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Engineer's Toolbox: How to design the optimum hinge

Although many pin styles are available, Coiled Spring Pins are particularly well suited for use in both friction- and free-fit hinges. To achieve optimum long-term hinge performance, designers should observe these helpful design guidelines from SPIROL.
Read the full article.

Innovative new robo welding gun

Comau's newest N-WG welding gun is designed for high-speed spot welding for traditional, hybrid, and electric vehicles, in addition to general industry sectors. It features a patented, single-body architecture that enables rapid reconfiguration between welding types and forces, and it delivers consistent performance across a broad range of applications, including steel and (soon) aluminum welding. It supports both X and C standard gun configurations, has fast arm exchange, and universal mounting options. It is fully compatible with major robot brands and represents a significant advancement in spot welding performance and cost efficiency.
Learn more.

What's a SLIC Pin^®? Pin and cotter all in one!

The SLIC Pin (Self-Locking Implanted Cotter Pin) from Pivot Point is a pin and cotter all in one. This one-piece locking clevis pin is cost saving, fast, and secure. It functions as a quick locking pin wherever you need a fast-lock function. It features a spring-loaded plunger that functions as an easy insertion ramp. This revolutionary fastening pin is very popular and used successfully in a wide range of applications.
Learn more.

Engineering challenge: Which 3D-printed parts will fade?

How does prolonged exposure to intense UV light impact 3D-printed plastics? Will they fade? This is what Xometry's Director of Application Engineering, Greg Paulsen, set to find out. In this video, Paulsen performs comprehensive tests on samples manufactured using various additive processes, including FDM, SLS, SLA, PolyJet, DLS, and LSPc, to determine their UV resistance. Very informative. Some results may surprise you.
View the video.

Copper filament for 3D printing

Virtual Foundry, the company that brought us 3D-printable lunar regolith simulant, says its popular Copper Filamet™ (not a typo) is "back in stock and ready for your next project." This material is compatible with any open-architecture FDM/FFF 3D printer. After sintering, final parts are 100% pure copper. Also available as pellets. The company says this is one of the easiest materials to print and sinter. New Porcelain Filamet™ available too.
Learn more and get all the specs.

Copper foam -- so many advantages

Copper foam from Goodfellow combines the outstanding thermal conductivity of copper with the structural benefits of a metal foam. These features are of particular interest to design engineers working in the fields of medical products and devices, defense systems and manned flight, power generation, and the manufacture of semiconductor devices. This product has a true skeletal structure with no voids, inclusions, or entrapments. A perennial favorite of Designfax readers.
Learn more.

Full-color 3D-printing Design Guide from Xometry

With Xometry's PolyJet 3D-printing service, you can order full-color 3D prints easily. Their no-cost design guide will help you learn about different aspects of 3D printing colorful parts, how to create and add color to your models, and best practices to keep in mind when printing in full color. Learn how to take full advantage of the 600,000 unique colors available in this flexible additive process.
Get the Xometry guide.

Tech Tip: How to create high-quality STL files for 3D prints

Have you ever 3D printed a part that had flat spots or faceted surfaces where smooth curves were supposed to be? You are not alone, and it's not your 3D printer's fault. According to Markforged, the culprit is likely a lack of resolution in the STL file used to create the part.
Read this detailed and informative Markforged blog.

Test your knowledge: High-temp adhesives

Put your knowledge to the test by trying to answer these key questions on how to choose the right high-temperature-resistant adhesive. The technical experts from Master Bond cover critical information necessary for the selection process, including questions on glass transition temperature and service temperature range. Some of the answers may surprise even the savviest of engineers.
Take the quiz.

Engineer's Toolbox: How to pin a shaft and hub assembly properly

One of the primary benefits of using a coiled spring pin to affix a hub or gear to a shaft is the coiled pin's ability to prevent hole damage. Another is the coiled pin absorbs wider hole tolerances than any other press-fit pin. This translates to lower total manufacturing costs of the assembly. However, there are a few design guidelines that must be adhered to in order to achieve the maximum strength of the pinned system and prevent damage to the assembly.
Read this very informative SPIROL article.

What's new in Creo Parametric 11.0?

Creo Parametric 11.0 is packed with productivity-enhancing updates, and sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest impact in your daily workflows. Mark Potrzebowski, Technical Training Engineer, Rand 3D, runs through the newest functionality -- from improved surface modeling tools to smarter file management and model tree navigation. Videos provide extra instruction.
Read the full article.

What's so special about wave springs?

Don't settle for ordinary springs. Opt for Rotor Clip wave springs. A wave spring is a type of flat wire compression spring characterized by its unique waveform-like structure. Unlike traditional coil springs, wave springs offer an innovative solution to complex engineering challenges, producing forces from bending, not torsion. Their standout feature lies in their ability to compress and expand efficiently while occupying up to 50% less axial space than traditional compression springs. Experience the difference Rotor Clip wave springs can make in your applications today!
View the video.

