TechArchive

Original article date: March 1999 Precision cold forging offers near-net shape production of parts with simple or complex geometry – and it’s much quicker than machining. Alan Quinn reports. Forging can be carried out on cold warm or hot metals. In practice cold working is undertaken at room temperature warm working (of steels) at 480degC [...]

Original article date: June 1998 Making best use of different media a new CD-Rom and a web site are now integral components of Timken’s marketing plans. Users of bearings now have a new tool at their disposal. The Interchange Guide from British Timken is a new PC-based cross reference database with three integrated search functions. [...]

Original article date: November 1998 ANDY LINDGREN cylinder applications engineer at Parker Hannifln’s Cylinder Division discusses the most common cause of rod seal failure. Piston rod seal leaks – even small ones – in hydraulic cylinders are no longer acceptable. After any necessary running-in the piston rod should show no ring of oil. Damaged piston [...]

Original article date: June 1998 There’s more to installing inverters on simple fans and motors than you might think. GEOFF SPEAR Marketing Manager of Simplatroll explains why operators are beginning to realise the benefits. By installing a frequency inverter it is possible to achieve payback times of less than six months for fans and motors [...]

Original article date: October 1998 How can a tiny planetary gearbox replace a big worm box? It’s not black magic just good engineering says PAUL SIXSMITH of Lohmann + Stolterfohlt Conventional industrial gearboxes are traditionally specified by working from tables in the manufacturer’s catalogue and using just power speed and a service factor. Yet working [...]

Original article date: April 1995 The monitor is the most expensive single component of many computer systems. And there are legal obligations on employers to select prudently. Most monitors are based on the cathode ray tube (CRT) though in the future a number of alternative technologies may appear. There are two technologies called Shadow Mask [...]

Original article date: January 1999 Suppose the principles of a current vector-controlled AC brushless motor can be turned inside out so that the outer casing revolves instead of the inner rotor. Then imagine fitting a tyre around the outer casing of a motor – hey presto! Via a suitable rim the motor effectively becomes a [...]

Original article date: May 2000 Piezoelectric ceramics hold the promise of a new era of miniaturised devices. But success will depend on finding new techniques for monitoring material degradation The technological importance of piezoelectric and electrostrictive materials is growing, as is the number of applications in the area of sensors and actuators. Often called ‘smart [...]

Original article date: September 1995 Metal injection moulding (MIM) is now a competitive process for small precision parts. Advice from the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA). MIM Design Guidelines Restrictions no inside closed cavities no undercuts on internal bores corner radius greater than 0.2mm 2deg draft on long parts smallest hole diameter 0.1mm minimum thickness [...]

Original article date: September 1997 Providing accurate, reliable sensing in an improbably small space, or in an impossibly aggressive environment, are problems which most design and maintenance engineers will encounter – sooner or later. TIM BAKER, product manager for sensors at IFM Electronic, explains how fibre-optic photosensors provide the answers. Small, reliable and robust as [...]