September 12, 2023 | Volume 19 Issue 34 |
Manufacturing Center
Product Spotlight
Modern Applications News
Metalworking Ideas For
Today's Job Shops
Tooling and Production
Strategies for large
metalworking plants
3D-printing materials just keep getting better -- and now there are more choices than ever. Watch as Walter Voit, SVP Polymer Materials, Desktop Metal, describes the 3D printing of DuraChain Elastic ToughRubber photopolymers, which produce tough and resilient end-use parts while eliminating the need for a two-part resin. DuraChain photopolymers also demonstrate a long pot life of roughly one year, depending on environmental conditions, making them more suitable for volume production and reducing waste from spoiled, unused material. These materials are offered exclusively on the ETEC Xtreme 8K top-down DLP systems. ETEC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Desktop Metal.
Learn about this exciting material.
Learn about the ETEC Xtreme 8K DLP systems -- and what makes them so much better.
THK has developed its best-performing, high-speed rotary bearing ever: the High-Speed, Double-Row Angular Contact Ring BWH. This rotary bearing has balls aligned inside a cage between the inner and outer rings and is part of the THK Rotary Series, along with the cross-roller ring. The main features of this product are its ability to receive loads in all directions as well as its high rigidity and rotational accuracy, which are equal to that of cross-roller rings. By adopting a new structure to change the rolling elements from rollers to balls, this product achieves the greatest high-speed performance ever offered by THK.
Learn more.
Ruland Manufacturing has expanded its jaw coupling line to meet the demands of high-torque applications, now offering bore sizes up to 1-3/4 in. or 45 mm and torque capacities of 2,655 in.-lb (300 Nm). Target uses are in precision systems with high deceleration and acceleration curves, such as semiconductor, solar, conveyor, and warehouse automation applications. Features include zero-backlash, industry-leading misalignment capabilities, and a balanced design that reduces vibration at speeds up to 8,000 rpm.
Learn more.
Can you get a design and functional edge with a wedge? In this animated video, Nord-Lock explains the principle behind their original wedge-locking technology, which secures bolted joints even when exposed to severe vibration and dynamic loads. The company says it is impossible for this washer type to loosen unintentionally, due to the wedge created underneath the bolt head and nut.
View the video.
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.
Learn more.
Rotor Clip has just launched its new, patented InterShim™ Wave Spring design, which has been engineered for high-acceleration electric motor applications. It features alternating turns between inactive (flat) and active (waved) turns to ensure reliable performance under torsional loads and precise rotational movement. The highly customizable wave spring's advanced design addresses physical challenges such as extreme forces and vibrations, making it a versatile solution for high-speed and high-stress applications across various industries.
Learn more.
Xometry's just-launched downloadable Laser Tube Cutting and Tube Bending Design Guide covers design tips and tricks for cutting parts, including minimums, tolerances, and sizes. The guide also covers important rules for mandrel tube bending, like tolerancing, distance between bends, and bends to avoid. Interested in even more in-depth information? Watch the corresponding on-demand webinar, which introduces how Xometry is bringing AI and machine learning to provide instant pricing and lead time on tube bending and cutting to its Instant Quoting Engine.
Get the guide. No registration required.
Watch the extended Best Practices webinar.
A new additive manufacturing material from Stratasys and BASF is aimed at driving greater part quality, versatility, and cost efficiency. SAF™ PP is recognized for its exceptional chemical resistance and airtight capabilities, making it the ultimate choice for complex applications across various industries. It can also be welded to other polypropylene components.
Read the full article.
The new CFL Series cam follower from IKO International boasts a unique, space-saving outer ring design and polymer layer that exceeds the capabilities of conventional resin-type cam followers. Many conventional cam followers press-fit a layer of resin onto the unit's standard outer ring to maintain radial load capacity and provide quiet, clean, and durable operation. However, this thicker assembly makes it difficult to fit into constrained spaces. The CFL Series significantly improves on this design with a polymer layer that is molded directly onto the IKO exclusive thin-walled steel outer ring. This construction solves the dilemma of being able to install a cam follower with special polymers, offering self-lubricating and shock-absorbing properties into existing applications.
Learn more.
SPIROL's new video showcases their updated Model PR and Model CR Semi-Automatic Installation Machines for Pins, Alignment Dowels, and Bushings. The video demonstrates how to operate the machine, details standard features, and optional quality and error-proofing enhancements. More than 80% of the components in this installation equipment are standard, pretested, production-proven, off-the-shelf parts. This translates into faster delivery, greater reliability, and lowest cost for equipment of comparable quality.
View the video.
Greg Paulsen and Steve Zimmerman from Xometry present a comprehensive understanding of CNC design principles, what features are considered common, and what can drive costs. The experts also go through guidance to make great technical drawings to communicate design intent to manufacturers. Lots of good info here. Flip through now and take it all in later when you have the time.
View the video. No registration required.
igus has a new and improved 24-piece iglide® sample box that engineers can request and receive gratis. All iglide components are self-lubricating, resistant to dirt and dust, and offer low rates of wear. The sample box contains bearings, gears, piston rings, and more, and includes many of the most widely used iglide materials. Nothing like having the materials in hand to really check them out.
