Machine design, tập 84, số 18, 2012

CASTINGS, page 42 BETTER HEAT SINKS WITH MULTIPHYSICS,page 45 APPLIANCE WIRE GETS A ROLE IN MACHINE BUILDING, page 48... Instead of using typical analytical design methods and trial-and

CASTINGS, page 42 BETTER HEAT SINKS WITH MULTIPHYSICS,

page 45 APPLIANCE WIRE GETS A ROLE

IN MACHINE BUILDING, page 48

RS# 101

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RS# 102

Instead of using typical analytical design methods and trial-and-error physical prototyping, we first used mul- tiphysics software to design and test possible prototypes.

Hot under the hood Toyota hybrid vehicles have sophisticated electrical systems in which many power diodes and power semiconductors — such as in- sulated-gate bipolar transistors — handle power conversion and other measuring a few centimeters on each side The devices mount on alu-

How Toyota designed

a small, efficient heat sink to cool electronic components in its future hybrid vehicles

Authored by:

Ercan (Eric) Dede

Principal Scientist

Toyota Research Institute of North America

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Edited by Leslie Gordon

leslie.gordon@penton.com, Twitter @ LeslieGordon

Key Points:

• Engineers designed a smaller and efficient heat sink to thermally regulate the electronic components in future Toyota hybrid vehicles.

more-• Numeric simulations generated an optimal cooling channel topology with fluid streamlines

in branching channels.

• The dual configuration prototype provided higher-performance cooling in an ultracompact package.

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com 45

ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY GUIDE

High-end AWM-style cables are making a comeback in machine wiring providing over 20 years

of reliable performance.

AWM and NFPA compliance

One company successfully navigating the shoals of the recent

NFPA-79 revisions is Krones Inc., Franklin, Wis., a manufacturer

and integrator of packaging lines for food and beverage pliant AWM usage does require a bit of extra eff ort compared to the automatic compliance found with UL-listed MTW.

compa-“Whenever you must implement changes because of an trical-code change, there’s defi nitely an engineering-labor factor,” compliance.

elec-Some of that engineering labor went into researching cifi c AWM products to see whether they meet the compliance product complies just by looking at the cable,” says Nelson And requirements.

spe-In all, Nelson estimates that Krones has spent more than 150 engineering man-hours complying with the requirements relat-

ed to AWM use And that fi gure represents just the work done to wire into each and every machine.

If you find electrical safety standards confusing, you’re not alone Many NFPA-79 This is the National Fire Protection Association code that outlines electrical standards for industrial machinery that protects operators, equip- sively in the National Electrical Code (NEC) that governs the electrical wiring

of industrial machines.

The standard cuts a broad swath across the industrial machinery landscape

It applies to a comprehensive range of machines — everything from machine

600 V or less This means that a vast majority of machine power, control, and lighting circuits fall under the scope of NFPA-79.

Machine builders complied with the dictates of NFPA-79 for years But lier this year the standard underwent revisions that make it more difficult to specify compliant electrical cabling.

ear-Appliance wire OK’d The key change to NFPA-79 for 2012 involves the ability to use appliance wiring material (AWM), which had been banned since 2007 AWM can be an economical wiring choice compared to higher-performing UL-listed machine- tool wire (MTW) But there were several sound reasons behind the AWM ban.

For one, some contractors were using AWM incorrectly as part of the ing infrastructure The NEC does not recognize AWM for this type of use.

build-Also, not all AWM products are created equal when it comes to the quality

of their insulation layer The insulation thickness of low-quality commodity cabling varied such that the wire, while meeting its electrical insulation require- ments, was not sufficiently flame resistant for use in industrial machines.

It’s important to stress that not all AWM suffers from these quality issues

Lapp and other reputable cable manufacturers can and do produce AWM ucts whose insulation wall thickness is both consistent and adequate for the however, that AWM lacks the extra layers of PVC-nylon insulation found in

prod-Appliance wire

is back, but regulations may limit its use.

• Banned in 2007, AWM may now be used in machine wiring, restrictions permitting.

• New permissions may let MTW products that even over AWM.

understanding-the-NFPA restrictions In the case of extremely large machines thousands of dollars complying with the documentation requirements.

These documentation needs, while not able, must be factored into the cost of wiring the machine the minor price advantages of some AWM cables One way around the concern of documentation is to favor listed MTW Because it inherently complies with whether a given AWM product is approved and properly

insurmount-MTW This extra insulation allows some types of MTW to the best AWM.

Reversing the AWM ban reflected the realities of the global machinery marketplace in which AWM remains a drawbacks of AWM.

The first restriction states that the AWM must be tified as suitable for the application at hand and must be cluding minimum conductor count, flame resistance, and age, temperature rating, and flame rating.

iden-The reversal on AWM usage also requires more documentation For ex-

a mp l e , m a nu f a c tu re r s must provide field-instal- lation information related documentation.

Easy compliance Given all the cable runs

on and around today’s plex industrial machines, every machine represents

com-Exposed cable runs for fast installation

Another change in the 2012

NFPA-79 standard allows exposed cable runs

in the machine chassis As long as the posed cables closely follow the surface raceways, or any special hardware Thanks

ex-to reductions in installation time and bor, exposed cable runs can reduce costs dramatically compared to traditional in- stallation methods that need conduit or special mounting hardware.

la-Certain UL-listed cables meet exposed run (-ER) specifi cations, which provide an requirements are subjected to the same leave the machine area and enter a cable tray without conduit.

