Mechanical Engineering-CIME articles from September 2004

Mechanical Engineering-CIME archives from September 2004

The agile engineer.(editorial)(Editorial)
September 1, 2004... It's no secret that if you've been in the same engineering job for more than 10 years and possess a bunker mentality where you refuse to budge from the comfort of the job you've come to master, you may be in trouble. If so, the problem usually...

Consumption and gas.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... To the Editor: The News & Notes item in the February issue under the heading of "De-CAFE" quotes the Congressional Budget Office as saying that social engineering, rather than automotive engineering, may be more effective in curbing fuel...

Bio required.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... To the Editor: In "The Machinery of Life" (February), Scott Delp, "chairman of the jointly managed bioengineering department," at Stanford "predicts a day when a course in biology will be taught in all undergraduate engineering programs." ...

The speed of foam.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... To the Editor: The authors of "The Trail to the Leading Edge," (March) failed to explain the reason for shooting the loam blocks at 524 mph. This is quite a differential in velocity between foam block and shuttle to be developed in the...

People, people everywhere.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... To the Editor: Your cover article on water ("Not a Drop to Drink," September 2003) was extremely informative. It was, however, long on explaining the problems, but short on solutions. It is maddening to read a sentence like: "In Africa...

May the force be with you.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... To the Editor: Jean Thilmany's article on the flight of spinning balls in the April issue reported interesting work on basic physics behind an obviously complex phenomenon. I had hoped it would resolve a quandary that I have struggled with for...

Early CAD.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... To the Editor: The article "Turn On the Light" in Mechanical Engineering Design (February) mentions Howard Crabb: "In 1964, he wrote a program for General Motors--where he worked at the time--that used a cathode ray tube, a light pen, and...

Memorial equation.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... To the Editor: The recent IGTI gas turbine conference in Vienna, Austria, (ASME Turbo Expo '04, June 14-17) provided a unique graveyard opportunity for me. Some forty years ago, I had taken a statistical thermodynamics course at Stanford...

Winding takes a new turn.(news & notes)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Automobile manufactures are stuffing more motors into cars these days. A new design may help in freeing up some room. Hong Kong-based Johnson Electric S.A. has developed an asymmetrical lamination for DC brush motors that shortens a typical...

Only on M.E. magazine online: @www.memagazine.org.(news & notes)
September 1, 2004... Responses to the August Question of the Month: How often does your company make technology upgrades (hardware, software, testing equipment, etc.)? Every two to three years. 29% Every five to 10 years. 15% Not...

Extreme tribology.(news & notes)
September 1, 2004... The theory of electromagnetic propulsion was thought up about a century ago and ever since has sparked the imagination of dreamers who predicted that it would be used to propel vehicles, satellites, and missiles. In 1978, researchers in...

A damper on earthquake.(news & notes)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The next time the New Madrid fault zone produces a strong earthquake, buildings in the Mid-west may see less damage if they use a new" device developed by a researcher at the University of Missouri-Rolla. Genda Chen, associate professor of...

Turbine o' the green.(news & notes)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle, but it recently added to its green reputation. The Irish Republic's Electricity Supply Board in August agreed to purchase two 50 MW gas turbines for use in its power generation facility in Rhode. The...

Hybrids go hydraulic.(news & notes)
September 1, 2004... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a host of corporate partners have demonstrated the first advanced hydraulic hybrid sport utility vehicle. The vehicle demonstrates that hydraulic hybrid technology has the potential to dramatically...

The City of Fall River, Mass., and Veolia Water North America have renewed their 10-year partnership for wastewater services.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... The City of Fall River, Mass., and Veolia Wafer North America have renewed their 10-year partnership for wastewater services. Veolia will provide operations and management services for the city's 30.9 million gallon per day wastewater treatment...

Norgren has acquired Fluid Automation Systems.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Norgren has acquired Fluid Automation Systems, a Swiss company specializing in miniature solenoid valve technology.

Airbus has selected MaxiBolt blind fasteners from Textron Fastening Systems of Troy, Mich., for three structural assemblies on the A380 aircraft, which begins passenger service in 2006.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Airbus has selected MaxiBolt blind fasteners from Textron Fastening Systems of Troy, Mich., for three structural assemblies on the A380 aircraft, which begins passenger service in 2006. The fasteners will replace 9,000 stainless steel bolts...

