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What's a SLIC Pin^®? Pin and cotter all in one!

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.

Engineering challenge: Which 3D-printed parts will fade?

How does prolonged exposure to intense UV light impact 3D-printed plastics? Will they fade? This is what Xometry's Director of Application Engineering, Greg Paulsen, set to find out. In this video, Paulsen performs comprehensive tests on samples manufactured using various additive processes, including FDM, SLS, SLA, PolyJet, DLS, and LSPc, to determine their UV resistance. Very informative. Some results may surprise you.
View the video.

Copper filament for 3D printing

Virtual Foundry, the company that brought us 3D-printable lunar regolith simulant, says its popular Copper Filamet™ (not a typo) is "back in stock and ready for your next project." This material is compatible with any open-architecture FDM/FFF 3D printer. After sintering, final parts are 100% pure copper. Also available as pellets. The company says this is one of the easiest materials to print and sinter. New Porcelain Filamet™ available too.
Learn more and get all the specs.

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.
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Full-color 3D-printing Design Guide from Xometry

With Xometry's PolyJet 3D-printing service, you can order full-color 3D prints easily. Their no-cost design guide will help you learn about different aspects of 3D printing colorful parts, how to create and add color to your models, and best practices to keep in mind when printing in full color. Learn how to take full advantage of the 600,000 unique colors available in this flexible additive process.
Get the Xometry guide.

Tech Tip: How to create high-quality STL files for 3D prints

Have you ever 3D printed a part that had flat spots or faceted surfaces where smooth curves were supposed to be? You are not alone, and it's not your 3D printer's fault. According to Markforged, the culprit is likely a lack of resolution in the STL file used to create the part.
Read this detailed and informative Markforged blog.

Test your knowledge: High-temp adhesives

Put your knowledge to the test by trying to answer these key questions on how to choose the right high-temperature-resistant adhesive. The technical experts from Master Bond cover critical information necessary for the selection process, including questions on glass transition temperature and service temperature range. Some of the answers may surprise even the savviest of engineers.
Take the quiz.

Engineer's Toolbox: How to pin a shaft and hub assembly properly

One of the primary benefits of using a coiled spring pin to affix a hub or gear to a shaft is the coiled pin's ability to prevent hole damage. Another is the coiled pin absorbs wider hole tolerances than any other press-fit pin. This translates to lower total manufacturing costs of the assembly. However, there are a few design guidelines that must be adhered to in order to achieve the maximum strength of the pinned system and prevent damage to the assembly.
Read this very informative SPIROL article.

What's new in Creo Parametric 11.0?

Creo Parametric 11.0 is packed with productivity-enhancing updates, and sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest impact in your daily workflows. Mark Potrzebowski, Technical Training Engineer, Rand 3D, runs through the newest functionality -- from improved surface modeling tools to smarter file management and model tree navigation. Videos provide extra instruction.
Read the full article.

What's so special about wave springs?

Don't settle for ordinary springs. Opt for Rotor Clip wave springs. A wave spring is a type of flat wire compression spring characterized by its unique waveform-like structure. Unlike traditional coil springs, wave springs offer an innovative solution to complex engineering challenges, producing forces from bending, not torsion. Their standout feature lies in their ability to compress and expand efficiently while occupying up to 50% less axial space than traditional compression springs. Experience the difference Rotor Clip wave springs can make in your applications today!
View the video.

New Standard Parts Handbook from JW Winco

JW Winco's printed Standard Parts Handbook is a comprehensive 2,184-page reference that supports designers and engineers with the largest selection of standard parts categorized into three main groups: operating, clamping, and machine parts. More than 75,000 standard parts can be found in this valuable resource, including toggle clamps, shaft collars, concealed multiple-joint hinges, and hygienically designed components.
Get your Standard Parts Handbook today.

Looking to save space in your designs?

Watch Smalley's quick explainer video to see how engineer Frank improved his product designs by switching from traditional coil springs to compact, efficient wave springs. Tasked with making his products smaller while keeping costs down, Frank found wave springs were the perfect solution.
View the video.

Top die casting design tips

You can improve the design and cost of your die cast parts with these top tips from Xometry's Joel Schadegg. Topics include: Fillets and Radii, Wall Thicknesses, Ribs and Metal Savers, Holes and Windows, Parting Lines, and more. Follow these recommendations so you have the highest chance of success with your project.
Read the full Xometry article.

What's the latest from 3D Systems? Innovations for different industries, processes

3D Systems unveiled several new solutions at the RAPID+TCT 2025 show in April designed to change the way industries innovate. From new 3D printers and materials for high-mix, low-volume applications to marked improvements in how investment casting can be done, learn what is the state of the art from the original inventors of 3D printing.
Read the full article.

