| March 15, 2016 | Volume 12 Issue 11 |
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 | Designing for Moldability White Paper
Whether you're new to the injection molding process or a veteran of manufacturing, Designing for Moldability offers an insightful guide to draft, radii, surface finish, materials and other thermoplastic molding considerations. It's more than 20 rapid injection molding tips designed to help improve the moldability of your plastic parts.
Download your free copy today! |
 | Optimize mechanical misalignments, get hidden benefits
C-Flex Couplings combine the best qualities of disc, beam, and bellows couplings in a unique and economical new design. Made to couple two rotating shafts together, these couplings can accommodate large misalignments while transmitting high torque loads with zero backlash. Benefits include lower energy usage and less-frequent bearing failure, since less stress is placed upon bearings. Constructed using high-strength hardened stainless steel or glass impregnated polyamide flexures, these couplings require no maintenance and provide years of trouble-free life, even in contaminated environments. Flexible Pivot Bearings and Super Plastic Torsional Damping Couplings also available.
Click here to learn more.
Watch C-Flex Couplings in action handling misalignments. |
| | Feature articles | Flexible skin traps radar waves, cloaks objects
 Iowa State University engineers have developed a new flexible, stretchable, and tunable "meta-skin" that uses rows of small, liquid-metal devices to cloak an object from the sharp eyes of radar. By stretching and flexing the polymer meta-skin, it can be tuned to reduce the reflection of a wide range of radar frequencies.
Read the full article. |
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 | 12 key factors in bellows design
What do you need to know to design your own custom bellows? The specialists at Servometer have prepared this handy resource for you. Typical bellows applications include: volume compensators, actuators, electrical spring contacts, pressure switches and transducers, flexible shaft couplings, and more.
Read the full article. |
 | Mike Likes:
Innovative way to take up tolerances
Smalley Linear Springs are a continuous wave-formed (marcelled) wire length produced from spring tempered materials. They act as a load-bearing device, having approximately the same load/deflection characteristics as a wave spring. Linear Springs are now available as a standard part in carbon and stainless steel, with over 200 sizes.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Engineer's Toolbox:
New method finds flaws in ceramic capacitors
Medical implants and spacecraft can suddenly go dead, often for the same reason: cracks in ceramic capacitors, devices that store electric charge in electronic circuits. These cracks, at first harmless and often hidden, can start conducting electricity, depleting batteries or shorting out the electronics. Now, after years of effort by manufacturers and researchers, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and collaborators have demonstrated a nondestructive approach for detecting cracks in ceramic capacitors before they go bad.
Read the full article. |
 | Small brushless motors power 5-axis CNC System
A new compact five-axis CNC (computer numerical control) machine is now making the production of complex small components much easier. Despite the small size of the unit, the use of FAULHABER small brushless motors from MICROMO means the system can offer all the properties that were previously the domain of larger systems. The compact five-axis CNC system, Kolibri, from Wegera Oy represents a practical alternative for small-scale production.
Read the full article. |
 | Smartest, toughest cable tie out there
The DualZip cable tie from Micro Plastics combines the functionality of both a releasable and a permanent tie in one part. The permanent lock is so strong that, under normal circumstances, the part will fail with the strap breaking before there is slippage within the lock. The releasable lock can be ratcheted and released many times and will continue to reliably lock. With this design, the teeth are on the outside of the bundle diameter, making it easy to release, and the release tab is located up and away from the bundle for easy access every time. The DualZip Cable Tie is available in 8-in. length. Free samples available on request.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Switches: Anti-vandal pushbutton for outdoors
Sealed metal pushbutton switches from Phaseda are made of stainless steel for anti-vandal and harsh-working-environment conditions such as farm machines, ATV, and marine equipment. The IP67 switches can easily be assembled into panel hole sizes of 16 mm, 19 mm, 25 mm, and 30 mm. The functions include SP and DP with momentary or maintained position. The buttons can be illuminated in their center dot or circle ring, with LED illumination in various colors, including white, green, blue, red, or orange for different voltage loading.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Composites: Stronger, lighter, more durable
Michelman's versatile line of fiber sizings and compounding additives is used by composite OEMs and resin suppliers to make composites stronger, lighter, and more durable. The company's broad portfolio of products allows customers to tailor the surface chemistry of reinforcement fibers to the chemistry of the matrix resin and optimize the interfacial adhesion between the polymers and fibers. Known primarily for its flagship brand Hydrosize, Michelman's film-forming dispersions optimize the surface chemistry of reinforcement fibers that are integral to high-performance composites.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Why plastic bearings outperform metal
Plastic bearings cost and weigh less than their metal counterparts. And they often run longer in harsh environments and under adverse conditions. Plain bearings molded of plastic are often an economical replacement for needle, ball, and plain metal bearings. To a certain extent, though, plastic bearings face an uphill battle for respect among the engineering community.
Learn more in this White Paper guide from igus. |
| | Most popular last issue |
 | Raspberry Pi 3 is here! Latest version of credit card-size computer board
Raspberry Pi lovers rejoice. A new generation of the crazy-popular and super-customizable credit card-size computer has been born -- and it's still only 35 bucks! element14, the manufacturer and distributor of the Raspberry Pi, has launched the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, a board that is faster and more powerful than ever before and comes with built-in wireless and Bluetooth connectivity.
Read the full article. |
 | Solar cells as light as soap bubbles created
Imagine solar cells so thin, flexible, and lightweight that they could be placed on almost any material or surface, including your hat, shirt, or smartphone, or even on a sheet of paper or a helium balloon. Researchers at MIT have now demonstrated just such a technology: the thinnest, lightest solar cells ever produced.
Read the full article. |
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| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action | Update: Air Force testing flex-wing design
Since 8 percent of the annual budget for the entire U.S. Air force is spent on jet fuel, finding a way to maximize fuel use is a top concern. This short U.S. Air Force Tech Report looks at how the team at the Air Force Research Laboratory is working on the Variable Camber Compliant Wing (VCCW) concept. Now in physical testing, this flex-wing design will take flight optimization to whole new level.
View the video. |
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