Lord Corp. of Cary, N.C., has completed the qualification of anti-vibration actuators for the Eurocopter EC225/725 helicopter.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Lord Corp. of Cary, N.C., has completed the qualification of anti-vibration actuators for the Eurocopter EC225/725 helicopter. Actuators throughout the aircraft will damp vibration in response to signals from sensors. The first production...

2004 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and RD&D Expo.
September 1, 2004... View the 500+ technical sessions, special forums, tutorials, workshops, poster sessions, and special events at the Congress website: www.asme.org/congress Industry Tracks (partial listing) Biomedical Technology Keynote Address:...

Drawing old ironsides.(computing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... AS A MECHANICAL ENGINEER and product designer, Bill Clarke spends his day designing computers and workstations. But when his workday is done, he turns to his labor of love: keeping history afloat. Since 1995, Clarke has been a volunteer...

VR lends a hand.(computing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... MANY PATIENTS RELY ON physical therapy to help them recover from a stroke. New research says that virtual reality might help, too. Researchers from the University of Ulster in Ireland, and the Royal Hospitals of Belfast, have developed...

Steel instead of lumber.(computing)
September 1, 2004... TWO MAINE COMPANIES are working to create a manufacturing facility to build laser-welded steel panels for industry. The plant will operate much like a modern-day lumber mill, though it'll make high-tech metal plates rather than plywood,...

Museum virtually unwrapped.(computing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGY has a hand in unwrapping a mummy at the British Museum. A new exhibition at the museum of London uses a virtual reality presentation to unwrap the 3,000-year-old, mummified body of Nesperennub, an Egyptian priest...

Tractor maker in 3-D.(computing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... THE MAKER OF TRACTORS used by farmers in mountainous regions of Europe is moving from a two-dimensional to three-dimensional design system to keep up with production volume. Lindner Traktoren of Tyrol, Austria, makes commercial vehicles and...

Furniture by photo.(computing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... THESE DAYS NO ONE WANTS to buy something sight unseen. To spur sales, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers prefer to show potential customers a realistic image of a product, even if the product has yet to be made. Global Wood...

Get the bugs out.(computing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... NASA SCIENTISTS ARE DEVELOPING what they call a software checker program that will find bugs in spacecraft computer code more quickly and accurately and improve space mission safety. Ever since a moth crawled into an early electromechanical...

Look first.(computing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... BY COMBINING DESIGN WITH visualization, Renault Design has cut development time for its new Megane II automobile by more than 30 percent, according to engineers at the automaker, located in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. The company now...

Like clay in your gloved hand.(computing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... RESEARCHERS IN THE VIRTUAL Reality Lab at the State University of New York at Buffalo have developed a new tool for transmitting physical touch to the virtual world. Their virtual clay-sculpting system lets users replicate, on personal...

Surfware Inc.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Surfware Inc. of Westlake Village, Calif., has released Surfcam 2004 that features new verification technology.

3D Systems Corp.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... 3D Systems Corp. of Valencia, Calif., has introduced its selective laser sintering system--the Sinterstation HiQ SLS system--which lets manufacturers customize and mass produce end-use parts and tools with selected plastic and metal powders.

SensAble Technologies Inc.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... SensAble Technologies Inc. of Woburn, Mass., announced its 3D Touch Developer Challenge to create applications that take advantage of the developer's Open-Haptics toolkit and Phantom Omni haptic device. The competition will conclude in...

RealityWave Inc.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... RealityWave Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., a developer of product lifecycle management technology, has released version 3.7 of VizStream Enterprise Platform.

Safe Technology.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Safe Technology of Vancouver has released fe-safe/ TURBOlife, a product that incorporates creep fatigue damage software into fe-safe, the developer's durability analysis software for finite element models.

Cimmetry Systems.(Briefly Noted)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Cimmetry Systems of Montreal, which makes visualization and collaboration software, has released AutoVue 18. The upgrade includes digital mockup and design validation capabilities.

Synergis Software.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2004... Synergis Software, a division of Synergis Technologies Inc. of Quakertown, Pa., is shipping version 5.2 of its engineering document management software application, Synergis Adept.

MEMS design.(software exchage)
September 1, 2004... Capability: The suite of microelectro-mechanical system design tools, CoventorWare, is used to design micro-scale devices like MEMS. The software enables two- and three-dimensional layout, design, simulation, and analysis. It includes...

Quick CAD verification.(software exchage)
September 1, 2004... Capability: Engineers can use version seven of the desktop design software Inovate to complement their CAD systems. The application is used to create, modify, and share 3-D designs, especially when engineers must quickly verify design concepts...