Keep in mind, though, that not all listed cables meet NFPA requirements, rigid products.

UL-Safety standard

gives

APPLIANCE WIRE

a new lease on life

A Krones technician documents the use of AWM in compliance with NFPA-79

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

Access our Reader Service Web site to quickly find and request information on the products and services found

in the pages of M ACHINE D ESIGN www.machinedesign.com/rsc

VOLUME 84ISSUE 18NOVEMBER 22, 2012

45

Multiphysics software builds a better heat sink

Toyota used multiphysics software to build a better heat sink for its future hybrid vehicles

Safety standard gives appliance wire a new lease

on life

Appliance wiring material, banned

in 2007, is now back in service owing

to the realities of today’s global machine marketplace But, its use comes with restrictions

mountain bikes, and snowboards

leads to a lighter, more-nimble

Personal Snow Vehicle

Better economics for

industrial fiber optics

Plastic optic fiber is a better option

than copper wiring for applications

plagued by electrical noise

Casting with quartz

The casting of

synthetic-quartz-composite mixtures to tolerance uses

less energy than casting iron

34

42

38

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

2

with 1-ft cable and

4-wire locking connector

SureStep stepping systems provide simple

and accurate control of position and speed

where open-loop control and cost are considerations.

Pulses (or "step" and "direction" signals) from

Do-more PLCs, DirectLOGIC PLCs, or other indexers

and motion controllers are "translated" by the

microstepping drive into precise movement of the

stepping motor shaft The SureStep stepping motors

use 2-phase technology with 200 full steps per

revolution or 1.8° per full step

• Available in single-shaft and dual-shaft models, starting at $18

• Square frame step motor style produces high torque

• 2-phase bipolar, 4-lead

• 1.8° per step, 200 Steps per Revolution

• Standard NEMA Sizes (17, 23, & 34)

• CE Compliant - EN55014-1 (1993) & EN60034-1.5.11

The SureStep family of motion products also includes

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NEMA Single-Shaft Step Motors

For customized article reprints and permissions please contact: Penton Reprints, 1-888-858-8851, e-mail at reprints@pentonreprints.com or visit

pentonreprints.com.

Editorial content is indexed in the Applied Science Technology Index, the Engineering Index, SciSearch and Research Alert Microfilm copies available from National Archive Publishing Company (NAPC), 300

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Paid subscriptions include issues 1-18 Issue No 19 (OEM Handbook and Supplier Directory) is available at additional cost Rates: U.S.: one year, $139; two years,

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$119; All other countries: one year, $99; two years,

EDITORIAL

Silliness at 40 below

EDITORIAL STAFF

LETTERS

SCANNING FOR IDEAS

Spindle drive moves with accuracy

Filter vent equalizes pressure inside and out

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RS# 104

Smart machines: Delivering intelligent maintenance capabilities

Rapid technological innovation, demand for customized products, and requirements for more reliably maintained systems

are spurring the rise of smart machines This eBook from National Instruments discusses the different approaches used to

track and maintain machine health.

New technology for control-panel design

This eBook from Eaton offers insights on how to simplify control panel wiring and design Topics include an overview of

traditional panel design; key industry standards; protocols used in industrial networks; and how the SmartWire-DT system speeds commissioning of next-generation machines and control panels.

Download these eBooks at http://machinedesign.com/ebook.

Simple, low-cost robot

The CEO of Rethink Robotics gives an overview of the Baxter robotic platform The

inexpensive, easy-to-use robot is designed for small manufacturers who do short production

runs of many different parts It can be programmed

by shop-floor workers and offers humanlike speed,

precision, and strength Learn more at www.

Platform-for;Only-Engineering-TV-Videos.

engineeringtv.com/video/The-Baxter-Robotic-Selecting potting compounds

Electronic and electrical equipment needs potting

compound to secure, protect, and insulate components

A Fabrico site,

www.fabrico.com/markets-electrical-equipment.htm, looks at considerations for evaluating

potting materials, including device characteristics,

environment, adhesive cure time and expansion rates,

and overall costs It also discusses benefits of materials

such as epoxy, polyester, urethane, and silicone.

Actuator-sizing software

A new online sizing program from Tolomatic helps

engineers design and specify electric actuators based

on motion requirements like length, velocity, and

acceleration, as well as orientation, loads, and applied

forces It also lets users select a motor based on

parameters such as continuous/peak torque and speed,

and add features to the actuator like mounts and switches

It’s compatible with PCs, tablets, and smartphones Learn

more at http://sizeit.tolomatic.com.

Oil-cleanliness booklet

More than 75% of all hydraulics problems can be linked to

dirty oil Bosch Rexroth has published a 44-page booklet,

on oil-resistant paper, that outlines common contaminant

sources, the basics of contamination control, key filter

properties, tolerances of hydraulic components, and

recommended oil-cleanliness levels according to ISO 4406

It also covers monitoring and maintenance strategies to

proactively diagnose problems before a failure Order a

free copy at www.boschrexroth-us.com/filter.

