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Intro to reed switches, magnets, magnetic fields

This brief introductory video on the DigiKey site offers tips for engineers designing with reed switches. Dr. Stephen Day, Ph.D. from Coto Technology gives a solid overview on reed switches -- complete with real-world application examples -- and a detailed explanation of how they react to magnetic fields.
View the video.

Bi-color LEDs to light up your designs

Created with engineers and OEMs in mind, SpectraBright Series SMD RGB and Bi-Color LEDs from Visual Communi-cations Company (VCC) deliver efficiency, design flexibility, and control for devices in a range of industries, including mil-aero, automated guided vehicles, EV charging stations, industrial, telecom, IoT/smart home, and medical. These 50,000-hr bi-color and RGB options save money and space on the HMI, communicating two or three operating modes in a single component.
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All about slip rings: How they work and their uses

Rotary Systems has put together a really nice basic primer on slip rings -- electrical collectors 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 overview.

Seifert thermoelectric coolers from AutomationDirect

Automation-Direct has added new high-quality and efficient stainless steel Seifert 340 BTU/H thermoelectric coolers with 120-V and 230-V power options. Thermoelectric coolers from Seifert use the Peltier Effect to create a temperature difference between the internal and ambient heat sinks, making internal air cooler while dissipating heat into the external environment. Fans assist the convective heat transfer from the heat sinks, which are optimized for maximum flow.
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EMI shielding honeycomb air vent panel design

Learn from the engineering experts at Parker how honeycomb air vent panels are used to help cool electronics with airflow while maintaining electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. Topics include: design features, cell size and thickness, platings and coatings, and a stacked design called OMNI CELL construction. These vents can be incorporated into enclosures where EMI radiation and susceptibility is a concern or where heat dissipation is necessary. Lots of good info.
Read the Parker blog.

What is 3D-MID? Molded parts with integrated electronics from HARTING

3D-MID (three-dimensional mechatronic integrated devices) technology combines electronic and mechanical functionalities into a single, 3D component. It replaces the traditional printed circuit board and opens up many new opportunities. It takes injection-molded parts and uses laser-direct structuring to etch areas of conductor structures, which are filled with a copper plating process to create very precise electronic circuits. HARTING, the technology's developer, says it's "Like a PCB, but 3D." Tons of possibilities.
View the video.

Loss-free conversion of 3D/CAD data

CT CoreTech-nologie has further developed its state-of-the-art CAD converter 3D_Evolution and is now introducing native interfaces for reading Solidedge and writing Nx and Solidworks files. It supports a wide range of formats such as Catia, Nx, Creo, Solidworks, Solidedge, Inventor, Step, and Jt, facilitating smooth interoperability between different systems and collaboration for engineers and designers in development environments with different CAD systems.
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Top 5 reasons for solder joint failure

Solder joint reliability is often a pain point in the design of an electronic system. According to Tyler Ferris at ANSYS, a wide variety of factors affect joint reliability, and any one of them can drastically reduce joint lifetime. Properly identifying and mitigating potential causes during the design and manufacturing process can prevent costly and difficult-to-solve problems later in a product lifecycle.
Read this informative ANSYS blog.

Advanced overtemp detection for EV battery packs

Littelfuse has introduced TTape, a ground-breaking over-temperature detection platform designed to transform the management of Li-ion battery systems. TTape helps vehicle systems monitor and manage premature cell aging effectively while reducing the risks associated with thermal runaway incidents. This solution is ideally suited for a wide range of applications, including automotive EV/HEVs, commercial vehicles, and energy storage systems.
Learn more.

Benchtop ionizer for hands-free static elimination

EXAIR's Varistat Benchtop Ionizer is the latest solution for neutralizing static on charged surfaces in industrial settings. Using ionizing technology, the Varistat provides a hands-free solution that requires no compressed air. Easily mounted on benchtops or machines, it is manually adjustable and perfect for processes needing comprehensive coverage such as part assembly, web cleaning, printing, and more.
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LED light bars from AutomationDirect

Automation-Direct adds CCEA TRACK-ALPHA-PRO series LED light bars to expand their offering of industrial LED fixtures. Their rugged industrial-grade anodized aluminum construction makes TRACKALPHA-PRO ideal for use with medium to large-size industrial machine tools and for use in wet environments. These 120 VAC-rated, high-power LED lights provide intense, uniform lighting, with up to a 4,600-lumen output (100 lumens per watt). They come with a standard bracket mount that allows for angle adjustments. Optional TACLIP mounts (sold separately) provide for extra sturdy, vibration-resistant installations.
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World's first metalens fisheye camera

2Pi Optics has begun commercial-ization of the first fisheye camera based on the company's proprietary metalens technology -- a breakthrough for electronics design engineers and product managers striving to miniaturize the tiny digital cameras used in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), AR/VR, UAVs, robotics, and other industrial applications. This camera can operate at different wavelengths -- from visible, to near IR, to longer IR -- and is claimed to "outperform conventional refractive, wide-FOV optics in all areas: size, weight, performance, and cost."
Learn more.

