Mechanical Engineering-CIME articles from July 2006

Mechanical Engineering-CIME archives from July 2006

Inevitable change.(treatment of nose)(Editorial)
July 1, 2006... You try redirecting with your forehead a soaring soccer ball screaming toward your face from 50 yards away and you had better make sure the premiums on your insurance policy are paid up, because there's a better than even chance you'll need...

Issues of nuclear waste.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... To the Editor: We will have to resort to nuclear power if there is any hope that the next generation will have a standard of living and an environment equal to ours today. And given that a conventional light-water reactor only utilizes about 1...

Cell division.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... To the Editor: We respectfully take issue with an article in your May issue ("Beginning the Transformation"), which inaccurately represented competing fuel cell technologies. The authors apparently decided to tell only one side of the fuel cell...

The knocks of opportunity.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... To the Editor: Peter Miserendino of Darien, Ill., wrote an accurate portrayal of the current state of mechanical engineering employment (Letters, March). I have personally experienced downsizing twice since my graduation in 1993. After my...

Top down for safety.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... To the Editor: I read the letter from Ray Scott in the March 2006 issue. I agree with his comments on the cover photo of the two men working on the pipeline in Kuwait. The two people shown are breaking almost all the rules on safe working,...

For good cause.(news&notes)
July 1, 2006... A woman living near Baltimore is back to working productively despite her declining physical abilities because of the work of three engineering students. The woman, Joy Goldberger, contacted Baltimore-based Volunteers for Medical Engineering...

256 channels on a laptop.(news&notes)
July 1, 2006... National Instruments Corp. made its name with modular software that lets desktop PCs morph into a wide range of virtual measurement instruments. Now it wants to do the same thing for laptops. The company's new CompactDAQ enables laptops to use...

Squirting out of a nanotube.(news&notes)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Anyone who has been a parent likely has seen this experiment in action: Step on a tube of toothpaste and see what happens to the contents. But an international team of researchers wanted to know what would occur if you stepped on a nanotube...

Robot as bird dog.(news&notes)
July 1, 2006... H.R. Bart Everett wants to develop a robot that can take the fall. The Pentagon has counted nearly 2,400 fatalities among U.S. troops since the Iraqi war began in March 2003. Booby traps, also called improvised explosive devices, are blamed...

Full-scale shaking.(State University of New York at Buffalo research on cataclysmic earthquake)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Engineers know that the more detailed the model, the better the simulation. But few have taken this axiom as seriously as have a team of engineers at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Inside their Structural Engineering and...

Patents on the block.(news&notes)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A merchant banking firm based in Chicago is trying a new way to leverage intellectual property. It is offering patents, copyrights, and the like at public auction. The firm, Ocean Tomo, has held one auction to date, in San Francisco in...

Road to low carbon.(news&notes)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Back in 2003, a consortium of European research centers published an influential report on the energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions of various automotive drivetrains. Using a well-to-wheel approach that's become popular in recent...

MSC.Software Corp. of Santa Ana, Calif., is collaborating with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of Richland, Wash.(to develop computational technologies)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... MSC.Software Corp. of Santa Ana, Calif., is collaborating with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of Richland, Wash., to develop computational technologies for fuel cell and alternative energy conversion technologies.

Cornell University has received a $255,000 grant from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research to develop implantabte medical sensors.(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Cornell University has received a $255,000 grant from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research to develop implantabte medical sensors. The miniature sensors are to be smaller than a human hair and measure such...

Motion Industries Inc.(opened two more Canadian branches)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Motion Industries Inc. has opened two more Canadian branches, one in St. Georges, Quebec, and the other in Woodstock, Ontario. The company, which claims to be North America's largest distributor of industrial maintenance, repair, and operation...

Taking the collar.(Julong PetroMaterials Inc.)(Timken Co.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A drilling tool company in Japan has ordered more than $6 million worth of seamless tubes for its drill collars from the Timken Co. of Canton, Ohio. The company, Julong PetroMaterials Inc., based in Tokyo, makes and sells products for oil...

Advanced airbags.(Irvin Aerospace awarded a five-year contract to develop airbag for United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A parachute manufacturer has been awarded a five-year contract to develop an advanced space capsule airbag landing attenuation system for NASA's Langley Research Center. The manufacturer, Irvin Aerospace of Santa Ana, Calif., will use its new...

PLM sales look good.(reports of the global product lifecycle management market )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... THE YEAR 2005 WAS A very good one for a certain sector of the engineering software market. Research firm CIMdata Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich., reports that the global product lifecycle management market expanded significantly last year. ...

