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Flexible planetary gearheads: Quiet, extremely robust

FAULHABER GPT gearheads for miniature and micro motors deliver high power density, exceptional flexibility, and excellent cost efficiency. Designed for seamless integration with diverse motors and encoders, these compact planetary drives feature hardened stainless steel components that reliably withstand extreme torques and abrupt load changes. Offered in standard, low-noise, and high-torque variants, they ensure precise, durable performance across wide operating temperature ranges.
Learn more.

What is a low-waving linear motion guide?

If you are having a problem with your linear guides not always staying perfectly straight during use, it may be due to a phenomenon called waving -- a problem that is particularly critical in high-precision markets such as semiconductor and LCD equipment-related applications or machine tools. Thankfully, THK has an answer.
Read the full article.

NORD serves up sweet energy and cost savings for industrial bakeries

NORD DRIVE-SYSTEMS offers robust, highly configurable drive solutions designed to optimize efficiency, ensure hygiene, and reduce the TCO for automated bakery systems. From industrial-scale mixing and portioning to baking, cooling, and packaging, NORD's modular product portfolio delivers precise, reliable performance across every stage of production.
Read the full article. You may learn something even if you are not in the baking industry.

Key considerations for battery-powered motors

Battery-powered motor applications require careful design considerations to pair motor performance and power consumption profiles in concert with the correct battery type. This Power Electric article covers power requirements, performance considerations, and battery choices to assist you in selecting an efficient motor and a battery with the appropriate capacity. Good technical info.
Read the Power Electric technical article.

Driving next-gen pump and fan applications: Sinamics G210X

The Sinamics G210X is a new frequency converter for advanced pump, fan, and compressor applications, combining easy engineering with robust design. Integrated functions, seamless TIA Portal integration, and a web server reduce PLC effort to speed up commissioning, operation, and diagnostics. IP55 protection, 3C3 coating, and S2 system redundancy ensure reliable operation in demanding environments.
Learn more.

New Exlar food-grade actuator

Curtiss-Wright's Actuation Division has expanded its Exlar line with hygienic electric actuators using FDA-approved materials and finishes. Designed for food, beverage, packaging, and pharmaceutical automation, the new GTF unit enables economical USDA, 3-A, BISSC, and EHEDG certification. Its IP69K washdown option, inverted roller screw, and compact servo-driven design deliver reliable, high-performance motion for hygienic machinery.
Learn more.

New Texas conveyor system is 42 miles long!

SEW-EURODRIVE is helping power one of the most ambitious bulk material handling projects in North America through its contribution to the Dune Express conveyor system, a record-setting 42-mile single-flight conveyor across the Permian Basin.
Read the full article.

Compact servo drives for harsh environs

Built on Copley's proven NanoPlus platform, the compact, 1.2-oz R-Series Nano servo drives withstand extreme temperatures, vibration, shock, and humidity. Available in R47 (CANopen) and R48 (EtherCAT) models, they suit space-constrained, harsh environments such as mil/aero robotics and gimbals. This commercial off-the-shelf series provides a hardened option without defense-specific development lead times.
Learn more from Copley Controls.

Hybrid actuator with force up to 14,726 lb

Kyntronics' new all-electric HyCore hybrid actuator is a compact, low-cost alternative to traditional hydraulic, pneumatic, and electro-mechanical systems. Engineered for OEMs, it delivers up to 14,726 lb of force. The self-contained design eliminates leaks and wear, providing precise control, shock-load tolerance, and high efficiency. It simplifies integration and lowers operating costs for mobile equipment, packaging, assembly automation, and more.
Learn more.

SDP/SI motion products: Best sellers

SDP/SI's best sellers aren't just popular -- they're proven. These are the motion components their customers return to time and again for precision, reliability, and unbeatable value. From belts and pulleys to gears, bearings, and couplings, each product has earned its place through consistent performance in real-world applications.
Learn more and see the full products list.

Automated part grinding and finishing in one unit!

Grinding large fabrications is a classic dull, dirty, and dangerous task perfectly suited for automation, yet traditional setups require multiple costly robots. At Automate 2026, Güdel debuted a single-robot solution that utilizes two extra degrees of freedom to finish massive surfaces without complex part repositioning.
Read the full article.

Rockford RBS ball screws and nuts now available

Automation-Direct now offers US-manufactured RBS ball screws and nuts for precise linear motion in OEM and maintenance applications. Achieving over 90% efficiency, they feature low friction, high accuracy, and minimal wear. Available in various diameters, lengths, and leads, these precision-matched components handle axial loads with minimal backlash, providing a dependable solution that reduces maintenance and extends operational life. Great prices too.
Learn more.

