Engineering news

By Design News Staff -- Design News, May 17, 1999

Five win Best Global Supplier honors

Design News and Global Design News readers pick the top companies in bearings, CAD, fluid power, industrial controls, and engineering resins

By Paul E. Teague, Chief Editor

Newton, MA--If you want to know who the best engineering-component suppliers are around the world, ask the engineers who depend on them.

That's just what we did through a survey we ran in the November 2, 1998, issue of Design News and the November 1998 issue of our international sister publication, Global Design News, which circulates to 30,000 engineers in Europe.

The results: Five companies emerged as the undisputed leaders in their respective technologies in the eyes of readers. They are:

Bearings--SKF. U.S. Headquarters, Kulpsville, PA; Group Headquarters, Goteborg, Sweden; Asian Headquarters, Tokyo.

CAD--Autodesk. World Headquarters in San Rafael, CA; offices throughout Europe and Asia.

Fluid power--Parker Hannifin. World Headquarters, Cleveland, OH; European Headquarters, Hemel Hempstead, England; Asian Headquarters, Hong Kong.

Industrial controls--Siemens. World Headquarters, Munich; U.S. Headquarters for Energy and Automation, Alpharetta, GA; offices throughout Asia.

Engineering resins--DuPont. World Headquarters, Wilmington, DE; European Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland; Asian Headquarters, Tokyo.

In four other technologies--CAE software, computer workstations, electric motors/drives, and linear technology-- there was no statistically significant difference between the top vote getters.

The survey, which went to an equal number of engineers in North America and Europe, asked readers to vote only in the technology categories where they specify or buy products. Within those categories, we asked them to choose the single company that has the best technology, most cost-competitive pricing, and best customer service, and then to pick the overall industry leader.

In the five categories where there were clear winners, each company that readers declared as the overall industry leader also won other honors in the balloting. For example, SKF also won for best technology in bearings. Autodesk took the prize in CAD for best customer service and most cost-competitive products. Parker Hannifin claimed the spot for best customer service in fluid power. Siemens, which won as overall leader by a wide margin, also led the pack by a small margin for best industrial controls technology, best customer service, and most cost-competitive products. And DuPont won by a large margin for best resin technology, service, and most cost-competitive products.

"This survey is a good start to an effort we will continue every year," says Design News Research Director Steve Johnson. "We plan to improve the survey next year. Eventually, we will also include Asian readers of Global Design News in the balloting."

Following is a summary of the latest developments at the five companies that emerged as clear winners in their categories.

SKF: A worldwide perspective

Founded in 1912, SKF claims as one of its "firsts" the spherical roller bearing. Among its newest bearings is the CARB™ (Compact Aligning Roller Bearing). The patented design allows the rollers to move with freedom to correct force imbalances.

Beyond bearings, SKF engineers are also concentrating on new technologies to help engineers gather process and vibration data. Their newest product in that area is a patented, mechanical stud for mounting condition-monitoring equipment to machines. The studs feature double-start threads (1/4-28-28 or M8 × 1.25 thread), and, says Senior Product Designer Jonathan Murphy, "create a solid, repeatable connection responsive to low-level noise vibrations." An advanced version has a memory chip that allows preprogramming of machine settings.

"Knowledge of the markets and customers gives us a unique ability to offer the best bearing solutions," says Jeff Manzagol, vice president of OEM sales and business in North America.

Autodesk: CAD pioneer

Mechanical Desktop 4, to be released this summer from Autodesk, reportedly combines the freedom of 2D with the power of 3D. It also offers multiple document interfaces.

Autodesk invented PC DOS-based CAD, and has more installations than any other CAD company by far. With its nationwide network of value-added resellers and distributors, plus about 2,000 developers of third-party products, it consistently ranks among the top CAD suppliers in terms of user spending on engineering software.

The newest product Autodesk is bringing to market: AutoCAD 2000. The company says it is a stand-alone product featuring a multiple design environment where users can drag and drop features and objects across designs from one window to another. Included is a Design Center or central repository where users can access existing drawings.