Moving on up to 3-D.(three-dimensional software )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... TOOL AND DIE MANUFACTURER Die Tron of Grand Rapids, Mich., saw efficiencies increase by 30 percent after moving from two-dimensional to three-dimensional software and marrying the entire plant--from engineering to shop floor--via integrated...

Wall with depth.(virtual reality )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... WANT AN UP-CLOSE AND PERSONAL look at a large molecule? Ask a student at the University of Wales. A new 6-foot by 7-foot virtual reality wall will help students at the university in Bangor, Wales, to conceptualize molecular and materials...

Airbag x-ray.(computing)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... CRASH! Its ALL OVER IN THE BLINK of an eye: Sensors register the impact, the airbag ignites and inflates. All in 150 milliseconds, at most. What happens in this short span of time--at least the visible part--has been thoroughly documented...

Cut the clutter.(computing)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... ANTENNAS SPROUT ON military vehicles like a closely planted field of metal flowers. Military aircraft, vehicles, ships, and submarines sport a complex array of antennas needed to tap into the broad range of communications and radar...

Reality room makeover.(computing)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... RESEARCHERS AT Iowa State University in Ames are touting their soon-to-be-completed upgrade to the school's C6 virtual reality room. They say its extremely high resolution could aid medical and military research. When it's completed late...

Ready to retire?(computing)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... THIRTY MAY BE THE NEW 20, but when it comes to military aircraft, 30 is often retirement age. But how do officials know when one of those airplanes is ready to be put out to pasture? Because many Navy aircraft are pushing 30 years old or...

Safe crash seat.(control of automobile accidents)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... SWAYING GENTLY IN YOUR car's seat may be safer than staying firmly seated. In a head-on collision, automobile passengers seated on a newly designed gliding seat would be much safer than their more traditionally seated counterparts,...

City in softwareland.(computing)
July 1, 2006... IF COMPUTERS COULD create a society, what kind of world would they make? We might soon find out, thanks to a European project through which millions of software-based agents would evolve their own world around them. Five European research...

Softcover International.(Softcover International's Scan2CAD version 7.5)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Softcover International of Cambridge, England, is now shipping Scan2CAD version 7.5, which automatically converts scanned paper drawings into AutoCAD data exchange files for editing in any CAD program.

CAD Schroer GmbH.(Briefly Noted)
July 1, 2006... CAD Schroer GmbH of Moers, Germany, has made available version 2.1 of its Stheno/Pro1 drafting plug-in for Pro/Engineer software.

ARTVPS.(Briefly Noted)
July 1, 2006... ARTVPS of Palm Bay, Fla., which makes rendering software, has launched the latest version of RenderPipe, a raytracing application.

Dell.(Briefly Noted)
July 1, 2006... Dell of Round Rock, Texas, has released two new mobile workstations--the Precision M90 and the Precision M6.

Gibbs and Associates.(GibbsCAM has been certified for Autodesk Inventor 11)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A maker of computer-aided manufacturing software for programming computer numerically controlled machine tools and controls, Gibbs and Associates of Moorpark, Calif., said its software GibbsCAM has been certified for Autodesk Inventor 11 under...

Pointwise.(Briefly Noted)
July 1, 2006... Pointwise of Fort Worth, Texas, has made available its CFD meshing software, Gridgen version 15.09, on the Silicon Graphics Prism Deskside workstation.

UGS Corp.(new product development software)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Product lifecycle management software maker UGS Corp. of Piano, Texas, says that it's producing its NX 4 digital product development software for the Linux open source operating system.

Boothroyd Dewhurst Inc.(new manufacturing software)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Boothroyd Dewhurst Inc. of Wakefield, R.I., has released Design for Manufacture and Assembly 2006, a new version of the company's software intended to simplify manufacture and assembly.

Simpleware Ltd.(Briefly Noted)
July 1, 2006... Simpleware Ltd. of Exeter, England, which makes image-based meshing software, has released version 2.1 of its software application, ScanIP.

TechniCon.(new applications software)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A provider of online catalog and configuration figures for products, TechniCon of Emeryville, Calif., has released version 5.0 of CustomCommerce, its platform for delivering product data on the Web.

