TechArchive

Original article date: June 1999 Investment casting delivers thin walls low weight intricate detail superfine surfaces and zero draft angles – Micro Metalsmiths’ general manager STEVE PARKIN says it must be worth a look! Precision investment casting Micro Metalsmiths style is called MM casting. It is used primarily with copper and aluminium alloy investment alloy [...]

Original article date: April 1999 Darragh Murphy and Peter Raine of the Hydro Aluminium UK Extrusion Group explain why aluminium extrusions can be competitive with steel structures despite lower stiffness. Aluminium is one of the most versatile materials available to the design engineer. The diverse range of applications for which it is already used from [...]

Original article date: June 1996 How do the various metals used in conductive coatings compare? Lt-Col J W Molyneux-Child of Surrey Electro-Shielding looks at the present and future positions. The problem of shielding electronic components from outside interference is accentuated by the fact that there are now several different types of engineering plastics on the [...]

Original article date: November 1998 Clive Maier. Managing Director of Econology provides an overview of some recent blow moulding developments. Blow moulding is a process for converting thermoplastics into hollow objects. It is now a highly developed process with many variant forms. At its most basic the process involves melt processing a thermoplastic into a [...]

This article was originally written in the period 1995-2000 The latest induction cap sealers have added considerably to the flexibility offered by this process for sealing packaging containers. Although there is a wide range of closures available, the traditional bore seal has, to date, been the most widely used method of sealing containers in a [...]

This article was originally written in the period 1995-2000 Strange materials, known as auxetics, get fatter when stretched and thinner when squashed. “Pull a rubber band”, says Professor Ken Evans, “and you will see that two things happened. The band gets longer and also gets thinner”. Most materials do this. But auxetic materials are different [...]

Original article date: June 2000 Solid models are terrific at giving visual feedback on your design and now your CAD models will link directly to analysis software and manufacturing processes. One of the most obvious of the manufacturing links is rapid tooling for sand and diecasting, where tooling for dies and sand cores are cut [...]

Original article date: November 1999 Martin Moore of The Morgan Crucible Company has been in touch on behalf of the ECFIA (the European Ceramic Fibres Industry Association), and what he has to say is very interesting. A 1999 amendment to the UK’s Chemicals (Hazard Information for Packaging and Supply) Regulations (CHIP) has implemented the European [...]

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: 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 [...]