Mechanical Engineering-CIME articles from September 2006

Mechanical Engineering-CIME archives from September 2006

Only on M.E. Magazine Online @ www.memagazine.org.
September 1, 2006... Responses to the August Question of the Month: One of the readers who answered "yes" to question No. 1 and "no" to No. 2 added, "I have one of the best bosses. He gives us enough freedom to make choices in our assignments and...

Time online.(editorial)(Editorial)
September 1, 2006... Inevitably, the amount of time we spend online varies with who we are, what we do, and what we're looking for. Much to my chagrin, my 12-year-old's penchant for understanding the details of how the folks at Disney redesigned the Pirates of...

Gas pains.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... To the Editor: The discussion of hydrogen as a fuel for cars ("Easy on the Gas," July) omits the production process, renew balance, and sources of energy to produce the hydrogen. There is no free lunch. BP's planned hydrogen power plant would...

The energy debate.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... To the Editor: Perhaps I kid myself, but it seems to the that more and more readers of Mechanical are thinking critically about issues of a national energy policy. In the June issue, three of the six letters you published concerned energy...

Eye on the future.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... To the Editor: I would like to use this platform to express my personal congratulations to Dr. Terry E. Shoup, P.E., for assuming the high office of president of ASME. Truly, this is no mean achievement. There is a huge task ahead of Dr. Shoup...

One step backward?(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... To the Editor: I wish to comment on the article that appeared in the May issue, "One Step Back, One Giant Leap Forward," by John E Connolly. The proposed design for a moon exploration vehicle is just an enhanced redesign of the Apollo...

A look at the issues.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... To the Editor: May God help us with new opportunities. I think mechanical engineers in our society may need the help most when I read about employment issues in your Letters section. May I comment on a few areas? Nuclear waste: One way to...

New habits.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... To the Editor: This letter is in response to Fred Wenthen's letter, "Kicking a Habit" (May). I am a graduating electromechanical engineering student at Wentworth Institute of Technology, and I just completed a yearlong engineering design...

Not sold on nukes.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... To the Editor: In the June issue (Letters), Stan Jakuba wrote: "Other renewable sources... are not going to make an appreciable difference on the scale of mankind's present and projected energy use." I agree, but not with the conclusion that...

For recycling.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... To the Editor: The article "No Hurry to Recycle" in the May issue conveys a message that conflicts with other information. Nuclear "waste" recycling allows for the extraction of more than 100 times as much energy as the first pass, and...

Car parts from plastic bottles.(news & notes)(GE Plastics)
September 1, 2006... Recycled plastic rarely makes it into structural parts because recycling tends to degrade properties. Recycled milk bottles turn into bottles for motor oil, household cleansers, and other nonfood uses. Most polyethylene terephthalate soda...

Timken supports research center.(news & notes)
September 1, 2006... The Timken Co. has pledged $3 million to the endowment of one of the chairs at the new International Center for Automotive Research at Clemson University. The position, the Timken Chair in Automotive Design and Development, has been filled...

Field tests start on Super Boiler.(news & notes)(Institute of Gas Technology and Cleaver-Brooks Inc. )
September 1, 2006... A new industrial steam--generation system that is said to provide increased efficiency, reduced emissions, and lower fuel costs has entered the field test stage. The Gas Technology Institute of Des Plaines, Ill., has worked with...

Rise of the robots.(news & notes)(International Federation of Robotics's World Robotics 2006 survey)
September 1, 2006... How fast are robots entering the workplace? With 121,000 new units worldwide, 2005 installations topped 2004 (the previous record year) by 25 percent, according to a new survey, World Robotics 2006, published by the International Federation of...

2006 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition: November 5-10, 2006: Hilton Chicago Chicago, Illinois USA.
September 1, 2006... View more than 500 technical sessions, special forums, tutorials, workshops, poster sessions, and special events at the Congress website: www.asme.org/congress Industry Tracks For the latest breakthroughs and updates in engineering,...

A subsidiary of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., Roadster Automotive BV of the Netherlands, has acquired a Slovakian electric motor production business, Dana Emerson Actuator Systems, from Dana Corp.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... A subsidiary of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., Roadster Automotive BV of the Netherlands, has acquired a Slovakian electric motor production business, Dana Emerson Actuator Systems, from Dana Corp. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed....

