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January 31, 2023Volume 19 Issue 04


Image - Custom Injection Molding With Xometry -- Fast, Simple, High-Quality
Custom Injection Molding With Xometry -- Fast, Simple, High-Quality
Save $500 on your first injection molding project with Xometry, where low-cost tooling allows for rapid injection molding to be produced in as fast as 10 business days. From low-volume runs to production molding of a million units, Xometry's team of engineers supports your project every step of the way.

Visit Xometry.com to get pricing, lead times, and DFM feedback for injection molding and 17+ manufacturing processes including CNC machining, 3D printing, and laser cutting.

Start a quote now on www.Xometry.com.


In this issue of Designfax

  • Audi using AI to invent new rim designs
  • NASA validates rotating detonation rocket engine
  • Why was Roman concrete so durable?
  • Ram 1500 Revolution all-electric concept truck
  • When metals can't survive: Machined ceramics
  • What they didn't teach you about fittings in school
  • Motors: Understanding electric traction and steering
  • hyperMILL 2023 CAD/CAM Software Suite
  • Great Resources: FAULHABER Drive Calculator
  • igus modular linear axis for travels of any length
  • Battery-powered wireless multi-sensor for machines
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • EMI/RFI gasketing webinar: Elastomer solutions
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • New Corvette E-Ray with hybrid eAWD propulsion
    • NASA testing smart vortex generators for airplanes
    • Air Force lab wins award for cold spray robot
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion
    Cover Image: Ram 1500 Revolution EV concept truck

News

Transistors repurposed as microchip 'clock' to address supply chain weaknesses

Recyclable and reusable mobile phone batteries a step closer with rust-busting invention

Airbus testing new technologies to enhance pilot assistance

Note to IT Dept.: Cheerful chatbots don't necessarily improve customer service



Image - NEW! Install Pins, Alignment Dowels, and Bushings with ease
NEW! Install Pins, Alignment Dowels, and Bushings with ease
SPIROL's new video showcases their updated Model PR and Model CR Semi-Automatic Installation Machines for Pins, Alignment Dowels and Bushings. The video demonstrates how to operate the machine, details standard features, and optional quality and error-proofing enhancements. More than 80% of the components in all Installation Equipment are standard, pretested, production-proven, off-the-shelf parts. This translates into faster delivery, greater reliability and lowest cost for equipment of comparable quality!
Watch the video!
Check out SPIROL's Complete Line of Fastener Installation Equipment.
Learn about SPIROL Press-n-Lok™ Pins for Plastic Enclosures.

Feature articles

Image - Audi using AI to invent new rim designs
Audi using AI to invent new rim designs
Inspiration can come from almost anywhere. At global automaker Audi, designers are tapping an in-house-developed artificial intelligence (AI) software called FelGAN to draw from an almost unlimited pool of ideas and mash-ups for new wheel designs.
Read the full article.

Image - NASA validates rotating detonation rocket engine -- revolutionary propulsion for deep space missions
NASA validates rotating detonation rocket engine -- revolutionary propulsion for deep space missions
A team of propulsion development engineers at NASA has developed and tested the organization's first full-scale rotating detonation rocket engine -- an advanced design that could significantly change how future propulsion systems are built.
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 progress in this field, discovering ancient concrete-manufacturing strategies that incorporated several key self-healing functionalities.
Read the full article.

Image - Ram 1500 Revolution all-electric concept: Work truck with a starship vibe
Ram 1500 Revolution all-electric concept: Work truck with a starship vibe
Ram unveiled its vision for its electric truck line at the CES show in January in the form of the 1500 Revolution all-electric concept -- an all-new work truck with a starship vibe. Filled with impressive features like an expansive cabin with third-row jump seats, suicide rear doors with no B pillar, four-wheel steering, and even a Shadow Mode where the vehicle will follow you around the job site on its own, Revolution is pushing hard to shake up the EV truck market.
Read the full article.

Image - When metals can't survive: Machined ceramics as an alternative
When metals can't survive: Machined ceramics as an alternative
Technical Ceramics are so hard and wear resistant that they cannot be machined with conventional tools -- but they can outlast and outperform other materials in demanding or harsh applications. Insaco's proprietary diamond grinding process and specialized techniques developed over many decades allow the company to produce and document parts to exacting specifications consistently. Learn all about the alternatives you have when metals just can't take it.
Read this informative Insaco article.

Image - What they didn't teach you about fittings in engineering school
What they didn't teach you about fittings in engineering school
Do you know why an old standard "Christmas-tree" barbed fitting may not be your best choice for your miniature fluid power application? Experts at Beswick Engineering run through the common types of fittings used in these smaller pneumatic applications, along with thread sizes and seals to help you make the correct choice. They also touch on pressure and temp ranges, chemical compatibility issues, rigid and flexible lines, and the ease of assembly and maintenance.
Read the full article.

