Engineering Materials
Engineering materials is a discussion led by Design News Contributing Materials Editor Doug Smock on important new developments and applications that affect mechanical design.
Audi's Green Police May Be Looking For You
The Super Bowl gets almost as much attention for its commercials (and halftime show) as it does for the football game, which is often boring and over-rated. Yesterday’s game was great, and the commercials were pretty weak. Even the rock stars “The Who” (who dat?) came up short. But one ad really got my attention-the Audi spot about green-shirted and green shorts-wearing police ...... Read More
Comments (0)Dreamliner 787, Airbus A380 Delays Pummel Titanium Producer
Delays in the Boeing Dreamliner 787 continue to propel major ripples throughout the airplane’s supply chain. The latest pain came yesterday when titanium supplier RTI International of Pittsburgh announced an operating loss for the fourth quarter of $86.9 million versus operating income of $5.4 million for the same period in 2008. CEO Dawne S. Hickton, commented: “In addition to the g ...... Read More
Comments (0)FKuR Launches Bioplastic Development in Texas
Interesting new bioplastic compounds are emerging from a German company that is now gearing up operations in Texas. FKuR, which has sold biocompounds mostly in Europe since 2003, considers itself a leader in the development of tailor-made compounds based on feedstocks such as wood and corn. Special additives have been developed with the Fraunhofer Institute to improve the processability of bioplas ...... Read More
Comments (0)Mushroom Roots Emerge As Eco Alternative to Styrofoam
Move over Dow Chemical Co. Two recent engineering grads from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY, have invented a new sustainable packaging technology that will challenge expanded polystyrene foam used in packaging and building insulation (Styrofoam). While classmates were enjoying pub crawls, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre were fascinated by mushrooms growing on wood chips. Th ...... Read More
Comments (0)DirectSkinning Provides Efficient Two-Component Systems
Secondary finishing is dramatically reduced in an interesting new injection molding process out of Germany called “DirectSkinning”. The new technology combines injection molding of thermoplastics with the reaction injection molding (RIM) process used for polyurethane processing. A coated component is produced directly on an injection-molding machine in a single mold in a process that ...... Read More
Comments (0)Vancouver Olympics Will Feature Coke Bottles Made From Sugar
Coca-Cola sold at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, will feature bottles that are composed 30 percent of sugar-based feedstocks. The new “plantbottles” began to appear on store shelves in Europe last November, and no one should be able to tell the difference in the new bottle. Coke officials say they have the same chemistry and the same feel as bottles made entirely fro ...... Read More
Comments (7)New Nylon Features Highest Melting Point for Bioplastics
I wrote recently of the renewed popularity in castor-oil derived nylon, which was first developed more than 60 years ago. Now, a fifth company will be offering biobased nylon. DSM Engineering Plastics is introducing EcoPaXX, a nylon 4/10 ”long-chain polyamide”. It pairs typical long-chain polyamide properties, such as low moisture absorption, with high melting point (highest of ...... Read More
Comments (2)Engineering Outsourcing Makes a U-Turn
Asia’s second largest manufacturer of earth-moving equipment is advertising in the United States for engineers who will work from their homes to design new higher-level products. “The company requires the services of ace & experienced designers/institutions having expertise in the design of high end dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators and related aggregates to keep pace with glob ...... Read More
Comments (7)New Amphenol Clamp Cuts Weight on the Dreamliner
Examples of new materials applications for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner continue to come to light. Amphenol, a large manufacturer of interconnect products, developed a high performance wiring, cable, and hydraulic tubing clamp to replace and outperform traditional P-clamps and Saddle clamps. It also wanted to reduce weight, one of the major goals of the composite-bodied Dreamliner. Amphenol eng ...... Read More
Comments (3)Conjugated TFTs Form Heart of the Que
One of the hot products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is the Que, an electronic reader, developed by Plastic Logic of Mountain View, CA. The Que is the same size as a pad of paper, about 1/3 inch thick, and weighs about a pound. It features a 10.7-inch display, the largest display in the market, made from polyester sheets instead of glass. You can use it as a digi ...... Read More
Comments (0)New PVdF Film May Boost Capacitors for Electric Vehicles
New applications for specialty films are triggering interesting R&D to stretch their capabilities. I wrote recently about the new polyolefin films that are improving lithium ion batteries. Another example comes from Solvay Solexis, which has developed a biaxially oriented polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF) film with an equipment partner named Parkinson Technologies. This film could hav ...... Read More
Comments (0)Plastics Made From Wood: Cellulosics Are Hot Again
Cellulose is one of the very oldest feedstocks for plastics, dating back to the Nineteenth Century. Cellulose was the most important synthetic packaging material until the invention of oriented polypropylene (OPP) in the 1960s, which took away much of its business. A custom compounder of cellulosics since 1932, Eastman Chemical of Kingsport, TN, produces Tenite acetate, butyrate, and propionate in ...... Read More
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