Click this link if you cannot read the issue below: Designfax - Tech for OEM Design Engineers
June 05, 2012Volume 08 Issue 21


Image - Noisy Bearing?
Noisy Bearing?
Smalley wave springs are ideal for bearing preload. The wave spring preloads the bearing through its outer race, taking up play in the bearing. Preloading will reduce bearing damage, wear, noise and vibration. The wave spring prevents sliding between the rolling elements. Bearing springs come in metric sizes to match popular bearing sizes. Smalley has over 150 standard springs available, from 16 mm to 580 mm. Specials are available for unique bearing sizes with No-Tooling-Charges™.
Click here for more info.

In this issue of Designfax

  • Desktop 3D printer prints in seven killer materials
  • Direct digital: Breakthrough casting process?
  • Wheels: Nano-enhanced carbon fiber bike rim
  • Mike Likes: No-cost NASA e-book on aerospace accidents
  • Engineer's Toolbox: Giant animatronic cranes dance
  • Quick Look: Connectors with snap-in flanges
  • Quick Look: Flexible seals for robotics systems
  • Quick Look: High-load linear stages with dust covers
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • Will opposing-piston technology make it?
    • Flying wind turbine aces test flight
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • Soldier-inspired Army ammo pack
    • Execs try MIT's Beer Game
    • Wheels (and wings): Greener aircraft concepts
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion
    Cover Image: Georgia Tech Professor Suman Das displays a ceramic mold produced directly from digital designs [Georgia Tech Photo: Gary Meek]

News

NEC develops ultra-thin, printed ‘organic radical battery' that outperforms lithium-ion units

New 3D scanner makes big-time impact for engineers at Eglin Air Force Base

New high-g accelerometer measures concussive forces in contact sports

Purdue researcher helps robots 'see' in 3D like humans



Image - How do mini motors make an explosive detector work better?
How do mini motors make an explosive detector work better?
Explosives present an ongoing risk today, whether in the battlefield, city streets, or around high-value targets like airports or sporting events. The XPAK G2 Handheld Explosive Detector from RedXDefense provides accurate, fast results in an easy-to-use, handheld unit that leverages robust, high-torque-density brushed DC motors from MICROMO. Why do you need motors built into a super-sensitive detector like this?
Read about the design behind the XPAK G2 detector.

Feature article
Latest Objet desktop 3D printer prints in seven killer materials
Objet launched a new desktop 3D printer at the RAPID 2012 show in Atlanta at the end of May. Objet30 Pro users have some serious choices for printing objects – seven to be exact.

Yup, seven materials and four functional properties to choose from, including, for the first time on a desktop system, a clear transparent material and a high-temperature-resistant material.
Read the full article.

Image -
This quick-reference user guide, for engineers and designers, talks about the guidelines and limitations for rapid injection molding.

Direct digital: Novel casting process could transform how complex metal parts are made
A Georgia Tech research team has developed a novel technology that could change how industry designs and casts complex, costly metal parts.
Read the full article.

Image - Metal Bellows for Corrosive Media
Metal Bellows for Corrosive Media
BellowsTech edge welded metal bellows provide the most flex in the smallest amount of space and allow for flexibility in axial, angular and parallel offset motion. BellowsTech can customize its bellows to survive the high temperatures, pressures and corrosive media associated with the oil and gas industry.
Click here to learn more …

Image - Wheels: <br>World's first nano-enhanced carbon fiber downhill bike rim is a winner
Wheels:
World's first nano-enhanced carbon fiber downhill bike rim is a winner

Top-level teams in the ultra-demanding sport of downhill mountain bike racing will often need to change rims more than 180 times during a season. Champion Steve Peat from England raced on a single pair of wheels during the entire 2011 season.
Read the full article.

Image - Mike Likes: <br>No-cost NASA e-book details human factors in aerospace accidents
Mike Likes:
No-cost NASA e-book details human factors in aerospace accidents

Wow, this will probably be my favorite Mike Likes of the year. No kidding. The latest offering in the NASA Aeronautics Book Series, "Breaking the Mishap Chain," by Peter Merlin, Gregg Bendrick, and Dwight Holland, is available gratis as an e-book. The 244-pager details lessons learned from aerospace accidents and incidents in research, flight test, and development. It includes a number of mishap case studies (X-31, X-15, XB-70, space shuttle, etc.) that focus on the human factors that are often associated with a chain of events that, if even one element had been altered, could have prevented the disaster. Available in EPUB, MOBI, and PDF formats. Like me, you may be thinking, "Is it my birthday already?!"
Go to the NASA description and download page.
Engineer's Toolbox:
Slewing ring bearings get huge cranes dancing in Singapore

A story in pictures. The new and spectacular Resorts World Resort and Entertainment complex in Singapore is now open for business, and one of the major highlights is an elaborate nightly show involving a love dance performed by two 98-ft-tall, 88-ton animatronic dancing cranes.
Read the full article.