Enclosure selector

Rittal’s Web site (www.rittal-corp.com) helps engineers

quickly design, size, and quote enclosures and

climate-control products The SmartSelect tool lets users select

the type of product and then specify dimensions, ratings, materials, and other parameters Results include exact matches and close alternatives, along with product details, drawings, installation videos, and related info The company’s QuickQuote application creates a bill of material and price estimate Users can also access the tools on most smartphones and mobile devices.

Controls catalog

OTTO has published an interactive, 226-page

magazine-style PDF catalog on its switches, grips, joysticks, and control panels Content includes product data, technical specs, drawings and photos, and a comprehensive military cross-reference Download a copy, or request a

print version, at www.ottoexcellence.com.

Structural simulation

Ansys will host a free, 1-hr Webinar on November 29 on

how to improve simulation processes The discussion covers large and complex model performance, modeling 3D-composite shapes, customizing processes for structural mechanics, crack modeling, mapping of external data, and contact modeling, as well as better ways to handle finite-element models Learn more at

http://tinyurl.com/cknkp9x.

Fastener app

PennEngineering has launched the PEMspec app for

iPhones and iPads It lets users access critical installation dimensions for self-clinching, flaring, broaching, surface mount, and weld fasteners Data includes mounting-hole size, minimum sheet thickness, and installed height above sheet, among other criteria Users can search by fastener parameters or part number, and the app also contains pertinent links and contact information Learn more at

www.pemnet.com.

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

6

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Silliness at 40 below

Many years ago a college classmate of mine told a funny story about his summer job testing communications gear for a defense contractor He spent his time alternately freezing the radios to –40°C and heating them to 85°C, while operating them to make sure they’d work at these extreme temperatures

Trouble was, most of the radios wouldn’t pass this test To fix the problem, the contractor had to go through a redesign, which took more than a month, putting the project behind schedule Once the electronics had been fixed, my buddy drew a lot of over-time running radios in temperature chambers, trying to catch up

In fact, the pace was so hectic that nobody bothered to check the radios at room temperature

You may be able to guess what happened It was only as things slowed down that QA discovered the revamped radios often sput-tered out when operating in ambient temperatures

With that situation in mind, I was amused at a tale told in the memoirs of former General Motors Corp Vice Chairman Bob Lutz to illustrate some of the whacky design practices he encoun-tered when he joined GM in 2001 He discovered the ashtray of a new Cadillac STS had a lot of spring pressure When opened, it shot out as though launched from a cannon, and once deployed, was tough to push in with just one finger This was in contrast to the ashtray on an Acura, which glided open and took a single ef-fortless push to close

Lutz figured the ashtray design in the Cadillac had to be a take, so he was flabbergasted when a senior interior-trim engineer said it operated that way on purpose The reason: So it could meet

mis-an internal GM stmis-andard that dictated ashtrays had to function after a night spent at –40°F

Lutz says loopy situations like the Cadillac ashtray were not at all uncommon in those days They arose because GM had a habit

of engineering its vehicles for extreme situations That was a noble idea, but it came at the expense of alienating thousands of GM owners on a daily basis

You might wonder what happened to the –40°F ashtray spec Lutz says his team eventually eliminated it and 90% of the other sacred but silly engineering do’s and don’ts that had somehow be-come embedded in GM culture He also opined that the existence

of these disconnected-from-the-real-world practices was a mony to a culture that was inwardly focused in pursuit of its own goals, with the customer left out of the equation.”

“testi-I would put it a little differently than Lutz did Both in the case

of the bad radios and with the ashtrays that operated superbly only at –40°C, the designers had lost sight of the trade-offs they were making There is a lesson here for any engineer who’d like

to avoid having something they designed be the butt of jokes, or who doesn’t want their work to wind up as a humorous incident in someone else’s memoir

— Leland Teschler, Editor

RS# 106

NOVEMBER 22, 2012

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EDITORIAL STAFF

1300 E 9th St Cleveland, OH 44114-1503

EDITOR Leland E Teschler leland.teschler@penton.com

MANAGING EDITOR Kenneth J Korane ken.korane@penton.com

SENIOR EDITORS Leslie Gordon leslie.gordon@penton.com Stephen J Mraz stephen.mraz@penton.com

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Lindsey Frick lindsey.frick@penton.com Robert J Repas, Jr.

robert.repas@penton.com

INDUSTRY COVERAGE: AUTOMOTIVE, PACKAGING,

MEDICAL Stephen J Mraz

CAD/CAM, MANUFACTURING

Leslie Gordon

ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONICS Robert J Repas, Jr.

