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New 'breathable' rupture disk tech provides overpressure and vacuum relief

To increase equipment safety and reliability, a new rupture disk technology activates at a set burst pressure, but it can also "breathe" to relieve minor pressure fluctuations. The patent-pending, dual-function device from BS&B Safety Systems is ideal for use on low-pressure vessels that are susceptible to ambient temperature changes.
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Engineer's Toolbox: 9 considerations for specifying a slewing ring bearing

In applications that require a bearing to support a structure while it rotates (e.g., cranes, radar, tank turrets), premature bearing failure can put people and equipment at risk. While slewing ring bearings have proven themselves countless times in such applications, designers must consider many factors when specifying them. According to engineers at Kaydon, the bearing's support structure, mounting (including bolt strength, tensioning, and hole patterns), installation, and even storage are all factors in a bearing's success or failure.
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ClampDisk micro fastener is new alternative for automotive and consumer electronics

Designed as a unique alternative in assemblies for the automotive and consumer electronics markets, the ClampDisk Press-on Fastener is a new offering from PennEngineering that delivers a fast, simple way to achieve sheet-to-sheet clamped fastening while replacing the use of standard screws, nuts, and adhesives. The most common challenges that can be eliminated or reduced by using ClampDisk include over installation, cross threading, stripped screw heads, broken screws, and damaged product. This fastener can be removed easily with a sharp-edged tool.
Learn more and see how ClampDisk works.

New nylon constant torque hinge

Southco has expanded its line of E6 Constant Torque Hinges with a compact, nylon version designed for small applications. The newest addition to the company's E6 50 Constant Torque Position Control Hinge series measures 45 mm with a torque range of 4 to 16 in./lb and is 65% lighter compared to the standard E6 50 Hinge. It provides constant resistance throughout the entire range of motion, enabling users to easily position doors, display screens, and other mounted components and hold them securely at any desired angle.
Learn more.

What injection molding material do I use?

How do you decide what type of plastic to use for your next injection molding project? Xometry can help you narrow your choices. Discover the different strengths and applications for materials that could be ideal for your application by learning about the most common plastic injection molding materials in detail.
Read this detailed Xometry article.

What are carbon composite bellows springs?

The Carbon Composite Bellows Spring (CCBS) from MW Components is a system of carbon fiber elements that combine to work as a high-performance, lightweight, and design-flexible compression spring meant to replace coil springs or metallic Belleville disc springs. A functional spring is made from several individual elements paired and joined to make a stack. The stack spring rate is determined by the number of elements, the base rate of each element, and their series or parallel orientation in the stack. Applications include motorsports, aerospace, and high-performance activities.
Learn more.

Conductive Brush Ring overcomes current leakage in EV powertrains

SKF's new Conductive Brush Ring paves the way to greater reliability and longer life in high-performance electric vehicle powertrain systems. Using pure carbon fiber bristles, it provides a reliable electrical connection between an EV eAxle rotor shaft and its housing. When used in combination with SKF Hybrid ceramic ball bearings, it helps to alleviate parasitic current effects that can lead to premature failure in bearings and other components. Available in different configurations for wet (oil-lubricated) motor designs -- and soon for dry (sealed) applications.
Learn more.

hyperMILL 2024 CAD/CAM software suite

OPEN MIND Technologies has introduced its latest hyperMILL 2024 CAD/CAM software suite, which includes a range of powerful enhancements to its core toolpath capabilities, as well as new functionality for increased NC programming efficiency in applications ranging from 2.5D machining to 5-axis milling. New and enhanced capabilities include: Optimized Deep Hole Drilling, a new algorithm for 3- and 5-axis Rest Machining, an enhanced path layout for the 3D Plane Machining cycle, better error detection, and much more.
Learn more.

One-part epoxy changes from red to clear under UV

Master Bond UV15RCL is a low-viscosity, cationic-type UV-curing system with a special color-changing feature. The red material changes to clear once exposed to UV light, indicating that there is UV light access across the adhesive material. Although this change in color from red to clear does not indicate a full cure, it does confirm that the UV light has reached the polymer. This epoxy is an excellent electrical insulator. UV15RCL adheres well to metals, glass, ceramics, and many plastics, including acrylics and polycarbonates.
Learn more.

