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

Cool! New energy-efficient R290 enclosure air conditioners

Seifert Systems introduces PFAS-free SoliTherm^® SlimLine NEO air conditioners using eco-friendly R290 refrigerant. These units offer high energy efficiency (EER up to 3.6) and a compact, under-8-in. internal depth. Featuring maintenance-free design with external or recessed mounting options, they deliver up to 8,500 BTU/hr, providing flexible cooling solutions for varied industrial enclosure needs. Several models available based on size/cooling capacity needs.
Learn more and see all your options.

Surface inspection: From Army depot to factory floor

Born from U.S. Army requirements for rotorcraft inspection, the GelSight Modulus 3D surface measurement system has surpassed 100 units sold to commercial and Department of Defense customers. The handheld, micron-scale tool with interchangeable probe tips delivers fast, high-res measurements in places traditional tools can't reach.
Read the full article.

What is Cold Metal Fusion?

Cold Metal Fusion is an open industry standard for sinter-based metal additive manufacturing. It combines polymer SLS design freedom with reliable debinding and sintering workflows, enabling complex geometries, lightweighting, lattice structures, conformal cooling channels, and high-precision metal parts with predictable shrink behavior. Now available from TriMech Group, this process offers a faster, cost-effective way to produce strong, high-performance metal parts.
Learn more from TriMech Group.

Cool! Internal threading in hard materials now possible

INSACO has a new capability where they can machine an internal thread in ceramic, sapphire, quartz, and other very hard materials. This advance pushes the boundaries of what's possible to support advanced applications that demand high precision and complexity. Ultra-hard materials are alternatives for when metal can't do the job. Ideal for aerospace, medical, and industrial applications.
Learn more. Video available on right side of page.

ClampDisk micro fastener is new alternative for automotive and consumer electronics

Designed as a unique alternative in assemblies for the automotive and consumer electronics markets, the ClampDisk Press-on Fastener is a newer offering from PennEngineering that delivers a fast, simple way to achieve sheet-to-sheet clamped fastening while replacing the use of standard screws, nuts, and adhesives. ClampDisk eliminates over-installation, cross-threading, stripped screw heads, broken screws, and damaged product. This fastener can be removed easily with a sharp-edged tool.
See how ClampDisk works.

Simplify appliance glass assembly

Henkel's Technomelt PUR 9015 BV/WV is a polyurethane hotmelt adhesive providing high initial strength and long-term durability for glass and large-panel appliance assembly. It enables immediate handling, excellent substrate adhesion, and high thermal resistance, while supporting automated, cost-efficient production. It offers a flexible solution for high-reliability manufacturing.
Learn more.

Made-to-order stamped components for insert molding

Traditionally, OEMs source metal inserts and insert molding services separately. Not anymore. Plastics manufacturers and injection molders are now taking on more of the sourcing responsibility for insert molded parts, and they are partnering with Boker's, who has a long-term proven record for delivering precision stampings with quick turnaround times and ensuring metal inserts are mold-ready upon delivery. Boker's has immediate access to over 2,000 commonly specified and hard-to-find materials.
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.

Epoxy engineered for heat-sink bonding

Master Bond EP54TC is a two-component epoxy engineered for heat-sink bonding and thermal management applications. Featuring the highest thermal conductivity in the Master Bond electrically insulating portfolio, it delivers exceptional heat dissipation while remaining electrically non-conductive and compliant with ASTM E595 NASA low outgassing requirements. It supports thin bond lines and efficient void filling to maximize thermal performance.
Learn more.

Metal 3D printing: Right at your desktop

From prototyping to tooling or batch production of end-use parts, the Studio System 2 from Desktop Metal brings metal 3D printing to any office, studio, or lab setting. This powder- and laser-free system consists of an easy-to-adopt two-step process: print using pre-bound metal rod feedstock and then sinter. It requires minimal training and operator intervention. Combined with next-gen Separable Supports and a software-controlled workflow, the Studio System makes metal 3D printing simpler than ever. This platform offers more materials than any other metal extrusion 3D-printing system on the market, including Inconel 625, titanium (Ti64), copper, tool steels, and stainless steels.
View the video and learn more.

