MD_Fastening and Joining Monthly_: Heading off accidental fires in solar arrays

Please add MD_Fastening and Joining Monthly_ to your Safe Sender list. Subscribe

October 17, 2011

Halloween is coming up, and Machine Design senior editor Steve Mraz has posted a link to instructions for making a Death Star jack-o-lantern on his blog. If you'd prefer to show your engineering stripes without getting messy, why not try our World's Smartest Design Engineer game? Top scorers are still earning top prizes each month for their engineering know-how, and we're always adding new questions based on our content. In this month's enewsletter, learn:

Adhesives help shooters take better aim
Enclosures help ward off solar-array fires
And a hybrid approach models real-world surfaces.

Don't forget to scroll down for new products, news from Machine Design, and industry updates. And let us know your thoughts at machinedesign.com, on our discussion forums, or by email.

Best of luck,
Jessica Shapiro

Articles

Adhesives let shooters improve aim with tracers

People outside of the military generally had not had the opportunity to shoot tracer bullets until engineers at Hallam Inc., Hunstville, Texas, developed Glow Ammo. It consists of a small “dot” of chemicals applied to the back of a bullet by reloaders, i.e., shooters who, in essence, construct their own bullets. Energy from firing is converted into light that lets the shooter track the round and see where it hits without fire or flame. Hallam worked with Fabrico, Kennesaw, Ga., on an adhesive that would affix the dot to the bottom of a bullet prior to it being seated in a casing.
Read the full article.

PEM® TYPES PF7M™ AND PF7MF™ CAPTIVE PANEL SCREWS

PEM® Types PF7M™ and PF7MF™ captive panel screws provide two distinct mounting styles for permanent installation into thin sheets. Both feature small, compact, and low-profile designs ideally suited for limited access areas and benefit from patented MAThread® anti-cross threading technology. Their Phillips recess allows for tool or hand operation. These fasteners install flush on the back side of panels as thin as .036” / 0.92mm (.031” / 0.79mm for PF7MF™) and are available in two screw lengths with thread sizes #4-40 through #8-32 and M3 to M4. They can install reliably into panels with hardness of HRB 80 or less or HB 150 or less.

www.pemnet.com

Heading off accidental fires in solar arrays

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) consistently ranks electrical fires as among the top five most-frequent types of fires in commercial buildings. Electrical fires also tend to produce a higher percentage of property damage than other sources of combustion.

Unfortunately, solar panels can become an ignition source for building fires. Arc-faults pose the greatest fire risk to photovoltaic (PV) installations. The need to detect and extinguish arc-faults in PV systems has given birth to a new protection device called a DC PV Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter (DC PV AFCI). Designed to detect the signature of an arc-fault in the power line it monitors, the DC PV AFCI kills the current flowing through the line upon detecting an arc-fault condition.
Read the full article.

How to select the best CAD modeler

Most engineers are familiar with geometric modelers with their solids and surfaces and Nurbs-based curves. Yet there are many cases where traditional geometric modelers are too slow or not a good fit for the design task at hand. Examples include modeling textures; shelling complex models; modifying and using scan data; designing complex organic shapes and artistic, aesthetic forms for manufacturing; adding highly sculptural detail to parametric CAD models; and combining hand-modeled and computer-generated forms.

Increasingly over time, the lines between different types of geometric modeling software have blurred, as each combines similar approaches and tools from the others. Newer, nontraditional approaches have accelerated this trend.
Read the full article.

New Products

LED light-curing system

BlueWave LED DX-1000, an LED light-curing system, has lower curing temperatures, energy consumption, and cost than conventional lamp-curing systems. Intensity degrades less over time, and cure results are more consistent. The high-intensity 385-nm LED operates in small-area flood or spot-cure mode and is clean-room compatible. It has no mechanical shutters or moving parts for less maintenance downtime. Co-optimized adhesives designed to cure with the system are also available.
Dymax Corp.

Low-HAP adhesives for elastomers
Chemlok 220LH and 6411LH are low-hazardous-air-pollutant, lead-free covercoat adhesives designed for use with Chemlok 205LH and 207LH primers. They bond natural rubber (NR), polyisoprene (IR), styrene-butadiene (SBR), polycholorprene (CR) and nitrile (NBR) to most metals and rigid plastic substrates. Applied by dip, spray, or brush methods, the adhesives resist heat, fluids, and corrosive atmospheres.
Lord Corp.

Dual-mode plasma etch system

The PE-100 Convertible plasma system incorporates reactive ion etching and isotropic etching/cleaning technologies into a stand-alone benchtop system. The all aluminum chamber has over 240 in.² of active processing surface with the three-level standard configuration.

