Mechanical Engineering-CIME articles from July 2003

Mechanical Engineering-CIME archives from July 2003

High wire. (Editorial).(Sandia Peak Tram, New Mexico)
July 1, 2003... I can't think of a place where the beauty of nature and the elegance of engineering come together as well as in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, N.M. Here, 400,000 pounds of track cable--measuring 1 5/8 inches in...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2003... A VOTE FOR METHANOL To the Editor: I read with interest associate editor Gayle Ehrenman's article, "Children of the Corn" (January), about use of farm product-derived ethanol as a blending ingredient in gasoline and diesel fuel. Or even in...

Engineer salaries hold steady. (News & Notes).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Despite economic conditions, engineers are still faring well in the workforce, according to a salary survey conducted by the National Society of Professional Engineers. According to NSPE's "2003 Income and Salary Survey," the total annual...

Flying blind. (News & Notes).(drone aircraft considered for US airspace)
July 1, 2003... NASA engineers are eyeing unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, for national civilian airspace, where they are currently restricted. NASA Dryden Research Center in Edwards, Calif., has completed two sets of tests, using the Proteus unmanned...

Only on M.E. Magazine online.
July 1, 2003... Only on M.E. MAGAZINE ONLINE @ www.memagazine.org. Responses to the June Question of the Month: Will electric or hybrid vehicles ever replace the gasoline-burning automobiles of today? Yes, they make perfect sense 53% Yes, but...

Web exclusives in July include.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... "The Ammonia Economy," by ASME member Prof. Vito Agosta, who discusses the advantages of employing ammonia instead of hydrogen to meet society's energy needs in the future. Also look for "Engineering--What You Don't Necessarily Learn in...

Roll out the solar. (News & Notes).(Solarmine project employs amorphous silicon technology)
July 1, 2003... There's an undeniable man-bites-dog aspect to the six-acre facility in the scrubby flats outside Bakersfield, Calif.--a solar power station to help run a complex of oil-well pumps. What really sets the installation apart, however, isn't its...

Itec Environmental Systems. (Briefly Noted).(recycling plant startup)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Itec Environmental Systems has started recycling operations at its Oakdale, Calif., plant, which can recycle 600,000 pounds of oil-contaminated plastics per month.

Devcon International Corp. and Matrix Desalination have formed a joint venture to build and operate reverse osmosis fresh water. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * Devcon International Corp. and Matrix Desalination have formed a joint venture to build and operate reverse osmosis fresh water, waste-water treatment, and power systems in the eastern Caribbean.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. is building a soy processing facility in Shanhaiguan. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * Archer Daniels Midland Co. of Decatur, Ill., is building a soy processing facility in Shanhaiguan, China, in partnership with Wilmar Holdings of Singapore. Construction is expected to be completed by mid-2004.

United States Steel Corp. said its Serbian subsidiary, U.S. Steel Balkan d.o.o., will purchase out of bankruptcy Serbian steel producer Sartid a.d. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * United States Steel Corp. of Pittsburgh said its Serbian subsidiary, U.S. Steel Balkan d.o.o., will purchase out of bankruptcy Serbian steel producer Sartid a.d. and six of its subsidiaries for a total purchase price of $23 million. Sartid's...

ChevronTexaco plans to sell its interests in its Papua New Guinea joint ventures. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * ChevronTexaco of San Ramon, Calif., plans to sell its interests in its Papua New Guinea joint ventures. The offer for sale will include oil and gas production interests in the Southern Highlands Province.

CurtissWright Corp. completed the acquisition of selected assets of E/M Coatings Solutions. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * CurtissWright Corp. of Roseland, N.J., completed the acquisition of selected assets of E/M Coatings Solutions, a division of Morgan Chemical Products Inc. and subsidiary of The Morgan Crucible Co. plc, a British manufacturer, for $16.7...

Suspended animation. (Computing).(Polaris Industries employ simulation software for vehicle design)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A Medina, Minn., company, Polaris Industries, is using a new software application to help design its recreational vehicles. The firm makes all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles, and personal watercraft. Its engineers there are...

Touring race team seeks edge with CAE. (Computing).(computer aided engineering, Triple Eight Race Engineering)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... In both 2001 and 2002, the Triple Eight Race Engineering team of Banbury, England, has swept the driver, team, and manufacturer British Touring Car Championship titles and the team is gearing up for a June 2003 win with its Vauxhall Astra Coupe...

One software brand for these motorcycles. (Computing).(Buell Motorcycles, think3)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A maker of performance motorcycles has standardized its operations on one software developer's across-the-board product-development applications. The motorcycle maker, Buell Motorcycles USA of East Troy, Wis., a Harley-Davidson company,...