New Standard Parts Handbook from JW Winco

JW Winco's printed Standard Parts Handbook is a comprehensive 2,184-page reference that supports designers and engineers with the largest selection of standard parts categorized into three main groups: operating, clamping, and machine parts. More than 75,000 standard parts can be found in this valuable resource, including toggle clamps, shaft collars, concealed multiple-joint hinges, and hygienically designed components.
Get your Standard Parts Handbook today.

Looking to save space in your designs?

Watch Smalley's quick explainer video to see how engineer Frank improved his product designs by switching from traditional coil springs to compact, efficient wave springs. Tasked with making his products smaller while keeping costs down, Frank found wave springs were the perfect solution.
View the video.

Top die casting design tips

You can improve the design and cost of your die cast parts with these top tips from Xometry's Joel Schadegg. Topics include: Fillets and Radii, Wall Thicknesses, Ribs and Metal Savers, Holes and Windows, Parting Lines, and more. Follow these recommendations so you have the highest chance of success with your project.
Read the full Xometry article.

Bad news for many OEMs: Research reveals traditional supply chains cannot meet EV demands

New research conducted by Wards Intelligence for Hexagon's Manufacturing Intelligence division reveals that traditional carmakers are not prioritizing the adoption of Industry 4.0 processes -- and so they risk being blindsided by new market entrants.

Big Tech and unicorn startups from Silicon Valley, the UK, and China are disrupting the electric vehicles (EV) market with advanced digitalization and automation capabilities, enabling time-to-market reductions from several years to as little as three months.

The EV market is projected to soar to global sales of 34.7 million by 2030, and it is critical for OEMs to match the disruptors' pace of innovation in order to participate. Despite this, only 48% of the auto industry report they plan to invest more in the types of Smart Manufacturing strategies their competitors are using, while 25% have no plans.

The new players benefit from the fact that low EV order volumes are helping speed overtake scale as the key factor in automotive manufacturing. This leaves conventional carmakers exposed when it comes to rapid innovation cycles, especially in the field of electronics, because:

• Consumers expect more integrated digital technologies,
• New car designs render as many as 90% of automotive parts from existing ICE vehicles redundant, and
• Their strategies are more reliant on current supply chains and mass-manufacturing plants provided by companies such as Foxconn and Huawei.

The research finds that only 8% of carmakers see pure-play EV manufacturers as a threat, yet Tesla is already the market leader for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), while the likes of Lucid rapidly are scaling up with vertically integrated EV production.

In contrast, the data reveals a disconnect in the equivalent progress toward digital transformation by larger OEMs. While there has been a definite uptick in interest around "smart" automotive manufacturing, the research shows that recognition of its value is not always accompanied with implementation. Instead, the data reveals that the industry sees sourcing the required volume of parts and inability to achieve economies of scale as the greatest perceived risk to the success of EV supply chains.

"Our findings show that automakers' challenges in getting a foothold in the new EV world order are as much internal as they are external," said Paolo Guglielmini, president of Hexagon's Manufacturing Intelligence division. "The need to make EVs more affordable at current order volumes, coupled with delivering greater choice or 'cars to order,' means traditional high-volume manufacturing lines must be replaced by more agile manufacturing, built around speed to market and possibly forgoing the 'just-in-time' model for good. The challenge for incumbents is doing so, while still achieving the required profit margins. This can only be resolved through vertical integration of the development and manufacturing processes, but this isn't easy and necessitates a cultural shift to match the technology investments.

"Traditional automotive manufacturing business models are being reconfigured to prioritize flexibility over process, empowering people with more integrated processes and greater automation. Digital design and manufacturing approaches are key to agility and are a large part of the reason digital-natives are making waves in the market. The big OEMs are not standing still -- we are seeing incredible innovation by companies that are having to overhaul their global operations at a rate of knots -- but they need to embrace continuous improvement processes and revisit the degree and type of collaboration they have with their suppliers to ensure they come out on the winning side of the electric vehicle pivot."

Overall, the data shows that there is growing interest in smart manufacturing approaches that apply pervasive connectivity, cloud, and edge computing with momentum in data analytics, AI, and robotics, affirming that the industry is on the threshold of unprecedented change with very different ideas and levels of maturity on the journey to Industry 4.0. The convergence of these additional technologies will act as an adoption catalyst, with OEMs and their supply chains trying to adapt to this change as they evolve with the market.

"The Electric Vehicle Pivot" white paper created by Wards Intelligence for Hexagon provides insight and analysis based on research and survey data on the evolving automotive supply chain and the emergence of smart manufacturing associated with the escalating shift to electric vehicles (EV). It can be accessed here: https://emobility.hexagonmi.com/shaping-the-future-of-ev.

Source: Hexagon

Published November 2021

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