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SOLIDWORKS 2025: Sheet metal design top features from an expert

Find out what's new in SOLIDWORKS 2025 when it comes to sheet metal and weldments, and learn some valuable tips and tricks along the way from TriMech. Topics covered include copying cut list properties, bend notches, tab and slot enhancements, groove beads (a new type of weld bead), performance enhancements, and more. When you're done, check out TriMech's full YouTube channel filled with educational material.
View the video.

Introducing ECOMO: Revolutionizing energy efficiency for transformers with the power of nature

ECOMO is ushering in a new era of energy efficiency for existing transformers. This innovative unit from Japan reduces power consumption by 5 to 15% for transformers and other electrical equipment by harnessing the natural properties of tourmaline and ferrite. Many users have achieved a return on investment in under two years, and an ROI calculator is available to estimate potential savings. Easy installation. Requires no external power source. Sound intriguing?
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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.

LEDs: High-precision and focused light source

Würth Elektronik's WL-SMCW SMT Mono-color Chip LED Waterclear now includes a compact model with a footprint of just 1.6 mm x 0.8 mm, in which a dome lens focuses the light with an emission angle of just 30 degrees. With this LED, light can be precisely directed onto a small area while minimizing light scattering and energy loss. This space-saving LED is suitable for consumer electronics, medical devices, handheld products, and symbol or text displays. Available LED colors are blue, green, light green, yellow, amber, and red. A model with diffuse light (WL-SMTD) is also available.
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Chip fuse with 'slow-blow' characteristic

SCHURTER's compact and powerful SMT chip fuse UST 1206 has enjoyed great popularity since its intro in 2008. In response to customer requests, SCHURTER has expanded this line with even more powerful versions with rated currents up to 35 A. The SCHURTER UST 1206 is a chip fuse for surface mounting with a "slow-blow" characteristic. This means it has a high melting integral, so the fuse does not trip immediately at inrush current peaks higher than the rated current. This is of great importance in many industrial applications (e.g. motors, power converters).
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Long-life electric actuators: Improved controllability, performance

Thomson Electrak LL Linear Actuators now offer your machine designs a higher speed option, more electronic control options (including CANopen), and a 48-V option to meet the power requirements in battery-powered applications. Thomson says the new Electrak LL choices are for those who want to gain more control over the position, load, and speed of their applications, such as smart railway pantographs and couplers, AGVs, automated farming robots, movable steps, and access lifts for trains and buses.
Learn more and get the specs.

Real-world applications: FUTEK 100 sensor examples

Get inspired. FUTEK has more than 100 real-world application examples for their load cells, force transducers, torque sensors, pressure sensors, and multi-axis sensors. From a cryogenic load cell on the Mars Curiosity rover to fly-by-wire multi-axis force and torque sensors for aircraft, learn about sensor systems, their specs, and design. Automotive, manufacturing, medical, robotics, and automation are covered too. Fascinating and highly practical.
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Ultra-compact hollow-shaft angle sensor tracks angle even if power is cut

Novotechnik's WAL 200 Series of hollow shaft angle sensors provides absolute rotary position -- even if power is removed. After power is restored, this sensor provides the correct angle. With a 7-mm profile and 22-mm diameter, it is designed to fit in applications with very limited space. The WAL 200 Series has a measurement range of 0 to 340 degrees. Mechanical range is a continuous 0 to 360 degrees. Applications include volumetric dosing systems, joysticks, and more.
Learn more.

What can you do with touchless magnetic angle sensors?

Novotechnik has put together an informative video highlighting real-world applications for their RFC, RFE, and RSA Series touchless magnetic angle sensors. You may be surprised at the variety of off-highway, marine, material handling, and industrial uses. You'll learn how they work (using a Hall effect microprocessor to detect position) and their key advantages, including eliminated wear and tear on these non-mechanical components. We love when manufacturers provide such useful examples.
View the video.

EMI suppression capacitors with enhanced humidity resistance

TDK Corporation has launched the EPCOS B3292xM3/N3 series of X2 EMI suppression capacitors. These new components are 20% smaller than previous models and meet Grade III Test B standards for temperature, humidity, and bias (THB). Their compact size and enhanced durability suit space-constrained, high-humidity environments, especially for "across-the-line" applications in automotive and industrial settings. Applications include automotive on-board chargers, uninterruptible power supplies, and hybrid inverters for energy storage systems.
Learn more.

Uses of thermal cameras in manufacturing expand: This time around to papermaking

What can you so with FLIR thermal cameras to improve your industrial processes? Recent developments in thermal signature analytics have expanded the applications of thermal cameras beyond routine troubleshooting. In papermaking, they now contribute to paper machine control, energy usage benchmarking, wet streak detection, and the identification and prediction of certain classes of sheet breaks. Maybe you'll get some ideas for your applications.
Read the full article.

