Heavy-duty industrial carts use polymer-covered wheels to reduce noise and
limit damage to floors. The Omega Wheel line of heavy-duty casters goes further,
with a patented cast-spoke design that permits it to deform locally when
encountering irregularities or debris on floors then return to its regular shape
once the obstacle has been cleared. In combination with a proprietary blend of
low-thermal-conductivity polyurethane, the open-spoke design runs cooler than
solid wheels, lessening the chance of debonding of wheel and hub.
Polyurethane's resilience results in a quieter wheel less apt to tear or pick up debris. In many cases, this unit allows users to switch from a spring-mounted caster to a simply supported design. Supplied as complete casters with patented kingpin-less construction or as easily retrofitted wheels, Omega Wheels are available in a range of capacities and sizes.
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.
Plastic may not be the most beloved of materials to the more environmentally minded, but Plasti 2012 aimed to mold a different opinion of the material in people's minds.
The rare earth element market has become steadily more rational, and new sources coming online will continue to reduce costs. Still, it is unlikely that prices will drop to their former lows.
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.
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