Dominic Gallello, vice president of the company's Mechanical Div., says AutoCAD 2000 will also be a platform for developing specialized vertical solutions, such as the company's newest 3D solid modeler releases, Mechanical Desktop 4 and AutoCAD Mechanical 2000, both due out this summer.

"Rather than providing tools for an elite few in an organization, we provide a broad range of tools that can be used by a wide range of people," says Gallello. "The ability of these groups to connect is the biggest value we bring to engineering."

Parker Hannifin: One-stop shopping

When Arthur Parker started the Parker Appliance Co. in 1918, he built and sold only one product: pneumatic braking systems for buses and trucks.

Today, the company has 1,400 product lines and 190 manufacturing sites around the world.

Parker, which merged with hydraulics manufacturer Hannifin Corp. in 1957, claims to offer the broadest line of products to the fluid power industry, supplying pneumatic and electromechanical systems and components. Says Rod Clouse, vice president of operations for the Hydraulics Group, the company is an integrated supplier that provides single-point responsibility to make sure components work together efficiently.

The latest fluid power product: the 471 high-pressure hose, which the company designed for plumbing hydraulic lines in tight spaces. Parker engineers say it has a 15 to 35% higher working pressure than standard SAE100R2 hose. It's constructed of oil-resistant Nitrile-based synthetic rubber tube, two high-tensile steel-wire reinforcements, and an oil-, weather-, and abrasion-resistant synthetic rubber cover.

Siemens: Complete control solutions

More than 150 years ago, Siemens began operations in Germany developing pointer telegraphs. Today, the company brings to market more than 700,000 products in seven major market segments: energy and power, industry and automation, health care, lighting, information and communications, components, and transportation.

"We've spent a century and a half building a reputation as the leader in technological excellence and innovation around the world," says Thomas J. Malott, president and CEO of Siemens Energy and Automation. He says one of the company's greatest strengths in the industrial market is its ability to offer complete control solutions in more than 190 countries.

Among its latest products: the SIMATIC MP270 multi panel, the first in a line of what the company calls a new category of multifunctional platform products that combine the robust, deterministic behavior of a PLC with the openness of a PC, all in a standard operator-panel format, Siemens claims.

DuPont: Focus on the customer

Targeting customer needs comes naturally to DuPont. After all, when the Wilmington, DE company opened for business in 1802 its first product was gunpowder. Today, the company has literally thousands of products it supplies worldwide.

The latest innovation from the company is the Surlyn® Reflection Series, a new molded-in-color supergloss alloy for exterior trim applications in the automotive industry. It will debut on the model year 2000 Dodge and Plymouth Neon. DuPont says the supergloss alloy is less expensive than the conventional paint process and is environmentally friendly. Automotive applications include: bumper fascias, truck wheel-lip moldings, body-side moldings and claddings, exterior mirror housings, and grilles.

The key to DuPont's success, says Donald F. Brizzolara, technical services manager for DuPont Engineering Polymers, is tailoring the company's offerings to make customers more globally competitive. "We back up our products with molding technology, design support, logistics, and other services."

Thanks for your vote

In addition to tabulating the ballots, the magazine drew two at random for a special prize. Engineers Dennis Bobay of GE Industrial Controls, Ft. Wayne, IN; and Joachim Wislaug of Salzgitter AG, Peine, GER, will each receive $700 American Express gift certificates for voting.

Free FEA software via the web

Pittsburgh--The Internet has quickly become a vehicle for commerce. Many companies offer limited- function downloadable software demonstrations, so potential buyers can test-drive-before they buy.

Taking the next step, FEA-software developer Algor Inc. is offering a free downloadable version of its entire package. Engineers interested in testing Mechanical Event Simulation and other finite-element analysis software from Algor can download everything from the company's website: www.algor.com.   Engineers can import their own CAD models into the program, mesh, and analyze.