CAD system sugarcoats tablet elevator design. (Computing).(computer aided design)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Working with clients in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, Romaco Bosspak makes machine and line integration equipment. It includes packaging lines for bottle unscramblers, air-purging machines, tablet counters, desiccant inserters,...

CAD dives down for camera design. (Computing).(computer aided design)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A San Diego company, Watershot Inc., designs and makes underwater housings for video cameras and for 16- and 35-millimeter underwater film cameras. During the company's early years, designers used machining software to design and manufacture...

Virtual reality room includes a head bump. (Computing).(Pennsylvania State University)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Engineers at Pennsylvania State University in University Park have developed software for use with an immersive projection display that allows construction managers to interact with a full-scale nuclear power plant that exists only in...

Laser scans find a perfect prosthetic fit. (Computing).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc. of Bethesda, Md., has developed a laser scanning system that helps fit patients for a prosthetic device or for a joint-support brace. Hanger operates more than 600 U.S. orthotic and prosthetic patient centers. ...

Customizing thermal model simulation. (Computing).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A supplier of application-specific integrated circuits for functions that include networking, computing, and imaging has long used thermal simulation software to make detailed models that reconstruct the physical geometry of the circuits and...

Cockroaches inspire legged robots. (Computing).
July 1, 2003... Cockroaches may not be man's best friends, but they do have their redeeming qualities. They may not be welcome in garages, kitchens, or kitchen-size New York apartments, but they're gaining favor in the laboratories of biologists and mechanical...

Spicer Corp. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Spicer Corp. of Kitchener, Ontario, which makes universal document viewing, markup, scanning, and editing software, has released an upgrade to its Imagenation product. The software application lets users manage a document through its various...

VX Corp. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * VX Corp. of Palm Bay, Fla., a maker of CAD and CAM software applications for engineers and industrial designers, has introduced a new lease-to-own CAD and CAM program.

Alibre Inc. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * CAD maker Alibre Inc. of Richardson, Texas, has released Alibre Design 6.0, as well as a new advanced application, Alibre Design Professional. Alibre Design is the company's low-cost, 3-D parametric solid modeling application for mechanical...

StereoGraphics Corp. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * A maker of 3-D visualization software, StereoGraphics Corp. of San Rafael, Calif., has released two SynthaGram 3-D monitors as well as the SynthaGram Player. Viewers don't have to wear special glasses to view items displayed on the monitor in...

Alias/Wavefront. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * Alias/Wavefront of Toronto, a maker of computer-aided industrial design products, has introduced DesignStudio Productivity Pack, a combination of software and learning tools for CAID.

ESI Group. (Briefly Noted).(launches simulation software)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * ESI Group of Shelby Township, Mich., has released its vibro-acoustic simulation software called Micad. The virtual acoustic prototyping software includes a low-frequency capability suited for the prediction of trimmed vehicles' acoustic...

IsoCompose, a software product recently released by ITEDO. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * IsoCompose, a software product recently released by ITEDO of Burlingame, Calif., enables users to create electronic spare parts catalogs using the software application.

NavisWorks Ltd. (Briefly Noted).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * NavisWorks Ltd. of Sheffield, England, which makes interactive viewing technology for 3-D CAD, has released NavisWorks3, which lets users view and walk through 3-D CAD models.

CADopia a developer of the CAD application IntelliCAD. (Briefly Noted).(partners with Robert McNeel and Associates)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... * CADopia of San Diego, a developer of the CAD application IntelliCAD, has formed a partnership with Robert McNeel and Associates of Seattle, a maker of CAD add-ons Rhino and Flamingo, which will now be bundled with IntelliCAD Professional...

Solid and surface modeling. (Software Exchange).
July 1, 2003... Capability: Version 21 of Cadkey Workshop modeling software is an upgrade to the developer's flagship geometry-based freeform CAD software. The application combines drafting, wireframe, freeform solid modeling, advanced freeform surface...

Heat transfer techniques. (Software Exchange).
July 1, 2003... Capability: Developed originally for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in heat and mass transfer, this software application is also useful to the thermal engineer. Nine self-contained modules use computational and visualization...

Electronic systems' CFD analysis. (Software Exchange).
July 1, 2003... Capability: The embedded mesh technology in Coolit version 5.0 allows the modeling of complex heat sinks. Color-coding identifies temperature distribution, while flow ribbons depict airflow patterns. The computational fluid dynamics software is...

Noncommercial CAD training for 3-D models. (Software Exchange).
July 1, 2003... Capability: SolidWorks' personal edition program is intended for noncommercial users who want to learn three-dimensional CAD. It includes all the core features of the developer's latest complete, professional CAD package. Designers can develop...