Clever! Indexing plungers with chamfered pins

JW Winco has developed a new type of indexing plunger -- GN 824 -- that can independently latch into edges and grooves. This is made possible by a chamfered plunger pin. When the chamfered pin encounters a raised latching geometry, it retracts and then springs back out again once it reaches the latching point. This new indexing plunger can be ordered with axial thread for fastening and a black plastic knob for operating the indexing plunger. In a clever design, the plunger pin can be adjusted by 360 degrees to ensure that it encounters the mating surface perpendicularly. This hardware is well suited for transport frames, mechanisms, or covers that need to be locked in place quickly and securely, especially without the need for manual intervention.
Learn more.

Researchers use acoustic voxels to embed sound with data

Columbia Engineering researchers, working with colleagues at Disney Research and MIT, have developed a new method to control sound waves using a computational approach to inversely design acoustic filters that can fit within an arbitrary 3D shape while achieving target sound-filtering properties.

Led by Computer Science Professor Changxi Zheng, the team designed acoustic voxels -- small, hollow, cube-shaped chambers through which sound enters and exits -- as a modular system. Like Legos, the voxels can be connected to form an infinitely adjustable, complex structure. Because of their internal chambers, they can modify the acoustic filtering property of the structure; changing their number and size or how they connect alters the acoustic result.

Acoustic Tagging. By optimizing the structure of acoustic voxels, Columbia Engineering researchers can control the acoustic response of an object when it is tapped and thereby tag the object acoustically. Given three objects with identical shapes, they can use a smartphone to read the acoustic tags in real time by recording and analyzing the tapping sound and thereby identify each object. [Credit: Changxi Zheng/Columbia Engineering]

 

 

 

 

"In the past, people have explored computational design of specific products, like a certain type of muffler or a particular shape of trumpet," says Zheng, whose team presented their paper, "Acoustic Voxels: Computational Optimization of Modular Acoustic Filters," at SIGGRAPH 2016 on July 27. "The general approach to manipulating sound waves has been to computationally design chamber shapes. Our algorithm enables new designs of noise mufflers, hearing aids, wind instruments, and more -- we can now make them in any shape we want, even a 3D-printed toy hippopotamus that sounds like a trumpet."

He adds, "We also have proposed a very intriguing new way to use acoustic filters: We can use our acoustic voxels as acoustic tags, unique to each piece we 3D print, and encode information in them. This is similar to QR codes or RFIDs, and opens the door to encoding product and copyright information in 3D printing."

Last year, Zheng's team used computational methods to design and 3D-print a zoolophone, a xylophone-type instrument with keys in the shape of zoo animals. The zoolophone represented fundamental research into vibrational sound control, leveraging the complex relationships between an object's geometry and the surface vibrational sounds it produces when struck.

In this new study, Zheng's team came up with a computational approach that would enable better design for manipulating acoustic propagation of many products, such as automobile mufflers and instruments.

"With 3D printers today, geometric complexity is no longer a barrier. Even complex shapes can be fabricated with very little effort," Zheng notes. "So the question is: Can we use complex shapes to improve acoustic properties of products?"

They proposed using acoustic voxels, single, modular acoustic filter shapes, whose acoustic filtering behavior can be precomputed using numerical simulation. They developed a new algorithm that allowed them to assemble the acoustic voxels -- like Lego bricks -- into complex structures to produce the targeted acoustic filtering properties.

The creation of acoustic voxels has also led Zheng's team in a completely new direction: acoustic tagging to uniquely identify a 3D-printed object and acoustic encoding to implant information (like a copyright) into an object's very form.

Acoustic filters work by manipulating sound waves; acoustic voxels have given the team a way to exactly control that manipulation.

A unique voxel assembly produces a unique acoustic signature. Two objects may have the exact same exterior appearance, but if their hollow interiors contain different voxel assemblies, each object, when filtering a sound wave, produces a sound unique to that object. The researchers recorded the sound made by objects with different voxel assemblies and used an iPhone app they created to accurately identify each object.

Acoustic tagging could be a valuable complement to QR codes and RFID tags, both of which entail operations entirely separate from manufacturing. If fabricators can build ID information directly into the object, they will save the time, effort, and expense of individually labeling parts, especially useful when building larger structures from many separate pieces. Acoustic tagging could also encode copyrighted originals, such as 3D-printed figures from individual artists like Jeff Koons or companies like Disney or Marvel.

Zheng's current acoustic voxels project is for fabricating sizable objects producing audible sounds, and his team has been able to demonstrate how information and identification can be embedded into the acoustics of an object, requiring no additional procedures or labor after fabrication. They are looking ahead to how they might use acoustic voxels to computationally control ultrasound waves.

Says Zheng, "We are investigating some of the intriguing possibilities of ultrasonic manipulation, such as cloaking, where sound propagation can be distorted to hide objects from sound waves. This could lead to new designs of sonar systems or underwater communication systems. It's an exciting area to explore."

The work was funded in part by the National Science Foundation and Adobe.

Source: Columbia Engineering

Published August 2016

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