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Overhung load adaptors provide load support and contamination protection

Overhung load adaptors (OHLA) provide both overhung radial and axial load support to protect electrified mobile equipment motors from heavy application loads, extending the lifetime of the motor and alleviating the cost of downtime both from maintenance costs and loss of production. They seal out dirt, grime, and other contaminants too. Zero-Max OHLAs are available in an extensive offering of standard models (including Extra-Duty options) for typical applications or customized designs.
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Why choose electric for linear actuators?

Tolomatic has been delivering a new type of linear motion technology that is giving hydraulics a run for its money. Learn the benefits of electric linear motion systems, the iceberg principle showing total cost of ownership, critical parameters of sizing, and conversion tips.
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New AC hypoid inverter-duty gearmotors

Bodine Electric Company introduces 12 new AC inverter-duty hypoid hollow shaft gearmotors. These type 42R-25H2 and 42R-30H3 drives combine an all-new AC inverter-duty, 230/460-VAC motor with two hypoid gearheads. When used with an AC inverter (VFD) control, these units deliver maintenance-free and reliable high-torque output. They are ideal for conveyors, gates, packaging, and other industrial automation equipment that demands both high torque and low power consumption from the driving gearmotor.
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Next-gen warehouse automation: Siemens, Universal Robots, and Zivid partner up

Universal Robots, Siemens, and Zivid have created a new solution combining UR's cobot arms with Siemens' SIMATIC Robot Pick AI software and Zivid's 3D sensors to create a deep-learning picking solution for warehouse automation and intra-logistics fulfillment. It works regardless of object shape, size, opacity, or transparency and is a significant leap in solving the complex challenges faced by the logistics and e-commerce sectors.
Read the full article.

Innovative DuoDrive gear and motor unit is UL/CSA certified

The DuoDrive integrated gear unit and motor from NORD DRIVE-SYSTEMS is a compact, high-efficiency solution engineered for users in the fields of intralogistics, pharmaceutical, and the food and beverage industries. This drive combines a IE5+ synchronous motor and single-stage helical gear unit into one compact housing with a smooth, easy-to-clean surface. It has a system efficiency up to 92% and is available in two case sizes with a power range of 0.5 to 4.0 hp.
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BLDC flat motor with high output torque and speed reduction

Portescap's 60ECF brushless DC slotted flat motor is the newest frame size to join its flat motor portfolio. This 60-mm BLDC motor features a 38.2-mm body length and an outer-rotor slotted configuration with an open-body design, allowing it to deliver improved heat management in a compact package. Combined with Portescap gearheads, it delivers extremely high output torque and speed reduction. Available in both sensored and sensorless options. A great choice for applications such as electric grippers and exoskeletons, eVTOLs, and surgical robots.
Learn more and view all the specs.

Application story: Complete gearbox and coupling assembly for actuator system

Learn how GAM engineers not only sized and selected the appropriate gear reducers and couplings required to drive two ball screws in unison using a single motor, but how they also designed the mounting adapters necessary to complete the system. One-stop shopping eliminated unnecessary components and resulted in a 15% reduction in system cost.
Read this informative GAM blog.

Next-gen motor for pump and fan applications

The next evolution of the award-winning Aircore EC motor from Infinitum is a high-efficiency system designed to power commercial and industrial applications such as HVAC fans, pumps, and data centers with less energy consumption, reduced emissions, and reduced waste. It features an integrated variable frequency drive and delivers upward of 93% system efficiency, as well as class-leading power and torque density in a low-footprint package that is 20% lighter than the previous version. Four sizes available.
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Telescoping linear actuators for space-constrained applications

Rollon's new TLS telescoping linear actuators enable long stroke lengths with minimal closed lengths, which is especially good for applications with minimal vertical clearance. These actuators integrate seamlessly into multi-axis systems and are available in two- or three-stage versions. Equipped with a built-in automated lubrication system, the TLS Series features a synchronized drive system, requiring only a single motor to achieve motion. Four sizes (100, 230, 280, and 360) with up to 3,000-mm stroke length.
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Competitively priced long-stroke parallel gripper

The DHPL from Festo is a new generation of pneumatic long-stroke grippers that offers a host of advantages for high-load and high-torque applications. It is interchangeable with competitive long-stroke grippers and provides the added benefits of lighter weight, higher precision, and no maintenance. It is ideal for gripping larger items, including stacking boxes, gripping shaped parts, and keeping bags open. It has high repetition accuracy due to three rugged guide rods and a rack-and-pinion design.
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Extend your range of motion: Controllers for mini motors

FAULHABER has added another extremely compact Motion Controller without housing to its product range. The new MC3603 controller is ideal for integration in equipment manufacturing and medical tech applications. With 36 V and 3 A (peak current 9 A), it covers the power range up to 100 W and is suitable for DC motors with encoder, brushless drives, or linear motors.
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When is a frameless brushless DC motor the right choice?

