Contract Manufacturing and Fabrication Reference Materials
Reference Articles 401 - 500 of 1331
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Top Tapes for CGM Applications
From: JBC Technologies, Inc.Description: Custom die-cut adhesives play an essential part in the functionality of today's wearable Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) patches. They are used to adhere the device to the skin, to bond one layer ...
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Top Tapes for Disposable Pulse Oximetry Applications
From: JBC Technologies, Inc.Description: We've written recently about the pros and cons of synthetic rubber, acrylic and silicone pressure sensitive adhesives in die-cut pulse oximetry applications. We've also talked about key pulse ox ...
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Advancements in Non-Destructive Testing: OCT - Part 3
From: Avantier Inc.Description: Unlock the world of non-destructive testing's future with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) - where high-resolution, non-contact 3D imaging revolutionizes industries. ...
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3 Key Considerations for Designing with Co-Extruded Products
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: Plastic co-extrusion is a process in which two or more materials are extruded through a single die to form a single product. This technique is commonly used in industries such as building and ...
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3 Things to Keep in Mind when Selecting Materials for Co-extrusion
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: The co-extrusion process is used to produce a part with 2 or more materials into a single plastic profile. Co-extrusion is a versatile processing technology that allows you to create custom profiles ...
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The Secrets to Consistency in Low-Volume Production
From: RPWORLDDescription: Unlike the traditional production, the on-demand and customized high-mix, low-volume manufacturing services of RPWORLD allows for the design flexibility that mass manufacturing cannot offer. Moreover, ...
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Advantages to End Forming Stainless Steel Tubing
Description: End forming stainless steel tubing involves shaping or modifying the ends of the tubing to achieve specific functionalities and connections. ...
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eBook - Surface Treatment of Precision Machined Parts
Description: Machining isn't the last step in producing precision metal parts; they need appropriate surface treatments too. The right finishing process can extend product life, improve functionality or make them ...
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Thin-Walled Investment Casting and its Applications
Description: Wall thickness refers to the distance between opposite sides or surfaces of a solid metal cast region. In a part like a cover the wall thickness is the distance between inner and outer surfaces. Thin ...
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Electron Beam Welding and its Applications
Description: The heat of welding distorts workpiece materials and alters their properties. Electron beam welding (EBW) minimizes these adverse impacts and provides a way of joining otherwise unwieldable materials ...
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Manufacturing Combustion Parts for Aircraft Engine and APU Applications
Description: The heart of the axial flow turbine engine is the combustion chamber. This is where fuel and air are mixed and ignited, with air velocity determining how far through the chamber the flame front ...
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Stainless Steel Investment Casting and Its Aerospace Applications
Description: Stainless steel is preferred for many aircraft engine, structural, fuel and hydraulic system applications. Providing a combination of strength and corrosion-resistance, it supports weight reduction ...
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Understanding the Design and Engineering of Gas Turbine Nozzle Assemblies
Description: Gas turbine nozzle components are some of the most highly engineered parts manufactured anywhere. They need to survive high temperatures, corrosive atmospheres, vibration and centrifugal forces, and ...
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3 Things to Consider when Deciding to Fabricate Parts In-line or on a Secondary Basis
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: Plastic extrusion is a very cost competitive method of producing parts that have a constant cross-sectional shape. However, it is often desired to fabricate the parts so that they can be used as a ...
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Eliminating the Sink Mark Before it Occurs
From: RPWORLDDescription: One of the common defects on plastic injection molded parts is sink mark, which appears as a dimple or shallow depression on the surface of a molded part and impacts the part quality and visual ...
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Advantages of Hydraulic Orbital Motors Over Other Hydraulic Motor Designs
Description: Hydraulic motors are a good choice in many applications, but a cursory search reveals there are several types to choose from. This blog will explain the advantages of orbital motors over the other ...
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Carbon Steel Investment Casting and its Applications in Industrial Equipment
Description: Cranks, handles, levers, rods and shafts are just some of the industrial equipment parts cast in carbon steel. Casting helps avoid machining, and investment casting achieves this better than sand ...
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How 5-Axis Milling Changes the Machining Paradigm
Description: If you're exploring manufacturing processes for machined parts, 5-axis milling may open up design options you haven't considered. Download our ebook, "How 5-Axis Milling Changes the Machining ...
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Understanding the Working Principle of Hydraulic Orbital Motors
Description: For high torque in mobile and industrial applications, it’s hard to beat a hydraulic orbital motor. These are compact enough to use as wheel motors in mobile equipment like skid steers, and for ...