Engineering analysis.(software exchage)
September 1, 2004... Capability: The SA1000 Program comprises six complementary mechanical engineering analysis applications within a single Web browser. The software forms a suite of feature-based structural analysis applications that perform simple and complex...

Easy CAD.(software exchage)
September 1, 2004... Capability: The 2-D and 3-D design and drafting software AnvilCAD Lite is a streamlined version of the developer's Design Drafter package that offers full CAD functionality. This version emphasizes online tutorials and an easy-to-learn user...

Composite beam analyzer.(software exchage)
September 1, 2004... Capability: VABS II, for composite beams, analyzes slender structures with arbitrary geometry, made of arbitrary materials. The structures could be simple steel I-beams, sophisticated composite rotor blades, or turbine blades. Commonly analyzed...

Slippery in space.(Materials And Assembly)
September 1, 2004... Spacecraft blast through Earth's warm, humid atmosphere to carry delicate instruments into the cryogenic vacuum of space. Arriving at their distant coordinates in the void, the instruments must respond accurately to commands from Earth to make...

Clean handling.(Materials And Assembly)
September 1, 2004... We all hear that a new one sweeps clean. Okay, so that takes care of the floor. But what about the broom itself? If you're sweeping up in a pharmaceutical factory or a food processing plant, it had better be clean indeed, or everyone from the...

Outboard engine cowl.(Materials And Assembly)
September 1, 2004... When Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac, Wis., developed its new Verado in-line six-cylinder outboard motor, the company needed a new type of cowl to fit the engine's tall, narrow design. The company's typical cowls consist of two parts: a top cowl...

Composite takes shape.(Materials And Assembly)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Electroactive polymers, which change shape when they receive an electric charge, have been around for a long time. However, the energy required to make them work has been very high, according to Qiming Zhang, a professor of electrical...

Luxe to the hood.(Materials And Assembly)
September 1, 2004... From touring cars to the Aston Martin driven by James Bond, there s a certain air of romance about British luxury automobiles. We think of maharajahs or sultans in the last century collecting Silver Shadows. And can you imagine 007 bothering to...

Now with more smog absorbency.(Materials And Assembly)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Titanium dioxide in construction materials may help cut air pollution, says a European research project. A consortium of private companies, research institutions, and the European Commission's Joint Research Center is testing materials...

Mixed bag for research funding.(Washington window)
September 1, 2004... As I write, Congress is out of town for several weeks, giving us an opportunity to take a look at how the House and Senate have been treating research funding for the upcoming fiscal year. The House has completed work on 10 of its 13...

Separated at birth.(Editorial)(Editorial)
September 1, 2004... WHAT STRUCK ME MOST ABOUT ARUN MAJUMDAR, WHEN WE FIRST met over dinner some years ago, was his affability. If you're an expert in a new and exciting field, aloofness can creep in. Through the years, however, Majumdar has been one of my most...

Far out, or well grounded?(Editorial)(Editorial)
September 1, 2004... I MIGHT AS WELL ADMIT IT: I AM OBsessed with the idea of infinitesimal robots building objects from molecule-size parts. But is that really feasible? No one can honestly say. Forty years ago, it seemed intuitive that mankind would boldly go...

Joint venture.(Nano Bits)
September 1, 2004... SURGEONS PERFORM MORE THAN 150,000 hip replacements a year, and many of those hips are made of titanium. Little wonder: titanium is a wonderful metal--strong, light, resistant to corrosives. But artificial joints made of titanium, are...

Conveyor strand.(Nano Bits)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... THE HOLY GRAIL OF NANOTECHnology is the atomic-scale factory. Computer-controlled nanorobots would assemble molecule-size parts to make all manner of miniature products. A sugar cube-size manufacturing plant is not close to being built,...

Chemical concern.(Nano Bits)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... HOPING TO SLOW DOWN THE HEAD-long rush to developing nanoproducts, the British Royal Academy of Engineering has called for tighter regulation of nanotechnology. One particular point of concern was that nanoparticles, which are now being...

Engineering without limit: mechanical engineers can stake a claim for the nanoscale frontrier. But the only way to truly own it is to dissolve the old boundaries among disciplines.
September 1, 2004... OVER THE PAST DECADE, there has been a remarkable increase in interest in nanotechnology among the science and engineering communities, the media, and private investors. The U.S. government now funds about $1 billion per year for the National...