VX Corp.(new CAD software)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... VX Corp. of Palm Bay, Fla., provider of CAD and CAM software, has released Ready-Sketch, a parametric sketcher library of predefined, fully dimensioned, and constrained sketches that can be inserted into VX CAD/CAM.

iKnowledge Solutions Inc.(new software application)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... iKnowledge Solutions Inc., formerly Capdo, of Denver, has released i.get.it Desktop, a software application that provides those with limited access to the Internet with a means to record learning paths, assessments, progress reports, bookmarks,...

Surfware Inc.(Briefly Noted)
July 1, 2006... Surfware Inc, of Westlake Village, Calif., has released Surfcam Velocity II for high-speed milling.

Recycling for refuse.(power transmission)
July 1, 2006... Rising energy costs are spurring engineers to recover power lost in vehicle stops and starts. Instead of accelerating from a standstill--an inefficient use of internal combustion power when compared with highway cruising--engineers want to...

Small and wired.(power transmission)
July 1, 2006... Electric motors making the jump to hybrid and fuel cell vehicles will become more valuable as they grow smaller and more efficient. A new type of capacitor designed to fit over the motor shaft promises to simplify motor designs. The...

Programming in hand.(POWER TRANSMISSION AND MOTION CONTROL)
July 1, 2006... This year, North American original equipment manufacturers and system integrators will harness 1.5 million low-horsepower drives for components and machinery. Companies that make multiple product lines or customized equipment face a challenge...

A sensor hears torque.(product information of sensors)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Measuring the rotary torque in driveshafts and rotating machinery has never proved simple or cheap, but a technology widely used as a radio frequency filter on mobile phones may change that. Developed by Sensor Technology Ltd. of Upper...

Small, but powerful.(POWER TRANSMISSION AND MOTION CONTROL)
July 1, 2006... Imagine a 4- to 10-megawatt generator with only 10 to 20 percent of the size and weight of today's portable systems. That's exactly the type of innovative power module that high-temperature superconductors make possible, according to Larry Long...

No gears or batteries.(POWER TRANSMISSION AND MOTION CONTROL)
July 1, 2006... Electrical drives use absolute encoders to determine the number of completed turns and the position within the last turn. This feature comes in handy for positioning, and also to eliminate the need for a reference run in case of a power...

Deep freeze on friction.(POWER TRANSMISSION AND MOTION CONTROL)
July 1, 2006... Two German companies, Adelwitz Technologiezentrum GmbH (ATZ) of Adelwitz and Siemens AG, have recently demonstrated bearings that could bring the dream of contactless bearings closer to reality. Both use ceramic-based, high-temperature...

Real-life looks.(software exchange)
July 1, 2006... Capability: Deep Exploration CAD Edition translates, optimizes, and repairs 3-D models as the first step in producing a range of technical illustrations, photorealistic images, and 3-D animations. That is, the software turns an engineer's CAD...

Ready for close-up.(software exchange)
July 1, 2006... Capability: The computer-aided design software TurboCAD Professional, version 12, now includes access to hundreds of interior and external materials and effects to help simulate realistic design. The rendering software tool LightWorks 7.5 is...

Reducing duplication.(software exchange)
July 1, 2006... Capability: The CADFind add-in for the computer-aided design system SolidWorks lets designers graphically search their own or their company's part repositories from inside the CAD software. The add-in analyzes the part currently loaded in the...

Free design.(software exchange)
July 1, 2006... Capability: Alibre Design Xpress is a basic, three-dimensional solid modeler used to create mechanical parts, assemblies, and two-dimensional drawings. The program is a scaled-down, free version of the developer's CAD programs. Those new to 3-D...

Technical feedback.(software exchange)
July 1, 2006... Capability: Matlab 7.2 is now available for the 64-bit computing platform. The application offers a technical computing language and an interactive environment for algorithm development, data visualization, data analysis, and numeric...

Easy on the gas: research aims to make the land of the automobile run more efficiently.(FEATURE FOCUS: TRANSPORTATION)
July 1, 2006... In the United States, transportation almost always means the automobile. The economy, the entire fabric of society, is built around it. The family car made possible the regional mall, the subdivision in the suburbs, and the commute on the...

Juiced up: the next stage in the evolution of the hybrid car may involve an electrical outlet.(FEATURE FOCUS: TRANSPORTATION)
July 1, 2006... When automobile technology changes, it usually occurs behind the scenes: A new regulation is written, a new material is developed in a research lab, some new feature is introduced on high-end vehicles. In time, the changes percolate down to the...

