volume 19 Issue 25 |
Manufacturing Center
Product Spotlight
Modern Applications News
Metalworking Ideas For
Today's Job Shops
Tooling and Production
Strategies for large
metalworking plants
SCHURTER has upgraded its 2-pole classic TA35 and TA36 thermal circuit breaker models with an additional, optional magnetic module. From now on, no additional fuse is required when using a thermal-magnetic type. Depending on the application, the magnetic modules are available either with a slow- or a fast-acting characteristic. Both models are designed for snap-in mounting and with finely graduated rated currents. A variety of colors and lighting options make the designer's choice easier.
Learn more.
The precision and reliability offered by modern rotary encoders are essential in many product categories. These include robotics, machine tools, printing presses, motion control systems, medical equipment, aerospace, gaming and entertainment, and automotive. Learn all about magnetic rotary encoders -- and important developments in the technology's future.
Read the full Avnet article.
OMNIVISION has expanded its TheiaCel™ product portfolio with a new OX12A10 12-MP high-res image sensor for automotive cameras. This sensor, with the highest resolution in its line, improves automotive safety by eliminating LED flicker regardless of lighting conditions. It is ideal for high-performance front machine vision cameras for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD).
Learn more.
Novotechnik's new RSK-3200 Series angle sensors are designed for harsh automotive and off-highway applications. Measurement range is 0 to 360 degrees, and the temperature range is -40 to 125 C. This unit's built-in coupling accepts D-Shaft, with shaft customization available. The sensors are sealed to IP 67 or IP 69k depending on version. RSK-3200 Series sensors are extremely durable with MTTF of 285 years for each of the two channels! Applications include throttle control and EGR valves, transmission gear position, and accelerator position. Very competitive pricing.
Learn more.
Signaling and indicator lights, switches, and buttons -- elements that hardly any machine can do without. The new JW Winco cabinet U-handle EN 6284 integrates all these functions into a single, compact element. The new U-handle is designed to enhance the operation of systems and machines. It features an integrated button and a large, colored, backlit area on the handle. These elements can be used individually or in combination, providing a versatile tool for system control and process monitoring that can be seen from across the room.
Learn more.
Offered in two benchtop and two floor-model options to handle nearly any size part, the SmartScope M-Series systems from Optical Gaging Products usher in the next generation of enhancements in image accuracy, optics, and throughput to the world's most popular 3D multisensor video measurement platform. SmartScope M-Series features fixed optics with a 20-megapixel camera and proprietary Virtual Zoom, combined with advanced sensors, illumination, and accessories, to achieve class-leading optical measurement speeds. Lots more features.
Learn more.
SOLIDWORKS Elite Applications Engineer Alin Vargatu demonstrates his top tips for focusing on your model: finding planes the easy way inside your assembly with the Q key, breadcrumbs, and a better way to use the component preview window. Very helpful. Lots more tips on the SOLIDWORKS YouTube channel.
View the video.
Nexperia's AEC-Q100 qualified, push-pull transformer drivers (NXF6501-Q100, NXF6505A-Q100, and NXF6505B-Q100) enable the design of small, low-noise, and low-EMI isolated power supplies for a range of automotive applications such as traction inverters and motor control, DC-DC converters, battery management systems, and on-board chargers in EVs. Also suitable for industrial applications such as telecommunications, medical, instrumentation, and automation equipment.
Learn more.
H. G. Schaevitz LLC, Alliance Sensors Group is now offering a miniature, lightweight LZ SERIES linear position sensor product line utilizing LVIT Technology™. These sensors are designed for tight spaces that require excellent stroke-to-length ratio. They are contactless devices for use by drones, OEMs, aerospace, robotics, factory automation, or assembly machinery applications where precision in position sensing is crucial.
Learn all the specs.
According to Parker Hannifin, "A Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger is a robust, corrosion-resistant, high-integrity plate-type heat exchanger manufactured using diffusion bonding." Learn about the technology and why Heatric, a Parker brand, "can manufacture a unit up to 85% smaller and lighter than traditional technologies such as shell and tube heat exchangers."
Read this informative Parker blog.
Mastering bend calculations in sheet metal design is a key skill that can impact the accuracy and manufactur-ability of your designs significantly. Explore the various options available to become a pro in this Onshape Tech Tip: K Factor, bend allowance, and bend deduction, with guidance on when each should be used. You may learn something even if you don't use this software.
Read the Onshape blog.
Automation-Direct has added new high-quality and efficient stainless steel Seifert 340 BTU/H thermoelectric coolers with 120-V and 230-V power options. Thermoelectric coolers from Seifert use the Peltier Effect to create a temperature difference between the internal and ambient heat sinks, making internal air cooler while dissipating heat into the external environment. Fans assist the convective heat transfer from the heat sinks, which are optimized for maximum flow.