Points of light: nanodots glow in the dark--or eliminate the dark entirely.
September 1, 2004... THE PAST DECADE HAS SEEN A SMALL REVOLUtion in the way we produce and capture light. Light-emitting diodes, once confined to pocket calculators and indicators on electronic equipment, have become cheap enough to be used in an ever widening...

Special delivery: pharmaceutical companies aim to target their drugs with nano precision.
September 1, 2004... MEAT CLEAVER or scalpel? That is one quick way to tell the difference between a butcher and a surgeon. But that choice is also a metaphor for one hundred years in surgical history. As technique has improved, the tools needed have grown...

Redefining the ME: new technologies and skills change the profession as it seeks to fit a wide-open global marketplace.(Special Report)
September 1, 2004... Helen Cole may be the prototype of the new mechanical engineer. She has earned three ME degrees, including a doctorate in solid mechanics that involved optical measurements of physical properties. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center then hired...

Crossing the lines: or should we just mind our own business?
September 1, 2004... We live in an uncertain but exciting world. Key enabling technologies--among them photonics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology--will advance dramatically during the next decade. Tomorrow's technologies will make us more productive, make our...

Eyes of Mars: actually they're cameras, helping robots work a little easier in an untidy world.(Feature focus: robotics)
September 1, 2004... A video clip on a University of Notre Dame Web site depicts an industrial robot picking pallets from one haphazardly arranged stack and placing them neatly atop each other on the bed of a miniature truck. To complete each placement, the robot...

Clearing the skies of Texas: a new technology promises to reduce the emissions from gas-fired power plants.
September 1, 2004... Texas is known for wide-open ranges and long horizons. But in April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cited Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio among the American cities that exceed national standards for ozone pollution. Ozone, a major...

Information in order: product lifecycle management systems are touted as tools for collaboration, but they're used for much more than that.
September 1, 2004... Don't get the wrong idea, but engineers have their own way of doing things, says Doron Besser, vice president of marketing and strategy for an Israeli medical-device manufacturer. The marketing and design process moves so quickly, particularly...

Filters that fit.(new products)
September 1, 2004... UNIVERSAL AIR FILTER CO., SAUGET, ILL. Mini air filters, available in sizes up to 25 sq. in. and 1/4 inch thick, comply with Telcordia NEBS, CE, and UL certification and classification standards. Filters of the Flex Frame style can bend to fit...

UVC clears the air.(new products)
September 1, 2004... STERIL-AIRE INC., CERRITOS, CALIF. Controlling mold can help improve indoor air quality. Since the UV-C spectral band has germicidal properties, installing two to six Unit Ventilator UVC kits across from a ventilation cooling coil effectively...

Internal inspection.(new products)
September 1, 2004... NDT AUTOMATION, PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. TubeScan is an automated rotating-mirror internal tube inspection system. An encoded dc servo drive rotates the mirror and controls probe insertion and retraction. The system acquires, analyzes, and...

Latching valve.(new products)
September 1, 2004... PETER PAUL ELECTRONICS CO. INC., NEW BRITAIN, CONN. A small magnetic latching valve is designed for situations in which coil heating is undesirable or continuous power is unavailable. The valve draws approximately 7 watts when energized. It can...

Smaller size varistor.(new products)
September 1, 2004... LITTELFUSE INC., DES PLAINES, ILL. The line of thermally protected, metal oxide varistors has been expanded to include a 14 mm disc size. The new TMOV and iTMOV components are 30 percent smaller than the current version and can be used in...

Three-in-one digital gauge.(new products)
September 1, 2004... DRESSER INSTRUMENTS, STRATFORD, CONN. The Ashcroft digital industrial gauge can be used as a mechanical gauge, transducer, and switch. It can be. specified as 4-20 mA with adjustable turndown, line powered (12-36 V dc), or one or two SPDT...

Circulation heater.(new products)
September 1, 2004... WATLOW ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING CO., ST. LOUIS, MO. The Cast-X Series 1000 line of circulation heaters safely heats volatile, viscous, and mildly corrosive liquids, according to the company. Cast-aluminum construction provides temperature control...

Air handlers control temperature.(new products)
September 1, 2004... MCQUAY INTERNATIONAL, MINNEAPOLIS. MINN. Integral face and bypass coils are available on Vision indoor- and Skyline outdoor air handlers. These features promote uniform mixing of heated and bypassed air streams to help control temperature....

Cool cabinet.(new products)
September 1, 2004... EXAIR CORP., CINCINNATI, OHIO. UL-listed cabinet coolers circulate 20[degrees]F air throughout electrical enclosures to prevent high-temperature malfunction. Made of 316 stainless steal, the coolers resist heat and oxidation. Coolers mount to a...

