In today's automotive injection pumps, fuel is pressed against sealed parts with incredible force at more than 2,000bar/29,000 pounds per square inch. This means that precision is the top priority when it comes to manufacturing sealing rings. The new iNSPEC 50 inspection system from iTECH Engineering AG based in Bettlach, Switzerland, guarantees flawless surfaces in the range of thousandths of a millimeter—and at a breathtaking speed.

For Hänggi GmbH, the renowned manufacturer of…

Michael Bubolz Machining GmbH of Stuhr, Germany, near Bremen, has made its name as a supplier for the automotive and medical industries. With over 300 employees, it serves the medical sector including companies such as Stryker, a global leader in orthopedic technology that manufactures bone nails, screws and implants. The products are made of various materials such as plastic, aluminum, stainless steel and titanium for runs of five to 100 parts, and…

By Hélène Horent

When one hears the words “machine shop,” the images conjured are not necessarily of the neat and tidy variety.

And while not every shop is operated under three inches of coolant and a smear of grease, Castle Precision Engineering Services, a row of blue buildings placed neatly within an industrial-yet-evergreen Scottish landscape is clearly in a league of its own.

Precise in more ways than one, the company of 60-plus years has made high standards…

Stamber was originally established as a producer of die-casting molds, but the company evolved into a plastic molding business after acquiring 50 to 500-ton molding presses about 22 years ago. Over the years Stamber continued to evolve and today the company mass-produces machined parts, performs mechanical engineering work, and supplies a wide variety of product sectors by using many different materials, some of which can be challenging to work with (such as Inconel and…

3D acoustic simulation helps MANN + HUMMEL GmbH engineer the perfect acoustics of air intake systems and reduce its manufacturing costs

The light turns from red to green. A sports car starts off with a roar. You can feel the envious glares from nearby pedestrians as they cannot resist the temptation to look. That powerful sound of a sports engine is a carefully engineered mix of tunes and tones, bass and booms. But even the familiar engine sound of a luxury limousine or a…

Prensas Schuler, São Paulo, Brazil, supplies advanced mechanical and hydraulic press systems for customers in the automotive industry, their suppliers and the household appliance industry. These presses require a wide variety of machined components, including beds, slides, gears, moving bolsters, uprights and many others in a range of sizes and styles. Writing computer numerical control (CNC) programs to produce each of these parts using traditional methods was time-consuming and expensive.…

Enhancing powertrain thermal management

Car manufacturers face multiple challenges when designing powertrain architectures. They must reconcile numerous and sometimes contradictory requirements to reach the desired level of product quality, pollutant emissions, passenger comfort, fun-to-drive performance, reliability and safety. And they must do all of…

The Piaggio Group is the European leading manufacturer of two-wheeled motor vehicles and also holds an international leading role in the commercial vehicle market.

With over 7000 employees and facilities and research centers scattered over Italy, Vietnam, Spain, China and India, Piaggio has recently been investing its efforts in the creation of a new scooter model destined for the Indian market and has chosen LMS Virtual.Lab Durability to address engineering challenges linked to this…

Metalsa engineers previously spent an average of 32 hours per month quoting a typical three programs for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). This time was spent opening CAD files, obtaining information and a snapshot, and populating a spreadsheet with the data. Metalsa worked with CCE (www.cadcam-e.com) to develop an app using CCE’s EnSuite product that opens the CATIA files, captures the needed information and populates…

Yonkers, NY (May 2012) – GRAPHALLOY® wear rings and bushings from Graphite Metallizing Corporation provide performance superior to standard metal stationary and rotating wear parts in pumps for CO₂ service in oil field applications. Self-lubricating GRAPHALLOY®, a graphite/metal alloy, eliminates concern about bearing failures or possible flashing of CO₂.

The ability to operate without additional lubrication is important in CO₂ injection…

It's fascinating to see crowdsourcing becoming ever more popular and making it into the mainstream of vehicle design. Not only is the government soliciting it for the design of military vehicles but the larger auto makers like Ford and Chevrolet are using it as well. If you're interested, here's an article on still other automakers that are using crowdsourcing: blogs.ptc.com/2012/03/23/build-your-own-car-new-trends-in-auto-design-crowdsourcing/

CaptiveAire, Raleigh, North Carolina, the leading manufacturer of commercial kitchen ventilation systems, uses stud welding to attach fasteners to its ventilation systems without penetrating walls in order to eliminate the possibility of leakage or any area for bacteria of impurities to build up. The previous manual process for stud welding of commercial kitchen ventilation systems was labor intensive and made it difficult to maintain the vertical position of the studs. CaptiveAire…

Do you frequently work with wood, metal or plastics in your workshop, and need to cut blocks or sheets of these materials down to predefined sizes? Then investing in high quality CNC routers is bound to help you a great deal. These routers make slicing through thick sheets of wood, metal, plastic, and many other tough materials an absolute breeze. Besides, if you purchase one of sufficiently high quality, the machine is bound to last for years, giving you excellent value for your…

Fluke Corporation has made available at its Web site a glossary of the key vibration terms that those involved in equipment maintenance and vibration diagnosis may encounter when evaluating machine vibration.…

Fluke Corporation has made available a video primer on vibration testing and mechanical maintenance, which can be viewed at…

From utility source to receptacle

Lightning…

Dairy production is a no-brainer... for the cow. Grass in, milk out.

For the guys who take it from…

About two-thirds of the electric power in the U.S. is consumed by motors, with industrial three-phase motors above 5 HP (7 kW) being by far the bulk of that load. They are linear loads and therefore don’t contribute to harmonics. They are, however, the major contributor to reduced Displacement Power Factor,…

Hot vibes can result when harmonics and capacitors get together…

In the world of mechanical maintenance, vibration remains one of the earliest indicators of a machine's health. Understanding why vibration occurs and how it manifests itself is a key first step toward preventing vibration from causing trouble in the production environment.…