Mechanical Monthly eNewsletter

Electronic control boxes and enclosures for solar and win power installations are often sited in remote spots. So The enclosure has to withstand the environment yet still open and close for inspections and...

Take a look at some of the technology in the high-speed trains from Bombardier and Siemens, two of the world's largest manufacturers of high-speed trains. Plus, find out a bit more about the rails these trains ride on.

Fast-moving machine can damage themselves when they come to sudden stops. Pneumatic-cylinder cushions can soften those end-of-stroke impacts, but require painstaking...

This detailed article features an in-depth engineering analysis showing how bolt patterns affect how loads are distributed among those bolts. Understanding bolt-mounting...

A company has built a power dish that converts heat from the sun into mechanical energy, then uses the Stirling cycle to turn it into electricity. The company is using the same...

The Edge, the latest coordinate-measuring machine from Faro Technologies Inc., Lake Mary, Fla., features a built-in touchscreen and onboard computer that eliminate...

What kind of chain can push and lift loads, as well as pull and lift them? Rigid Chain. It gives engineers an option for moving loads that offers a small footprint, low maintenance, environmental cleanliness...

A group of engineers are designing and building Super Terrain Vehicles, a series of million-dollar cars that could change the way you think of high-performance cars...

Researchers are trying to build the world's fastest robot and they're modeling it on the cheetah. They also want to build a robot that runs like a human. Think it's...

Could aerospace engineers design planes that don't use moving control surfaces? An experimental drone tested the idea of using blades of air instead of conventional ailerons.

Engineers have long used precision gearboxes to let servomotors control heavy loads at high cycle rates in robotic and industrial-automation applications. Over that time, two types...

Progressive Insurance recently handed out $10 million in prize money to design teams that came up with the most fuel efficient and capable vehicles in an X-Prize competition. Judges whittled the field down from...

NASA is building a nuclear-powered car-sized rover that will land on Mars in in mid-2012. Unlike past rovers — Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity — this one will do more than just observe and send data...

The Volt, Chevy's new electric hybrid, uses an evolutionary new powertrain that could help buyers avoid stops at gas stations, especially if they drive less than 40 miles a day. But it will also...

A homegrown inventor comes up with a simpler way to remove remove nails embedded in boards and plywood using pneumatics. It's sort of the opposite of a nail gun...

It's a challenge to design highly accurate positioning systems. And it becomes even more difficult if large distances involved. When the size of the work exceeds a meter, angular errors become amplified...

Electric hub motors have been around almost as long as the automobile. But are they technologically ready to power consumer cars and trucks?

When disaster strikes on an assembly line or where ever powerful machinery is in action, the first response should be to shut it down to save lives and money. Here's the latest on the electrical E-Stops...

When an oversized bearing (those with diameters between 36 and 169 in.) gets too old, replacing it usually cost a lot and takes a long lead time for delivery...

Green fever has caught on in design studios devoted traditionally to pure speed and performance, including Porsche and Ferrari. Check out three hybrids you'd be proud to park in...

Is now the right time for high-speed trains criss-crossing the U.S.? Are we ready for them technologically? And do we really even need them? Check out Leland Teschler's editorial...

When engineers select couplings with the capabilities, environmental resistance, and service parameters their applications demand and install and...

Thorium-based liquid reactors could be more efficient and create less waste than today’s uranium-based generating plants. Liquid fuel has significant theoretical...

Hybrids and all-electric cars dominated the line up of concept cars at this year's auto show. But perhaps they are more like cars we will actually drive rather than the flashy...

GIs have been carrying M4 rifles for the past 15 years. But that should change after a competitive “shoot off” among gun makers planned for this year. See what our soldiers may...

Machine Design editor Leslie Gordon blogs about how it easier to write about manufacturing and engineering, thanks to her machine-shop background...

Plastics and other soft materials often rely on threaded metal inserts to holdfasteners and reinforce joints. Though stainless steel may be appropriate sometimes...

Will ducted fan technology let an inventor build an unpiloted cargo/rescue vehicle that cruises through the air at up to 100 mph but still...

After a half century of R&D, turbine jet engines are getting smaller — a lot smaller. Hobbyists and model enthusiasts now have reliable turbine...

The U.S. Army and Marine Corp needed a new personnel carrier, one that could handle the rocky terrain of Afghanistan and withttand mine attacks. After a...

Lower operating costs are pushing many companies designing and building off-road equipment to replace hydraulic and mechanical drives with electric hybrids. They let diesel engines...

Read Machine Design Editor Leland Teschler's editorial on high-speed rail and mass transit. Then log in and join the discussion.

Leadscrew assemblies or drives are widely used to generate linear motion. And you can get this motion by turning either the screw or the nut. Three primary...

Learn more about plain or sleeve bearings which are replacing rolling-element bearings in a wide range of products including pumps, wind turbines, and equipment for agriculture and construction.

Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) has been around since the 1940s, yet it is unappreciated as a valuable way to stop bad designs from being made.

NIST engineers mixed a polymer with carbon black, a fine powder almost entirely made of elemental carbon, to create a compound that mimics the average electrical conductivity of the human body.