Even smaller connectors.(new products)
September 1, 2004... AIRBORN, ADDISON TEXAS Single-row nanominiature connectors--the N-Series, designed for applications that require light weight and extremely small size--offer termination configuration, hardware, and shell plating design flexibility. Features...

Extrusion method increases design possibilities.(new products)
September 1, 2004... NORTHERN STATES METALS, WEST HARTFORD, CONN. The ISO9001-2000-certified company can now extrude aluminum to produce a wider ranger of parts. Wall thickness to 0.03 inch or finer, for some smaller extrusions; circle sizes to 35 in.; and tongue...

Air control.(new products)
September 1, 2004... KAESER COMPRESSORS INC., FREDERICKSBURG, VA. The Sigma Air Manager, a real-time compressed air system monitor, is available for vacuum units. The controller saves energy and maintains consistent pressure band control, according to the company....

Remote indoor air quality control.(new products)
September 1, 2004... TRANE, LA CROSS, WIS. The Tracer Summit is an automated system that allows building operators to monitor and control indoor air quality. Adjusting chillers and air handlers from remote locations through a Web server allows control of uneven...

Number crunching.(new products)
September 1, 2004... PHD INC., FORT WAYNE, IND. Series PNC pneumatically powered automatic numbering clamp uses high clamp forces to stamp consecutive characters into metal or plastic. Part identification is accomplished quietly in one-half second. A lever system...

Secure lockout program.(new products)
September 1, 2004... MASTER LOCK, MILWAUKEE, WIS. A group lockbox enables lockout of large process and production equipment. A single, designated lock secures each lockout point in the process. Keys are captured as up to 13 section managers place them inside the...

Suck it up.(new products)
September 1, 2004... NEDERMAN INC., WESTLAND, MICH. L-PAK 150 and L-PAK 250 are stationary high vacuum units that extract welding fumes, metal chips, and standing dust from workstations and machines. Suitable for metal fabrication, auto body, and composite...

Equipment monitoring.(new products)
September 1, 2004... PINPOINT LASER SYSTEMS, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. The Microgage Flatness Checking Kit can monitor production equipment that includes flat, moving surfaces, precision machine slides, X-Y stage travel, and robotics. A laser transmitter is mounted on a...

Adjustable temperature monitor.(new products)
September 1, 2004... WATLOW ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING CO., ST. LOUIS, MO. The Series CV line of microprocessor-based temperature controllers now incorporates a new operator interface. Users can view or adjust an application's desired set-point temperature value when...

Quick stick.(new products)
September 1, 2004... HENKEL LOCTITE CORP., ROCKY HILL, CONN. Two new surface-insensitive cyanoacrylate adhesives are designed to cure rapidly in dry environments and on acidic surfaces. Suitable for metal, plastic, elastomers, wood, leather, and paper, these...

Electropneumatic transducers.(new products)
September 1, 2004... MARSH BEKLLOFRAM, NEWEL, W. VA. Type 2000 I/P and E/P electropneumatic transducers are available in a low-pressure configuration. This option allows an input pressure of up to 140 psi and an output pressure of 0-2 psi; with split ranging...

Adhesive dispensers.(new products)
September 1, 2004... CONPROTEC INC., SOUTH LANCASTER, MASS. The Mixpac S-50 system dispenses two-component adhesives. The system works with the company's manually operated dispensers and with battery powered EZ-mix-HI hand-held dispensing units manufactured by DTIC...

Flange adapters.(new products)
September 1, 2004... SWAGELOK CO., SOLON, OHIO. Tubing systems can offer better flow rates than piping, without welding or threading. A line of flange adapters is available in sizes from NPS 1/2 to 2 in. and DN 10 to 50. Pressure class ratings range from ANSI 150...

Exercising control.(new products)
September 1, 2004... AMERICAN ELTEC INC., LAS VEGAS, NEV. The CyBox8 is a system platform for industrial and machine control in harsh environments. Its solid stainless steel container and environmental control system protect the 2.0 GHz Pentium processor and power...

What a bore.(new products)
September 1, 2004... ESCO TOOL, MEDFIELD, MASS. A lightweight boiler tube end prep tool can bevel, lace, and bore stainless steel and alloy tubes. The right-angle drive ID clamping Mongoose Millhog preps ends from 5/8 in. ID to 3 in. OD. Permanently affixed...