FASTENING & JOINING, MATERIALS Lindsey Frick

FLUID POWER Kenneth J Korane MECHANICAL Lindsey Frick Kenneth J Korane

EDITORIAL PRODUCTION Denise Greco Editorial Production Manager Randall L Rubenking Art Director

RS# 108

RS# 109

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

10

Locating pins Standoffs/spacers

Surface mount nuts/spacers Inserts for plastics Low profile head screws

fasteners

ized tests without the enormous budgets of public schools and in spite of (or perhaps because of ) most parents lacking education degrees

Not all home-schooling parents are in it just to get their children a good education Some parents are more interested in religious indoc-trination and some appear to be ducking the responsibility of get-ting their kids to school every day

I became a home-schooling parent when I saw that children in many overseas schools, especially in Asia, were about two years ahead of American kids in math by 4th grade

I figured that my children were ing to have to compete with those kids when they grew up, so I took

go-on the rather large respgo-onsibility of teaching them at home I remember asking a public-school teacher why they didn’t assign more homework

The response was that the parents would complain

Funding ever more assistants and fewer students per school is not going to fix the problems of public education Plus, it ignores two extremely serious problems:

The lack of parental involvement, which would change if all parents paid part of the cost out of pocket;

and the cultural sense of ment that everyone deserves an easy, effortless life courtesy of the government

entitle-When the government dizes something we get more of

subsi-it Subsidizing idleness, teenage motherhood, and recreational de-grees that don’t lead to produc-

Anyone for ethics?

Unfortunately, ethics went out the

window in the U. S many years ago

with the advent of our “instant”

so-ciety (“Where Did Ethics Go?” Sept

6) Everyone wants everything they

can possibly need and dream of

without waiting or working for it,

all at the expense of others

This problem is more prevalent

here in the U. S than in Europe,

Asia, or the Caribbean countries

It is most likely the fault of parents

who let others raise their kids and

advertising wonks

And it doesn’t matter what the

profession is, it is all about greed

Randy Scott

I have worked in the engineering

field for more than 40 years I am

now in business for myself as a

forensic mechanical engineer

do-ing accident reconstruction for

at-torneys and insurance companies

Part of my job involves testifying

in court on civil and criminal cases

where I have been amazed at what

some engineers will say under oath

to prove a case for their clients

Sometimes they testify to accident

scenarios that violate the laws of

physics Some engineers testifying

are registered professional

engi-neers and are theoretically bound

to follow the “Engineers Code of

Ethics.” But they don’t How can

they look in the mirror and not

cringe at what they see?

Why do people try to beat the

system? Do they really think the

“easy way” is the best way? It’s pretty

simple, and somewhat trite, but

honesty is always the best policy

Harold A Schwartz

Smaller can be better

Yes, small sample sizes have more

outliers, but there is more to the

story (“Bad Math for Fixing Bad

Math Scores,” Aug 23)

Home schooling represents the

smallest of schools, and

home-schooled kids have average scores

in the 88th percentile on

standard-tive jobs erases the work ethic that made this country great

Karl Oberstramm

Get off of my cloud

I’m concerned over privacy in “the cloud.” I am no expert on this topic,

just someone who has seen

Face-book, Google, and other e-mail

providers “data mine” everything that passes through their hands Supposedly no personally identi-fying data is ever mined, but how many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle have to be present before the fi-nal piece can easily be deduced? It’s already frightening how much Google knows and what adver-tising clout they have attained I use Google as an example, but the same principle applies to similar online organizations and to gov-ernments If I have heard correctly, the U. S government, for example,

is building an ambitious project to record everything in the U. S that goes on in the Internet So am I right to be downright frightened of storing my employer’s engineering information in “the cloud”, where I will have no real control over who might see it?

David Rensle

Running NASA Apple-style

By your example, Steve Jobs let the project run off the rails and then chewed out the develop-ment team after development had reached a crisis (“If Steve Jobs

Ethics are dead?

A couple of readers bemoan the lack

of ethics in practically every facet

of American life Others debate whether Steve Jobs’ management

style would work at NASA And

one reader wonders about our privacy and cloud computing

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

12

in the Spring when I found that the float valve on my lawnmower rusted, even after draining it for the winter

Fortunately, I found a station that sells ethanol-free gas These can be

found at www.puregas.org And

Washington state now lets marine stations sell only ethanol-free gas.The real surprise came when

I started using ethanol-free gas

in my car and truck The truck (a

2005 F 150) was getting 13 mpg around town and the spark plugs were black In Feb of this year,

I started using ethanol-free gas

in the truck Within two tanks, it was getting 14.5 mpg, and the new plugs are running tan Since then, the mileage has been 14.5

to 15 mpg, which is an 11 to 15% improvement

This might be an isolated case, but it seems a rigorous test needs

to be done

Erik A Larsen

Had Run the Mars Rover Project,”

Sept 20) Only then did he take

corrective action

The NASA results might have

been the same with Steve Jobs

pres-ent It depends on how much

mi-cromanaging (or project oversight)

Jobs was capable of NASA made its

decisions and lived with the

conse-quences Managers there thought

they had managed the risks

It takes proactive checks to

pre-vent projects from running off the

rails Even Steve Jobs didn’t do that

I think your analogy is faulty

Stephen McDonald

A wise manager taught me early in

my career that if you fire everyone

who makes a mistake you are soon

left with only those folks who are

not doing anything at all

David Leahy

I agree with whoever said Steve

Jobs was the last American

busi-nessman who knew what he was doing, so I doubt he would have any interest in landing an SUV on Mars But if he did, he’d have the right people in the right places at the right times

You don’t keep underachieving employees on your payroll Get rid of the people who do it wrong and promote/hire those who do it right The replacements automati-cally learn from their predecessors mistakes Or they, too, become pre-decessors

Frank Blankenship

Curing those ethanol blues

My problem with ethanol started out with my RV and some equip-ment I store for winter The 10%

ethanol/gas blend attracts water in the atmosphere This fact was ham-mered home as I pumped 2 gallons

of water from my 200-gallon fuel tank on my boat It was also evident

LETTERS

RS# 112 NOVEMBER 22, 2012

MACHINE DESIGN.com

14

HUCK 360

Once vibration begins,

clamp load quickly

decays with nuts and

bolts, while it holds

constant with the Huck 360

®

No gap exists Threads are locked preventing any movement Gap between the threads allows for transverse movement.