Learn more.
Raspberry Pi's Pico low-cost, high-performance microcontroller board with flexible digital interfaces is now being offered as a full second-generation product, complete with twice the on-board flash memory, higher performance, lower power consumption, and greater security.
Read the full article.
Linear Variable Differential Transformers are electro-mechanical devices used in many industrial applications to measure the displacement or position of an object. They convert the linear position or motion of a measured object into an electrical output that is displayed on a local readout or input into a programmable logic controller as part of an automated process control system. LVDTs come in two core configurations -- free-core and spring-loaded -- but do you know what the differences are?
Read the full NewTek Sensor Solutions article.
Condition monitoring expert CM Technologies has added a fuel injection acoustic emission sensor to its proprietary PREMET X range of two- and four-stroke diesel engine performance indicators for marine use. The device allows engineers to monitor the acoustic signature of a diesel engine's fuel injection system to detect any problems with fuel injectors, nozzles, and pumps.
Read the full article.
Close-up photo of the new piezoelectric sensor developed by University of Houston researchers. It can potentially work in extreme environments. [Credit: University of Houston]
By Rashda Khan, University of Houston
Extreme environments in several critical industries -- aerospace, energy, transportation, and defense -- require sensors to measure and monitor numerous factors under harsh conditions to ensure human safety and integrity of mechanical systems.
In the petrochemical industry, for example, pipeline pressures must be monitored at climates ranging from hot desert heat to near arctic cold. Various nuclear reactors operate at a range of 300 to 1,000 C, while deep geothermal wells hold temperatures up to 600 C.
Now a team of University of Houston (UH) researchers has developed a new sensor that was proven to work in temperatures as high as 900 C or 1,650 F, which is the temperature when mafic volcanic lava, the hottest type of lava on Earth, erupts.
"Highly sensitive, reliable, and durable sensors that can tolerate such extreme environments are necessary for the efficiency, maintenance, and integrity of these applications," said Jae-Hyun Ryou, associate professor of mechanical engineering at UH and corresponding author of a study published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
The article, which was featured on the cover of the journal, is titled, "Piezoelectric Sensors Operating at Very High Temperatures and in Extreme Environments Made of Flexible Ultrawide-Bandgap Single-Crystalline AlN Thin Films."
Making it work
The UH research team previously developed a III-N piezoelectric pressure sensor using single-crystalline Gallium Nitride, or GaN thin films for harsh-environment applications. However, the sensitivity of the sensor decreases at temperatures higher than 350 C, which is higher than those of conventional transducers made of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), but only marginally.
The team believed the decrease in sensitivity was due to the bandgap -- the minimum energy required to excite an electron and supply electrical conductivity -- not being wide enough. To test the hypothesis, they developed a sensor with aluminum nitride or AlN.
"The hypothesis was proven by the sensor operating at about 1,000 degrees Celsius, which is the highest operation temperature among the piezoelectric sensors," said Nam-In Kim, first author of the article and a post-doctoral student working with the Ryou group.
While both AlN and GaN have unique and excellent properties that are suitable for use in sensors for extreme environments, the researchers were excited to find that AlN offered a wider bandgap and an even higher temperature range. However, the team had to deal with technical challenges involving the synthesis and fabrication of the high-quality, flexible thin-film AlN.
"I have always been interested in making devices using different materials, and I love to characterize various materials. Working in the Ryou group, especially on piezoelectric devices and III-N materials, I was able to use the knowledge I learned in my studies," said Kim, who earned his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from UH in 2022. His award-winning dissertation was on flexible piezoelectric sensors for personal health care and extreme environments.
"It was very interesting to see the process leading to the actual results, and we solved the technical challenges during the development and demonstration of the sensor," he added.
What's next?
Now that the researchers have successfully demonstrated the potential of the high-temperature piezoelectric sensors with AlN, they will test it further in real-world harsh conditions.
"Our plan is to use the sensor in several harsh scenarios. For example, in nuclear plants for neutron exposure and hydrogen storage to test under high pressure," Ryou said. "AlN sensors can operate in neutron-exposed atmospheres and at very high-pressure ranges, thanks to its stable material properties."
The flexibility of the sensor offers additional advantages that will make it useful for future applications in the form of wearable sensors in personal health care monitoring products and for use in precise-sensing soft robotics.
The researchers look forward to their sensor being commercially viable at some point in the future. "It's hard to put a specific date on when that might be, but I think it's our job as engineers to make it happen as soon as possible," Kim said.
Published July 2023