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

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.
Learn more.

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.

Ames Lab's testing device speeds the way to new refrigeration technology

Postdoctoral researcher Lucas Griffith with CaloriSMART (Caloric Small-scale Modular Advanced Research Test-stand), a one-of-a-kind system that is being used to rapidly test new materials for an entirely new kind of refrigeration technology. [Credit: U.S. Department of Energy, Ames Laboratory]

 

 

 

 

The U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory is employing a testing device that pairs materials science with engineering systems development. Called CaloriSMART (Caloric Small-scale Modular Advanced Research Test-stand), the one-of-a-kind system is being used to rapidly test new materials that might eventually be part of an entirely new kind of refrigeration technology for the 21st century and beyond.

Outdated cooling technology is one of the most pressing issues of a rapidly growing global population and the resulting environmental concerns.

"Gas compression cycle cooling is the standard used today; a very old and very mature technology," said Lucas Griffith, a postdoctoral researcher on the project. "We're reaching the point where we need the next big thing that could push beyond those limits, and we think magnetocaloric cooling has that ability."

A magnetocaloric cooling system uses an active solid, relying on reversible thermal phenomena to provide cooling and heating when a magnetic field around the solid varies. For the last 20 years, materials scientists have been searching for compounds that can generate strong thermal effects when cyclically acted upon. Finding promising magnetocaloric materials is a science discovery challenge that Ames Laboratory has been a leader in from the very beginning, when project leader Vitalij Pecharsky discovered the giant magnetocaloric effect in Gadolinium-Silicon-Germanium in 1996.

But the question of how those materials will perform in an actual refrigeration system is best answered through engineering, and that's where CaloriSMART comes in.

"We have always been at the top of the game in terms of materials discovery for this technology," said Pecharsky, "but over time we realized that the one thing that is really hanging this advancement up from getting to the deployment stage is the disconnect between materials discovery and systems engineering. Research in these two areas must go hand in hand in order for it to be successful. We built CaloriSMART three years ago, and it has put Ames in a unique place in the development of this technology."

The device is able to test materials' cooling capabilities using small quantities in just a few hours and is flexible enough to test the same material in different forms. The device has already demonstrated results that suggest the expected performance of a larger scale system, and helped scientists discover a new way of benchmarking the performance of magnetocaloric systems -- the exergetic power quotient.

Roughly comparable to SEER, the current industry standard of explaining energy efficiency in current gas compression technology, the idea behind the exergetic power quotient was suggested by Julie Slaughter, scientist for the project, and one of the designers of CaloriSMART.

"We need to be able to see how well we're using the most expensive component of the system, the magnetic field," said Slaughter. "Having a metric we can compare the performance of these systems against makes it easier to determine if we're getting the maximum performance out of the material, or whether we need to be looking at inefficiencies in the system."

The research is further discussed in the paper, "CaloriSMART: Small-scale test-stand for rapid evaluation of active magnetic regenerator performance," authored by Lucas Griffith, Agata Czernuszewicz, Julie Slaughter, and Vitalij Pecharsky; and published in Energy Conversion and Management.

The research is supported jointly by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) and Building Technologies Office (BTO). Ames Laboratory is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science National Laboratory operated by Iowa State University.

Source: Ames Laboratory

Published March 2020

Rate this article