All Systems Go for Composites' Trip to Jupiter Engineering Materials 5/23/2012 16 comments A carbon fiber-reinforced ceramic composite material forms an optical bench on the Juno spacecraft, scheduled to arrive at Jupiter in 2016.
Bone Repair Aided by Silk Scaffold Engineering Materials 5/22/2012 19 comments A tough, biodegradable bone scaffold material uses micron-sized silk fibers to reinforce a compact silk fiber composite matrix.
Auto Composite Production on Fast Track Engineering Materials 5/21/2012 7 comments A consortium formed to fast-track high-volume manufacturing of carbon fiber composites for cars has invented a system for automating their production.
Laser-Welded Metal Foam Sandwich Lightweights Ships Engineering Materials 5/18/2012 17 comments A new process for laser-welding large-scale, steel-aluminum foam sandwich structures for lightweighting ships, which eliminates intermetallic phase, has been demonstrated.
Robots Cut Composite Repair Costs in Half Engineering Materials 5/17/2012 25 comments A major advance in repairing composite structures combining robots and lasers bodes well for commercial aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350XWB, which contain composites in large proportions of their structures.
EV Race Car Uses Green Composites Under the Hood Engineering Materials 5/15/2012 38 comments The Lola-Drayson B12/69EV prototype race car, which will compete in the all-electric FIA Formula E World Championship Series, uses recycled and plant-based composites in underhood components.
Composites Stabilize Diesel Train Engine Enclosures Engineering Materials 5/4/2012 11 comments A prototype diesel train engine housing made of a new polyurethane-based glass fiber sandwich material saves 35 percent weight and 30 percent cost over its steel and aluminum counterpart.
Self-Healing Plastic Changes Color When Damaged Engineering Materials 4/30/2012 20 comments A new type of plastic changes color first to show damage from cuts and scratches, then heals itself when exposed to light or changes in temperature or pH.
Slideshow: NPE Plastics Conference Showcases Sustainability Engineering Materials 4/24/2012 14 comments NPE2012 highlighted many sustainable plastics, some of which are recyclable at the end-product stage, some that are made of recycled materials, and some that are constructed of bio-materials.
Process Allows Plastic to Adapt on Demand Engineering Materials 4/23/2012 10 comments A process invented by a Duke University engineering team can change the surface texture of a soft polymer from rough to smooth, and back again, in a few milliseconds by changing the voltage applied to it.
Femtosecond Camera Sees Around Corners Engineering Materials 4/5/2012 17 comments A video camera system sees beyond the line of sight using a femtosecond laser that bounces light off of walls and floors.
China Teams With Boeing to Increase Aircraft Production Engineering Materials 4/2/2012 26 comments China is becoming much more involved in the production of commercial aircraft, including new aluminum alloys for use in large planes, such as Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
US Faces Off With China Over Rare Earths Engineering Materials 3/28/2012 66 comments The US, the European Union (EU), and Japan have filed a World Trade Organization action against China for restricting the trade of rare earth minerals.
Bioplastics Recycling Options Expand Engineering Materials 3/23/2012 17 comments Although bioplastics are still a small part of the plastic waste stream, some manufacturers are talking to recyclers to develop recycling processes for their products.
Tiny Camera Sees Nonvisible Spectra Engineering Materials 3/16/2012 14 comments A camera chip combining hyperspectral sensing with a machine-vision-grade image sensor will help incorporate spectroscopy into industrial vision applications.
Tiny Robots Fly in Swarms Engineering Materials 3/2/2012 26 comments Hand-sized quadrotor robot swarms can fly in formation, collectively navigate obstacles, and build structures.
Slideshow: Green Materials Expand Design Reach Engineering Materials 2/24/2012 23 comments There are more green, sustainable materials in use now than ever before, and if some manufacturers have their way, there will be even more of them in the future.
Bioplastics Powered by Plants & Metals Engineering Materials 2/22/2012 20 comments Two advances in bioplastics include a new additive to create polyamide precursors and improvements in commercialized bio-polypropylene resins.
Packaging Replaces Plastic With Pulp Engineering Materials 2/21/2012 31 comments Procter & Gamble has replaced 57 percent of the plastic in its Gillette Fusion clamshell/tray package with moldable wood pulp, also dropping 20 percent of package weight.
Aluminum Composite to Lower Weight in Brake Rotor Engineering Materials 2/15/2012 26 comments An aluminum composite brake rotor that weighs 60 percent less than cast iron and lasts three times as long could be cheap enough for volume automotive manufacturing.
iPad Controls Flying Video Game Engineering Materials 2/9/2012 21 comments The Parrot AR.Drone could form a design platform for machine vision and military apps with a little imagination and some hardware upgrades.
Ford Recycles CES Plastic for Car Seats Engineering Materials 1/27/2012 22 comments Ford and Unifi, maker of Repreve, will gather and recycle 2 million plastic bottles at CES and other shows for conversion into the Repreve seat fabric used in the 2012 Focus EV.
Composite Plane Repair Aided by Coating Engineering Materials 1/26/2012 16 comments Coatings that make damage visible at certain wavelengths could be useful in inspecting the composites used in aircraft structures.
Bridge Made From Recycled Plastic Bottles Engineering Materials 1/9/2012 30 comments Recycled plastic bottles and other waste plastic are being turned into structural, weight-bearing elements of a 90-foot bridge in Scotland.
Little Robots Forge Automated Welding Cells Engineering Materials 12/2/2011 17 comments Industrial robots that do welding and metal fabrication are getting both a lot smaller and a lot larger, depending on the size of the company using them and the type of welding configurations they need.
3D Printed Stool Holds 220 Pounds Engineering Materials 8/12/2011 9 comments In a demonstration of the rapidly growing capabilities of the 3D printing process, Objet printed a stool that folds and holds more than 220 pounds.
Composites Lighten Solar Car Engineering Materials 8/8/2011 14 comments New materials, combined with efficient design, produce a lightweight car that is targeting a first place finish in the 2011 World Solar Challenge in Australia in October.
Artificial Lung Is Microfluidics Marvel Engineering Materials 8/4/2011 12 comments A team of Cleveland engineers has developed a prototype artificial lung made from silicone rubber that uses air instead of compressed oxygen in a marvel of microfluidics made possible by additive manufacturing.
Resin Producers Forge Ahead on Bioplastics Engineering Materials 8/3/2011 3 comments Major global resin producers continue to show substantial interest in development of engineering plastics from renewable resources, even though acceptance in the engineering community has been glacial.
Kill the Biofuels Subsidies Engineering Materials 8/1/2011 17 comments Eliminating federal subsidies for corn ethanol should be an easy call for Congressmen debating how to balance the US budget in advance of a debt default deadline.
Old Tires & Soy Seed Ford's Gaskets Engineering Materials 7/20/2011 7 comments Ford continues its leadership in development of natural automotive materials with use of recycled tires and soy oil to make seals and engine gaskets.
Alcoa Makes DFMA Case for Aluminum's Sustainability Engineering Materials 7/14/2011 12 comments A team at the Alcoa Technical Center near Pittsburgh analyzed several tools and chose DFMA as a way to prove that aluminum is a better sustainability option than other materials for select applications.
Outsourcing Bridges Is a Crazy Idea Engineering Materials 7/6/2011 13 comments Construction workers in Shanghai are making a replacement bridge for the 2.2-mile span that was damaged in the 1989 Bay Area earthquake.
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Designing and filling a new type of water bottle might take less engineering work, but the description will help kids understand how science, math, and engineering influence their lives even through things that seem mundane.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
8 
