When the difference between winning and losing is as quick as the blink of an eye, even the smallest change can make a big difference. More racing teams are making the switch from steel to ceramic ball bearings to help them win the checkered flag. Makers of ceramic bearings say that they can reduce friction by up to 40 percent and decrease weight by 60 percent over the steel variety. That's attracting interest from racers of all stripes. Larry McBride's Top Fuel Kawasaki, a 1,250-hp, 1,075-lb bike that covers a quarter mile in 5.88 seconds, sports 20 ceramic bearings. Hot rodder Greg Anderson uses eight hybrid ceramic bearings in his Pontiac Grand Am, helping the NHRA Prostock Champion set both the elapsed -time and mile-per-hour records last year. Bearings might seem like a small factor, but they can add a lot. "We've tested bikes on the quarter mile. They can pick up three or four miles per hour just by switching to ceramic bearings," says Dave Conforti, President of Worldwide Bearings Inc., (http://rbi.ims.ca/3849-547). He is a racing enthusiast who builds mostly custom bearing units using Cerbec balls made from boron nitride by Saint-Gobain Advanced Ceramics of
East Granby, CT. (http://rbi.ims.ca/3849-550). They're used throughout the vehicle in any application that normally uses steel balls. Even a small number of bearings can make a difference. "On a 9-hp, two-cycle engine, changing two crankshaft bearings provided a full 1-hp improvement," Conforti says. The bearings are finding wider acceptance in industrial applications, too. There, the long lifetimes can offset the premium price—which varies widely across bearing sizes ranging from 8 to 100 mm in diameter. "When you factor in the fact that they have three to five times longer lifetimes, you're probably saving money," Conforti says. But that's not a key concern for most racers. "They don't care if the bearing lasts—just so long as they can go faster," he says.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
With LEDs dropping in price virtually every year, automakers have begun employing them, not only on luxury vehicles, but on entry-level models, as well.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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
3 