There is a time limit, however. Each download comes with a built-in expiration of one week. Users can ask for more time, or demo the most recent upgrades by calling the company for that week's password.

"For the first time, engineers can download the full software as opposed to a special limited version," says Michael Bussler, Algor's president and CEO. "They can discover the benefits first-hand by analyzing their own models rather than getting the 'spin' from field sales people and demo engineers."

Algor is looking for input, especially on its newest offering, Release 12. The company encourages engineers who download the software to provide feedback on how the software might be improved.

The program is available for PC workstations running Windows NT and Windows 95/98. Engineers can also download free keystroke tutorials and video product demonstrations.

Although other FEA companies are not presently making the same offer, several commented that they may be doing something similar in the future.

For information on downloading by modem or for a free CD-ROM version of the web site, contact Algor by phone: (412) 967-2700 or e-mail: info@algor.com.  

Weldable nylon lowers headlamp assembly costs

Rockford, IL--"Ultrasonic welding cuts manufacturing costs by 11% compared with alternative methods." So reports Karl Schmitt, engineering manager for the Syntek Div. of Elco Textron Inc.

The project Schmitt refers to involves the production of automotive headlamp adjusters that achieve tight seals at minimum cost. The design features the use of ultrasonic welding for assembling key adjuster parts made of nylon resins.

Each Syntek adjuster features a body and a cover molded from DuPont Engineering Polymers' (Wilmington, DE) 13% glass-reinforced nylon 66 Zytel® 70G13HS1L resin. Two transparent parts, a tower and a follower, are molded from Zytel 330, an amorphous nylon. The cover and tower are ultrasonically welded to the body.

"Technical assistance from DuPont helped us realize the cost savings by overcoming the challenge of welding two different kinds of nylon," Schmitt says. DuPont also performed microstructural analyses that aided in confirming weld quality.

The welded assembly provides the tight sealing required by federal standards to block moisture and dirt from entering the headlamp pod. Air tests of the adjusters at 5 psi (0.34 bar) revealed no leakage at the welds. Schmitt adds that the nylon parts also withstand stresses of assembly and use, and they resist attack by automotive fluids and heat generated by the headlamps.

NASCAR: software sharpens the edge

Charlotte, NC--When we last left senior engineer Jim Wall of Hendrick Motorsports, the organization was on its way to another NASCAR Winston Cup championship (DN, 8/3/98, p. 43). When asked what's hot in race-car engineering for the 1999 season, Wall says Hendrick and other Chevrolet-sponsored teams are working up to using the new 2000 Monte Carlo body possibly beginning later in the year.

The chain of events this change sets off starts with the effects on aerodynamics--namely drag and downforce. He notes that, "While the race car shape will reflect the true production vehicle, it must still satisfy NASCAR in that it can't be vastly superior to the other cars," in order to maintain racing competitiveness. From a team's viewpoint, "The database on the vehicle is invalid and must be updated for the new body," he says.

Wall adds that in aerodynamics, NASCAR also examines the first finishing car from each of the three manufacturers (Ford, Chevy, and Pontiac) from races early and late in the season at the Atlanta track. These are placed in Lockheed Martin's nearby wind tunnel, where officials can trim valence (front air dam) and rear spoiler size, angle, and clearance to insure equitable competition. The tests also gauge any improvements during the season. While overall downforce will be fixed, the teams can adjust its front-to-rear distribution, which affects suspension setups and handling.

Many Chevrolet backed NASCAR teams are now gearing up to race the new 2000 Monte Carlo body starting later this season. Seen here in its Indy pace car trim, its all new aerodynamic characteristics will also be evaluated by NASCAR to determine any advantage or disadvantage to competitive racing.

Aerodynamics and shaping of sheet metal are more of a focus in setting up a car for racing at the long super speedways, such as Daytona and Talladega. Here speeds approach 200 mph and engines run with carburetor restrictor plates that, for increased safety, limit those top speeds. Short track races see speeds less than 100 mph, so brakes and weight distribution are more critical.

