The nation is at a crossroad, with much of its energy infrastructure comprised of aging facilities and systems. Simultaneously, strategies are shifting about which energy technologies to deploy. The decisions and action taken now could affect the U.S. for generations, says this position paper from ASME. The organization posits itself and practicing engineers throughout the nation, to not only take on the challenge of devising the systems that we will rely upon, but tackle several priorities, key among them: educate the public better about energy technologies; and become the rational, technical expert voice when others try to set policy.

The type UA Oldham/Universal coupling from OEP Couplings is, in many ways, the ultimate flexible coupling: it offers an unparalleled combination of flexibility, strength, and stiffness. It accommodates up to 0.050 in. of radial and up to six degrees of angular misalignment while exerting negligible reactive forces on support bearings.

MW Industries custom designs and manufactures Belleville washers, disc and curved disc springs, serrated and slotted disc springs, and wave washers, in standard steel and "exotic" materials, both heat and non-heat set. ODs from .236 in. to 14.094 in. in thicknesses from .009 in. to .835 in. We can both press form and machine washers to your requirements.

To save cost, some manufacturers use rolled bright bar feedstock instead of ground or prepared bar. But this can cause problems when machining wider tolerance material on CNC sliding-head lathes. One solution: a new double-taper adaptive guide bushing that accommodates wider tolerance variation on bar stock diameter.

Metal production machinery is subjected to high heat and heavy loads. Though bearings supporting pinch rolls are outside annealing furnaces, transmitted heat lifts external temps to 400 C and causes lubrication failure. A self-lubricating bearing made from molten metal, graphite, and carbon solved the problem without major redesign.

The art of deglazing or putting a cross-hatch pattern into a cylinder — removing peaks from surfaces, but retaining valleys for oil retention — requires two things: a practiced technician and the right finishing tool. Here's one of the industry-leading honing tools in action, with tips on doing the job right.

Take any demanding, manual, monotonous task; eventually, someone will try to automate it. Put metal polishing in that category. Germany's Fraunhofer Institute is automating at least medium grade polishing, using lasers to melt surfaces to depths of 50 or 100 micrometers. It's faster than manual and reaches surfaces hands can't.

Century Spring Corp. (CSC) maintains the most comprehensive assortment of die springs springs in the industry. Die springs are an excellent way to apply maximum loads with minimal solid height. Because they are wound with rectangular or D-shaped wire, die springs most often achieve longer cycle-life than round wire compression springs.

The locking nut features a simple fingertip control retainer ring matched with a precision locking nut. Available in a wide range of sizes, this easy-to-use locking nut from Temper Companies can be adapted to different industrial applications. One key feature is that no special tooling is required for easy installation.

Engineers rely on slick polytetrafluoroethylene for many products beyond non-stick pots and pans. Suppliers expanded PTFE's potential by expanding the fluoropolymer. Derivative expanded-PTFEs work as cable insulators because they're hydrophobic, chemical resistant, withstand repeated flexing, and are thermally stable, ± 250 C.

While conducting 'spintronics' research — harnessing energy from spinning electrons — North Carolina State University engineers developed super computer chips that can store a terabyte of data. That's 50x the capacity of today's chips. They found the formula by selectively doping a base ceramic material; adding nickel atoms to magnesium oxide.

This low-temperature steel wheel might warm hearts, especially those trying to meet specs for products needing durability in extreme conditions, such as aerospace, food processing, and medical devices. They feature 440 C stainless steel balls and races, 304 stainless steel retainers, and a lubricant to withstand service temperatures to -70 C.

The diversity of wave spring applications can make selection confusing. But just a handful of rules guide spring requirements. These include working cavity size, load requirement, allowable deflection, and fatigue cycling. The following calculations can help you identify a stock spring — or realize you'll be springing for custom hardware.

With the Pascal Centering Vise, both jaws are equally centered during the clamping stroke, maintaining the piece part position centerline. Pascal Centering Vise minimized the interference space, thus tool selection has become flexible to make better machining conditions.

Glyne's two butting machines can form tubing with up to 4 in. diameter and 42 in. length.

Butting creates a tube with varying wall thickness, while maintaining a constant outside diameter. Typically, you would have a heavier wall on both ends, and a thinner wall in the middle. Learn more.

The economy is down and then it's back up, who can predict its path? One factor remains true, however. Sooner or later, you need to hire new talent. So how do you get the best people for the job? There's no fool-proof way to find the best hires for your company. Successful hiring seems to be a roll of the dice. But this checklist offers nine ideas to help tip the odds in your favor. Some may not seem easy or expedient, but hiring an elite team shouldn't be.

The blind may soon be able to drive. That is, with the assistance of automation. With automated help, they may drive better than most sighted road warriors. A retrofitted dirt buggy developed at Virginia Tech uses laser range finders, a voice command interface, and other control technology to guide blind drivers in safe steering, braking, and accelerating. Applications are in military and medical robotics.

Inventions of Our Time

Each generation has great innovations. Radios, LP records, and medical devices changed lives dramatically. Cell phones and the Internet are recent inventions. What innovation do you rank among the greatest? What do you see on the horizon?