Image - Quick Look: <br>Connectors with snap-in flanges
Quick Look:
Connectors with snap-in flanges

WAGO Corporation's MCS-MIDI 231 and 721 Series Connectors feature Snap-in Flanges for drill-and fastener-free through-panel mounting. Intended for rectangular cut-outs, snap-in flanges eliminate drilling, screws and other components associated with through-panel applications. Part of WAGO's Multi-Connection System, the Connectors accept all conductors AWG 28–12 and carry ratings up to 600 V/20 A. Applications include elevators, drives, multimedia displays (common to transit systems) and replacing studs in rail control panels (MCS-MIDI expedites box swaps).
Click here to learn more.

Image - Quick Look: <br>Reliable, flexible seals for robotics systems
Quick Look:
Reliable, flexible seals for robotics systems

Roxtec entry seals allow cables and pneumatic plastic pipes to be routed in the same unit. The system is based on a rubber-sealing module that consists of two halves, a center core, and removable black and blue layers. This construction ensures adaptability to different sizes of cables and pipes. Just peel off layers to achieve a tight installation. Most cables can be effectively sealed with just six basic sizes of Roxtec sealing modules. Easily installed Roxtec modules are used together with a frame and a compression unit, resulting in an optimum sealing solution suitable for wide-ranging applications.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Quick Look: <br>High-load, motorized linear stages with dust covers
Quick Look:
High-load, motorized linear stages with dust covers

Zaber's A-LST-C stages are computer controlled and have travel ranges from 254 mm to 1,500 mm. They are available with various lead screw pitches so you can select the device with the resolution and speed capability that you need. This innovative stage design is capable of speeds up to 420 mm/s and can support loads up to 100 kg. The flexible, stainless steel dust cover protects the internal lead screw and bearings. Available from Servo2Go.
Click here to learn more.

Most popular last issue

Image - Soldier-inspired Army ammo pack is ‘game-changer' on battlefield
Soldier-inspired Army ammo pack is ‘game-changer' on battlefield
Like something right out of the movie "Predator," the Ironman backpack ammo-carriage system lets a machine-gunner run solo with plenty of rounds at the ready. The invention resulted from the innovative thinking of Iowa National Guardsmen serving in Afghanistan.
Read the full article.
Execs try MIT's Beer Game in manufacturing sim
High-achieving executives play the Beer Game, a business simulation that is an institution at MIT, where management guru Jay Forrester invented it in the 1960s. The Beer Game is at once simple to play, difficult to master, and full of valuable business lessons.
Read the full article.
Wheels (and wings): Greener aircraft concepts for 2025 and beyond
Leaner, greener flying machines for the year 2025 are on the drawing boards of three industry teams under contract to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project.
Read the full article.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
Will opposing-piston technology make it – and provide efficiency improvements of 15% to 30%?
Pinnacle Engines has developed an innovative, spark-ignited, twin-crank, 250cc single-cylinder engine with opposed-piston architecture, using dual-camshaft actuated reciprocating sleeve valves for induction and exhaust in a traditional four-stroke fashion. But will it float for motorcycles and small cars of the future? Company founder Monty Cleeves is interviewed by Automotive Engineering International at the SAE 2012 World Congress.
View the video.

Video Image
Flying wind turbine aces test flight
Altaeros Energies, a wind energy company formed out of MIT, took to the Maine skies in late March to test its helium-filled, 35-ft Altaeros Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT). The prototype climbed to 350 ft, produced power at altitude, and landed in an automated cycle, lifting the top-selling Southwest Skystream turbine to produce over twice the power at high altitude than generated at conventional tower height. The product aims to reduce energy costs by up to 65% by harnessing the stronger winds found over 1,000 ft high and reducing installation time from weeks to days. The lifting technology is adapted from aerostats, industrial cousins of passenger blimps that for decades have lifted heavy communications and radar equipment into the air for long periods of time. Aerostats are rated to survive hurricane-force winds.
View the video.

Video Image

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