Like life: proponents say it's the next step in rapid prototyping: systems that reproduce their own kind and evolve.
July 1, 2006... When it first came on the scene some 10 years ago, the ability to print your digital design in three dimensions seemed like a technology straight from the pages of science fiction. The shape stored in your computer assembled itself from a...

It's in the timing: clean, fast, and compact, a means of destroying dangerous medical waste went years without takers. That may be changing now.
July 1, 2006... We all know the saw about building the better mousetrap. Here's a new twist on that idea. It may not catch mice, but a machine that destroys medical waste without polluting the atmosphere serves a health purpose at least as important as ridding...

Searching deeper: after more than four decades investigating the ocean floor. the U.S. Navy's deepest-diving submersible is about to be replaced.
July 1, 2006... Common wisdom holds that a human body renews itself completely every seven or eight years. That is, all its building blocks--amino acids, cells, DNA strands--have been replaced. But somehow, although we re chemically different, it s still the...

Collet chucks.(new products)
July 1, 2006... COMMAND TOOLING SYSTEMS, RAMSEY. MINN. A new line of DR (ER) 32 "Shorty" collet chucks is for tool shank diameters from 0.079 to 0.787 in. The chucks have an extremely short projection, so users can maximize workpiece size. According to the...

Flow signal conditioners.(new products)
July 1, 2006... OMEGA ENGINEERING INC., STAMFORD, CONN. The company's FLSC-45 and the new FLSC-45B are dc-powered frequency-to-analog output signal conditioners that provide a 4-20 mA or 1-5 V dc field selectable output. The high-performance electronics...

Machining centers.(new products)
July 1, 2006... MAKINO, AUBURN HILLS, MICH. The MCC-VG Series of horizontal machining centers provides simultaneous three-axis machining and slanted hole machining, accomplished by tilting the spindle at an optimum angle for outstanding access to the machining...

Digital valve-control modules.(new products)
July 1, 2006... PARKER HANNIFIN CORP., ELYRIA, OHIO. Parker has released four digital modules for electrohydraulic proportional valves. Each driver module can be configured to function in the same way as a variety of individual analog cards, providing users...

Strain sensors.(new products)
July 1, 2006... PCB PIEZOTRONICS INC., DEPEW, N.Y. New Series JM240 ICP ground isolated strain sensors use piezoelectric sensing elements to indirectly measure dynamic and quasi-static stress forces on resistance welding machinery structures. These strain...

Socket screws.(new products)
July 1, 2006... SPS TECHNOLOGIES, JENKINTOWN, PA. The company's Aerospace Fasteners Group offers socket screws for customers with special requirements, such as commercial and military aircraft, jet engines, and other critical applications. Socket head cap...

Level sensors.(new products)
July 1, 2006... MTS SYSTEMS CORP., CARY. N.C. The company has expanded its family of magnetostrictive level sensors by combining its expertise in linear position measurement electronics with the application knowledge of multiple liquid level installations....

Thermo-hygrometer.(new products)
July 1, 2006... RENSE INSTRUMENTS. DANBURY. CONN. The DM-535 handheld thermo-hygrometer is intended for simplicity, ease of use, and affordability. It provides simultaneous display of relative humidity, temperature, dew point, and absolute humidity at a...

Studs and standoffs.(new products)
July 1, 2006... PENN ENGINEERING. DANBORO. PA. PEM concealed-head self-clinching studs and standoffs can be permanently mounted in steel or aluminum sheets as thin as 0.062 in./1.6 mm to provide strong, reliable threads for attachment applications. These...

Monitoring system.(new products)
July 1, 2006... SYSCON INTERNATIONAL, SOUTH BEND, IND. The enhanced QuickShot monitoring system is an entry-level production monitoring and scheduling system for plastic injection molding machines. This low-cost, easy-to-use system provides scheduling and...

Measuring gauges.(new products)
July 1, 2006... ADCOLE CORP., MARLBOROUGH, MASS. The manufacturer of special-purpose measurement equipment used by carmakers for testing crankshafts, camshafts, and pistons has new gauges for its Windows XP operating system. The Windows XP operating system was...

Faster [N.sub.2].(new products)
July 1, 2006... PARKER HANNIFIN CORP. FILTRATION AND SEPARATION DIVISION. HAVERHILL, MASS. A new generation of Hi-Fluxx membrane has an increased capacity to generate nitrogen from compressed air. The manufacturer says the membrane can yield a 30 percent...

Roller bearings.(new products)
July 1, 2006... SKF USA INC., KULPSVILLE, PA. Carb toroidal roller bearings are useful in large electric motors (125 hp and above) with their capability to accommodate very heavy radial loads and compensate for misalignment. Their suitability for both coupled...