Raytheon Co. of Waltham, Mass., and Naval Sea Systems Command have worked out a $95.4 million contract modification for lightweight and heavyweight torpedo hardware, engineering, and support services.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... Raytheon Co. of Waltham, Mass., and Naval Sea Systems Command have worked out a $95.4 million contract modification for lightweight and heavyweight torpedo hardware, engineering, and support services. Known as Team Torpedo, the agreement...

Ford Motor Co.(Briefly Noted)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Ford Motor Co. said it has begun to produce dedicated hydrogen fueled, internal combustion engines, supercharged 6.8-liter V10 engines for Ford's E-450 H2 ICE shuttle bus. Ford said buses will be delivered to customers later this year.

The Boeing Co.(Briefly Noted)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... The Boeing Co. said it will launch a program to update the C-130 by modifying avionics, wiring, structures, and systems that will extend the life of the aircraft by as much as 30 years.

Aubrey Group Inc.(Briefly Noted)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Aubrey Group Inc., an engineering firm specializing in electro mechanical medical instruments, has moved into a 30,000-square-foot facility in Irvine, Calif. The company said that it has doubled its available floor space for product development...

Soft Gold.(Briefly Noted)(introduces CAD viewer )(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Soft Gold of Tula, Russia, has released a CAD viewer that can be installed on any pocket personal computer or personal digital assistant that uses the Windows Mobile operating system.

Tech Soft America.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... Executives at Tech Soft America, a Berkeley, Calif., a manufacturer of engineering development software, have re named the 10-year-old company Tech Soft 3D.

Cargo storage in space.(computing)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... THINK OF IT AS VERY EXACTING, close-up closet arranging. The European Space Agency is relying on three-dimensional digital software in order to figure out how best to arrange cargo in the automatic transfer vehicles that are to restock the...

Fighting jet sound.(computing)(Clarence Rowley to design less noisy jet engines)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... UNDERSTANDING HOW AIR TRAVELS across the sunroof of a car may one day make jet engines less noisy, said Clarence Rowley, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. But getting...

Before a museum goes live.(computing)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... WHEN OFFICIALS AT THE PARIS MUSEUM at Quai Branly were readying for the museum's debut in June, they relied on visualization software to determine how best to display the works of art. The new museum is dedicated to African and Asian...

Many formats, one app.(computing)(Visual Collaboration Technologies Inc. introduces computer aided software)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... A NEW SOFTWARE PACKAGE offers one platform on which engineers can work with product design, analysis, and manufacturing information, even if that information is stored in various formats. The package, VCollab, from Visual Collaboration...

Ancient computer X-ray.(computing)(research on Antikythera Mechanism)
September 1, 2006... AFTER MORE THAN 50 YEARS researching and experimenting on the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient bronze clocklike device discovered early in the last century, scholars still are not sure of its exact function. The mechanism came from the...

Save the engine hubs.(turbojet engine hubs)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... WHEN A 20-PIECE MANUFACTURING run of expensive turbojet engine hubs went awry at Pratt and Whitney in East Hartford, Conn., Julio Banks, a senior advanced analyst, faced a challenging, and potentially expensive, engineering problem. The...

Bouncing balls on Mars?(computing)
September 1, 2006... ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS AT THE Massachusetts Institute of Technology have a new vision for the future of Mars exploration: a swarm of probes, each the size of a baseball, bouncing across the planet in all directions. Thousands of probes,...

Spicer Corp.(Briefly Noted)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Spicer Corp. of Kitchener, Ontario, which makes document productivity software, has released version eight of Imagenation, with which users can scan, review, mark up, and print hundreds of document, CAD, and model formats.

MSC.Software Corp.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... A maker of simulation software, MSC.Software Corp. of Santa Ana., Calif., has released SimManager Enterprise, which helps companies share engineering processes.

Seemage.(Briefly Noted)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Seemage of Boston has released a 3-D portable document format plug-in. Users have the option of publishing 3-D PDF files in either Adobe's U3D or Seemage's.smg file format.

V.I. Laboratories.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... V.I. Laboratories of Waltham, Mass., has released an application that uses cryptography and runtime monitoring to build a layer of security around applications.

BobCAD-CAM.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... BobCAD-CAM of Dunedin, Fla., has released version 22 of its 2-D and 3-D CAD-CAM system of the same name.