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Electropolishing for Improved Fit, Function and Appearance of Metal Fasteners
Description: Enhanced durability and corrosion resistance with electropolishing. From titanium screws for medical implants to structural bolts for transportation, waterworks and steel fabricated buildings, ...
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3 Great Reasons to Utilize Prototype Tooling for Developing Extruded Plastic Products
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: When designing products for plastic extrusion, consideration must be given to the tooling that is required to produce the tools. In many cases, it is desirable to begin with prototype tooling instead ...
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Which to Choose for Your Product Development: Injection Molding, CNC Machining, or Urethane Casting?
From: RPWORLDDescription: Bringing a new product from concept to market requires reliable prototypes for design evaluation, testing, and proof-of-concept. Injection Molding, CNC Machining, and Vacuum Casting are top choices ...
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Semiconductor Photolithography Process Overview
From: Top Seiko Co., Ltd.Description: Semiconductor lithography is a crucial process in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, such as microchips and integrated circuits. It involves the precise transfer of intricate patterns onto a ...
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Metal 3D Printing for the Medical Device Industry-A Medtech Makers Q&A
Description: When 3D printing is mentioned, it is probably most often associated with plastic. While polymers do represent the bulk of the materials used with this fabrication process, metals are quickly becoming ...
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eBook - Basics of Multi-Spindle Turning
Description: The modern multi-spindle lathe gives engineers more freedom to consider functionality over manufacturability. It also improves quality, boosts productivity and can even speed up delivery. Learn how ...
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Maintenance Tips for Hydraulic Orbital Motors
Description: Hydraulic orbital motors provide high torque from a compact package. They are ideal for mobile and industrial applications where electric motors would be too big, bulky, expensive or otherwise ...
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What Smart Manufacturing Means at Impro
Description: Some manufacturing experts are calling it the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Others use terms like "The Industrial Internet of Things" (IIoT) or "smart manufacturing". Whatever label you put on it, ...
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Why Impro's Mexico Sand Casting Plant is Your Best Choice for Sand Casting Solutions
Description: If you need a competitive North American source of sand cast iron parts, this blog is for you. We recently completed Phase One of a modern, highly efficient casting and machining plant in the Mexican ...
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Safe Travels!
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: The travel season is upon us, and those who will be flying somewhere are probably gearing up for the security hassle they'll find at the TSA checkpoint. There's getting your ID out, and (maybe) your ...
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4 Design Tips to Cut Your CNC Machined Parts Cost by Up to 50%!
From: RPWORLDDescription: As the high-mix, low-volume manufacturing supplier of more than a decade experience, we'd like to share design tips which will make your parts easy for machining. In return, you will get parts with ...
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eBook - Creating Internal Features in Investment Cast Parts
Description: When designing parts that will be investment cast it's very easy to make costly and/or program-delaying mistakes, especially when cores are involved. To avoid this, Impro recommends reading our eBook, ...
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Introduction to Investment Casting Accuracy Grades
Description: One of the reasons for having parts made by investment casting is that the process is capable of maintaining tight tolerances. This minimizes secondary machining and enables reproduction of fine. ...
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Tips for Optimizing Swiss Screw Machining Efficiency
Description: Swiss screw CNC lathes are highly productive machines, but running them at less than maximum efficiency can mean a significant loss of output. This blog explains the kind of precision machining work ...
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Connectivity and Low Power in the IoT Era
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: We are well into the Internet of Things Era, and have reached the point where we (almost) take it for granted that so many objects that are part of everyday life - even objects we don't traditionally ...
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Edge Intelligence in the IoT Era
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Since the first of the year, EE Times has been running a series on design challenges in the IoT era. While providing a general overview of these challenges, they've focused on a few more specific ...
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Security in the IoT Era
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: In this, our third post on EETimes series on trends around Embedded in the IoT Era, I'll be summarizing some of the articles devoted to security. (The other categories they consider the most critical ...
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How Minimizing Part Counts Can Streamline Your Manufacturing Process and Cut Costs
From: RPWORLDDescription: By prioritizing simplified designs and fewer components, you can not only enhance the functionality and quality of your products but also significantly lower costs, and accelerate development ...
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3 Essential Tips to Help Find Your Right CNC Machining Partner
From: RPWORLDDescription: CNC machining allows for the use of a wide range of plastics and metals, presenting a plethora of choices for your machined parts. Navigating this vast selection to find the ideal material that ...
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An Introduction to Sand Casting Exhaust Manifolds
Description: Exposed to hot, fast moving and corrosive gasses, exhaust manifolds need an uncommon set of qualities if they are to survive and contribute to efficient combustion. Impro successfully sand casts these ...
