February 19, 2009

Leland Teschler's Editorial: When You Can’t Believe the Model

Amid all the hand-wringing about financial systems in meltdown mode, the subject of modeling hasn’t gotten a lot of notice

Letters 2/19/2009

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Recently readers have been chock-full of questions. They want to know if daytime running lights consume too much gas and if an all-metal electric guitar presents a shock hazard.

The Exosuit Diving Suit Stays Flexible Underwater

The Exosuit Swimmable Atmospheric Diving Suit lets divers go down to 1,000 ft while breathing regular air at atmospheric pressure for up to 3 days. Flexible joints and a three-fingered gripper give the user mobility and dexterity under the water.

Machine-Vision Industry Riding Out the Recession

A nearly global recession is affecting business, especially manufacturing, and this has not been good for machinevision companies, says Paul Kellet, director of Marketing Research for the Automated Imaging Assoc.

Film Test for Better ICs

As IC electronics have become more densely packed, cross-talk among them has become a problem

Quantum Memory Now Lasts Longer Than Ever — 7 msec

Physicists at Georgia Institute of Technology have set a new record for the length of time quantum information can be stored and retrieved from an array of atoms

NIST Builds Standardized Electric Dummy

The process of testing metal detectors used at airports and other public spaces can be tricky

Siemens PLC Runs Converting Machine Servos

Making disposable products can be particularly demanding. Manufacturers of baby diapers, tissues, and other singleuse consumer goods frequently switch production lines from one product to another

Berke on Safety: Concrete Pumps and Booms are Safer by Manufacturer Design

When a concrete boom collapsed on the job, the contractor was irked at the inconvenience, but grateful no one had been hurt

Career profile: Ames Lab Metallurgist Iver E. Anderson

Iver E. Anderson has spent 26 years in engineering, and says his best career decision was taking the advice of colleague Fred Yost from Sandia Labs. That advice: To work together on developing a lead-free solder.

CAE Inside of CAD Ups the Ante

Many readers are probably already familiar with the idea of CAE working side by side or inside CAD

Backtalk 2/19/2009

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The Earth is slowing down by about 0.002 sec/day, meaning that the Earth doesn’t rotate exactly once every 24 hr (or 86,400 sec)

Engineering Green

Green engineering throws an additional monkey wrench into the constant tug-of-war that is design.

Expanded PTFE Polymer Keeps Electrical and Electronics Cables Clean and Flexible

Expanded PTFE’s wide temperature range, low coefficient of friction, low dielectric constant and inertness can help it extend a cable’s flex life and improve data integrity.

Selecting Dc Brush and Brushless Motors

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DC motors excel where the need is for variable speeds, but complexities of brush and brushless designs can complicate the selection process.

Cabinet-Level Decision-Making

An enclosure designer needs hinges, catches, handles, and supports that work together.

Servomotor Measures Its Own Inertia Load

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Advanced servomotor systems need an inertia load parameter for proper tuning. This process uses the servomotor in the machine to plot the true inertia of the load.

Bottle capper Delivers Smooth Torque for Better Performance

Smoothing the torque delivery of a bottle-capping headset improves performance and reduces maintenance

Earthquake Simulator Relies on Hydraulics and Electronics

Electrohydraulic actuators and high-speed motion controllers let a new research center recreate blizzards, hurricanes, and earthquakes.

Scanning for Ideas: Electromechanical Actuators With Rigidity

After extensive research into advancing the performance and rigidity of electromechanical drives, Festo, with U.S. headquarters in Hauppauge, N.Y.

Scanning for Ideas: Fast and Furious Deburring

Parts with internal burrs and whiskers can drive up rejection rates. So to get rid of burrs, engineers at Earth-Chain, Indianapolis

Scanning for Ideas: Smaller, Water-Vapor Chiller Now Possible

What could be more environmentally friendly than a chiller that uses water vapor as a refrigerant? Well, such devices are around, but they are costly

Motion Products: A-B Powerflex 755 ac Drive

The Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 755 ac drive comes in power ranges from 7.5-to-250 kW or 10-to-350 hp at 400/480 Vac and 540/650-Vdc input

Motion Products: Stepmotor and Drive

The MDrive14Plus triple-stack motor combines a NEMA Size-14 brushless 1.8° stepping motor with electronics

Motion Products: Aseptic^plus Gearmotor Meets IP69K Rating

A smooth-bodied, hygienic design lets the new Asepticplus gearmotor meet the IP69K rating for high-pressure, high-temperature wash-down conditions found in the food-processing industry

Motion Products: Space-Saving Servodrives

The R7D-B Series servodrives, measuring just 120 × 35 × 105 mm, leave room for other controls on the same rail

Fastners and Adhesives: Cold-Formed Rivet Nuts

Fully cold-formed versions of the company’s M10 rivet nuts are now available

Fasteners and adhesives Toggle Clamps with Safety Locks

Latch-action toggle clamps with safety locks come in five sizes, from 360 to 7,500-lb holding capacity, with a threaded U-bolt for adjustability and a matching latch plate

Fastners and Adhesives: Compression Latch

To obtain a 12-mm compression range, the 1-081SL compression latch uses D-Snap Technology and Design Symmetry for simple installation without hardware or tools

Fastners and Adhesives: Pneumatic Hot-Melt Glue Gun

The TEC 6100 hot-melt glue gun applies hot-melt adhesive to sand cores in sand or die-casting foundries or steel dies

Fastners and Adhesives: Crystal-Clear Adhesive

Clear Welder is a two-part structural-methacrylate adhesive that produces a crystal-clear bond line on plastics including ABS, acrylics, FRP, PETG, PMMA, and PVC

Fastners and Adhesives: Liquid-Adhesive Dispensing Guns

Two high-speed, rapid-cycling, electric liquid-adhesive dispensing guns are said to boost efficiency and productivity while delivering consistent, high-quality bonding

Fastners and Adhesives: Epoxy SMT Stencil Assembly

Designed for SMT stencil assembly, 10-3022 is used to bond polyester mesh to aluminum frames and stainless-steel foil to polyester mesh

Fastners and Adhesives: High-Strength Titanium Fasteners

High-strength titanium fasteners, designed for the aerospace industry, are covered in a four-page brochure

New Products: Disc Couplings

Torsiflex disc couplings have hightorque, high-reliability, and zeromaintenance characteristics

New Products: Single-Piece Clutch or Brake

A bearing-mounted clutch and brake assembly ships as one piece, eliminating the need for assembly or adjustment

New Products: Nonmetallic Flat Washers

Nonstandard, nonmetallic flat washers come in 5,000 sizes

New Products: Redesigned Variable-Speed Drives

UPM and WPM variable-speed dc drives have been redesigned to comply with Europe’s RoHS directive

New Products: Planetary Gearboxes

The PGC Series of planetary gearboxes, with 5 arc-min of backlash as standard, can also be supplied with 1 arc-min

New Products: Precision-Machined Parts

Custom-engineered parts are machined from stainless steel, titanium, and nickel-based alloys in sizes ranging from 0.012 to 1-in. OD

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