| April 26, 2016 | Volume 12 Issue 16 |
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 | 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. |
 | New Product: Ultra-Miniature In-Line Load Cell
Introducing FUTEK's brand new in-line load cell: the LCM100 model. It's an ultra-miniature threaded load cell that has a capacity range of 1000g to 25 lb. RoHS complaint, the load sensor is great for both tension and compression applications. The most impressive feature of the LCM100 is its very low deflection, which allows it to provide high response rates and superior settling times.
Check out this video! |
 | Aircraft: In-flight automatic collision avoidance system passes first test
A research effort associated with DARPA's Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS) program recently conducted the first successful flight tests of a shoebox-size, plug-and-play system designed to enable manned and unmanned aircraft to automatically detect nearby aircraft and avoid potential mid-air collisions. An unmanned air vehicle (UAV) repeatedly used the technology demonstration system to detect and track, in real time, a Cessna 172G aircraft approaching from various vertical and horizontal distances.
Read the full article. |
 | Cool Tools: Proto Labs Design Cube
The Proto Labs Design Cube illustrates important considerations when designing plastic injection molded parts. It showcases a range of available surface finishes and examples of bosses, gussets and ribs. It also demonstrates the impact on part quality of overly thick or thin sections, as well as ways to incorporate holes and their potential effect on resin flow.
Get a free Design Cube today! |
 | Software: Maplesoft and SolidWorks partner
Maplesoft has become a Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Certified Solutions Partner. This is a progression of the relationship between the two companies that has already enabled engineers to connect Maple and MapleSim with SOLIDWORKS, a solid modeling CAD and CAE program. By importing multibody CAD models from SOLIDWORKS into Maplesoft's modeling and simulation platform, MapleSim, users can automatically capture the kinematic and kinetic properties of the model components. They can also evaluate how mechanical CAD models will behave as part of a larger, multidomain system, and apply MapleSim's advanced analysis tools to improve and optimize designs.
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 | Thermal: Heat sinks cool brick DC-DC converters
Advanced Thermal Solutions (ATS) now provides a family of high-performance maxiFLOW heat sinks for cooling DC-DC power converters and power modules. The power brick heat sinks are available for full, half, quarter, and one-eighth brick sizes. The ATS maxiFLOW heat sinks reduce junction temperatures (Tj) by more than 20 percent. Their patented maxiFLOW spread-fin heat-sink design maximizes cooling performance in low-airflow environments.
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 | Adhesives: Fast-cure sealants for automotive and electronics
DELO offers three new highly flexible, acrylate-based sealants that can withstand temps up to 150 deg C and reach final strength within seconds of curing. Ideal for sealing and casting small-volume applications like relays, microswitches, connectors, and pins, as well as for fixing electronic components and bonding housing parts, these new temperature-resistant, tension-equalizing acrylates are particularly useful in the automotive industry. While DELO-PHOTOBOND GE4009 is a purely light-curing adhesive, well-suited for translucent materials, DELO-DUALBOND GE4707 and DELO-DUALBOND GE4906 use light-curing in conjunction with either heat or humidity, respectively. This dual method eliminates uncured adhesive in shadowed areas that may penetrate the components and cause corrosion at electrical contacts.
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 | Motion: 10-mm motor doubles output torque
MICROMO announces the launch of a new generation of metal brush commutated FAULHABER motors, the 1024…SR series with a diameter of 10 mm. In combination with a gearhead, its output torque can achieve 300 mNm, twice that of similar products on the market. Thanks to a superior torque/speed ratio (flat slope), the motor can handle varying loads at reduced speed variations with smooth control. This performance is achieved with very low noise and vibration levels. A wide range of matching speed and motion controllers, encoders, and gearheads allow for optimal adaption in high-demand applications like portable devices or optical equipment. The significant power and torque enhancement is based on a redesign of nearly all of the motor's elements, including a new coil, a new commutation system, and a new magnet.
Click here for more information. |
 | Favorite Materials: Copper foam
Copper foam from Goodfellow combines the outstanding thermal conductivity of copper with the structural benefits of a metal foam. These features are of particular interest to design engineers working in the fields of medical products and devices, defense systems and manned flight, power generation, and the manufacture of semiconductor devices. This product has a true skeletal structure with no voids, inclusions, or entrapments. A perennial favorite of Designfax readers.
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| | Most popular last issue |
 | Tabletop thruster is serious contender to get humans to Mars
The spacecraft engine that will help take humans to Mars may be based on a relatively diminutive University of Michigan prototype. NASA gave this dream new credibility earlier this year by funding a spaceflight propulsion system to be built around a tabletop-size thruster developed in the U-M Department of Aerospace Engineering. This ion propulsion system is up against two competing designs, but it has a head start.
Read the full article. |
 | Special: On the tragedy's 6th anniversary, a look at how FEA aided Deepwater Horizon failure forensics
On the evening of April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon suffered a blowout while drilling in the Macondo Prospect, an area in the Gulf of Mexico 40 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana. The platform caught fire, and two days later, it sank. Eleven crewmen were killed. The spewing oil caused the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. In this article, engineers use Abaqus Finite Element Analysis to do some of the detective work concerning what went so terribly wrong with the rig's blowout preventer stack.
Read the full article. |
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| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action |
Wireless floating sphere has delivery gripper
The engineering wizards at Festo (well known for creating new and novel pneumatic and mechanical concept projects) have come up with FreeMotionHandling, an indoor, helium-filled flying balloon that sports an integrated gripper. The sphere consists of a carbon ring with eight adaptive propellers. At the center is a rotatable helium ball with an integrated gripping element. Thanks to the intelligent onboard electronics and GPS, the ball is able to maneuver in all directions, pick up objects independently, and put them down at designated places. No pilot required.
View the video. |
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