Orbex offers two fiber optic rotary joint solutions

Orbex Group announces its 700 Series of fiber optic rotary joint (FORJ) assemblies, supporting either single or multi-mode operation ideal for high-speed digital transmission over long distances. Wavelengths available are 1,310 or 1,550 nm. Applications include marine cable reels, wind turbines, robotics, and high-def video transmission. Both options feature an outer diameter of 7 mm for installation in tight spaces. Construction includes a stainless steel housing.
Learn more.

Mini tunnel magneto-resistance effect sensors

Littelfuse has released its highly anticipated 54100 and 54140 mini Tunnel Magneto-Resistance (TMR) effect sensors, offering unmatched sensitivity and power efficiency. The key differentiator is their remarkable sensitivity and 100x improvement in power efficiency compared to Hall Effect sensors. They are well suited for applications in position and limit sensing, RPM measurement, brushless DC motor commutation, and more in various markets including appliances, home and building automation, and the industrial sectors.
Learn more.

Panasonic solar and EV components available from Newark

Newark has added Panasonic Industry's solar inverters and EV charging system components to their power portfolio. These best-in-class products help designers meet the growing global demand for sustainable and renewable energy mobility systems. Offerings include film capacitors, power inductors, anti-surge thick film chip resistors, graphite thermal interface materials, power relays, capacitors, and wireless modules.
Learn more.

Supercomputer simulations predict behavior of new concrete formulas

This simulation, which models a rheometer with particles, can help determine how well a rheometer design works at characterizing a fluid. The NIST team is performing a number of simulations like this one, varying the shape and number of blades to better interpret measurements and improve rheometer design.

 

 

 

 

Just because concrete is the most widely used building material in human history doesn't mean it can't be improved. A recent study conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the University of Strasbourg, and Sika Corporation using Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science supercomputers has led to a new way to predict concrete's flow properties from simple measurements.

Concrete begins as a thick, pasty fluid containing innumerable particles in suspension that can, ideally, flow into a space of nearly any shape, where it hardens into a durable, rock-like state. Its initial flexibility combined with its eventual strength has made it the material of choice for building everything from the ancient Roman Colosseum to the foundations of countless modern bridges and skyscrapers.

But concrete is not without its problems. For example, when concrete is pumped, it can jam in pipes, leading to time and cost overruns during construction. The particles can settle out, leading to structural problems after the concrete hardens. And a significant amount of energy is needed to create the cement that reacts with water to produce hardened concrete. This critical binding agent is manufactured at high temperatures in a kiln, a process that generates a great deal of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. According to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, worldwide cement manufacture is estimated to account for at least 5 percent of humanity's carbon dioxide emissions.

The industry can develop less energy-intensive concrete mixtures by replacing some of the cement with alternative materials like fly ash. However, these alternatives can require expensive chemical additives, and they also can have a range of effects on concrete flow. Ideally, the industry would like to tailor the use of these chemical additives, thus helping to assure the greatest use of alternative materials.

"We'd like to be able to design concrete that performs better on the job and doesn't demand so much energy to manufacture," says NIST computer scientist William George. "But what should we make it from? And what can we replace cement with? The answers will affect its properties. So we realized we needed to learn more about how suspensions work."

While it's a simple goal to describe, accomplishing it demanded some complex math and physics, and at the same time, an enormous amount of computer power to study how all the particles and fluid react as they are mixed. The NIST team was granted an INCITE Award that provided more than 110 million core hours at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility. The ALCF supercomputers allowed them to simulate how a suspension would change if one or more parameters varied -- the number of suspended particles, for example, or their size.

Suspensions have a remarkable property: Plotting two parameters -- viscosity vs. shear rate (the latter refers to how neighboring layers of the fluid change velocity as it flows through a pipe) -- always generates the same shaped curve as plotting them for the suspending fluid alone without added particles. This is true no matter what fluid is used. The curve just sits on a different location on the X-Y axis, as though someone had pushed it upwards or off to the side without otherwise altering its shape.

What the team unexpectedly found was the amount that the curves had to be shifted could be predicted based on the microscopic shear rates that existed between neighboring particles. Experiments at the University of Strasbourg confirmed the simulated results, which allowed the team to come up with a general theory of suspensions' properties.

"So now if you have a suspension that is made with a fluid that behaves a bit differently, you can still predict what its properties will be," George says. "You just have to measure the properties of the fluid that the particles are placed in, and you predict how the fresh concrete will behave."

The results should help accelerate the design of a new generation of high-performance and eco-friendly cement-based materials by reducing time and costs associated with R&D, George adds.

NIST is also using this new knowledge to create Standard Reference Materials for industrial researchers to calibrate concrete rheometers -- instruments used to measure the flow of complex fluids -- for material development. Ultimately, this could help expand the use of alternative materials. While it is not yet known whether these alternatives will fit the bill, the team's research could eventually help industry researchers zero in on the best new recipes.

Source: NIST

Published January 2015

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