Learn more.
Zero-Max's ServoClass-HSN Couplings address noise and vibration issues that can be experienced in high-gain, high-speed stepper/servo motor applications such as linear actuators, high-response gantry systems, pick-and-place systems, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Featuring a Highly Saturated Nitrile Rubber (HSN/HNBR) flex element, these couplings are specifically designed for maximum damping and performance. They incorporate the field-proven ServoClass clamping hub system and have a zero-backlash design.
Learn more.
UK-based company Fyous is launching the world's first infinitely reusable molding technology that can shapeshift in under 20 minutes, producing zero tooling waste and making usable parts 14 times faster than 3D printing. Sort of like a kid's pin art toy, Fyous' PolyMorphic molding can be set, used, and then reset to help create parts from carbon fiber, polyurethane, PET sheet (thermoformed), foods like chocolate, and more.
Read the full article.
Stock Drive Products/ Sterling Instrument (SDP/SI) has expanded their selection of flexible couplings to include the single disk-type couplings (short-type) series S50XHSM and the double disk-type couplings (standard length-type) series S50XHWM. The disk-type flexible couplings are an economical option that provides greater torque capability and improved performance in a reduced size, with torque ratings of 0.6 up to 12 Nm -- an improvement over similar products.
Learn more.
Patent-pending adhesive formulations developed at Purdue University from fully sustainable, bio-based components establish bonds that grow stronger when under water or exposed to wet conditions.
Gudrun Schmidt, an associate professor of practice in Purdue's Department of Chemistry, and a team of researchers developed the formulations from zein, a protein found in corn, and tannic acid. A paper about the team's research was published in the peer-reviewed journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
The adhesive formulations could be further developed and used in the restoration of coral reefs and have applications in the construction, manufacturing, biomedical, dental, food, and cosmetic industries.
Stronger in water
Schmidt and her colleagues conducted underwater adhesive experiments on their formulations using different surfaces and different waters, including seawater, saline solution, tap water, and deionized water.
"Interestingly, the water type does not influence performance a great deal, but the substrate type does," Schmidt said. "An additional unexpected result was bond strengths increasing over time when exposed to water, contradicting general experiments of working with traditional, petroleum-based glues. Initial adhesion underwater was stronger compared to benchtop adhesion, suggesting that water helps to make the glue stick underwater."
Aaron Mena (left) and Jennifer Garcia Rodriguez, graduate students in Purdue University's Department of Chemistry, affix corals using adhesive formulations developed from fully sustainable, bio-based components. [Credit: Purdue University photo/Gudrun Schmidt]
A protective skin formed on the surface of the adhesives when placed under water, which kept water from entering the rest of the material immediately. "But once the skin was in place, it could be broken to induce faster bond formation," Schmidt said.
The experiments also indicated maximum bonding at about 30 degrees C, then another increase at higher temperatures.
Schmidt said the process to make the adhesive formulations is a short one.
"We can use inexpensive, sustainably sourced, plant-based materials to make gallons of glue within hours," Schmidt said. "The adhesives are very simple to make in the lab or outdoors, everywhere on the planet."
The demand for nontoxic formulations
Schmidt said other researchers are formulating adhesives that mimic the glues used by mussels, barnacles, oysters, and sandcastle worms to adhere to the seafloor and other wet surfaces. Those best-performing formulations, however, are fully synthetic.
"Lengthy syntheses with the use of harsh chemicals may hold back their future development," Schmidt said. "Nontoxicity, sustainably sourced materials, and minimal environmental impact are increasingly in demand. Consequently, several groups have turned to developing new and remaking old adhesive systems using bioinspired or bio-based chemistry."
The increased demand of nontoxic materials has led to creating adhesives for biomedical applications. The resulting glues have properties similar to soft tissue. Schmidt said that bio-based adhesives have further applications.
"Once the in-vivo and biomedical realm is left behind, there is an entire world of other applications requiring metals, plastics, wood, and inorganic substrates that need adhesives to work in the presence of water," Schmidt said. "Food, oral, and cosmetic applications are less restrictive when it comes to purity of starting materials. Food-grade polymers can often be used for making wet adhesives. We also are working on dental applications, trying to make bonds in this wet and challenging environment."
Coral reef restoration
Schmidt said another particularly intriguing application for the patent-pending Purdue-developed adhesive formulations is the restoration of coral reefs.
"There are several major efforts, worldwide, planting young corals to replace those structures that are already dead," Schmidt said. "A major hindrance to these efforts is lack of suitable underwater adhesives that work well for this application."
Schmidt and her research team are working with the Coral Restoration Foundation, sending various formulations to be tested.
"We recently visited the Florida Keys to test a few formulations in bucketsful of ocean water," Schmidt said. "It is great to see our work outside of the research lab and in the real, wet world."
Schmidt disclosed the adhesive formulations to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization, which has applied for a patent to protect the intellectual property.
Source: Purdue University
Published September 2023