SCANNING FOR IDEAS

Edited by Stephen J Mraz

For a white paper on gearhead construction and use, scan this

code or go to: http://

machinedesign.com/

construction-and-use-0911

whitepaper/gearhead-Spindle drive moves

The BS22-1.5 spindle drive from

MICROMO, Clearwater, Fla (www.

micromo.com), a member of

the Faulhaber Group, uses ball

screws to generate highly accurate

linear motion The stainless-steel

drive is accurate to within 5 μm

or less over its entire length of

travel The motor connects to the

ball screw through a backlash-free

coupling that is part of the ball

screw

The screw is 126.5-mm long,

and the standard stroke measures

94 mm Pitch is 1.5 mm Axial load

capacities are to 519 N (dynamic)

and 475 N (static) The device

can handle input speeds up to

5,000 rpm and still maintain its

Spindle thread

Spindle nut with fastening screw thread

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

16

COMMUNITY: element14.com

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PHONE: 1.800.463.9275

LEARN MORE: newark.com/together

HOW MAY WE HELP YOU TODAY?

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to do business

SCANNING FOR IDEAS

Filter vent equalizes pressure inside and out

Electronic enclosures are often sealed against

water and contaminants, but this can lead to

pressure differentials between the interior and

exterior that cause problems For example,

lower pressure inside the enclosure can pull

water and air in, damage the seals, and wreak

havoc on the electronics To prevent this

prob-lem, engineers at W.L Gore & Associates Inc.,

Elton, Md (www.gore.com/protectivevents),

developed a protective vent, the PolyVent D3,

that lets air pass in and out, but keeps water,

dust, insects, and debris from getting in

The vent has a press-fit width of 2.5 mm

and gas-flow capacity of 7 ml/min The

hous-ing is polypropylene and contains an ePTFE

membrane This membrane lets gases pass

through while keeping out contaminants The

vent works in temperatures from –4 to 212°F

The vent takes up no space inside enclosures

and its low-profile exterior portion reduces

the risk of damage from technicians who

RS# 116 RS# 115

Liquid and particles kept out

Polypropylene housing

Air and gas molecules pass in and out through the membrane ePTFE membrane

Polyester backing

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

18

Simplicity

s Zip tie bars integrated into

mounting brackets

s Tiered structure for easy access

s Easily removable clamping bars

Better Clamping and Reduced

Cable/Hose Slippage

s Double rows of large fingers

hold more zip ties

s Anti-slip ridges on bar prevent

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

carries one person, the driver, who should weigh less than 260 lb Though developed in the U. S., U. K., and New Zealand, Quadskis will be built Michigan and should be available next month MD

The Quadski from

Gibbs Sports

Am-phibians Inc., Auburn

Hills, Mich., can travel

45 mph over land

or water, and

transi-tions between the

two modes at the push

of a button The 1,180-lb

(dry) amphibian vehicle is

equipped with a 1,300-cc

175-hp BMW engine

that either powers the

rear wheels on land or a

Gibbs-designed and built

jet drive for speeding over

the water On land, the

Quadski’s four wheels are

supported by independent

coil springs and hydraulic

dampers Once the

opera-tor drives it into the water,

he pushes a button and

the wheels retract within

4 sec for a smoother,

more-streamlined hull The

composite hull is made

from a single-piece mold In the water, the hull lets the

craft plane but still has the lateral grip needed for tight

maneuvers The vehicle’s low center of gravity makes

it stable on the road and in the water The $40k vehicle

Amphibian jet ski hits 45 mph on land and sea

The amphibious Quadski gets is power from

a four-cylinder, water-cooled BMW engine

The engine features electronic fuel injection,

a double-overhead camshaft, and dry-sump

lubrication Engineers at Gibbs spent more

than 18 months and 75,000 engineering

man-hours adapting the engine to the Quadski.