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4 Key Ways On-Demand Manufacturing is Accelerating EV Charger Development
From: RPWORLDDescription: EV battery charging companies that support these developments are in a race to develop EV chargers quickly and cost-effectively. In order to gain a competitive advantage, one big way you can choose is ...
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An Introduction to Impro Mexico's Investment Casting Process Capabilities
Description: If you're looking for a North American source of investment castings, Impro can help. We started investment casting at our plant in Mexico in late 2022, and with extensive precision machining services ...
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3 Key Reasons to Use 3D Printing to Optimize New Product Development
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: When working to design and commercialize new products; it is critical that timing and costs are optimized so that the new product can be introduced as quickly as possible to help you achieve the goals ...
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An Introduction to Sand Cast Iron Engine Blocks
Description: Impro uses sand casting to produce engine blocks for high horsepower and other applications. Sand casting has advantages over other casting processes, but also poses some challenges. Here's an ...
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Precision Machining for Oil & Gas Applications
Description: The tough alloys used for demanding applications in the oil and gas sector pose serious machining challenges. Cutting forces are high, inserts wear rapidly, and chips refuse to break. Add these ...
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Sand Casting for Power Generation Equipment Applications
Description: Many components of power generation equipment perform best when produced in cast iron. It's a metal that can dampen vibration, distribute heat, hold up to wear and withstand high loads. Impro sand ...
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5 Essential Design Strategies to Reduce Fasteners and Streamline Your Project
From: RPWORLDDescription: Did you know that fasteners, while indispensable for product assembly, often add little value yet significantly increase production time and costs? From bolts to nuts, fasteners can be optimized to ...
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An Introduction to Making Gas Turbine Nozzle Assemblies
Description: The combustion gases expelled from a gas turbine will quickly erode and can even melt most steels. For internal components to survive in such an environment, they are investment cast in nickel-based ...
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Inconel® Investment Casting
Description: Engineers turn to nickel-based superalloys when stainless steel can't provide enough corrosion resistance or high temperature strength. The downside of alloys like Inconel® though, is that they ...
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Overcoming Common Challenges in Swiss Screw Machining
Description: A technology for precision machining small cylindrical parts quickly and efficiently. These parts can be much larger than watch screws, and they needn't be threaded, but machinists still refer to the ...
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Application Notes: On Demand Laser Cut Gaskets & Masks
From: Abrisa TechnologiesDescription: In-house, on-demand, fast turn laser cutting of high performance materials used as gaskets and environmental seals for glass components interfaced with metals, plastics, paints, and more. ...
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INNOVATION Perfecting the "essence" of precision processing and applying it to new fields
From: Tokusen Kogyo Co., Ltd.Description: Semiconductors, solar power generating equipment, office equipment, communications equipment... Special steel wire made possible by Tokusen’s unique technologies is indispensable to many ...
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Everything You Need to Know about Injection Molded Holes
From: RPWORLDDescription: The holes, slots, and depressions in plastic parts are crucial features for proper assembly, ventilation, and even providing aesthetic value in some products. These features are formed by the core, ...
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eBook - Grinding for Precision
Description: Tight tolerances and demanding surface finish requirements may dictate the use of grinding. Our eBook, "Grinding for Precision", will give readers the information they need to minimize the use of this ...
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7 Excellent Reasons to Consider Using 3D Printing for Prototypes
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: There are many advantages to using 3D prototyping to advance commercialization of new products and innovations. ...
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What is Transfer Press Stamping
Description: Transfer press metal stamping is a specific type of metal forming process that uses a transfer press to create complex parts and components from countless metals and alloys most commonly in coiled ...
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Creating Internal Cavities in Sand Cast Parts
Description: Cavities in parts made by sand casting, like valve bodies, pump housings, and engine blocks, are there mainly to channel, guide and hold fluids. They can also reduce finished part weight and save on ...
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Quality Control in Investment Casting
Description: Investment casting is ideal for producing parts that will be highly loaded, subjected to high temperatures and pressures, or require precise geometry that minimizes secondary operations. This is ...
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4 Essential CNC Machining Tips for Product Designers to Improve Your Part Design
From: RPWORLDDescription: Attention product designers! Learn how to streamline your CNC machining process with these four key design tips: optimize parts for clamping, add essential features to holes and flanges, incorporate ...
