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July 05, 2022Volume 18 Issue 25


Image - Replace traditional fasteners: 50+ retaining ring applications
Replace traditional fasteners: 50+ retaining ring applications
The benefits of a Rotor Clip Retaining Ring are simple: The ring is made from less material than traditional fasteners, eliminating machined shoulders, threads, cover plates, and heat-formed studs -- so you save. Using a retaining ring to fasten your assembly instead of a traditional fastener not only reduces your costs, but also saves the environment. This quality part offers lot traceability. Want to know what you can do with a Rotor Clip Retaining Ring?
View more than 50 application examples.

In this issue of Designfax

  • Update: DOD accelerating innovative technologies
  • What's a sapphire piston used for?
  • Solar Power: More light captured without sun tracking
  • VelociRaptor 400 Bronco by Hennessey Performance
  • Recommended: Alternative to traditional drive systems
  • The Big Inch: Fueling America's WWII war effort
  • Top Tech Tip: Choosing brush or brushless DC motors
  • Top Tech Tip: Selecting single- and multi-axis stages (HIWIN)
  • Xometry launches Industrial Buying Engine: Access 500,000 top suppliers
  • Knob with a twist makes for easier operation
  • Bonus Fun: Best telescopes for kids
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • What can you do with magnetic angle sensors?
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • Pilot recounts tales of SR-71 Blackbird
    • New lightweight polymer is stronger than steel
    • New 3D-printable foam expands after heating
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion
    Cover Image: Hennessey VelociRaptor 400 Ford Bronco

News

TDK's new dramatically thinner pattern coils aim to reset wireless charging market

Army melds virtual technology with real weaponry to optimize Soldier training

Flow battery: Lockheed Martin to build first long-duration energy storage system for U.S. Army

MIT engineers devise a recipe for improving any autonomous robotic system



Image - New Twin Profile Rail Stage Actuator improves accuracy in XYZ motion system
New Twin Profile Rail Stage Actuator improves accuracy in XYZ motion system
Tolomatic's TRS Twin Profile Rail Stages with enclosed design are built from the ground up for accuracy and precision. The rigid design handles high moment loading while providing reliable, stable positioning along the length of travel. Available with ball screws or roller screws for various applications. They are stroke configurable and built-to-order, so designers get exactly what they need and can minimize final machine footprint.
Check out our brochure, view the video, or review all the specs.

Feature articles

Image - Update: DOD accelerating innovative technologies, enabling manufacturing workforce
Update: DOD accelerating innovative technologies, enabling manufacturing workforce
Groundbreaking technologies -- such as lighter-weight materials for shipbuilding and an electronic stability control system for Humvees -- were on display in May when the Department of Defense's nine Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) demonstrated advanced materials, engineering, and manufacturing. Central to the DOD MII mission is identifying industry partners, including small businesses, that have cutting-edge technologies that could benefit the warfighter.
Read the full article.

Image - What's a sapphire piston used for -- and who can make one?
What's a sapphire piston used for -- and who can make one?
If you want a prototype piston made of metal for research purposes, you have a lot of options -- you can even 3D print your own. But what if you need something much more exotic, like the second-hardest natural material? When Mid Michigan Research had just such a need, it turned to Insaco for the company's long history of custom fabrication of sapphire precision parts, often in unusual forms.
Read the full article.

Image - Solar Power: More light captured without sun tracking -- even on a cloudy day
Solar Power: More light captured without sun tracking -- even on a cloudy day
In a real "why-didn't-I-think-of-that?" moment, Stanford University researchers designed a deceptively simple, pyramid-shaped lens device that can efficiently gather light from all angles and concentrate it at a fixed output position. The graded index optics have light-management applications in solar power arrays, solid-state lighting, laser couplers, and more. Testing demonstrated impressive results.
Read the full article.

Image - VelociRaptor 400 Bronco: Hennessey Performance max upgrade
VelociRaptor 400 Bronco: Hennessey Performance max upgrade
If your automotive tastes run to outdoor fun and you like to dial it up to 10, Hennessey Performance has the Ford Bronco upgrade for you. The VelociRaptor Bronco 400 takes a stock 275-hp Badlands model and cranks it to 405 hp, while making it taller, louder, and sportier with a sleek livery along the way.
Read the full article.

Image - Recommended: Alternative to traditional drive systems
Recommended: Alternative to traditional drive systems
Nexen Group has introduced a stainless steel version of its patented precision roller pinion system (RPS), which engages two teeth simultaneously to achieve superior accuracy with zero backlash at any length. RPS is extremely quiet and 99% efficient, with a long life up to 36 million meters. It provides a low-maintenance, durable alternative to rack and pinion, ball screw, and belt drive technology. The RPS is used for a wide range of applications including laser cutting, plasma cutting, and gantry applications.
Learn more.

