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January 09, 2024Volume 20 Issue 01


Image - New Tapered Section Rings from Smalley!
New Tapered Section Rings from Smalley!
Smalley is bringing you even more retaining ring solutions! When you need a quick and economical heavy-duty ring, our newest standard series, Tapered Section Rings (circlips), is here to secure your assembly needs. They can be axially installed into a bore/shaft groove to safely secure assemblies in place. In stock from 0.25 - 3", or 3 - 75 mm in Spring Steel SAE 1060 and 1074. Request no-cost samples to test.
Learn more.

In this issue of Designfax

  • Basketball-size inverse-Wankel rotary engine
  • First-ever Mustang GTD: Street-legal track supercar
  • Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170: Fastest muscle car
  • Boeing to build NASA braced-wing plane
  • Why was Roman concrete so durable?
  • Will a hydrofoiling boat fly in America?
  • New corrosion protection plastic repairs itself
  • Top Product: New Raspberry Pi 5
  • Top Tech Tip: Gear crowning -- a cheap noise fix
  • Top Tech Tip: Sheet metal design guide
  • Top Product: Slimmest enclosure AC on the market!
  • Top Product: Clamps hold any shape
  • Top Motors: What is Sensorless Closed Loop?
  • Top Product: What is a C-Flex Pivot Bearing?
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • How Lexus fixed Tesla's bad idea
    • Custom hot rod parts: Digital sheet metal forming
    • What's inside a Lucid Motors EV motor?
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • Ford 2,000-hp SuperVan debut at Pikes Peak
    • Assembly tape could cause phone battery drain
    • Amazon delivers on massive CAD conversion project
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion
    Cover Image: Mustang GTD, Dodge Challenger, Boeing Braced-Wing Plane

News

Bye-bye silicon: Intel unveils glass-chip future

Big discovery: Metals can heal themselves

NASA and DARPA developing nuclear rocket engine for future Mars missions

Antimatter gravity experiment answers big scientific questions



Feature articles

Image - Basketball-size inverse-Wankel rotary engine claims 5x power density gains, Army is testing
Basketball-size inverse-Wankel rotary engine claims 5x power density gains, Army is testing
Small combustion engine developer LiquidPiston aims to commercialize its XTS-210, a 25-hp, two-stroke, supercharged rotary engine that is 80% smaller than a diesel piston engine with comparable power output. The U.S. Army is investing over $8 million to test the mini engine as a 10-kW generator.
Read the full article.

Image - First-ever Mustang GTD: Street-legal and track-ready supercar
First-ever Mustang GTD: Street-legal and track-ready supercar
Ford's limited-edition, ultra-high-performance Mustang GTD is a street-legal supercar meant to thrill. Designed and engineered as a collaboration between Ford and Multimatic, the first-ever Mustang GTD sports an 800-hp supercharged 5.2-liter V8 and a price tag as high as its incredible wing.
Read the full article.

Image - Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170: Fastest and most powerful muscle car in the world
Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170: Fastest and most powerful muscle car in the world
Dodge's seventh and final "Last Call" special-edition Challenger model is the quickest, fastest, and most powerful muscle car in the world: the 1,025-hp 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. It can do 0 to 60 in 1.66 sec.
Read the full article.

Image - Boeing to build NASA braced-wing plane demonstrator
Boeing to build NASA braced-wing plane demonstrator
NASA has selected Boeing and its industry team to lead the development and flight testing of a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator airplane. A single-aisle airplane with this configuration could reduce fuel consumption and emissions up to 30%.
Read the full article.

Image - Why was Roman concrete so durable? Self-healing was built right in
Why was Roman concrete so durable? Self-healing was built right in
Researchers have spent decades trying to figure out the secret of ancient Roman concrete, particularly in structures that have survived for two millennia. Now, an international team of investigators has made substantial progress.
Read the full article.

Image - Will a hydrofoiling boat fly in America?
Will a hydrofoiling boat fly in America?
Swedish boat builder Candela aims to electrify America's No. 1 boat segment: center consoles for fishing, families, and watersports. The company's 29-ft C-8 CC model flies on computer-guided hydrofoils, which are underwater wings that enable it to soar above the waves using 80% less energy.
Read the full article.

Image - New corrosion protection plastic repairs itself
New corrosion protection plastic repairs itself
Researchers in Switzerland have developed an extraordinary protection against corrosion after a chance discovery. It glows in places where it is not damaged, repairs itself, and can be reused multiple times.
Read the full article.

Image - Top Product: New Raspberry Pi 5 board full of updates
Top Product: New Raspberry Pi 5 board full of updates
The much-anticipated new Raspberry Pi 5 4GB and 8GB boards are now available from Newark, delivering a two-to-three times increase in performance over Raspberry Pi 4 and many other improvements.
Read the full article.

