Aerospace
Automotive
Medical
Energy
Manufacturing
Source: Wheels
“The same factor that pushed General Motors to quit building the Holden Commodore in Australia – the high cost of labour – appears to have led it to dump a decision to build the first-ever fully imported Holden Commodore in Korea.”
Read More: GM Dumps Korea as Source for 2017 Holden Commodore
GM Dumps Korea as Source for 2017 Holden Commodore Read More »
Source: MPMN Medtec Pulse
The FDA has released “leapfrog” draft guidance for the rapidly evolving world of 3-D printed medical devices.
The agency based the guidance on input from device manufacturers, 3-D printing companies, and academics who testified at a 2014 hearing. The document covers device design, manufacturing, and design testing. For the purposes of the draft, FDA identified four main types of 3-D printing—powder fusion, stereolithography, fused filament fabrication, and liquid-based extrusion.
Manufacturers would have to clearly identify every step in the 3-D printing process, and might need to submit a “high-level summary of each critical manufacturing process step,” the guidance says. They would also have to document each step’s risk, and describe how they would mitigate those risks.
Read More: FDA has Important New Views on 3-D Printed Devices
FDA Has Important New Views on 3-D Printed Devices Read More »
Source: QMED – Qualified Suppliers to the Medical Device Industry
“The FDA last month designated a Medline Industries guidewires recall as Class I.
The Medline guidewire is identified as the ACME Monaco Guidewire .035×150 3MMJ TCFC item number 88241, with affected products distributed between March 2013 and August 2013.
The guidewire is used in various surgical convenience kits assembled and marketed by Medline Industries. It is meant to fit inside a percutaneous catheter for the purpose of directing the catheter through a blood vessel.
The guidewires in question, however, have the potential for the coating to flake off of the wire, according to the FDA.”
Read More: 7 Recent Medical Device Failures Catching FDA’s Eye
7 Recent Medical Device Failures Catching FDA’s Eye Read More »
Source: MPMN Medtec Pulse
“… to be able to deliver devices with ever-increasing performance levels, medical device manufacturers continue to face many design challenges and requirements. Propelling these requirements is the unrelenting trend toward minimally invasive procedures, requiring smaller and smaller devices made from a range of microcomponents, and the trend toward increasing medical device connectivity. As a result, there is a growing need to unite plastics and such metals as stainless steel, although they used to be fierce competitors.”
Read More: Plastics and Metals Team Up in Medical Device Apps
Plastics and Metals Team Up in Medical Device Apps Read More »
Source: 3D Print.com
“Stryker’s proprietary Tritanium technology has now been applied to spinal implants designed to encourage healthy regrowth of the bone tissue, and to reduce any strain or damage caused by being implanted. The Tritanium Posterior Lumbar (PL) Cage is a 3D printed intervertebral body fusion device that was developed to help patients dealing with lumbar spinal fixation due to ongoing back problems brought on by degenerative disc disease.”
Read More: Stryker’s Spine Division to Debut 3D Printed Tritanium Posterior Lumbar Cage Spinal Implant
KLEVE, GERMANY – Ipsen’s Global Development Team recently celebrated the first build and testing of the ARGOS heat-treating system. The ARGOS uses low-pressure carburizing (AvaC®) in combination with 20-bar nitrogen quenching to provide metallurgical properties never before seen in gas quenching systems – even those utilizing 20-bar helium quenching. One industry visitor who witnessed the test run commented, “The ARGOS is likely the fastest inert gas quench furnace in the world.”
This initial test was performed on one of the most difficult to quench vacuum carburized components: layshafts for large gears. Until now, helium gas, which is both expensive and declining in availability, was required to fully transform parts with very high cross-sectional thicknesses.
Test outcomes showed that the shafts processed in the ARGOS system with 20-bar nitrogen quenching achieved higher surface hardness and core hardness values than shafts processed in the existing vacuum heat-treating furnaces that use 20-bar helium quenching. The ARGOS heat-treating system also offers several benefits, including:
Overall, the ARGOS furnace line represents a significant milestone in the growing trend to operate low-pressure carburizing (LPC) lines in combination with inert gas quenching.
Record Gas Quenching Speeds Achieved in Ipsen’s ARGOS Heat Treating System Read More »
Source: Thermal Processing for Gear Solutions
“When trying to improve fatigue properties, two important areas need to be addressed: improvements of material and improvements in heat treatment technology.”
Read More: Improved Materials and Enhanced Fatigue Resistance for Gear Components
Improved Materials and Enhanced Fatigue Resistance for Gear Components Read More »
Baker Furnace, Inc. shipped a custom-built, high-temperature conveyor oven designed to heat treat rods used to manufacture commercial heating elements. The process also requires a nitrogen purge to create a specific atmosphere.