Image - The Big Inch: Fueling America's WWII war effort
The Big Inch: Fueling America's WWII war effort
Keith Martin from NIST presents the fascinating story of how the crucial work of pipeline engineer William Gillum Heltzel, who developed some of the earliest usable flow formulas, helped win the war "by an Inch."
Read the full article.

Image - Top Tech Tip: Choosing between brush and brushless DC motors -- What are the tradeoffs?
Top Tech Tip: Choosing between brush and brushless DC motors -- What are the tradeoffs?
Designing a system that involves motion and performs as intended requires choosing the right motor. The most fundamental decision involves commutation type. In some cases, mechanically commutated brush motors provide the best solution for the budget. In other cases, only brushless DC (BLDC) motors will do. Allied Motion provides a comprehensive review of the technology, along with tips and tricks for choosing the right solution for a given application.
Read the whitepaper (no registration required).

Image - Top Tech Tip: Selecting single- and multi-axis stages (HIWIN)
Top Tech Tip: Selecting single- and multi-axis stages (HIWIN)
BUILT IN THE USA from parts imported from Taiwan and elsewhere, HIWIN's single- or multi-axis stages are a solid choice for constructing your automation systems. Learn the many factors to consider when selecting stage technology and how each of these requirements can impact the selection of components and accessories for your motion system design.
Read this informative HIWIN white paper (no registration required).

Image - Xometry launches Industrial Buying Engine: Access 500,000 top suppliers
Xometry launches Industrial Buying Engine: Access 500,000 top suppliers
Xometry had a lot of news to share on June 16, including the launch of its Industrial Buying Engine on Thomasnet, where enterprise customers can source and purchase from more than 500,000 top suppliers. The new capability digitizes the request-for-quote process, condensing to just hours or minutes what once took days or weeks to complete. Buyers can request quotes for products and services from trusted, high-value suppliers, and they can also access the Xometry Instant Quoting Engine for more immediate transactions. Learn all about it -- and Xometry's other manufacturing news -- in this on-demand webinar.
Watch the Xometry presentation. No registration required.
Read about the new Xometry capabilities.

Image - Knob with a twist makes for easier operation
Knob with a twist makes for easier operation
Created with ergonomics in mind, Rogan's new ST series clamping knobs feature a contoured design that allows for more comfortable operation and ease of function. Perfectly engineered for applications in industrial, medical, lawn and garden, and consumer, ST knobs are made of glass-reinforced polypropylene with zinc-plated brass inserts or zinc-plated steel studs. Available in black, grey, white, blue, yellow, green, or red. Completely customizable too.
Learn more.

Image - Bonus Fun: Best telescopes for kids
Bonus Fun: Best telescopes for kids
Space.com has put together a list of the best telescopes for kids, so those little stargazers in your life can make the most of their summer nights. Recommended equipment runs the gamut, from beginner setups under a hundred bucks to more advanced tech with sky tracking and basic astrophotography. A great place to start if you are in the market for a kid's scope. [Image credit: Celestron]
Read the Space.com article.

Most popular last issue

Image - Pilot recounts tales of SR-71 Blackbird
Pilot recounts tales of SR-71 Blackbird
The SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft flew missions around the globe from 1966 to 1998 at speeds above Mach 3 and altitudes of 85,000 ft or more. Although its many contributions to national security will never be fully revealed to the public, the Skunk Works marvel holds world aviation records for its speed and altitude. In this interview with former SR-71 pilot Col. Buzz Carpenter, you'll hear a first-hand account of the aircraft's power and majesty.
View the video. An oldie but goodie.

Image - New lightweight polymer is stronger than steel
New lightweight polymer is stronger than steel
MIT chemical engineers have created a new two-dimensional polymer that is stronger than steel and as light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities. Until now, scientists had believed it was impossible to induce polymers to form 2D sheets.
Read the full article.

Image - New 3D-printable foam expands to full size after heating
New 3D-printable foam expands to full size after heating
When we first heard about the new FreeFoam material invented by Adaptive3D that can be 3D printed and later heated to expand to its final, intended full size, we thought, "Hmmm ... that's weird," but later it dawned on us that this is incredibly useful -- especially given current supply-chain challenges.
Read the full article.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
What can you do with touchless magnetic angle sensors?
Novotechnik has put together a really informative video highlighting real-world applications for their RFC, RFE, and RSA Series touchless magnetic angle sensors. You may be surprised at the variety of off-highway, marine, material handling, and industrial uses. You'll learn how they work (using a Hall effect microprocessor to detect position) and their key advantages, including eliminated wear and tear on these non-mechanical components. We love when manufacturers provide such useful examples.
View the video.

New products

Electrical/Electronics
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Mechanical
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Motion
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