The unit has directional electrodes for reactive ion etching for drilling microvias or cleaning small variations that can't be reached with chemicals. The isotropic etching/cleaning mode isn't directional.
Plasma Etch

News from MD

New white papers from HP and Intel:

Realistic User Productivity Comparisons for Upgrade Decision Making

AutoCAD® users can appreciate the rock-solid dependable performance they demand from HP and Intel® processor-based workstations. The Intel® Core™ and Xeon® processor-based workstation portfolio includes a wide range of machines that fit multiple user segments, from entry, mobile, essential, and digital workbench users.

Return on Innovation: Making Individuals More Productive

The value proposition for equipping technical and creative professionals has drastically changed. The unprecedented combination of economic pressure and technological advancement has rewritten the rules of how to do more with less. Teams may forego new hires or do the same work with fewer staff, yet they can avail themselves to new tools and techniques. The challenge then becomes how to equip these valuable and fewer number of professionals to be more productive and innovative.

Click here to register and download

Machine Design's WORLD'S SMARTEST DESIGN ENGINEER
The 2nd season has begun! Players from across the globe are still competing for fun, education, prizes and the ultimate bragging rights. Thanks to our sponsors for their support of the exciting online opportunity for engineers! Play Now!

Altech Corp.
Bimba Manufacturing Co.
Maxon Motors
R+W America
Simrit
Smalley Steel Ring

Also, please download our first World's Smartest Design Engineer Study Guide, provided by Maxon Precision Motors, Inc. Brush up on motion control basics and learn more to help you excel at the game.

Constant Pressure: A New Approach to Hydraulic System Design
Sponsored by: Gates Corporation
Date: Oct 20th, 2011
Time: 2:00pm ET/11:00am PT

Join Tim Deans of Gates Corporation as he discusses how to achieve significant cost savings with hybrid hydraulic hoses and outlines a new take on system design – the constant pressure approach. Selecting the right hose for fit, form, function and cost effectiveness is more important than ever and, thanks to industry advancements, not as challenging as it might seem.

The constant pressure approach to pressure ratings makes it easy to select hoses that meet system requirements based on pressure and temperature. Engineers designing subsystems can select one hose type for an entire circuit and benefit from cost savings and simplicity. Factors such as weight, reduced force to bend, high temperature compatibility or tight space constraints dictate when to utilize a hybrid hose.

Learn more and register today!

Design and Tuning of Digital Controllers for High Performance AC/DC Motor Drives
Sponsored by: Bison and Infranor
Date: Nov 3rd, 2011
Time: 2:00pm ET/11:00am PT

Owing to recent advancement of Power Electronics technologies, low-cost, high performance digital motor drive systems are now designed and used in many variable speed applications in industrial, appliances, military, aerospace, automotive and electric traction (EV/HEV) applications. Presentation will introduce advanced digital control technologies used in DC, permanent magnet (PM) AC, induction, and switched reluctance motor drives.

Learn more and register today!

ARCHIVED WEBCASTS AVAILABLE FOR FREE VIEWING
Click Here for a list of archived Machine Design webcasts.

Industry Update

Fabrico debuts LED thermal-management-materials video

Fabrico, Kennesaw, Ga., announced the debut of a new website video highlighting its offerings for LED applications. LEDs are becoming increasingly popular for their illumination, small size, and high power, but designers need to build advanced thermal management into LED products. The video discusses thermal management and heat dissipation as well as conductive adhesives and greases, tapes, gap fillers, coated fabrics, and phase-change materials that provide thermal conductivity and electrical insulation.
To see the video or for more information, visit Fabrico.

National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo preview
Organizers of the National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply Expo, October 18-21, Sands Expo & Convention Center, Las Vegas, announced 3,072 people have preregistered for the event; they expect over 4,000 will attend the show. The expo will contain 757 100-ft.²-booths sold to 595 companies from the U.S. and 15 other countries. The exhibition is the third largest in the event's 30-plus year history. Exhibitors will include large-diameter-fastening-system provider Dyson Corp., Painesville, Ohio, in booth #755 and specialty alloy provider Carpenter Technology Corp., Wyomissing, Pa., in booth #437. CarTech's display will include Joe Gibbs Racing's #11 FedEx Toyota Camry Nascar entry.

Other exhibits will include fasteners and fastener-related products and services including fastener-making machinery and tooling; precision-formed parts; inspection, testing, and packaging machinery; air, cutting, drilling, and hand tools; plant and safety equipment; and inventory-management systems. An all-day conference on Wednesday will provide certified training and information.
For more information, to register online, or to make hotel reservations, visit the show website.

Penn Engineering named fastener licensee
PennEngineering, Danboro, Pa., announced Research Engineering & Manufacturing Inc., Middletown, R.I., awarded it a license to produce Trilobular and Remform thread-forming fasteners. The Trilobular license covers Taptite 2000, Duo-Taptite, Taptite II, Fastite 2000, Magtite 2000 Powerlok, Pushtite and other products for metal fastening in the U.S. and Asia. The global Remform license covers Remform, Remform II, and Remform F fasteners for plastic and some soft-metal applications.
For more information, visit Penn Engineering.