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March 04, 2014Volume 10 Issue 09


Image - Custom Wave Springs
Custom Wave Springs
Smalley can manufacture custom Wave Springs quickly and economically to meet your specific application requirements. Because force and deflection requirements are application-specific, custom springs are often needed. With Smalley's No-Tooling-Cost™ manufacturing process, customs can be produced from .200" to 120" diameters in carbon steel, stainless steel, or other readily available exotic alloys. Prototypes can be available in as little as two weeks for testing.
Click here to learn more.

In this issue of Designfax

  • GE redefines the 'fridge magnet'
  • Disc pack couplings aim for infinite MTBF
  • NASA wants stronger materials in 3D
  • Wheels: Future military vehicle designs
  • Mike Likes: Dynamic pick-and-place direct-drive module
  • Engineer's Toolbox: Piezoelectric flexure actuators
  • Reduce circuit size by 40 percent
  • Photo-etched parts from polyester
  • High-temp extreme BLDC motor
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • Boeing QF-16 makes first unmanned flight
    • Five favorite no-cost engineering tools
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • What NASA is doing with 3D printing
    • Wheels: Low-resistance tires save money
    • Pomegranate-inspired li-ion battery
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion
    Cover Image: GE developing magnet refrigeration tech [Image: GE]

News

DARPA seeking tiny component to counter counterfeit electronics

Cummins-Peterbilt SuperTruck gets Modine waste heat recovery heat exchangers

TRW's closed-loop lane-keeping assist technology goes into production

Navy Sailors, Marines give steel toes the boot in favor of composites



Image - Advanced Drive Technology Goes Intergalactic
Advanced Drive Technology Goes Intergalactic
Modern astronomy is struggling with the same problems as the first celestial explorers did centuries ago. The stars shine only faintly and the further away the star, the less light hits the Earth. This issue of seeing farther and farther into space can only be addressed by focusing more light -- in other words, the telescopes keep getting larger. Find out how MICROMO and the FAULHABER Group help meet this challenge.
Click here to read how stepper motors optimize large telescopes.

Feature articles
GE redefines the 'fridge magnet,' new tech aims to provide magnetic cooling revolution
Researchers working in GE labs have used a special magnetic material to achieve temperatures cold enough to freeze water. The breakthrough system, which is projected to be 20 percent more efficient than current refrigeration technology, could be inside your fridge by the end of the decade.
Read the full article.
Image -
Get advice on designing injection molded parts.


Image - SURVIVOR flexible disc pack couplings aim for infinite MTBF
SURVIVOR flexible disc pack couplings aim for infinite MTBF
R+W is introducing its SURVIVOR series of maintenance-free, flexible disc pack couplings. Not to be confused with a servo coupling, the flexible disc pack coupling is ideally suited for many of the most demanding industrial power transmission systems and makes further advancements toward the goal of infinite service life. Andy Lechner, product manager, R+W America, explains what makes this new kind of coupling so different -- and beneficial.
Read the full article.

Image - NASA pushes for ways to make stronger materials in 3D
NASA pushes for ways to make stronger materials in 3D
Aided by funding from NASA and using methods similar to 3D printing, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) are running computer simulations of processes that could lead to stronger, more durable materials for the space agency.
Read the full article.

Image - Wheels: <br>TARDEC engineers envision future military mobility designs
Wheels:
TARDEC engineers envision future military mobility designs

The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC) engineers are venturing into uncharted vehicle development territory by exploring future mobility systems that align with the Army's 30-year vision. The Mobility Demonstrator project drives the engineering team to envision future concepts and reshape the designs for Army vehicle systems.
Read the full article.

Image - Mike Likes: <br>Dynamic HP70 pick-and-place direct-drive module
Mike Likes:
Dynamic HP70 pick-and-place direct-drive module

Industry-leading rotary tables and automation specialist WEISS North America has introduced a pick-and-place direct-drive component that is thinner (60-mm wide) than any linear motor or pneumatic module on the market today. Despite its uniquely compact design, the company says that its HP70 unit surpasses all previous pick-and-place units when it comes to speed, achieving over 100 cycles per minute with repeat accuracy of 0.01 mm.
Read the full article.