Image - Motors: Understanding electric traction and steering for autonomous robots, AGVs, and lift trucks
Motors: Understanding electric traction and steering for autonomous robots, AGVs, and lift trucks
Electrically driven vehicles, including warehouse and factory-floor trucks, hoists, pushers, tuggers, and various types of mobile robots, are clean, quiet, and more precise than hydraulic solutions and can handle loads up to 20,000 lb in some cases. Learn all about traction actuators from Allied Motion for these vehicles -- including discrete and integrated power wheels and electric steering solutions -- and design approaches and powertrain comparisons.
Read this informative Allied Motion article.

Image - hyperMILL 2023 CAD/CAM Software Suite: New capabilities for higher productivity
hyperMILL 2023 CAD/CAM Software Suite: New capabilities for higher productivity
OPEN MIND Technologies has introduced its latest hyperMILL 2023 CAD/CAM software suite, offering users new and enhanced features for even more powerful and simplified NC programming in applications ranging from 2.5D machining to 5-axis milling. CAM capabilities include a new General Transformation Pattern feature (highly useful when there are multiple components), a new 2.5D Back Boring machining strategy, and an enhanced milling surface extension. New mill-turn capabilities include a Smooth Overlap feature for optimizing finishing paths in turning. Many more updates.
Learn more.

Image - Great Resources: FAULHABER Drive Calculator
Great Resources: FAULHABER Drive Calculator
The FAULHABER Drive Calculator is an easy-to-use tool for developers to find a suitable drive system for a specific application in record time. The program uses global presets with common average values, but default settings can be adjusted to individual needs. A detail page for each drive system shows the calculated thermal values and performance diagrams as well as other important information and data. Changes can be made and recalculated on the fly. Suitable controls are also displayed to complete the drive system. At the end, the user can download the selected solutions as a PDF or request them directly online.
Learn more and see how the FAULHABER Drive Calculator works.

Image - igus modular linear axis for travels of any length
igus modular linear axis for travels of any length
igus has launched the drylin Endless Gear linear module (EGW), a modular, linear guide with rack-and-pinion drive that does not need lubrication. The system can be extended to any travel length, costs little, and is almost as light as the guide for a toy train. Unlike a toothed belt drive, the system can also be used with several carriages, each with its own electric motor, traveling in different directions and at different speeds.
Learn more.

Image - Battery-powered wireless multi-sensor module for machine monitoring
Battery-powered wireless multi-sensor module for machine monitoring
TDK has collaborated with Texas Instruments on the new i3 Micro Module, the world's first sensor module with built-in edge AI and wireless mesh connectivity. The i3 Micro Module's ultracompact battery-powered wireless sensor allows users to achieve sensing at almost any desired position without physical constraints like wiring. This dramatically expedites the prediction of anomalies in machinery and equipment, enabling an ideal Condition-based Monitoring implementation for an enhanced smart factory environment.
Learn more.

Most popular last issue

Image - New Corvette E-Ray with hybrid eAWD propulsion
New Corvette E-Ray with hybrid eAWD propulsion
Hold on to your hat. They are really mixing things up at Chevrolet for the new year with the introduction of the first-ever Corvette E-Ray. The mid-engine hybrid uses an advanced electrified propulsion system in addition to its 6.2L LT2 Small Block V8, enabling all-season performance and a breakneck 0-to-60 time of 2.5 sec -- the quickest production Corvette ever.
Read the full article.

Image - NASA testing smart vortex generators made of shape-memory alloys for planes
NASA testing smart vortex generators made of shape-memory alloys for planes
NASA and The Boeing Co. have partnered to look at how shape-memory alloys can be used to automatically lower or raise an airplane's vortex generators, which are the small, flat pieces of metal most often seen protruding like fins from the surface of an airplane's wing.
Read the full article.

Image - Air Force Research Lab division wins award for cold spray robot
Air Force Research Lab division wins award for cold spray robot
A new system, used to apply thermal coatings to refurbish worn aerospace parts, requires a human user to look through an augmented reality-enabled Microsoft Hololens to direct a cold spray robot to where a coating should be applied to a workpiece.
Read the full article.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
EMI/RFI gasketing on-demand webinar:
Specialty Silicone Products elastomer solutions

Join Dominic Testo, business development manager for Specialty Silicone Products, for this on-demand, in-depth presentation called "EMI/RFI Gasketing: Outside-the-Box Solutions to Protect What's in the Box." Learn about new ways to overcome the restraints caused by outdated compression molding processes; new materials to overcome galvanic corrosion issues; new softer, compliant materials used for shielding; and a whole lot more.
View the video.

Video Image

New products

Electrical/Electronics
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Mechanical
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Motion
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