Another indication of how NASCAR seeks parity to maintain driver competition: consideration of new rules regarding shock absorber parameters. These regulations would address cases where cars have run with light compression but aggressive rebounding units. For a short time after a bump, these cars run lower than their mandated static clearance stance, cutting drag. Over an entire race the advantage may be considerable. But sometimes the car may bottom out, possibly creating a hazard.

Little boxes. While NASCAR will draw the "boxes" around systems, "We have to optimize within them," says Wall. For this he notes that Hendrick is using SDRC (Milford, OH) I-DEAS Master Series and has established a library of solid models, developed from wire frames, that incorporate material properties and interference factors. The team concentrated on using the package for powertrain design and is now ramping it up for chassis use.

Wall sees the software helping within the boxes--designers can look at sufficient iterations to find the small changes that give enough improvements to change overall performance meaningfully. And while Hendrick has used the CAD/CAM capability of I-DEAS in design and manufacturing, Wall says the team is utilizing more CAE tools through the package to optimize designs for given applications. For example, a bracket can be changed for specific load cases, or a part or assembly's mass distribution optimized within the rules. Such analysis options include finite-element, modal (vibration), and thermal analyses. These optimized parts are quickly fabricated by feeding the digitized parts into the Haas Automation (Oxnard, CA) CNC machines in Hendrick's shop. Thus the team cars, according to Wall, "can get better without radical vehicle redesign using a more optimized design selection within the rules we are given."

In the future, Wall sees the possibility of "prototyping a virtual race car--seeing if it not just violates interferences, but racing rules as well, before it is built. The goal is to use software as a prototyping tool, for change and optimization, and faster time-to-market." And for Wall and the Hendrick's race teams, the turnaround needed is often race time on the following Sunday.

PC-based controller runs chromatograph

By Norman Bartlett, Contributing Editor

Cambridge, UK--Chromatography is a two-stage method of analyzing chemical substances. In the first stage, components of the substance are separated; in the second, some physical property of a component is detected and measured. The type of material to be tested determines which chromatography techniques may be used--ultra-violet absorption or refractive index are two typical examples.

Whatever method is applied, single- board computing technology with a standard bus interface gives advantages in control system size and packaging. For example, Arcom Control Systems TARGET 188EB--a single-board computer built around an Intel 80188EB microcontroller--drives the PL-ELS 1000, a new chromatograph developed by Polymer Laboratories Ltd. (Church Stretton, UK).

Operation involves an Evaporative Light Scattering Detection (ELSD) method. The chemical sample mixes with a carrier, or eluent, and passes into a nebulizer. Here, a small quantity of compressed nitrogen induces the formation of a fine droplet spray.

In a pre-heated chamber, the eluent volatiles are then driven off, leaving a particle stream of the target chemical. The stream intersects with, and is scattered by, a collimated light beam. A low-noise, high-sensitivity photodetector generates an electrical output proportional to the concentration of the solute among the particles.

Polymer Laboratories' PL-ELS 1000 chromatograph incorporates devices such as gas flow controller, temperature monitors, heaters, and display panel. A single-board subsystem monitors physical connection between them. There is also a peripheral interface controller for monitoring the safety systems and the remote input handset.

The Arcom TARGET 188EB integrates the I/O from these subsystems, runs the control software, and drives the displays. The controller carries 24 channels of digital I/O for control of internal and external devices.

In addition, the PL-ELS 1000 incorporates an Arcom development environment for programming in the C language. This enabled all the embedded software to be developed by Polymer Laboratories. The executable code on the TARGET 188EB single-board computer is in Flash EPROM.

Simple to use and particularly useful for analysis of unknown substances, the PL-ELS 1000 has been adopted by British police forces for testing of suspected controlled drugs.