Image - Engineer's Toolbox: <br>Piezoelectric flexure actuators expand the capabilities of piezo motion control
Engineer's Toolbox:
Piezoelectric flexure actuators expand the capabilities of piezo motion control

Recently introduced integrated piezoelectric flexure actuators provide an enhanced level of convenience and performance for the OEM designer. Scott Jordan and Stefan Vorndran of Physik Instrumente (PI) give us the run down on these plug-and-play subsystems based on solid-state piezo actuators combined with flexure guidance and amplification elements.
Read the full article.

Image - Reduce circuit size by 40 percent
Reduce circuit size by 40 percent
Stackpole's RAVF Series convex thick-film chip resistor arrays offer a wide variety of sizes, power ratings, and schematics to help engineers reduce the amount of board space required by their designs. Changing from discrete chip resistors to chip arrays can reduce the size of a circuit design by up to 40 percent and provide up to a 20 percent reduction in weight. Another advantage is the resistors in a chip array will have tolerance and TCR tracking that is 50 percent better than discrete chips. Finally, using chip arrays can lower total cost per resistor when considering all cost factors that go into procuring and placing components. The RAVF Series is available in a variety of sizes, pin counts, and schematics.
Click here to learn more.

Image - Precision parts photo-etched from polyester
Precision parts photo-etched from polyester
Tech-Etch is well known for the extensive list of exotic materials that it is capable of photo-etching. In addition to materials such as tungsten, titanium, elgiloy, MP35N, nitinol, and polyimide film, Tech-Etch has now developed a process to photochemically etch polyester sheet up to .010-in. thick. All of the advantages of photo-etching -- clean burr-free edges, the ability to create intricate features with minimal tooling cost, and fast delivery -- can now be applied to this high-strength, hydrophobic, solvent-resistant, optically clear material. Polyester sheet can also be depth-etched with grooves or channels unavailable with other manufacturing methods. Applications include dielectrics, diaphragms, gaskets, washers, discs, spacers, seals, caps, and insulators.
Click here to learn more.

Image - High-temp extreme BLDC motor
High-temp extreme BLDC motor
The new maxon EC-4pole 32 HD motor features detent-free running properties and excellent control characteristics designed for extremely rough operating conditions, such as deep drilling and outer space. The different versions of the EC-4pole 32 HD are designed for operation in air or in oil (flooded in hydraulic oil). The power rating depends on the surrounding medium and amounts to 220 W in air and, due to the much higher heat flow, 480 W in oil. They are designed for ambient temps of more than 200 deg C and atmospheric pressures up to 1700 bar. The motors can withstand vibrations up to 25 grms as well as impacts up to 1000 G. These motors feature high efficiency (up to 89 percent in air, more than 80 percent in oil), making them ideal for use in battery-operated applications.
Click here to learn more.

Most popular last issue

Image - What NASA is doing with 3D printing: <br>Goddard reaching new potential with additive manufacturing
What NASA is doing with 3D printing:
Goddard reaching new potential with additive manufacturing

For the past two years, the Internal Research and Development, or IRAD, program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, has awarded funding to a small number of researchers who are investigating how the agency might benefit from additive manufacturing. Here's what they are working on right now.
Read the full article.

Image - Wheels: <br>Low-resistance tires really do save drivers money
Wheels:
Low-resistance tires really do save drivers money

Drivers who switch to tires with low rolling resistance can save an average of nearly $150 a year, says a University of Michigan researcher, and he has the data to prove it.
Read the full article.

Image - Pomegranate-inspired design solves lithium-ion battery shortcomings
Pomegranate-inspired design solves lithium-ion battery shortcomings
An electrode designed like a pomegranate -- with silicon nanoparticles clustered like seeds in a tough carbon rind -- overcomes several remaining obstacles to using silicon for a new generation of lithium-ion batteries, say its inventors at Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
Read the full article.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
Boeing QF-16 makes first unmanned flight
Last September, a pilotless F-16 fighter jet roared into the sky for the first time at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. The modified, remote-controlled F-16s will be used for real-world target practice by the U.S. Air Force.
View the video.

Video Image
Five favorite no-cost engineering tools
Jeremy Regnerus, product marketing specialist for SolidWorks, takes a look at his five favorite free tools (not all SolidWorks!) for engineers. Each tool provides valuable time-saving capabilities. Watch and learn how each tool works and where to find it.
View the video.

Video Image

New products

Electrical/Electronics
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