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Semiconductor Manufacturing Process and Advanced Materials Overview
From: Top Seiko Co., Ltd.Description: The article highlights the significance of advanced materials in semiconductor manufacturing. These materials, including ceramics, glasses, crystals, and refractory metals, are crucial for various ...
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2022 MPIF Award Winning MIM Part - Slide Release
Description: Originally designed for stamping, but the complex geometry was too much of a challenge, the powder metallurgy (PM) metal injection molding (MIM) process was selected for this one-piece firearm slide ...
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Introduction to Impro's Total Manufacturing Solutions for Gas Turbine Nozzle Assemblies
Description: The components at the heart of a gas turbine are engineered to handle the most challenging environments imaginable. Impro is proud to offer a total solution for such parts, from investment casting, ...
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Sand Casting for Commercial Vehicle Applications
Description: Components used in commercial vehicles must have strength, toughness, and a little ductility. Good heat transfer properties and low density are bonus factors. These requirements push part designers to ...
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3M Medical Markets & Materials Names JBC Technologies Select Converter
From: JBC Technologies, Inc.Description: 3M Medical Materials & Technologies has recognized JBC Technologies as a Select Converter. By being accepted into the 3M Medical Materials & Technologies Select Converter program, JBC ...
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6 Advantages for Suppliers with Captive Tooling Operations
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: A critical step in the custom extrusion process is designing and building the tooling for a part. There are several advantages to a custom manufacturer designing and building their own tooling. ...
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Case Study: Objective Lens Design
From: Avantier Inc.Description: This case study discusses the design of a high-performance objective lens for trapping and imaging single atoms. The lens was designed to have diffraction-limited performance for multiple laser beams ...
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Identifying Resolution of Imaging Systems
From: Avantier Inc.Description: Want to ensure your imaging system produces high-quality images? Identifying its resolution is crucial. A popular tool used for this purpose is a test target, consisting of groups of elements with ...
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Introduction to AR/MR/VR Part 1
From: Avantier Inc.Description: AR, MR, and VR are immersive technologies that enhance our perception of reality, with AR overlaying digital content onto the real world, MR integrating digital content into reality for interaction, ...
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LiDAR in Autonomous Vehicles
From: Avantier Inc.Description: LiDAR is a technology that uses laser pulses to create a 3D understanding of an environment, providing highly accurate mapping for self-driving cars up to 400 meters away. It is not dependent on ...
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Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
From: Avantier Inc.Description: See beyond the surface with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) - a cutting-edge medical imaging technique that captures detailed cross-sectional images of biological tissues without invasive ...
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Peak to Valley and Root Mean Square in Optic
From: Avantier Inc.Description: This article explores the differences between peak-to-valley (PV) and root-mean-square (RMS) measurements for quantifying deviations from an ideal optical surface. While PV has been historically used ...
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Precision Aluminum Investment Casting
Description: A high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent thermal conductivity and good corrosion-resistance are just some of the reasons for using aluminum. If you're looking for low mass, good heat transfer, or ...
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Multiple Core Plastic Extrusion
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: Plastic extrusion is a popular manufacturing process that involves melting resin pellets and pushing them through a die to create a continuous plastic profile or shape. However, this process can be ...
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Essential Design Tips for Molded Parts: Why You Should Avoid Sharp Corners in Plastic Part Design
From: RPWORLDDescription: Sharp corners can hinder plastic melt flow, cause part flaws, and create stress concentrations that weaken your parts. Discover 3 crucial design tips to optimize your part design and enhance strength. ...
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Enhance Manufacturing Efficiency: Avoid These 5 Critical CNC Machining Design Pitfalls
From: RPWORLDDescription: While CNC machining is highly automated, the human element remains crucial. Our engineering experts have identified common design issues. By steering clear of these five pitfalls, you can optimize ...
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5 Ways to Better Product Development (with Die Cutting)
From: JBC Technologies, Inc.Description: The process of choosing your die-cutting partner is filled with challenges. Launching a new product with them shouldn't be. Engage your die-cutting supplier at the beginning of a project - accelerate ...
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Creating Molds for Investment Casting
Description: The lead time to get sample parts can be longer and tooling costs may be higher. For engineers and buyers trying to determine if investment casting is the right process for their parts and ...
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Tips for Choosing a Prototyping Machine Shop
From: Protomatic, Inc.Description: Choosing the right prototyping machine shop for your next project is quite possibly the most important decision you will make in the entire process. This is particularly true for entrepreneurs with ...
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4 Reasons to Bring In a Subject Matter Expert Early in the Design Process
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: Bringing in a Subject Matter Expert (SME) early in the design process can provide numerous benefits. Key benefits are listed below. ...