For more information on controllers from Arcom Control Systems, visit www.arcom.co.uk

Inside-out motor makes gearless wheel

By Norman Bartlett, Contributing Editor

Bordon, England--PML Flightlink has developed a new type of electric wheel motor that provides direct drive without any gearing. How? The motor has been turned inside out so its outer casing revolves and the inner rotor is fixed. With a tire fitted around the motor's outer casing, the motor effectively becomes a wheel; the fixed rotor acts as the axle.

Wheel motor cross section. Outer casing rotates, inner rotor is fixed.

This simple arrangement allows up to 65% more of the motor's output to be put to useful work as none is used to overcome gear friction or transmission drag. Applications feature vehicles with no complex suspension.

A typical arrangement? A wheelchair has two 400W wheel motors at the rear and free-steering castors at the front. Power supply is a 48V battery. A rider-operated joystick controls acceleration/deceleration and forward/backward motion. Varying relative speed of the left/right rear wheel motors enables steering.

The joystick interfaces with a microprocessor vector control system, which varies motor commutation period. The result is a smooth operation with infinite speed control from zero to maximum speed. Traction control and regenerative braking are also incorporated, and a mechanical disk brake can be fitted if required.

203-mm wheel motor with rubber tire attached.

"This innovative new technology will lead to a new generation of electric vehicles," predicts Simon Brockway, PML Flightlink's engineering director. "Our wheel motors help reduce vehicle weight, save valuable internal space, eliminate the need for noisy and messy oil-filled gearboxes, and are essentially maintenance free."

Brockway adds that the control system can be adapted for a four-wheel-drive vehicle which would be suitable for golf buggies and runabout scooters. A 4-kW version of the wheel motor is being developed for this application.

For more information on the electric wheel motor from PML Flightlink visit www.pmlflightlink.com.

Plastic survives grueling Greenland trek

Qaqortoq, Greenland--Late last year, two arctic explorers completed a 15-month dog sledge and kayak trek around the rugged coastline of Greenland (see Design News, 8/25/97, p. 56). The explorers, American Lonnie Dupre and Australian John Hoelscher, attribute part of their successful 3,200-mile, first-ever adventure to fluorothermoplastic.

The material, Dyneon THV from Dyneon LLC (Oakdale, MN), formed two large viewing windows in the expedition's tents. These windows allowed the team to keep a watchful eye on their pack of sledge dogs, the weather, shifts in unpredictable pack ice, and possible danger from local polar bears. Through the bleak winter months, the windows also provided the explorers with morale-boosting sunlight.

According to the explorers, the properties offered by THV made it the only plastic material considered for the journey. Not only did the fluorothermoplastic provide the needed translucence for this application, but it maintained its flexibility at extremely cold weather. Temperatures plunged to lows of -65F on some nights.

"Dyneon feels a great sense of accomplishment in having been a part of this great adventure," says Bryce Johnson, the company's vice president and general manager of fluorothermoplastics. "Based on its effectiveness under these harsh conditions, we feel our customers can be assured of THV's performance and flexibility when low temperatures are a factor." 

At Suzuki, size climbs, weight drops

By Dennis Normile, Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan--Minicars have long been among the best-selling vehicles in Japan because their size and special tax rates make them economical to own and operate. To make the cars safer, recent government regulations allow them to be 10 cm longer, or 340 cm overall, and 8 cm wider, up to 148 cm. They must also meet crash-resistance criteria while maintaining the 660 cc engine displacement limit.

For most manufacturers, bigger means heavier. But that hurts gas mileage. To fight flab, Suzuki Motor Corp. President Osamu Suzuki set a goal for designers of shaving at least 1 gm out of each and every part and component. Suzuki says between 20,000 and 30,000 parts were affected, from bolt heads that were hollowed out to shave fractions of grams to rethinking the engine supports, which saved 10 kg.

A finite-element supercomputer program, developed in-house, was used to optimize the design of engine and frame components. This resulted in a savings of 13 gm on each engine rocker arm with 12 rocker arms in each car. Other weight-saving examples include:

The lip that curls underneath the front bumper was cut from 5 to 3 cm wide, a savings of 300 gm.

