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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.

What's the latest from 3D Systems? Innovations for different industries, processes

3D Systems unveiled several new solutions at the RAPID+TCT 2025 show in April designed to change the way industries innovate. From new 3D printers and materials for high-mix, low-volume applications to marked improvements in how investment casting can be done, learn what is the state of the art from the original inventors of 3D printing.
Read the full article.

Clever! Indexing plungers with chamfered pins

JW Winco has developed a new type of indexing plunger -- GN 824 -- that can independently latch into edges and grooves. This is made possible by a chamfered plunger pin. When the chamfered pin encounters a raised latching geometry, it retracts and then springs back out again once it reaches the latching point. This new indexing plunger can be ordered with axial thread for fastening and a black plastic knob for operating the indexing plunger. In a clever design, the plunger pin can be adjusted by 360 degrees to ensure that it encounters the mating surface perpendicularly. This hardware is well suited for transport frames, mechanisms, or covers that need to be locked in place quickly and securely, especially without the need for manual intervention.
Learn more.

Wearable cooling pump drops temperatures by 16 degrees -- more at source of heat

A new UCLA-developed cooling device is made of six thin layers of nanotube-coated polymer films about one-quarter of an inch thick. [Credit: UCLA Soft Materials Research Laboratory/Courtesy of UCLA]

 

 

 

 

UCLA materials scientists have developed a compact cooling technology that can pump away heat continuously using layers of flexing thin films. The design is based on the electrocaloric effect, in which an electric field causes a temporary change in a material's temperature.

In lab experiments, the researchers found that the prototype could lower ambient temperatures of its immediate surroundings by 16 degrees Fahrenheit continuously and up to 25 F at the source of the heat after about 30 seconds.

Detailed in a paper published in the journal Science, the approach could be incorporated into wearable cooling technology or portable cooling devices.

"Our long-term goal is to develop this technology for wearable cooling accessories that are comfortable, affordable, reliable, and energy efficient -- especially for people who work in very hot environments over long hours," said principal investigator Qibing Pei, a professor of materials science and engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. "As average temperatures continue to rise with climate change, coping with heat is becoming a critical health issue. We need a variety of solutions to the problem, and this could be the basis for one."

The experimental material is composed of a circular stack of six thin polymer films, just under an inch in diameter and one-quarter of an inch thick for the entire stack. Each layer is coated with carbon nanotubes on both sides. The resulting material is ferroelectric, which means it changes shape when an electric field is applied.

When the device's electric field is switched on, the stacked layers compress against each other in pairs. When the electricity switches off, the stacked pairs come apart and then press against the other neighboring layers. As this alternating process repeats itself, the self-regenerative, accordion-like cascading action continually pumps heat away, layer by layer.

"The polymer films use a circuit to shuttle charges between pairs of stacked layers, which makes the flexible cooling device more efficient than air conditioners," said Hanxiang Wu, one of the study's co-lead authors and a postdoctoral scholar working in Pei's lab.

The device's polymer films expand and contract like an accordion to pump heat away from a source, cooling it by about 16 F. [Credit: UCLA Soft Materials Research Laboratory/Courtesy of UCLA]

 

 

 

 

Traditional cooling technology relies on air conditioning and refrigeration, which require vapor compression that not only consumes a great deal of energy but also uses carbon dioxide as a coolant. The new device is a simpler design that does not require greenhouse-gas-generating coolants or liquids. It operates solely with electricity, which can be sustainable when generated through renewable energy sources such as solar panels.

"This cooling device integrates advanced materials with an elegant mechanical architecture to deliver energy-efficient cooling by embedding functionality directly into its structure, reducing complexity, energy use, and computational demands," said the study's co-lead author Wenzhong Yan, a postdoctoral scholar in mechanical engineering.

Pei holds a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and runs the Soft Materials Research Laboratory at UCLA. He and his team have been researching electrocaloric cooling technologies designed to drop enough temperatures for real-world applications.

"Because we can use thin flexible films, electrocaloric cooling would be most ideal for next-generation wearables that can keep us cool under strenuous conditions," Pei said. "It could also be used to cool electronics with flexible components."

Sumanjeet Kaur, a materials staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and leader of its Thermal Energy Group, is another author of the study and a co-inventor on the patent application UCLA has filed for this invention. "The potential of efficient wearable cooling in driving energy savings and mitigating climate change cannot be overstated," Kaur said.

Source: UCLA

Published January 2025

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