Image - Top Tech Tip: Gear crowning -- a cheap fix for noise
Top Tech Tip: Gear crowning -- a cheap fix for noise
With smaller gearboxes transmitting more power at higher rpm and the incumbent demands for greater efficiency, gear engineers are always searching for ways to reduce vibration and limit noise without increasing costs.
Read the full article.

Image - Top Tech Tip: Sheet metal design guide
Top Tech Tip: Sheet metal design guide
If you're looking for a basic guide to sheet metal design, this one from Xometry will serve your needs well. Follow the design requirements and tolerances to ensure parts fall closer to design intent. This is the type of information you'll sock away and then refer to again and again.
Read the full article.

Image - Top Product: Slimmest enclosure AC on the market!
Top Product: Slimmest enclosure AC on the market!
Seifert's SlimLine Series of enclosure air conditioners integrates unique technologies -- maximum power-to-size ratio, mounting of merely 4.5 in. inside-cabinet depth -- making this line the slimmest AC in the market. It features Seifert's proprietary condenser design for improved cooling and reliability. Cooling capacity: 1,090 to 5,120 Btu/hr.
Learn more.

Image - Top Product: Clamps hold any shape
Top Product: Clamps hold any shape
These simple OD and ID clamping solutions from Fixtureworks clamp onto your part in one easy operation, eliminating the need for custom fixtures. They allow users to clamp onto the inner or outer diameter of small-size, irregularly shaped work parts fast. Lots of options.
Learn more.

Image - Top Motors: What is Sensorless Closed Loop? Precise motor control without an encoder
Top Motors: What is Sensorless Closed Loop? Precise motor control without an encoder
Matt Sherman, eMobility Sales and Application Engineer at KEB America, runs through different options to drive an AC motor, including one called "Sensorless Closed Loop" that does not require additional hardware such as encoder, resolver, or cables on the motor.
Read this informative KEB America blog.

Image - Top Product: What is a C-Flex Pivot Bearing?
Top Product: What is a C-Flex Pivot Bearing?
It's a flexure-based bearing utilizing internal flat crossed springs, capsuled in a cylindrical housing, to provide precise rotation with low hysteresis and no frictional losses. The C-Flex bearing will offer infinite life when used within its rated load and rotation values. Applications include Medical, Industrial, Aerospace, Semiconductor, and Optical.
Learn more.

Most popular last issue

Image - Ford 2,000-hp SuperVan takes on Pikes Peak
Ford 2,000-hp SuperVan takes on Pikes Peak
Ford Performance debuted its way-out-there SuperVan 4.2 all-electric concept at the 101st running of The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 25 -- and came out blazing to land the second-fastest time on the Colorado course overall.
Read the full article.

Image - Assembly tape could cause phone and laptop battery drain
Assembly tape could cause phone and laptop battery drain
In a fascinating discovery, researchers at Dalhousie University in Canada have concluded that some adhesive tape used to assemble commercial lithium-ion batteries can contribute to charge loss while devices sit idle.
Read the full article to find out why.

Image - Amazon delivers on massive CAD conversion project for its industrial customers
Amazon delivers on massive CAD conversion project for its industrial customers
Amazon's industrial products division recently undertook what may be the largest CAD conversion project in history. Converting millions of 2D drawings and legacy CAD files into modern 3D CAD systems led to new opportunities and improved processes thanks to the capable CAD outsourcing services of CAD/CAM Services.
Read the full article.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
How Lexus fixed Tesla's bad idea: Steer-by-wire yoke
Are you ready for steer-by-wire tech, where there is no mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels of your car? Engineering Explained's Jason Fenske runs through the advantages and disadvantages, and why Lexus' system (available on upcoming Lexus RZ 450e models) with self-adjusting variable steering ratio is a winner over Tesla's attempts to implement the technology.
View the Engineering Explained video.

Video Image
Custom hot rod parts: Digital sheet metal forming machine
Learn how SaltWorks Fab in Sarasota, FL, is using Desktop Metal's Figur G15 Digital Sheet Forming (DSF) machine to create ultra-cool custom car parts in under an hour -- with no need for specialized tooling. The Figur technology uses a software-driven ceramic toolhead on a gantry to shape standard sheet metal into parts with up to 2,000 lb of force.
View the video.
Learn more about the Figur G15 machine tech.

Video Image
What's inside a Lucid Motors EV motor?
Take a deep dive into electric vehicle motor design and manufacturing. Lucid Motors' CEO/CTO Peter Rawlinson and Powertrain VP Emad Dlala share how the company's "relentless focus on efficiency" led it to develop a 67-lb electric drive unit that can generate 670 hp for Lucid's high-end EVs. Learn about the company's innovative stator and rotor designs -- and so much more. Worth skipping through if you are short on time.
View the video.

Video Image

New products

Electrical/Electronics
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Mechanical
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Motion
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