3-axis motion made simple using CLICK PLUS PLC

Automation-Direct CLICK PLUS PLCs, when combined with stepper motors, make advanced motion control and edge integration simple for smaller systems. Learn motion control basics, motor options, motion with micro-PLCs and steppers, and more in this informative whitepaper from AutomationDirect. No registration required.
Get the AutomationDirect whitepaper.

Benchtop ionizer removes static at a distance

The award-winning EXAIR Varistat^® Benchtop Ionizer is a powerful fan-driven static eliminator engineered to neutralize static charges on surfaces in demanding industrial environments. This Ionizer delivers a consistent stream of ionized airflow, effectively eliminating static and particulates without the need for compressed air. The Varistat is now available in 230 V to meet the needs of industrial locations. Easily mounted and manually adjustable.
Learn more.

All about slip rings: How they work and their uses

Rotary Systems has put together a really nice basic primer on slip rings -- electrical swivels that carry a current from a stationary wire into a rotating device. Common uses are for power, proximity switches, strain gauges, video, and Ethernet signal transmission. This introduction also covers how to specify, assembly types, and interface requirements. Rotary Systems also manufactures rotary unions for fluid applications.
Read the Rotary Systems article.

Digital microscope with 2,040x mag: Under $200

Inspect work products or help your little engineer at home win that science fair with the AD246S-M HDMI Digital Microscope from Andonstar Technology Co. This tri-lens unit boasts a wide magnification range (60 to 240x, 18 to 720x, 1,560 to 2,040x), very good image performance, built-in rotatable monitor, and a slew of multifunctional accessories including a remote, dimmer cable to adjust illumination, and more. A solid choice for a small investment.
Learn more.

Camouflage made of quantum material could hide you from infrared cameras

A quantum material tricks an infrared camera by concealing the heat properties of an object that would give it away. [Purdue University photo/Erin Easterling]

 

 

By Kayla Wiles, Purdue University

Infrared cameras detect people and other objects by the heat they emit. Now, researchers have discovered the uncanny ability of a material to hide a target by masking its tell-tale heat properties.

The effect works for a range of temperatures that one day could include humans and vehicles, presenting a future asset to stealth technologies, the researchers say.

What makes the material special is its quantum nature -- properties that are unexplainable by classical physics. The study, published Dec. 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is one step closer to unlocking the quantum material's full potential.

The work was conducted by scientists and engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Harvard University, Purdue University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Fooling infrared cameras is not new. Over the past few years, researchers have developed other materials made of graphene and black silicon that toy with electromagnetic radiation, also hiding objects from cameras.

But how the quantum material in this study tricks an infrared camera is unique: it decouples an object's temperature from its thermal light radiation, which is counterintuitive based on what is known about how materials behave according to fundamental physics laws. The decoupling allows information about an object's temperature to be hidden from an infrared camera.

The discovery does not violate any laws of physics, but suggests that these laws might be more flexible than conventionally thought.

Quantum phenomena tend to come with surprises. Several properties of the material, samarium nickel oxide, have been a mystery since its discovery a few decades ago.

Shriram Ramanathan, a professor of materials engineering at Purdue, has investigated samarium nickel oxide for the past 10 years. Earlier this year, Ramanathan's lab co-discovered that the material also has the counterintuitive ability to be a good insulator of electrical current in low-oxygen environments, rather than an unstable conductor, when oxygen is removed from its molecular structure.

Additionally, samarium nickel oxide is one of a few materials that can switch from an insulating phase to a conducting phase at high temperatures. University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Mikhail Kats suspected that materials with this property might be capable of decoupling temperature and thermal radiation.

"There is a promise of engineering thermal radiation to control heat transfer and make it either easier or harder to identify and probe objects via infrared imaging," said Kats, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Ramanathan's lab created films of samarium nickel oxide on sapphire substrates to be compared with reference materials. Kats' group measured spectroscopic emission and captured infrared images of each material as it was heated and cooled. Unlike other materials, samarium nickel oxide barely appeared hotter when it was heated up, and it maintained this effect between 105 and 135 C.

VIDEO: Infrared cameras detect people and other objects by the heat they emit. Now, researchers have discovered the uncanny ability of a material to hide a target by masking its tell-tale heat properties.

"Typically, when you heat or cool a material, the electrical resistance changes slowly. But for samarium nickel oxide, resistance changes in an unconventional manner from an insulating to a conducting state, which keeps its thermal light emission properties nearly the same for a certain temperature range," Ramanathan said.

Because thermal light emission doesn't change when temperature changes, that means the two are uncoupled over a 30-degree range.

According to Kats, this study paves the way for not only concealing information from infrared cameras, but also for making new types of optics and even improving infrared cameras themselves.

"We are looking forward to exploring this material and related nickel oxides for infrared camera components such as tunable filters, optical limiters that protect sensors, and new sensitive light detectors," Kats said.

The work was supported by the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and Sandia National Labs. The research used resources at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Published December 2019

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