Vibration switch.(new products)
July 1, 2006... IMI SENSORS DIVISION, PCB PIEZOTRONICS INC., DEPEW. N.Y. The company's 686A Series two-wire electronic vibration switch is microprocessor controlled with no moving parts or mechanical adjustments required. According to the company, the new...

More flexibility in 3-D.(new products)
July 1, 2006... DIMENSION 3D PRINTING GROUP, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. The Dimension 1200 Series features a larger build envelope, giving designers and engineers increased flexibility to produce larger, functional 3-D models at a fast rate. The 3-D printers also...

Ultrasonic flowmeter.(new products)
July 1, 2006... OMEGA ENGINEERING INC., STAMFORD. CONN. FDT100 Series flowmeters use advanced transit-time ultrasonic technology, in which two flow sensors alternately transmit and receive a signal and "time of flight" is used to measure flow rate. Designed...

Liquid cooling.(new products)
July 1, 2006... PARKER HANNIFIN CORP. ADVANCED COOLING SYSTEMS, MENTOR, OHI0. The advanced standards-based technology liquid cooling demonstrator for high-power embedded electronics applications is to support manufacturers and users of open-system...

Rollers and pins.(new products)
July 1, 2006... HARTFORD TECHNOLOGIES, ROCKY HILL, CONN. The company now offers products that include precision pins and rollers for applications where tight tolerances or custom shapes are required. Applications in the automotive, industrial, and electronics...

Brushless gear motor.(new products)
July 1, 2006... MICROMO ELECTRONICS INC., CLEARWATER. FLA. Series 1307BH and 1309BH are both ultra-compact brushless dc motors. The 1307BH brushless gear motor has a diameter of 13 mm and is 7 mm long, and can achieve a continuous torque of 5 mNm with speeds...

Electric cylinders.(new products)
July 1, 2006... DUFF-NORTON CO., CHARLOTTE, N.C. The SCN Series of SuperCylinders is useful for critical applications needing high capacities and high speeds. SuperCylinders are already being used in the defense, communications, food processing, steel,...

Mass flow controllers.(new products)
July 1, 2006... MCMILLAN CO., GEORGETOWN, TEXAS. Model 80 Series mass flow controllers for precise gas measurement are now available in stainless steel. These controllers provide accurate, stable control of gas flow ranges as low as 0-50 sccm. Units are also...

Planetary gearheads.(new products)
July 1, 2006... BOSTON GEAR, QUINCY, MASS. Helical planetary precision gearheads are high-quality gearheads designed for direct attachment to popular servo and stepper motors. These durable, long-lasting units are useful for packaging, medical, material...

Plastic bonding.(new products)
July 1, 2006... HERNON MANUFACTURING INC., SANFORD, FLA. ReAct784 is an adhesive designed to bond plastics that were formerly difficult to bond. The manufacturer combined the bond strength of Fusionbond structural adhesive with the ReAct two-component, no-mix...

Reciprocating platform.(new products)
July 1, 2006... ANACOIL INC., ASTON, PA. The company's reciprocating linear motion platform is driven by a rolling ring drive that reciprocates automatically without requiring motor reversal. Using a control knob on the assembly, adjustments to linear speed...

Pressure regulators.(new products)
July 1, 2006... EMERSON PROCESS MANAGEMENT, MCKINNEY, TEXAS. The company's Fisher type SR5 sanitary pressure regulators and type SR8 sanitary backpressure regulators now include 2-and 3-in. models. These larger models complete Emerson's portfolio of sanitary...

Linear actuators.(product information)
July 1, 2006... WARNER ELECTRIC. SOUTH BELOIT, ILL. An eight-page color brochure covers A-Track Series linear actuators, a four-model group of lightweight, economical actuators that are easy to install and provide quiet, maintenance-free operation, according...

New encoder diameters.(product information)
July 1, 2006... HEIDENHAIN CORP., SCHAUMBURG. ILL. Incremental Modular Encoder--ERM 280 details the new diameters that are available on this encoder, as well as increased speed availability on the largest size. The ERM 280 encoder is designed without an...

Gauging system.(product information)
July 1, 2006... ADCOLE CORP., MARLBOROUGH. MASS. This brochure, on the Adcole Model 1100, describes a gauging system for measuring camshafts, crankshafts, and pistons intended for low-volume machine shops and for racing engine builders. The publication covers...