Forklift motor lets

eMotorcycle take the

checkered flag

Engineering students at Virginia Tech University designed an

electric motorcycle that ran in the TTXGP, a series of 20-mile races

The motorcycle, dubbed the VT Bolt, competed in the 75 class, in

which bikes are limited to a 7.5-kW-hr battery pack The bike took

first place in all three of its races, consistently hitting top speeds

over 100 mph

The VT team worked with engineers from Kollmorgen,

Rad-ford, Va., the company that supplied the motor, a

permanent-magnet, low-voltage AKM 74, and the controller, an ACS80XL 80V

Gen6 The motor was modified to accept a motorcycle sprocket

and was outfitted with a custom side bearing that let it withstand

higher-than-normal loads exerted on the shaft by the chain The

motor was also rewound to operate on the battery-pack’s

rela-tively low voltage The controller, usually used with motors having

a maximum of 54 hp (40 kW), was “delimited” to let it control

mo-tors with up to 73 hp (57.6 kW) This let the controller and motor better handle the short-duty cycles and power demands of TTXGP races The controller was also modified to con-trol speed, torque, and regenerative braking The drive usually controls traction in 4 to 5-ton fork lifts Both the motor and controller are sealed to IP68 levels, so they can

withstand vibrations common in race cars

The VT Bolt won all three of its races, making it this year’s North

American TTX75 Cup winner MD

Low-density sealant cuts weight in aircraft

No materials are left hind in the race to reduce weight in aircraft, not even

be-sealants Simrit, Elgin, Ill.,

the industrial sealing

prod-ucts division of the Freudenberg and NOK

Group companies, developed a low-density

silicone material that reduces weight by 15

to 20% compared to other sealants With a specific gravity of less than one, the material has the same physical properties of tradi-tional silicone materials, but weighs less.These low-density silicones operate at temperatures anywhere from –85 to 401°F (–65 to 205°C), and set at a durometer of around 50 to 60+ Shore A Like most sili-cones, they resist common aircraft fluids and will work in fireproof constructions

Simrit’s silicone meets SAE Aerospace Material Specification (AMS) 3302 and 3303.The material is produced at Simrit’s Nad-cap-approved Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada, plant The plant is certified to AS9100 Revi-sion C quality management, including de-sign for the aerospace industry MD

all-Thousands of enclosures

Hundreds of sizes

Next-day shipping

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

Navy tries turning seawater into fuel

Engineers at the U. S Naval

Research Laboratory are

de-veloping a way to turn seawater

into fuel The multistep process

first extracts CO2 and H2 from

seawater, then catalytically

converts the two into jet fuel

in a gas-to-liquid

transforma-tion The fuel could be used for

aircraft, ships, and amphibious

vehicles Giving naval ships the

ability to make fuel from

sea-water would eliminate the need

to deploy ships and manpower

to deliver fuel to ships at sea

And a lot of Navy resources go

into delivering fuel In 2011,

for example, 15 replenishment

ships loaded 600 million

gal-lons of fuel onto Navy vessels

underway

So far, naval researchers have

developed and demonstrated

technologies for recovering CO2

and H2 from seawater using an

electrochemical acidification cell

They’ve also converted the CO2 and H2 into

hydro-carbons The Navy estimates that once tweaked and

scaled up, the process

could produce fuel for

3D printing for charity

techfortrade, a London-based charity, revealed the

winners of its 3D4D Challenge for the best 3D

print-ing technology that would improve the incomes and

livelihoods of people in developing countries

The 3D4D Challenge finalists included: Bethany

Weeks and Luke Iseman, U. S., for an “off-grid” 3D

printer that recycles plastic bags into tools for local

farmers; Boris Kogan, Israel, for a small-scale,

easy-to-manufacture and assemble robotic greenhouse that

will help communities grow good food, even in the

most-difficult environments; and Edmund Bell-King

and Cornell Jackson, U. K., for solar lamps created

from recycled plastic Coke bottles The lights replace

the costly and dangerous kerosene lanterns

com-mon in rural India

Other winners included Tom Fripp and Steve

Roberts, U. K., for 3D printing soft-tissue prostheses;

JF Brandon, Canada, for a simple, 3D-printed solar

tracker that can provide solar electricity to communities; Roy Ombatti, Kenya, for 3D-printed shoes made from recycled plastic that can be worn by individuals with deformed feet resulting from jigger-fly infestation; and Suchis-mita and Jayant Pai, India, for providing young en-

trepreneurs and students access to 3D printers and

material based on discarded plastic bottles

Winners each receive $1,000 and access to

ex-perts who will help them develop their projects for

a follow-up competition to take place at this year’s

3D Printshow in London The final winner will get

$100,000 to further develop his or her project MD

Software strengthens 3D-printed parts

Researchers at Purdue University, are working with Advanced Technology Labs of Adobe Inc.,

San Jose, to develop a computer program that strengthens objects created us-

ing 3D printing Bedrich Benes,

an associate professor of puter graphics at Purdue, says the software targets online users who pay $300 to create an object with 3D printers, only to have it break along areas of high stress during shipping

com-The software strengthens objects by making structural elements thicker or adding struts It also reduces the stresses on structural elements

by hollowing-out overweight areas

The software first uses mesh-based tion to identify“grip positions,” where users are likely to grasp the object The solver requires less computing power than traditional FEA packages, which are used in high-precision work such as designing jet-engine turbine blades

simula-“The software not only makes objects lighter,

it also cuts part costs by 80%,” says Benes

In the future, researchers plan to write ware that will help users better understand how structural strength is affected by 3D printed objects’ layered composition They might also ex-pand the software algorithms to include printed models with moving parts MD

soft-Resources:

Advanced Technology Labs of Adobe Inc.,

www.adobe.com/ technology.html

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

The Scion iQ proves that small cars

needn’t be Spartan For example,

though the car measures just

10-ft long and 5.5-ft wide, there’s

plenty of room for two adults in

the comfortable front seats It was

the perfect vehicle for driving (and

parking) in and around Boston for

a week

The hatchback is powered by

a 1.43-liter four-cylinder engine

with an 11.5:1 compression ratio

that cranks out 94 hp and 89 lb-ft

of torque, enough to get the car

in and out of traffic whether on

Boston’s skinny downtown streets

or its many freeways The iQ could

even pull a U-turn on some fairly

narrow streets, thanks to its 26.4-ft

turning circle (curb to curb)

The engine also gets an honest

30 mpg, city or highway, with the

help of its continuously variable

transmission Though the fuel

tank only holds 8.5 gallons, that’s

enough to cover over 255 miles

And the transmission is sealed;

Toyota claims drivers will never

need to replenish the transmission

fluid

The roomy front seats come

courtesy of a few nifty design

tricks For example, to make more space for the front-seat passenger, Toyota designers left out the glove compart-ment To replace that cargo space, they added

a drawer under the senger seat They also pushed the passenger seat a tad forward for a bit more legroom in the back seat Also absent is the spare tire Instead, unlucky drivers must use a repair kit in case of a flat

pas-Steering is crisp and precise on the front-wheel-drive iQ with the 6.5-ft wheelbase and electric-assist steering The steering module

is smaller than a conventional power-steering unit, so it takes

up less room under hood The front-mounted differential is also designed for compactness because room under the hood is so limited

The short wheelbase makes the ride

a bit rough over bumpy roads but the car handles and corners well

Those worried about safety when driving a small car can ap-preciate the iQ’s numerous safety

2012 Scion iQ Hatchback:

Compact and comfortable

features They include stability and traction control, antilock disc brakes with assist, and electronic brake-force distribution The car even carries 11 air bags, including one that pops up between the rear seat headrests When inflated, it helps keep out broken glass and debris common in collisions.The iQ also carries a full array of electronics: a 160-W, six-speaker stereo with HD radio and a CD player, Bluetooth, and a USB port for plugging in your iPod There are also power door locks, mirrors, and windows, air conditioning, keyless entry, and even a tachom-eter (an odd instrument for a car

Resources:

Scion, www.scion.com/

cars/iQ

RS# 119 NOVEMBER 22, 2012

MACHINE DESIGN.com

24

with CVT) As expected,

cargo room is tight,

3.5 ft3 with the back

seats in place But that’s

enough for groceries

or a briefcase or two

Folding the back seats

flat opens up 16.7 ft3 of

storage, which will hold

easily hold a couple

suitcases

The car is easy to

drive, easier to park,

comfortable, and gets

great mileage If Toyota

engineers designed the

iQ with the same

dura-bility and reliadura-bility of

their other cars, the iQs

could be around a long,

long time

The car costs about

$17,500, and comes in

only one well-thought

out trim level There are

a few options: an aero

kit for the exterior, and

some floor mats, cargo

nets, and a seven-color

special lighting kit for

the interior You can

also get alloy wheels,

some tricked out

sus-pension components,

and a navigation

sys-tem — Stephen J Mraz

Navigating Mars with Morse Code

Curiosity, NASA’s

Martian rover, odically checks to see how much its drive wheels are slipping in loose gravel or sand

peri-by comparing the tance it actually trav-els to how far it has been told to move

dis-To do this, the rover checks dozens of nearby features, such

as nearby pebbles and shadows on rocks

NASA engineers have ensured Curiosity can carry out this visual odometry even if there aren’t any distin-guishable landmarks

NASA designers etched the Morse Code letters J-P-L (for

Jet Propulsion Laboratory) in all six wheels so that they leave a distinctive

pat-tern in the sand as the rover moves Curiosity’s cameras can discern the patpat-tern and use it for measurements If Curiosity determines there’s

a significant position error from wheel slip, it recalculates the path to its next target This should let the rover get to targets more quickly and directly MD

if its wheels are slipping in gravel or sand.

Phone 1-888-260-7466 Fax 516-771-6444

sales@ondrivesUS.com www.ondrivesUS.com/ShoulderScrews

.US Corp.

Standards available in:

Inch or Metric 303SS or 416SS HRC26-32

Hex Socket, Slotted, Cross Recess Head

Custom Made to your requirements:

Miniatures in stock!

6WDQGDUGRU&XVWRP0DGH

3UHFLVLRQ6KRXOGHU6FUHZV

Material Size Tolerance Head Style Finish

Cat latches: Heavy-duty

compres-sion latches from Southco,

Con-cordville, Pa., help Caterpillar secure

inspection panels while meeting

more-stringent noise regs

Caterpillar's small and

medium-sized tractors and large track loaders

use a modified version of Southco’s Vise Action Compression Latch

The latch was tweaked so it installs

quickly and easily, fits flush with panels, has a folding handle for easy opening, and locks with a key

The lockplug’s pawl is fully able and its shaft was shortened by

adjust-10 mm to reduce inside protrusion tivibration washers eliminate potential loosening of the pawl during equip-ment operation

reports Dixon Sintaloy Inc The gears

were previously produced from metal powders

with angles

up to around 30°, except as experimen-tal or spe-cialty items

However, the company claims to have perfected

a new technique that allows volume production of metal-powder helical gears with angles approaching the 45° limit The technique is applicable to all commonly used metal-powder alloys

