Zip-Tech is a proprietary technology from Dufresne Manufacturing that replaces welding. The ‘zippered’ edges are punched into the part at the turret and are snapped together during the forming process. The process reduces the need for welding, grinding, and even outside finish in some applications by allowing for the joining of pre-plate materials which are otherwise considered hazardous in the welding process. The process can save customers up to 35 per cent on select parts. Zip-Tech is best suited for joining corners, but it can also join different metals. Customers include 3M, CNT and Ciprico.
A new process for laser-welding large-scale, steel-aluminum foam sandwich structures for lightweighting ships, which eliminates intermetallic phase, has been demonstrated.
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.
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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