• Redesigning the chassis eliminated the engine sub-frame, cutting 10 kg.

• Switching from a steel to magnesium steering wheel saved 360 gm.

• Using fabric instead of vinyl for seat covers cut the weight by 500 gm.

The result is that while industry average for increased weight is 30 to 40 kg per car, Suzuki held the weight increase to less than 10 kg. In addition to the straight weight savings, lightening such components as the rocker arms cuts mechanical losses.

Material savings also helped Suzuki hold the line on pricing. New models will actually be about $260 cheaper than comparable previous models. The success of the program led President Suzuki to set an even more ambitious goal for the next redesign. "Next time we will try for 2 grams from each part,"he promises.

Controller improves pressed- part quality

By Roy O'Connor, Contributing Editor

Laudenbach, Germany--To obtain a consistently high quality in the pressing of elastomer products as used in shock absorbers, the press employed must precisely control the temperature and pressure applied to the elastomer. Freudenberg Anlagen- und Werkzeugtechnik KG (FAW) produces this type of press, which applies a vacuum pressure of 1,700 kN to the elastomer slug at approximately 200C. Temperature must be controlled precisely and must remain unaffected when the cold elastomer slugs are loaded onto the machine.

FAW uses a SIMATIC C7-626 programmable logic controller (PLC) from Siemens to maintain these fine limits. The operator loads the press tool with the elastomer slugs, which are then heated by two hot-plates, each with three heating elements. The PLC system maintains hotplate temperature to within ±2C.

Two Siemens FM 355 S modules connected to the PLC drive 6-pulse controllers which switch the heating elements on and off; Pt100 sensors supply temperature measurement for the control loop. Operators can check on the pressing characteristics using the liquid crystal display on the PLC. The display shows the temperature curves and also provides indication of the various machine operating states.

A significant step forward for FAW was the reduction in setup work to compensate for machine variations. Heating elements differ slightly in resistance and although heat-conducting paste is used to mount the elements, differences also occur in the heat transfer to the hotplates. As Hans-Georg Mecke, automation manager at FAW explains:

"The key component is the FM355 S controller module which handles temperature control. Customers can now change the heating elements themselves. Controller auto-tuning compensates automatically for the slight change in element resistance and differences in heat transfer. This eliminates any time-consuming setup."

This type of vulcanizing press currently produces about 30 different elastomer parts. Each part needs different machine settings, but once the part has been selected on the controller, adjustments to the temperature and pressure curves take place automatically along with the other settings.

Although FAW is offering more functions with its new design of an automatic press, the company claims it has been able to keep costs down due to significant savings in setup and optimization time.

Technology & fun galore at the Design News booth

Chicago--Engineers bent, twisted, screwed, and glued new life into windup toys. They stood in line for an hour to take a death-defying ride on a roller coaster simulator ride. And they discovered more about the amazing fluid-power technology used on the set of the movie Titanic.

Yes, design engineers did all of the above--and much more--at the Design News booth at the National Design Engineering Show in March.

"Arguably, the Design News booth is one of the most popular exhibits at the show, owing in large part to the number of interactive displays and novel technologies showcased," says Andrea Stanley, Design News promotion director. The select list of guest exhibitors, she adds, are chosen from the technologies covered in Design News in the past year that generated huge reader interest.

Some of the highlights in the Design News booth this year included:

An interactive workshop based on LEGO Dacta's ROBOLAB^TM kit. Originally designed to teach engineering and science skills to K-12 students, ROBOLAB^TM is rapidly becoming a sought-after plaything for adult techies, too. Using LEGO's familiar interlocking bricks with a suite of built-in capabilities, such as motion control, sound, and light, booth visitors had an opportunity to build their own mechanical systems.