50 YEARS AGO — 1962

Recovering big boosters in a

pillow-like structure is proposed by Philip

Bono and John Hayes of Douglas

Aircraft’s Missile and Space Systems Div The Roost (Reusable One-stage

Orbital Space Truck) would be used with a 50-ft-diameter, 273-ft-long sin-gle-stage booster

capable of carrying

a 160-ton payload

After separation of the payload, liquid hydrogen (left over from the launch) would inflate two heat-resistant fabric bags, protecting the booster with

a conical structure 327 ft in diameter

at the base The blunt cone structure, designed to withstand 1,800°F, limits reentry temperature to 1,500°F Air re-sistance should allow Roost to land at the gentle rate of 1 mph MD

Latch

NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

26

finish line

+DFNHQVDFN1-86$ììPDLQŴPDVWHUERQGFRP

Epoxy Adhesive Cures Rapidly in Thick or Thin Sections

Two Part System EP30-4

ë Low viscosity ë Excellent optical clarity ë Rigid bonds

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

EDUCATION CENTER

In a joint effort, Agilent

Technolo-gies, Santa Clara, Calif., Concilium

Technologies, Republic of South

Africa, and the department of

elec-trical, electronic, and computer

engineering at the University of

Pretoria, South Africa, have

devel-oped one of the largest electrical engineering training laboratories

in the world

The Agilent-Computer Aided Education Center is an undergrad-uate laboratory with 144 worksta-tions, each fitted with an Agilent DSOX2002A digital oscilloscope

with a built-in function generator,

a U3401A 41/2 digit dual-display digital multimeter, an E3630A triple-output dc power supply, and various

RF design and analysis software programs

CAPABILITIES EXPANDED

Sil-Pro, Delano, Minn., has

pur-chased 60 to 100-ton Sodick Plustech thermoplastic injection-molding machines and converted a 5-ton liquid-silicone rubber machine back to thermoplastics to handle in-creased demands for thermoplastics molding

Sil-Pro is a contract manufacturer specializing in molded and extruded silicone, thermoplastics, and full-service medical-device contract manufacturing and assembly

ACQUISITION

The Drives & Motion Div of

Yas-kawa America Inc., Waukegan, Ill.,

has acquired Wermac Electric Ltd

in Calgary, AB, Canada Wermac has been an innovator in applying variable-speed drives and electrical controls in the oil and gas industry

The new division, Yaskawa

mac, will reside at the former

Wer-mac Electric facility in Calgary, AB,

and is now a division of Yaskawa

Motoman Canada, a subsidiary of

Yaskawa America Inc The Drives & Motion Div manufactures industrial automation equipment, including include industrial ac drives, com-mercial HVAC drives, spindle drives and motors, servosystems, motion controllers, and low-voltage indus-trial control switches

Pecora Corp., Harleysville, Pa., a

manufacturer of weatherproofing products, has acquired the deck-

coating product line of Carlisle

Coatings and Waterproofing Inc.,

Wylie, Tex

PERSONNEL

Brent Ekiss, technical sales

represen-tative with Fabrico, Kennesaw, Ga.,

will now pursue LED market tunities in North America Fabrico offers design and manufacturing services for flexible materials.RS# 122

oppor-NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

28

Get the Original from Avago Technologies!

Technology You Can Trust

Avago has been making encoder modules previously used in US Digital kit encoders for over 25 years Get your US Digital replacement kit encoder from the original source Avago Technologies.

For further information, visit us at:

www.avagotech.com/encoders

If you have been using US Digital

kit encoders in the past, then you’ve

been using Avago encoders all along.

The piezomotor brochure can be

downloaded at: www.piezo-motor.

tor_Piezo_Motor_PiezoWalk_Ultra- sonic_Actuator.pdf

net/pdf/PI_Brochure_Piezomo-EMPLOYER OF YEAR FINALIST

Mouser Electronics Inc., Mansfield,

Tex., an electronic-component tributor, which employs nearly 1,000 people, is a top-five finalist to be the

dis-2012 Texas Employer of the Year The

Texas Workforce Commission will

announce the winner at its annual conference Nov 28-30

If chosen, it would be the ond award Mouser receives at the conference — the other is the Local Employer of Excellence Award for Tarrant County, nominated by the

sec-Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County.

FREE COMPILER

Microchip Technology Inc.,

Chandler, Ariz., is offering the free MPLAB XC32++ Compiler with unlimited code generation The MPLAB XC32++ supports all of Microchip’s 32-bit PIC32 microcon-

trollers and lets designers develop and reuse C++ projects by making all of Microchip’s C language exten-sions available in an environment that is compliant with the majority

of C++98 and C++2003 ANSI dards The compiler also includes Dinkumware standard C, C++, and template libraries

stan-The compiler can be downloaded

at www.microchip.com/get/10E7 MD

three types of tors — inertial motors, often referred to as stick-slip motors; ultrasonic motors; and stepping (walk) type motors

from PI (Physik

Instru-mente) Inc., Auburn,

Mass., a manufacturer

of piezo-positioning

equipment, covers

RS# 124 NOVEMBER 22, 2012 MACHINE DESIGN.com

RS# 125

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