SPIROL Press-N-Lok™ Pin for plastic housings

The Press-N-Lok™ Pin was designed to permanently retain two plastic components to each other. As the pin is inserted, the plastic backfills into the area around the two opposing barbs, resulting in maximum retention. Assembly time is quicker, and it requires lower assembly equipment costs compared to screws and adhesives -- just Press-N-Lok™!
Learn more about the new Press-N-Lok™ Pin.

Why hybrid bearings are becoming the new industry standard

A combination of steel outer and inner rings with ceramic balls or rollers is giving hybrid bearings unique properties, making them suitable for use in a wide range of modern applications. SKF hybrid bearings make use of silicon nitride (twice as hard as bearing steel) rolling elements and are available as ball bearings, cylindrical roller bearings, and in custom designs. From electric erosion prevention to friction reduction and extended maintenance intervals, learn all about next-gen hybrid bearings.
Read the SKF technical article.

3M and Ansys train engineers on simulating adhesives

Ansys and 3M have created an advanced simulation training program enabling engineers to enhance the design and sustainability of their products when using tapes and adhesives as part of the design. Simulation enables engineers to validate engineering decisions when analyzing advanced polymeric materials -- especially when bonding components made of different materials. Understand the behavior of adhesives under real-world conditions for accurate modeling and design.
Read this informative Ansys blog.

New FATH T-slotted rail components in black from AutomationDirect

Automation-Direct has added a wide assortment of black-colored FATH T-slotted hardware components to match their SureFrame black anodized T-slotted rails, including: cube connectors (2D and 3D) and angle connectors, joining plates of many types, brackets, and pivot joints. Also included are foot consoles, linear bearings in silver and black, cam lever brakes, and L-handle brakes. FATH T-slotted hardware components are easy to install, allow for numerous T-slotted structure configurations, and have a 1-year warranty against defects.
Learn more.

Weird stuff: Moon dust simulant for 3D printing

Crafted from a lunar regolith simulant, Basalt Moon Dust Filamet™ (not a typo) available from The Virtual Foundry closely mirrors the makeup of lunar regolith found in mare regions of the Moon. It enables users with standard fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printers to print with unparalleled realism. Try out your ideas before you go for that big space contract, or help your kid get an A on that special science project.
Learn more.

Break the mold with custom injection molding by Rogan

With 90 years of industry experience, Rogan Corporation possesses the expertise to deliver custom injection molding solutions that set businesses apart. As a low-cost, high-volume solution, injection molding is the most widely used plastics manufacturing process. Rogan processes include single-shot, two-shot, overmolding, and assembly. Elevate your parts with secondary operations: drilling and tapping, hot stamping, special finishes, punch press, gluing, painting, and more.
Learn more.

DOD looks to establish 'mine-to-magnet' supply chain -- one F-35 fighter jet requires 900 lb of rare earth materials

By C. Todd Lopez, U.S. Department of Defense

The Defense Department (DOD) has, in recent months, advanced its goal of developing domestic supply chains to ensure continued access to the rare earth materials needed to manufacture the permanent magnets used in important U.S. military weapons systems. 

"DOD's recently published National Defense Industrial Strategy will guide the creation of a modernized defense industrial ecosystem," said Laura Taylor-Kale, assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy. Taylor-Kale has a doctorate in management science and engineering with a specialization in organizations, technology, and entrepreneurship from Stanford University's School of Engineering.

"Resilient supply chains are essential to this goal. The U.S. can no longer afford to rely on overseas, single points of failure for critical components," Taylor-Kale added.

Metal shavings stand vertically atop a rare earth magnet. [Photo: C. Todd Lopez, DOD]

 

 

Rare earth permanent magnets are not only essential components in a range of defense capabilities, including the F-35 Lightning II aircraft, Virginia and Columbia class submarines, and unmanned aerial vehicles, but also a critical part of commercial applications in the United States. They are also used to generate electricity for electronic systems in aircraft and focus microwave energy in radar systems. 

Since 2020, DOD has awarded more than $439 million to establish domestic rare earth element supply chains. This includes separating and refining rare earth elements mined in the U.S., as well as developing downstream stateside processes needed to convert those refined materials into metals and then magnets. 

"DOD's strategic investments are building capability at multiple stages of the rare earth supply chain and will provide a clear signal to private capital that the time is right to build additional resiliency," said Danielle Miller, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base resilience. "We are on track to meet our goal of a sustainable, mine-to-magnet supply chain capable of supporting all U.S. defense requirements by 2027." 