Metal 3D printing: EOS adds four new materials

Industrial 3D-printing supplier EOS has added four new metal additive manufacturing materials to its portfolio: an iron-nickel alloy that boasts stability under fluctuating temps, a nickel alloy with high strength and extreme corrosion resistance, a low-alloyed steel prized for its high toughness and strength, and an industrial-grade stainless steel. Each has been optimized for EOS Laser Powder Bed Fusion systems.
Get all the details.

Application Note: Disc springs in mechanical braking system

Braking systems for off-highway equipment are commonly designed to be hydraulically actuated, but without an additional fail-safe system, this design alone has limited reliability. If a hydraulic seal is compromised, or the hydraulic cylinder loses pressure for any reason, the brakes fail. One solid mechanical back-up design uses SPIROL disc springs.
Read the full article.

Configurable welding platform for flexible manufacturing

Emerson's new Branson Polaris Ultrasonic Welding Platform offers a highly configurable, smart solution for advanced manufacturing. It features secure connectivity and real-time control to join diverse materials, from medical devices to food packaging. With adaptable power supplies and actuators, the system scales from benchtop lab trials to fully automated production lines, optimizing footprint and data storage to meet complex application needs.
Learn more.

SPIROL receives 2025 Supplier Excellence Recognition Award from Caterpillar

Kudos to SPIROL! The engineered fasteners manufacturer has received the 2025 Supplier Excellence Recognition Award from Caterpillar Inc. This prestigious award recognizes suppliers who demonstrate world-class performance and a sustained commitment to quality, delivery, and operational excellence.
Read the full article.

Eliminate cotters, bolts, nuts with SLIC Pin^®

The SLIC Pin (Self-Locking Implanted Cotter Pin) from Pivot Point is a pin and cotter all in one. This one-piece locking clevis pin is cost saving, fast, and secure. It functions as a quick locking pin wherever you need a fast-lock function. It features a spring-loaded plunger that functions as an easy insertion ramp. This revolutionary fastening pin is very popular and used successfully in a wide range of applications.
Learn more.

Why does static friction weaken at higher loads? Researchers have an explanation

Picture yourself at a busy pedestrian crossing. When the light is red, everyone waits -- until one person starts to cross. Soon, others follow, and, eventually, everyone follows the crowd and crosses. Physicists in Amsterdam have discovered that a very similar process happens at the microscopic level, when two touching surfaces start to slide. Their results were published in Physical Review Letters at the end of April.

In their experiment, Liang Peng, Thibault Roch, Daniel Bonn, and Bart Weber pressed a smooth silicon surface against a rough one. The researchers, from the University of Amsterdam and the Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography, then explored how the friction behaved when the strength with which the two surfaces are pressed together was varied. Does it get harder to slide the two surfaces along one another when one presses harder? If so or if not, why?

Understanding the why
It turned out that the amount of friction depends on a very interesting underlying process. At low applied force, only one tiny contact point -- a so-called "asperity" -- bears the load, and it needs to be pushed hard before it slips. However, as the force perpendicular to the interface increases, many asperities come into contact. The team discovered that in this situation, once a few asperities start slipping, others are triggered to follow -- just like the first bold pedestrians prompt a crowd to cross.

As a result, and perhaps counterintuitively, the surface starts sliding more easily, and the relative resistance to motion -- the so-called static friction coefficient -- decreases.

This sketch shows what the researchers see when they zoom in strongly on the interface between two materials. The rougher material (gray, on top) touches the smoother material (purple, bottom) in various asperities. [Credit: Image by Bart Weber/Courtesy of University of Amsterdam Institute of Physics]

Using a simple mathematical model to support their experiments, the researchers were able to show that the crowd-like behavior of the asperities explains why static friction weakens at higher loads.

From semiconductors to earthquakes
The results have applications at small and large scales. At small scales, in the semiconductor industry, the construction of electronic devices often requires clamping curved surfaces to a flat table. This results in an interface that is right at the boundary of slipping and not slipping. The new research explains how the onset of sliding is influenced by the scale of the contact, which is important to know when accurately constructing devices using all sorts of materials.

At larger scales, earthquakes are the result of the onset of sliding between sections of the Earth's crust. Understanding how this slip starts, and what effects become important when interfaces get bigger, can support our understanding of how earthquakes come about, and it may help predict them in the future.

Source: University of Amsterdam Institute of Physics

Published June 2025

Rate this article