A Baltimore company that makes design, engineering, and facilities management software, Avatech Solutions Inc., has acquired Technology & Training Services Inc.(Briefly Noted)(Technology & Training Services Inc.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... A Baltimore company that makes design, engineering, and facilities management software, Avatech Solutions Inc., has acquired Technology & Training Services Inc., a facilities-management software company in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Cadig.(Briefly Noted)(AutoTable 3.3, a computer aided software)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Cadig of Eden Prairie, Minn., is shipping AutoTable 3.3 for AutoCAD 2007. The software gives AutoCAD users a way to import Excel spreadsheets into AutoCAD and modify them.

ITI TranscenData.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... ITI TranscenData of Milford, Ohio, is shipping Cadiq 4.6, the latest version of its product data quality and 3-D model-comparison tool.

Engineous Software.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... Engineous Software of Cary, N.C., which makes integration, automation, and design optimization software, has introduced iSight for multiple disciplines, also called iSight for MD.

Autodesk Inc.(Briefly Noted)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... In Singapore, Autodesk Inc. of San Rafael, Calif., is offering upgrade savings to customers who own valid licenses of select retired Autodesk software through the Autodesk Loyalty Program.

EVOQE.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... EVOQE of Vicenza, Italy, has released solidThinking 7.0, its surface and solid-modeling environment.

ESI Group.(Briefly Noted)
September 1, 2006... ESI Group of Paris, France, has released Pam-Tube 2G, a product suite for stamping simulation.

High-speed economics.(Turbocam Inc.)
September 1, 2006... Can high-speed machining compete with metal casting? It might seem unlikely, but when it comes to complex aluminum impellers, Turbocam Inc. of Dover, N.H., has found a way to make it work. The impellers are used in truck and bus...

A new peak.(MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY)(Victrex plc)(Victrex T)
September 1, 2006... Since it was developed for NASA nearly 50 years ago, polybenzimidazole has built an outstanding reputation for retaining its physical properties at temperatures that wilt other polymers and some metals. Unfortunately, PBI developed another...

Design of Hazardous Mechanical Structures, Systems and Components for Extreme Loads.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Design of Hazardous Mechanical Structures, Systems and Components for Extreme Loads by John D. Stevenson and Ovidiu Coman This timely volume addresses the critical issue of safe design of mechanical structures, systems and components...

Managing Risks in Design and Construction Projects.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Managing Risks in Design and Construction Projects by Ronald Saporita This volume provides an understanding of the risk-management "process," and an outline of the considerations to implement one. No particular type of contract...

Structural Shear Joints: Analyses, Properties and Design for Repeat Loading.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Structural Shear Joints: Analyses, Properties and Design for Repeat Loading by George T. Hahn, Kaushik A. Lyer, and Carol A. Rubin This book describes the mechanical response of butt, lap and doubler joints. The findings apply to shear...

Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management: CD.(Brief article)(Video recording review)
September 1, 2006... Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management: CD edited by Michael G. Stamatelatos and Harold S. Blackman Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Probabilistic...

Team Building.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Team Building by Marcus Goncalves This is Volume 1 of the Technical Manager's Survival Guides--and it's already getting raves. "Finally! A great read that deftly mixes theory, practical tools and personal experience into a...

Cost-Efficient Design.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Cost-Efficient Design by Mahendra S. Hundal, Klaus Ehrlenspiel, et al. This book discusses cost-related factors in the design process that have an impact on product development. It offers tried and tested methods for understanding,...

Decision Making in Engineering Design.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Decision Making in Engineering Design edited by Kemper E. Lewis, Wei Chen, and Linda C. Schmidt Whether you are an engineer facing decisions in product design, an instructor or student engaged in course work, or a researcher exploring...

The Unwritten Laws of Engineering, Revised and Updated Edition.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... The Unwritten Laws of Engineering, Revised and Updated Edition by James G. Skakoon and W.J. King This fully revised and updated edition of the 1944 classic, serves as a crucial compilation of "house rules," or a professional code. This...

Engineering Disasters: Lessons to Be Learned.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Engineering Disasters: Lessons to Be Learned by Don Lawson In this practical and highly topical book, the author provides thoroughly researched accounts of wellknown disasters and failures worldwide. Historical events such as the...

From skateboard to factory.(MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY)
September 1, 2006... Watch inline skaters and skateboarders accelerate out of a turn, sky on a ramp, or speed down a sidewalk scored with cracks and crevices. Their polymer wheels stand up to an amazing amount of abuse while keeping a sure grip on the surface and...