In addition to the F-35 and Virginia and Columbia class submarines, magnets produced from rare earth elements are used in systems such as Tomahawk missiles, a variety of radar systems, Predator unmanned aerial vehicles, and the Joint Direct Attack Munition series of smart bombs. The F-35, for instance, requires more than 900 pounds of rare earth elements. Each Arleigh Burke DDG-51 destroyer requires 5,200 lb, and a Virginia class submarine needs 9,200 lb.

Rare earth elements are also used in other ways that don't involve magnets. Vehicle-mounted laser range finders, such as those found on Abrams M1A1/2 tanks, make use of rare earth elements, as do their portable counterparts and target designators. Also making use of rare earth elements are fiber optics communication systems, cerium-polished optical lenses, and sonic transducers used in submarine sonar systems. 

There are 17 elements on the periodic table referred to as "rare earth" elements. While DOD needs nearly all of them in some capacity, three are used to make the permanent magnets that are critical to so many defense systems. 

Continued U.S. reliance on foreign sources for rare earth products poses a risk to national security. The U.S. and most of the world depends on China for many rare earth elements.

Through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Program directorate has embarked on a five-year rare earth investment strategy to build "mine-to-magnet" domestic capacity at all critical nodes of the rare earth supply chain. Those critical nodes include sourcing, separation, processing, metallization, alloying, and magnet manufacturing. 

The first of those critical nodes, the sourcing of rare earth elements, means mining rare earth elements out of the ground. Today in the U.S., there is only one rare earth mine currently active and selling to the commercial market.

Separation includes a series of processes that take out extractable rare earth elements from other elements and compounds in the mineral rock. Processing involves concentrating separated rare earth elements and then chemically treating them to produce high-purity rare earth oxides or rare earth salts. The metallization step transforms rare earth salts into rare earth metals. Depending on the application, those metals can be combined with various alloying elements to produce a variety of rare earth alloys. 

Finally, rare earth magnets are typically produced from alloys that are sintered, or bonded, into magnet block and then cut and coated according to specification. 

It's important that all those critical nodes happen inside the U.S. so the Defense Department can have a secure supply of the rare earth materials and rare earth magnets it needs. 

Projects underway have already helped the U.S. establish growing capacity in rare earth element separation and processing, as well as magnet manufacturing.

Among the U.S.-based companies involved in DOD's "mine-to-magnets" initiative is MP Materials, which is headquartered in Nevada. With $45 million in support from MCEIP awards, MP Materials established the only integrated rare earth mine and oxide production facility in the U.S. The company is expected to continue to add capacity for additional oxide products through 2025, when they are projected to reach full-scale production. 

Right now, domestic and partner demand for rare earth materials outpaces the production of any single partner nation. To build resiliency in these critical, early stages of the supply chain, Lynas USA, LLC was awarded a combined $288 million in MCEIP funding to establish a second domestic, commercial-scale oxide production capability by 2026. 

MCEIP has also invested $10 million to explore the development of extraction technology and alternative sources of rare earth minerals from coal ash, acid mine drainage, and other waste streams.

Noveon Magnetics has established a rare earth magnet manufacturing facility in San Marcos, TX, with a $28.8 million award from MCEIP. The company produces qualified magnets from extracted or recycled material for both defense and commercial applications. 

An additional award of $2.3 million from MCEIP has also helped TDA Magnetics to demonstrate a capability to source, produce, and sell qualified magnets into DOD supply chains. 

Finally, with a $94.1 million award, E-VAC Magnetics will establish a commercial-scale rare earth magnet manufacturing capability by 2025. As part of this project, E-VAC will also develop domestic capacity to produce rare earth metals and alloys, a critical node of the supply chain linking early-stage rare earth processing to magnet production. 

These awards from the Defense Department are expected to help develop the domestic market for magnet production to serve both defense and commercial markets. 

Future MCEIP investments are expected to focus on closing remaining supply chain gaps and promoting integration among the tiers. DOD expects its support of these emerging capabilities will attract additional investment in rare earths from both defense and commercial manufacturers. With these additional investments, DOD will be able to meet its future demand for magnets without overseas dependencies.

Published April 2024

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