Frameless BLDC motors fit easily into small, compact machines that require high precision, high torque, and high efficiency, such as robotic applications where a mix of low weight and inertia is critical. Learn from the experts at SDP/SI how these motors can replace heavier, less efficient hydraulic components by decreasing operating and maintenance costs. These motors are also more environmentally friendly than others.
View the video.

Tiny and smart: Step motor with closed-loop control

Nanotec's new PD1-C step motor features an integrated controller and absolute encoder with closed-loop control. With a flange size of merely 28 mm (NEMA 11), this compact motor reaches a max holding torque of 18 Ncm and a peak current of 3 A. Three motor versions are available: IP20 protection, IP65 protection, and a motor with open housing that can be modified with custom connectors. Ideal for applications with space constraints, effectively reducing both wiring complexity and installation costs.
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Closed loop steppers drive new motion control applications

According to the motion experts at Performance Motion Devices, when it comes to step motors, the drive technique called closed loop stepper is making everything old new again and driving a burst of interest in the use of two-phase step motors. It's "winning back machine designers who may have relegated step motors to the category of low cost but low performance."
Read this informative Performance Motion Devices article.

Intelligent compact drives with extended fieldbus options

The intelligent PD6 compact drives from Nanotec are now available with Profinet and EtherNet/IP. They combine motor, controller, and encoder in a space-saving package. With its 80-mm flange and a rated power of 942 W, the PD6-EB is the most powerful brushless DC motor of this product family. The stepper motor version has an 86-mm flange (NEMA 34) and a holding torque up to 10 Nm. Features include acceleration feed forward and jerk-limited ramps. Reduced installation time and wiring make the PD6 series a highly profitable choice for machine tools, packaging machines, or conveyor belts.
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SwRI receives FAA grant to assess fracture risk in aircraft engines

A program called DARWIN helps users visualize and manipulate a 3D component model, identifying the location where a crack might initiate, slicing the model along the plane where this crack is most likely to grow, and determining the stresses on this plane that will govern the growth rate of the crack. [Credit: SwRI]

 

 

 

 

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has been awarded a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to continue a research program to improve the safety of commercial aircraft engines. The grant is planned to be a four-year, $4.5 million cooperative agreement to develop improved damage tolerance and risk assessment methods for critical life-limited engine parts.

SwRI has collaborated with the FAA since 1995 to improve the safety of commercial aircraft, particularly in assessing the risk of fracture of engine rotors. The Probabilistic Integrity and Risk Assessment of Turbine Engines (PIRATE-3) program is now in its third phase, following three previous research grants. The FAA started this research in response to an accident at Sioux City, IA, in 1989 caused by the uncontained fracture of an engine fan disk that resulted in the deaths of 112 people.

"Incidents like Sioux City are extremely rare, and for 25 years SwRI has been working with the FAA and industry to make them even rarer," said SwRI's Dr. Craig McClung, PIRATE-3's principal investigator (PI). "If there's an anomaly that could cause a crack in the engine, we use computer simulations to determine the probability that it will lead to a failure."

To accomplish this, McClung and his colleagues created DARWIN (Design Assessment of Reliability with INspection), a fracture mechanics and reliability assessment software that supports damage-tolerant design and analysis of metallic structural components. Program Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Michael Enright and Group Leader Jonathan Moody lead the DARWIN development team at SwRI, and the program team includes several major U.S. manufacturers of aircraft engines. The research effort also includes material testing to better understand the behavior of anomalies and cracks under cyclic stress.

"DARWIN is based on what we know about how cyclic stresses and temperatures affect the cracks resulting from any material or manufacturing anomalies that might be present," McClung said. "Starting from the probability that an anomaly occurs in the engine rotor and is not detected, we use DARWIN to predict the probability of fracture during the entire lifetime of each engine over the whole fleet of engines."

DARWIN is utilized by aircraft manufacturers across the globe to ensure the engines they create are resistant to dangerous cracks. It helps the designer to visualize and manipulate a three-dimensional component model, identifying locations where a crack might initiate, slicing the model along the plane where this crack is most likely to grow, and determining the stresses on this plane that will govern the growth rate of the crack.

"DARWIN is mainly utilized at the engine design stage," McClung said. "The industry needs to predict what's going to happen before they put several thousand engines into service, and the FAA requires that they show an acceptably low fracture risk before they are even allowed to put the engine into service. Anomalies are extremely rare, and fractures are even rarer, but we're trying to prevent them from happening in the first place with better design methods. Other research teams have been developing better manufacturing methods and better inspection methods."

The work of McClung and his colleagues has continued to evolve as new incidents occur. The Sioux City accident was caused by an anomaly in a titanium engine rotor, and early research focused on factors that led to that incident. In 2016, a disk fracture and resulting engine fire at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport was caused by a material anomaly in a rotor made from a nickel-based alloy. That event is currently driving much of the PIRATE-3 program.

"Each time there is a new kind of threat, a different kind of anomaly that causes a serious accident, we want to learn from it and reduce the possibility that it could ever happen again," McClung said.

Source: SwRI

Published May 2021

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