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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.

Hotter than the center of the sun: Clean energy pioneer to prototype fusion power plant using advanced simulation software

Advanced simulation software is helping Tokamak Energy to develop a pioneering clean energy power plant based on nuclear fusion. Using the electromagnetic design and analysis facilities provided by the Cobham Technical Services Opera software, critical design issues are being resolved at an early stage to help prototype an ultra-compact spherical tokamak (a device that uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma) in a tiny footprint that is about the size of a house room.

Tokamak Energy grew out of the Culham Laboratory, home of JET, the world's most powerful operating tokamak. With the advent of high-temperature superconductors (HTS), the company's founders realized that it is theoretically possible to produce a tokamak that performs similarly to existing research machines -- but with a much smaller spherically shaped reaction chamber.

The controlled fusion process inside a tokamak takes place in a plasma that is held in place by a very powerful electromagnetic field. The Cobham Technical Services Opera simulation software is helping Tokamak Energy to design this magnetic confinement system.

An Opera model of the geometry of the toroidal and poloidal coils of the ST40 tokamak.

 

 

One key step on the path to the commercial spherical tokamak is the current construction of a working prototype (the ST40) that will be used to prove that the extreme high temperature required for fusion reactions can be achieved inside a compact tokamak.

As part of this design step, Tokamak Energy used the Cobham Opera simulation software to assess the electromagnetically induced forces and field profile of the ST40 tokamak's magnetic confinement system. To reduce costs, the prototype does not use HTS coils, but employs a single massive copper conductor for each toroidal field coil. The final HTS coils will need to be mechanically supported with minimum heat transfer. This prototype will help Tokamak Energy to investigate a self-supporting structure that is able to cope with the large internal mechanical forces generated but which minimizes thermally conductive connections to the room-temperature world. A consequence of the massive copper conductors is that current density and the resulting Lorentz force density is non-uniform -- necessitating a high-precision simulation.

An Opera simulation of magnetic flux density in the plasma region of the ST40 tokamak -- on a plane midway between two toroidal field coils.

 

 

The magnetic confinement system for ST40 is around 2.6 m high and 2.8 m in diameter and will have 24 toroidal field coils, arranged in eight groups of three, as well as multi-turn poloidal field and central solenoid coils. Before finalizing the coil designs, Tokamak Energy modeled and simulated several variations, each examining the fields and forces at different times in the operating scenario. Three-dimensional simulation was employed for accuracy, using a 45-degree "wedge" of the symmetrical spherical geometry for computational speed. Even so, the finite element design models used are extremely large in order to achieve exceptional precision -- and involve around 10 million elements. These huge 3D models were simulated in around 15 hours using the Cobham Technical Services Opera software running on standard PC technology.

The ST40 is now being assembled and is due to start operating early in 2017. The initial target is to create a plasma that is hotter than the center of the sun, and then push on to reach 100 million degrees.

The central column of the new ST40 prototype tokamak fusion plant, designed with the aid of Opera electromagnetic simulation software [Photo courtesy: Tokamak Energy].

 

 

To speed design and prototyping, Cobham helped Tokamak Energy to build and simulate models of the ST40. Chris Riley from the Cobham Technical Services team, who worked on the engineering project, said, "Developing highly complex and unique equipment like a tokamak would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming without the aid of advanced computer-aided engineering tools."

A more detailed review of the use of the Cobham Technical Services Opera software in this application is available here.

The Cobham Technical Services Opera Simulation Software is a leading multiphysics design automation tool used by industrial and scientific organizations worldwide. The software is available in many variants, with generic 2D and 3D finite element analysis (FEA) solvers and application-specific solvers for static and time-varying low-frequency and high-frequency electromagnetic, electrostatic, magnetostatic, structural, thermal, and space charge design problems.

Typical applications include the design, analysis, and performance optimization of: electric motors, generators, and transformers; permanent, normal conducting and superconducting magnets; and charged particle devices such as magnetron sputterers, electron microscopes, X-ray machines, and CT scanners.

Source: Cobham Technical Services

Published December 2016

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