Massage control.(Enter Kerk Motion Products Inc)(Aqua massage machine)
September 1, 2006... It's amazing how much work it takes to keep things simple. A case in point: the linear drive used to power water massage machines found in shopping malls. Massagers developed by Aqua Massage International of Groton, Conn., use pulsating water...

Robots next to humans.(MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY)(Neuronics AG's Katana)
September 1, 2006... Most industrial robots are so fast and powerful, they demand a safety barrier to keep people out of harm's way. Then there's Katana, which is designed to work cheek-and-jowl with humans. "We're the only robot certified as inherently safe by...

Lighter metals keep surface smooth.(MATERIALS AND ASSEMBLY)(Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Applied Materials Research)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Imagine taking more than half the weight off a metal part without degrading its surface finish. That would yield aluminum parts with densities similar to polymers. Researchers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and...

Small business FEA.(software exchange)
September 1, 2006... Capability: NEi FEA is a professional finite element analysis application aimed at engineers involved in product design, development, analysis, and testing, perhaps at smaller companies. Model creation is via parasolids geometry, while...

Excel plotting.(software exchange)
September 1, 2006... Capability: EZplot for Excel creates and updates many plots in seconds. It includes formulas for 2-D interpolation and 3-D interpolation and polynomials. These can be used like any other Excel formula. Customers may be provided with Excel plots...

Brittle material design.(software exchange)
September 1, 2006... Capability: The design program Ceramics Analysis and Reliability Evaluation of Structures, or CARES 8.0, uses probabilistic analysis techniques to optimize the design of components fabricated from brittle materials. These materials include...

Mac sketching.(software exchange)
September 1, 2006... Capability: Google SketchUp is now available for Macintosh users. This noncommercial application is a slimmed-down version of the modeling application SketchUp Pro 5. Features include real-time shadows, sketchy line styles, dimensioning,...

Drawing face-off.(software exchange)
September 1, 2006... Capability: An independent developer has an add-on available for AutoCAD computer-aided design software from Autodesk. The feature, called DWG-Compare, lets users compare two CAD drawings. It displays the differences between the two drawings...

No small risk: as nanotech products race to the marketplace; researchers are still trying to determine if they could endanger human health.(FOCUS ON NANOTECHNOLOGY)(Kleinmann GmbH)
September 1, 2006... For German consumers, the name on the bottle of bathroom product promised wondrous, futuristic power: Magic Nano. Spray the contents on your tub or tiles, and soapy buildup would be repelled. For the vast majority of people who couldn't...

Nano-scale armor: molecular hinges, electrorheological fluids--will they protect tomorrow's infantry?(FOCUS ON NANOTECHNOLOGY)(Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies )
September 1, 2006... It's more than an understatement to say that today's soldiers have it rough. In addition to the usual hazards of bullets, shrapnel, and chemical and bio logical weapons, infantry soldiers typically haul between 100 and 150 pounds. But there may...

Pros and cons of CAD: computer-aided design is far from perfect, but still pretty great, these experts say.
September 1, 2006... Computer-aided design software: love it or hate it? Mechanical engineers in equal measure love it, rave about it, or grudgingly put up with it. Judging by a very informal poll conducted by this staff writer (who asked approximately 25...

Finding more water: a desalination roadmap seeks technological solutions to make brackish water drinkable.(Desalination and Water Purification Technology Roadmap)
September 1, 2006... A document that should result in more fresh water in parts of the world where it's needed is nearing completion. Following one final meeting in San Antonio April 17, Sandia National Laboratories researchers Pat Brady and Tom Hinkebein are...

Fluid motion: engineers are playing with the hulls to generate more speed for Olympic rowers.(Institute for Research and Development of Sports Equipment)
September 1, 2006... Competition among world-class athletes has become so intense that tiny improvements in performance mark the difference between gold medal winners and also-rans. So it should come as no surprise that national teams are concentrating not only on...

Digital pressure gauge.(new products)
September 1, 2006... MICO INC., NORTH MANKATO, MINN. The company's digital pressure gauge provides one-half percent terminal point accuracy and a standard pressure range of zero to 10 psi for use in measuring air, hydraulic, and vacuum pressures. The pressure range...

Multifunction boards.(new products)
September 1, 2006... OMEGA ENGINEERING INC., STAMFORD, CONN. These high-performance OMB Daqboard-3000 Series PC! boards offer 16-bit/1 MHz multifunction synchronous I/O at competitive prices. This is accomplished by incorporating a high level of integration....