Next-gen conveyor transports 3,000-kg payloads

Building on its established portfolio of twin-strand conveyors that are currently used in a variety of industry verticals, Bosch Rexroth is introducing the TS 7plus transfer system, which is the world's first freely configurable, fully electric conveyance solution to workpieces weighing up to 3,000 kg. TS 7plus transports material via conveyor rollers on freely configurable modular sections with lift/transverse, rotary, and positioning units, as well as stop gates. Great for automotive, battery, aerospace/defense, and more.
Learn more.

Next-generation air bearing linear slide

The A-123 noncontact nanoposi-tioning stage integrates a brushless motor, air bearings, and a 1-nm encoder, supporting 40-kg payloads over 750-mm travel. Its pressurized air film eliminates the friction, wear, and vibration of mechanical stages, ensuring zero particle generation. Customizable with options such as granite bases and isolation systems, it is ideal for semiconductor metrology, inspection, photonics, and more.
Learn more.

How to implement redundancy in stepper motors

Some of the recent research activities in the area of electric motor drives for safety-critical applications (such as aerospace and nuclear power plants) are focused on looking at various fault-tolerant motor and drive topologies. After discussing different solutions, this article focuses on a miniature permanent magnet (PM) stepper motor design that provides increased redundancy.
Read this informative FAULHABER article.

New 'ceramic' jet engine has space shuttle pedigree

By GE Reports

Soon after the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up on descent from orbit in February 2003, material scientists and engineers at GE's plant in Newark, DE, started building a set of repair kits long thought impossible. Columbia suffered a crack in its left wing by a briefcase-size insulating foam fragment that fell from a fuel tank during takeoff. During her return, superheated air entered the spacecraft through the wound and ripped the shuttle apart 15 minutes before touchdown. The GE team, in collaboration with NASA and industry partners, helped design and fabricate unique patches to plug up in space similar damage on the shuttle's wings and belly -- and prevent disasters in the future.

Return to flight: The Space Shuttle Discovery returned to flight in July 2005. It was the first shuttle to fly after the Columbia disaster. It carried two wing and body repair kits made from a revolutionary ceramic composite material developed by GE scientists.

 

 

 

 

The team designed the patches from a special ceramic composite material that could survive wild temperature swings, from -250 degrees F in orbit to a 3,000-degree inferno caused by the drag of Earth's atmosphere during the shuttle's 17,000-mph descent. "You could bolt it on the wing leading edge in space and cover the damaged portion," says Robert Klacka, technology marketing manager at GE Ceramic Composite Products. "The repair kit had 30 different patches that could cover a hole located on over 80% of the wing leading-edge surface. The thin, flexible panels used a high-temperature toggle bolt to attach it through the hole on the wing. Thankfully, we never had to use them."

That's not entirely true. The shuttle fleet retired last year, but the materials live on vicariously inside GE's innovative LEAP jet engines, as steering components for ballistic missile defense systems, and as rocket motor thrusters for a new commercial space transportation aircraft. "The [space shuttle] kits were basically using the same family of materials," Klacka says.

Ceramic materials can take a lot of heat but are notoriously fragile. Just think of a coffee mug. Scientists at GE Aviation, GE Global Research, and at Klacka's Delaware plant have spent the last two decades developing ceramic composites that are tough and one-third the weight of the best nickel super-alloys. They can work beyond the alloys' melting temperatures, a property that allows jet engines like the LEAP to become more efficient.

GE makes two types of ceramic composites. Ceramics strengthened with carbon fibers withstand over 3,000 degrees F and serve as hot gas valves and thrusters inside of rocket systems, or heat shields for hypersonic aircraft and re-entry vehicles in the aerospace industry. The second group, which is reinforced with ceramic fibers and operates at 2,400 degrees, is more durable, and has applications as turbine tip shrouds, combustor liners, blades, and fairings in turbine and jet engines like the LEAP.

GE workers in Delaware make the composite parts from specially engineered fiber tapes that are formed into turbine engine components, infiltrated with silicon and converted to ceramic. "I've seen a lot of different materials," says Klacka, who has been in the composites business for over 25 years. "Our materials have the strength, durability, and manufacturability that other ceramic composites lack. That's why they work."

Source: GE Reports. Read more at www.gereports.com.

Published October 2012

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