At 35 ft long with an operating temperature of 1900°F, the engineering challenges for this unique application were a combination of the size and high temperature coupled with the fact that the application required four different heating zones with a nitrogen injection in every zone.
The electrically-powered conveyor oven was constructed as a modular system which allowed Baker Furnace to conduct a complete test on site and then break it down to ship and install in the most cost-effective manner. The first two zones for heating measure 24”w x 16”h x 12’L while the two cooling sections measure 24”w x 16”h x 20’L, both with nitrogen injection supply lines to create an inert atmosphere. The oven is equipped with a 24” wide inconel wire woven belt supported by an internal inconel slider bed, which is driven with a gear reduction motor (speed controlled by Allen Bradley drives). Using formed rod-style, Kanthal elements rated at 60kW for heating, the entire system is controlled with an Allen Bradley touch screen HMI and Allen Bradley PLC software.
“Designing a conveyor oven of this size and temperature is a challenge in itself, but our biggest hurdle came when we had to achieve a plus or minus 25°F heat uniformity within the multiple zones. Each zone required different temperatures with a nitrogen injection. We leaned on our past experience as well as testing several scenarios to come up with a design that the customer loves.” Tim Bacon, Lead Project Manager at Baker Furnace.
2200°F Conveyor Oven Supplied for Aquatic Heating Systems Read More »
On April 29, 2016, Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC), state, federal and local officials and their honored guests gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction of CMC’s second technologically advanced micro mill which will be located in Durant, OK.
Joe Alvarado, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of CMC, said, “This event marks another historic day for CMC, the State of Oklahoma, and the City of Durant. We believe the addition of a second micro mill to CMC’s portfolio of highly efficient and customer focused production facilities will open new market opportunities and enhance CMC’s position as a leading supplier of long products in the U.S. market. Today would not have been possible without the support of the State of Oklahoma and the City of Durant and we look forward to many years of a very successful relationship.”
“This groundbreaking represents how local, state and tribal partnerships can bring together various entities to achieve great things for the State of Oklahoma,” said Governor Mary Fallin. “Not only will this mill produce high quality steel products that can be used by many Oklahoma industries, it will bring quality jobs to the Durant area, providing great opportunities for Oklahomans and further diversifying our economy.”
CMC’s innovative micro mill technology uses a continuous-continuous manufacturing process that melts, casts and rolls steel from a single uninterrupted strand, producing higher yields and lower energy consumption than the traditional minimill process. The Oklahoma micro mill is expected to create approximately 300 jobs in the Durant area.
CMC expects the new Durant micro mill to be commissioned in the fall of 2017.
Commercial Metals Company Celebrates the Groundbreaking of New Micro Mill Read More »
OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture between Airbus Defence and Space and OneWeb, has chosen Florida in the United States as the site for its final assembly line, completing the last step in its industrial organisation. This facility, located at Florida’s Exploration Park, near the Kennedy Space Center, will carry out the series production of nearly 900 satellites for the OneWeb constellation.
“In June 2015, we started from scratch to create a new satellite design and manufacturing company,” stated François Auque, Head of Space Systems. “In both Florida and Europe, we are now embarking on the next stage of an unprecedented venture in the space industry: a site that can mass-produce dozens of satellites every month. All this, of course, without affecting the levels of quality and technology that are essential when it comes to spacecraft – complex machines that need to operate for several years in space.”
The choice of Florida for the final assembly line follows the announcement of the creation of OneWeb Satellites in January 2016. The production site will cover an area of 100,000+ square feet and will create nearly 250 direct jobs.
A prototype production line at Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse (France) will assemble and test the first 10 satellites, and check and validate industrial solutions for the series production. The design of the satellites is currently under way in the company’s design offices in Toulouse.
The space segment of OneWeb will comprise initially a constellation of 648 operational satellites and replacement satellites, all of which will be identical. Each satellite will weigh approximately 150 kg and will operate in low Earth orbit. Arianespace and Virgin Galactic will begin launching the spacecraft in 2018 and the satellites will be placed in orbit using electrical propulsion.
This joint venture, equally owned by Airbus Defence and Space and OneWeb, has been set up following the selection in June 2015 of Airbus Defence and Space as the industrial partner of OneWeb to design and build its satellites. The constellation to be operated by OneWeb will provide high-speed internet services with global coverage. OneWeb Satellites will also be able to produce satellites, platforms or equipment to be marketed by Airbus Defence and Space for the benefit of other operators of future constellations.
How Will We Design, Manufacture and Test 900 Satellites? Read More »