No slip for conveyors. (Technology Focus).(TKF Inc. introduces the PosiGrip Accumulation Conveyor)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The wedding of an economical I toothed conveyor roller to an internal roller drive has produced the PosiGrip Accumulation Conveyor from TKF Inc. According to Jim Walsh, vice president of sales for the Cincinnati firm, the conveyor combines...

Pass the chips, please. (Technology Focus).(USVibra, Panasonic Factory Automation)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A frequent customer approached feeder specialist USVibra LLC in Tucson, Ariz., about building tube feeders for the Panasonic surface mount technology pick-and-place machines that it owned. The customer wanted quick-change tooling in order to...

All in one shot. (Technology Focus).(Ford Motor Co.'s Windsor, Ontario, plant)
July 1, 2003... Ford Motor Co.'s Windsor, Ontario, engine plant builds 4.6-, 5.4-, and 6.8-liter engines for the company's F-150 Super Duty pickups, its Econoline vans, and its Expedition and Excursion sport utility vehicles. The plant recently acquired a...

Air line guide. (Technology Focus).(from Esco Technologies)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Cuts in thick wall pipe hold accuracy of plus or minus 1/8 inch with an air-powered saw and track setup from the tool unit of Esco Technologies in Medfield, Mass. WrapTrack, sized in diameters matching standard pipes of 6 to 60 inches,...

Nothing more than feelings. (Technology Focus).(Promess Inc. testing equipment )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Feel is what counts for automotive seat latches, according to Larry Stockline, president of Promess Inc. in Brighton, Mich. The company supplies Red Oak, Iowa-based Inter-west Automation with signature analyzers for its line of effort testing...

Cutting teeth. (Technology Focus).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The ABB motor factory in Vaasa, Finland, which is slated to begin low-voltage, high-speed motor production, will be turning out a few hundred units annually. That marks a significant step up from the several such motors now produced each year,...

Up on the TightWire. (Technology Focus).(U-S Safety Trolley Systems )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Pittsburgh-based U-S Safety Trolley Systems manufactures joint-free three- and four-wire conductors for providing electrical power to mobile overhead cranes and hoists. The system is made to length and shipped to its destination on a roll,...

Washington window: nanotechnology captures the attention of Congress.
July 1, 2003... Recognizing that nanotechnology is likely to be a trillion-dollar global market in perhaps as soon as a decade, and wishing to ensure continued American advances in the burgeoning industry, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in...

Machinery protection system certification. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... BENTLY NEVADA. MINDEN, NEV. The 3500 Series, Bentley Nevada's platform for protecting machinery, is now available with TUV functional safety certification and the supporting data needed to determine Safety Integrity Levels. The certification...

Industrial microservers. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... OMEGA ENGINEERING INC., STAMFORD, CONN. The iServer can take a dynamically assigned IP address from a DHCP server on your network. This DHCP client capability makes it easy to start using this device on almost any Ethernet network. You can...

Steam custody transfer meter. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... SIERRA INSTRUMENTS INC., MONTEREY, CALIF. The Innova-Mass SCT multivariable vortex mass flowmeter is for steam custody transfer applications. The flowmeter provides a direct reading of steam mass flow rate in lbs./hr. or kg/s, as well as the...

Dynamometer table. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... MAGTROL INC., BUFFALO, N.Y. The company's new dynamometer table makes it easier to transport a dynamometer from one testing station to another. The stand is designed of lightweight aluminum with casters for smooth mobility, and is sturdy enough...

Energy management solution. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, MILWAUKEE, Wis. RSEnergyMetrix is a Web-enabled energy management solution that combines data communication tools, client-server software, and advanced Web technology to capture, analyze, and store energy information,...

Precision-tapered bearings. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... GAMET BEARINGS, COLCHESTER, ESSEX, U.K. Machine manufacturers and users can combine increased durability with high levels of accuracy and load-bearing capability by fitting high-precision tapered roller bearings. The new ISO metric bearings are...

Acceleration recorder. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... INSTRUMENTED SENSOR TECHNOLOGY, OKEMOS, MICH. MotionMaster is a six-axis sensor/recorder that measures and records tri-axial linear acceleration as well as angular rates: three axis roll, pitch, and yaw. The product measures 4.2 x 4.4 x 2.5 in....

Absolute encoder. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... TURCK INC., MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. The Kubler 5862/82 ruggedized absolute multiturn encoder has patented Intelligent Sensing Technology for programmability and accuracy in high abuse applications. The encoder can withstand shock five times greater...

Humidity and temperature converter. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... VESPO MARKETING ASSOCIATES INC. THOMPSON RIDGE, N.Y. The Model In-HWD microprocessor humidity and temperature converter is designed for difficult humidity locations. The converter uses its proprietary microprocessor to calculate humidity and...