• MaxFlight's cyber VR2002 roller-coaster simulator. This amusement park ride spins about two axes and offers a choice of 15 different track sections, giving riders the thrill of their lives.

• Parker Hannifin's miniature model of the movie set for the Titantic (the original was 90% the size of the original ship!) with a demonstration of the fluid power systems that helped raise and lower a 2 million-lb load.

• Shockster, the revolutionary add-on-rear suspension system for mountain bikes. It's so popular that police departments across the U.S. are spec'ing it in their bike patrol fleets.

• A "sitting-room only" demonstration of Cadillac's adaptive seat, which uses pneumatic air cells and microprocessor control to customize itself, change shape, and gently grip the occupant.

• Delphi Delco's Personal Productivity Vehicle, which features a personal computer in the car's dashboard. Through speech recognition and text-to-speech software, drivers, and passengers interact with the computer system.

• A new wearable computer that wraps around the user's waist. Manufactured by Via Inc. and designed by engineers at Logica Product Development, the 39-oz computer (55 oz with a flat panel display) uses voice recognition software technology in a PC-type hardware package to give users access to full computing capabilities while they move around.

• Also on display was an innovative new motion control system from Kerk Motion Products, a novel winch by Technology Transfer that uses a pull cord instead of the typical crank-and-handle found on conventional winches, and an interactive display of our website, www.designnews.com.

• The booth also showcased the revolutionary neurostimulation technology developed by the Design News Engineer of the Year, Lynn Otten of Medtronics. The technology, which delivers electrical impulses to the brain, is used for treatment of epilepsy, and essential-tremors disorders.

• Last but not least, Design News teamed up with W.M. Berg to sponsor the first annual Design News Wind-Up Toy Revival and Engineering Mini-Festival. Marc Abrahams, the engineering humorist who pens the backpage "Breaktime" column, was on hand to, in his words, " practice and promote the principles of the twin saints, Rube Goldberg and Leonardo da Vinci."

Composite forms low-cost, one-piece fender

Detroit--General Motors has turned to a new class of reinforced reaction injection molded (RRIM) polyurea polymer for the rear fenders of its 1999 Sportside trucks. The automaker considers the fenders a major innovation in body technology.

The new polymer, SPECTRIM^TM HH 390, developed by Dow Automotive (Southfield, MI), is reportedly the first RRIM polymer designed to withstand 400F temperatures experienced in GM's ELPO (primer and top-coat processes) and paint-line ovens. Dow worked closely with GM and Polyrim, a division of Decoma International Inc. (Thornhill, Ontario, Canada), to develop the material, part design, and tool design for the fenders. It is said to be the largest production RRIM body panel ever produced.

The team optimized the design and fastening system to allow for thermal growth at high temperatures. "We can now process and load these panels onto the trucks at line rate," observes Greg Korchnak, Dow Automotive's senior applications development engineer. "It has really streamlined the body-assembly process."

Compared to previous sheet molding compound (SMC) fenders, the one-piece design of the Sportside counterparts reduces mass, piece and investment costs, and assembly time, Korchnak adds. At 20.5 lb, the panel weighs 38% less than the previous fender, saving a total of 24 lb per truck.

The one-piece design also costs 4% less to produce. All fastening holes and slots are molded into the fender, eliminating the need for secondary operations. And the fenders require 53% fewer fasteners.

"With proper design, this new polymer can be processed through OEM assembly plants like steel-body panels," Korchnak notes. "It also allows designers to create complex, one-piece parts with a high-quality surface finish."

Design News readers choose the best ads

What gives an ad stopping power? Those that are most helpful, informative, and interesting, readers typically tell us.

Using that criteria, Design News invited readers to pick the best ads they saw in the January 4 and 18, 1999 issues. To keep things fair, we asked them to vote for their favorites in size categories.

Thanks to all of our readers who participated in this survey and a special congratulations to Navin Dedhia of IBM (San Jose, CA). For choosing the greatest number of winning ads, he will receive an Edmund Scientific Telescope.