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How to Specify Electropolishing
Description: Before submitting a part to be electropolished, engineers need to have an idea of how much of the surface material can be removed without impacting the part’s intended function. This will vary ...
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In-house vs. Outsourcing Electropolishing Considerations
Description: As a pioneer of the process with seven decades of experience, the Able Electropolishing team is frequently asked for help by companies seeking to set up an electropolishing line in-house. Often ...
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Impro Fluidtek's RC Motor Series
Description: What makes these motors the best choice for an AWP. ...
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The Role of Binders and Resins in Sand Casting
Description: When a foundry is deciding how to cast a particular part, selection of the binder system - the mechanism that makes grains of sand stick together - is a big part of the process. This blog will explain ...
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3 Reasons to Consider Co-Extrusion
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: Co-extrusion is a process in which multiple types of plastic are extruded simultaneously through a single die. There are several benefits to using co-extrusion for parts made via plastic extrusion. ...
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eBook - Determining Economic Quantities for Investment Casting
Description: For a large family of parts the lowest total cost manufacturing route includes investment casting. Our eBook, "Determining Economic Quantities for Investment Casting" explores this topic to help ...
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Impro Showcases its Manufacturing Capabilities at Metalcasting Congress 2023
Description: Impro Sales and Technical associates look forward to see you at the show. Please come and visit us at Booth# 535. We can discuss your specific product needs or provide an overview of our company and ...
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Three Strikes You're Out
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: With the major league baseball season now underway, I was interested to read that all of baseball's Triple-A teams - that's the highest-level league before the majors - will be using an electronic ...
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Choosing The Right Hydraulic Orbital Motor for Your Application
Description: A hydraulic orbital motor uses the energy in flowing liquid to create rotation. As with an electric motor, this can drive machinery or vehicles, but where orbital motors have an advantage is in low ...
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Draft Angles in Investment Casting
Description: Draft angles on cast parts limit the designer's freedom and complicate secondary machining operations. One of the advantages of investment casting over other casting processes is that draft angles can ...
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Hydraulic Orbital Motors and Their Applications
Description: A hydraulic orbital motor is the best source of high torque at low speed. They are used in many mobile, and quite a few static applications and can simplify equipment design while delivering better ...
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5 Ingenious Design Tips to Enhance the Performance of Your Sheet Metal Parts
From: RPWORLDDescription: The fact is that the sheet metal parts can be strengthened accordingly, so that they can play their roles in different applications. In this article, we talk about some of the ways you can bolster the ...
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Selecting materials for servers, accelerators and data storage
From: BoydDescription: Discover the key design considerations and differences between smart mirrors and heads-up displays (HUDs) ...
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Superconductivity
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Superconductivity has long been the Holy Grail of materials science. Superconductive materials have the ability to convey electricity with next to no resistance. This decreases energy loss, making ...
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Metal Finishing for the Medical Industry: Improving Sanitation, Performance and Safety
Description: Manufacturers of medical and surgical devices and instruments have no room for error when it comes to the safety, function and hygiene of critical metal parts. The design and creation of life saving ...
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Passivation, Pickling or Electropolishing: Which Metal Finishing Process is Right for Your Parts?
Description: Passivation, pickling, and electropolishing are common metal finishing techniques - but not all finishing methods are created equal. In our latest guide, we explain the benefits of each, how the ...
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Technical Guide: Electropolishing for the Aerospace Industry
Description: Download our technical guide and discover how electropolishing can prevent premature part failures and increase cycle life for components used in aerospace applications. ...
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AI isn't quite human-like. Yet. But it's getting closer
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: There's been plenty of buzz in the last month or so about AI chatbots. And there's no doubt about it, AI is making chatbots more human-like. Still, it looks like we still have a bit of time before the ...
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7 Advantages of Combining Multiple Parts into a Single Part
From: Engineered Profiles, LLCDescription: Combining multiple parts into a single part can bring several benefits in terms of efficiency and cost savings. Here are some of the key advantages. ...
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Mechanical Parts Manufacturing-Dedicated to Your High Quality Parts with Consistency
From: RPWORLDDescription: Check out how RPWORLD quality control brings you with higher quality and consistent parts that meet your precision specifications. ...
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Bring Medical Innovations to Life. FASTER.
Description: A game-changing opportunity to collaborate engineer-to-engineer ...
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Optimizing the Manufacturing of Custom Rubber Components
Description: In this whitepaper, we'll equip you with a better understanding of the key elements of rubber component design and manufacturing — from material selection and design, to prototyping and ...