Pump trap.(new products)
September 1, 2006... SPIRAX SARCO INC., BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. The APT14HC is the latest addition to the company's line of automatic trap pumps. It is engineered to eliminate condensate handling problems, including poor heat transfer, irregular temperature control,...

Aspheric lenses.(new products)
September 1, 2006... ROLYN OPTICS CO., COVlNA, CALIF. Rolyn now offers precision molded polymer aspheric lenses for infinity conjugates in both 12.7 and 25.4 mm diameters. All 12.7 mm diameter lenses have an 11.4 mm clear aperture. All 25.4 mm diameter lenses have...

Measuring stress.(new products)
September 1, 2006... PCB PIEZOTRONICS INC., DEPEW, N.Y. Series M240 ICP strain sensors from the company's Force/Torque division use piezoelectric sensing elements to indirectly measure dynamic and quasi-static forces on machinery structures. These strain sensors...

Liquid flow sensor.(new products)
September 1, 2006... MCMILLAN CO., GEORGETOWN, TEXAS. Models 104 and 107 liquid Flo-Sensors precisely measure flow rates of fluids as low as 13 mL/minute, and are designed as an electronic alternative to ball-and-tube rotameters. Stainless steel construction...

Cable and wire terminations.(new products)
September 1, 2006... TYCO ELECTRONICS CORP. HARRISBURG, PA. The company's new line of Raychem brand RoHS compliant SolderSleeve devices are lead- and cadmium-free, and provide a fast, convenient method for splicing and terminating wire and cable. In addition, Tyco...

Combustion and emission analyzer.(new products)
September 1, 2006... E INSTRUMENTS GROUP, LANGHORNE, PA. The GreenLine 4000 portable gas analyzer is a multifunctional unit that is useful for industrial service and maintenance purposes, including boilers, burners, heaters, and other industrial applications....

System for rack control devices.(new products)
September 1, 2006... IGUS INC., EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. Micro Speed-E-Chain is the company's latest Energy Chain System for storage and retrieval systems. It is a space-saving, compact system for rack control devices that operates safely and silently at high speeds....

Free form sensing points.(new products)
September 1, 2006... SENSOR PRODUCTS LLC, MADISON, N.J. The company is expanding its Tactilus line of dynamic electronic pressure mapping systems with the introduction of its free form sensor systems. The sensing systems are multichannel tactile surface sensing...

Linear encoders.(new products)
September 1, 2006... HEIDENHAIN CORP., SCHAUMBURG, ILL. The mechanics and electronics of the company's LC Series of absolute linear encoders have been fundamentally redesigned from the ground up to better meet today's measurement requirements in machine tools, and...

Planetary gearheads.(product information)
September 1, 2006... BOSTON GEAR, QUINCY, MASS. The company is using its full-color, 36-page brochure to introduce new high-precision helical planetary gearheads, which are designed for direct attachment to servo and stepper motors. Planetary gearheads combine the...

Cable and assembly.(product information)
September 1, 2006... C&M CORP., WAUREGAN, CONN. A four-color brochure describes the company's cable, connector, and assembly solutions for industrial applications, with an emphasis on extreme operating conditions. Among the subjects covered in the brochure are...

Diverter valves.(product information)
September 1, 2006... KICE INDUSTRIES INC., WICHITA, KAN. A full-color brochure features diverter valves and bin fill valves. These are heavy-duty, cast-iron valves with tightly machined clearances; they are designed to let the user terminate a pneumatic conveying...

Sensing applications.(product information)
September 1, 2006... BANNER ENGINEERING CORP., MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. The company's updated catalog provides detailed information on sensing applications. The 500-plus-page, four-color volume covers such products as vision sensors, photoelectric and ultrasonic sensors,...

Production vises.(product information)
September 1, 2006... JERGENS INC., CLEVELAND, OHIO. The company's literature details its production vises, including products for both vertical machining centers and horizontal machining centers. As vises that perform like fixtures, they are highly flexible...

Industrial dampers.(product information)
September 1, 2006... GREENHECK, SCHOFIELD, WIS. A new catalog features the company's heavy-duty, industrial dampers. The publication details Greenheck's spark-resistant construction, blade and bearings options, actuators, and actuator accessories available for...

Codes and standards.(ASME publications)
September 1, 2006... Supplement No. 8 to the 2004 Edition of Code Cases, Nuclear Components. Book No. B012N8. 72 pp.; loose-leaf. $48. As is customary, the supplement will be entered into inventory at $0.00 price. Any order for a particular supplement is...