UV inspection lamp. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... SPECTRONICS CORP., WESTBURY, N.Y. The Spectroline AP-800 Ultra-Wand UV inspection lamp can check areas that are inaccessible to conventional lamps. The Ultra Wand performs inspections at a fraction of the cost of UV boroscopes. The 8-watt lamp...

Force sensors. (New Products).
July 1, 2003... STRAIN MEASUREMENT DEVICES INC., MERIDEN, CONN. A new, improved Web site, www.smdsensors.com, offers specifying engineers a comprehensive site featuring a complete selection of stock and customized force and pressure sensors. Photographs,...

Scientific and technical books. (Product Information).
July 1, 2003... OMEGA ENGINEERING INC., STAMFORD, CONN. The Book of Books Update contains more than 200 pages of publications, along with 100 Dilbert cartoons. This handbook includes a comprehensive selection of scientific and technical books, CD-ROMs, videos,...

Ball bearings. (Product Information).
July 1, 2003... REXNORD BEARING GROUP, INDIANAPOLIS, IND. An 88-page catalog, Precision Mounted Bearings, covers the company's MB family. The publication includes both Krown Regal Centrik-Lok and standard MB precision mounted ball bearings in numerous...

Process control. (Product Information).
July 1, 2003... MOKON, BUFFALO, N.Y. Controllers for Better Process Control covers the features of the company's line of microprocessors and solid state controllers available on its liquid control systems and chillers. The brochure covers the HTF Series of...

FE exam problems online. (Product INFO).
July 1, 2003... PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS INC., BELMONT, CALIF. The Exam Cafe (www.ppiexamcafe.com) is a site where engineers can go online to practice their problem-solving skills in preparation for the Fundamentals of Engineering licensing exam. With a...

Heat and control systems. (Product INFO).
July 1, 2003... CHROMALOX, PITTSBURGH, PA. Popularly known as "The Big Red Book," the company's Heat & Control Systems Catalog is an 892-page volume that includes technical specifications and application information on more than 30,000 industrial products....

Wire cloth. (Product INFO).
July 1, 2003... MCNICHOLS CO., TAMPA, FLA. A catalog highlights the company's newest hole product: architectural wire mesh. It is made of stainless steel and comes in a variety of diameters, styles, and mesh sizes. Woven wire is secured by lock crimping, so it...

Inert lubricants. (Product INFO).
July 1, 2003... HALOCARBON PRODUCTS CORP., RIVER EDGE, N.J. This 20-page brochure details the company's inert, nonflammable, noncorrosive oils, greases, and waxes. These products are used where lubricants are required to withstand aggressive chemicals. They...

Raise the umbrella: as information technology spreads across a company, engineers find new uses for it, perhaps even to save money for a rainy day.
July 1, 2003... THE AUTOMAKER JUST WANTED TO FIND A WAY TO TAME THE PAPER TIGER DaimlerChrysler hadn't planned to use that same paper taming technology save close to $500 million in less than a year. But after bringing a document management system on...

Power player: cheaper coal and better handling raise the Nucla Station from a demonstration site to a competitor.
July 1, 2003... What do you do with a successful test power facility once the demonstration program is completed? You reduce operating cost and upgrade plant systems to meet the economic realities. For the Nucla Station in Nucla, Colo., that meant a new fuel...

No more sweat or tears: automated guided vehicles are making inroads on safety and the bottom line. (Feature Focus: Plant Safety).(includes related article)
July 1, 2003... YOU'VE BEEN ACCOSTED by them yourself; those electric vehicles that ferry folks around the airports. The honk that grows louder from behind as you lug your baggage through the terminal means only one thing: Clear the way or risk certain...

Between the horse and car: in the turning-point year of 1903, this bike helped kick-start the age of the internal combustion engine.(Company Profile)
July 1, 2003... The 1890s were the decade of improved machining. Low-friction ball bearings led to a practical bicycle, for instance. It was also the decade in which the internal combustion engine that had been invented 20 years earlier by Nikolaus Otto would...

Twice cleaned: developers of a coal-exhaust filtering system say doubling up gets almost all the dust out, with a smaller bag house.
July 1, 2003... THE BIG STONE POWER PLANT sits on the windswept plains of South Dakota, near Milbank. And, like all coal-fired boilers, Big Stone produces lots of microscopic dust particles as a by-product of burning its fuel. This is the grime that once...

Building a better diesel: the best way to reduce trial and error is to understand what happens inside the cylinder.
July 1, 2003... WHEN IT COMES TO DIESEL emissions, soot and nitrogen oxides are inexorably linked. Change the engine design to reduce soot and other particles by increasing the amount of mixing between fuel and air, and you wind up producing more nitrogen...

Golf on course. (Input Output).
July 1, 2003... The game of golf has evolved over centuries, and the sport's two main ruling bodies, the United States Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, work hard to preserve its traditions. Rules of the game specify...