Contract Manufacturing and Fabrication Reference Materials
Reference Articles 1 - 100 of 743
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Automotive Case Study
From: Vulcan Spring & Mfg. Co.Description: An automotive interior manufacturer came to us with a need for a new spring. After having supplied a spring to their specifications, a clicking noise, due to interference with a vent blower, was ...
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Automotive Center Console Case Study
From: Vulcan Spring & Mfg. Co.Description: After already requesting and approving a design, an automotive customer realized that the spring end detail created interference with an HVAC blower vent resulting in noise and uneven air flow. The ...
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Medical Device Case Study
From: Vulcan Spring & Mfg. Co.Description: A critical product designed by a medical device company incorporated a complete spring assembly. Certain components disrupted the supply chain, causing significant delays in production. The company ...
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Onshoring Case Study
From: Vulcan Spring & Mfg. Co.Description: The events of 2020 have led to some sleepless nights for many of us. For those in the manufacturing sector, risks associated with offshore component sourcing have been a concern, which has led to ...
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Pusher System Case Study
From: Vulcan Spring & Mfg. Co.Description: A renowned display tray manufacturer came to Vulcan with the challenge of pushing a unique array of products that are not typically conducive to pusher systems. The company needed to incorporate a ...
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Orifice Failure Modes in Watejet Application
Description: A faulty manufacturing process causes oval-shaped or not-round orifice. This type of error will then negatively affect jet stream coherency and render it unusable. When this failure happens, you will ...
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3D Printing Technologies (Part 1)
Description: While additive manufacturing-more commonly known as 3D printing-has been around for nearly 40 years, it still feels to many as if the technology is in its infancy. 3D printing technology has evolved ...
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All About Investment Casting for Aerospace Applications
Description: Investment casting enables manufacturers to produce precision-engineered parts while minimizing material and energy waste. The word "investment" refers to the way that wax patterns are invested by a ...
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All You Need to Know About Impro's One-Stop Solutions
Description: At Impro, we offer one-stop solutions to a diverse set of industries. In addition to our investment casting, sand casting, and precision machining capabilities, we also offer a broad selection of ...
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Building Superior Hydraulic Systems with Precision Machining
Description: Hydraulic systems use fluids to drive tools-particularly those that perform continuous, repetitive tasks-as well as to move, position, and lift heavy objects, such as machine assemblies and raw ...
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Common Misconceptions About Investment Casting
Description: At Impro, we are a premier manufacturer of high-quality engineered metal parts and components suitable for use in critical and demanding applications, such as those found in the aerospace, automotive, ...
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Different Types of Investment Casting Materials
Description: There is a large selection of alloys to choose from during the material selection process for investment casing. These include: ...
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Frequently Asked Questions About Sand Casting
Description: 1. What is sand casting? 2. How does sand casting work? 3. What are the advantages of sand casting? 4. What kinds of materials are used in sand casting? 5. What types of products can be made by sand ...
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Impro's Top 2020 Milestones
Description: The past year was a pivotal one, presenting many unique challenges. At Impro, we've worked diligently to rise to meet the year's challenges, while continuing to persist in growth and excellence. We ...
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Inside Casting & Machining Products (Part 1)
Description: Investment casting is one of the oldest manufacturing processes that is still in use today--in fact, investment casting has been widely used to form metal parts for thousands of years. This versatile ...
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Investment Casting vs. Die Casting: What Are the Differences?
Description: Investment cast components are highly detailed, precise, and accurate. Once freed from the ceramic mold, they exhibit smooth finishes that generally require little to no finishing. Although a new wax ...
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Precision Machining Series, Part 1: What It Is, How It Works, and Compatible Materials
Description: Most precision machining workflows require some level of computer numerical control (CNC) programming. This programming allows the machines to convert specialized designs into exact shapes through ...
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Sand Casting and Its Power Generation Applications
Description: Sand casting is an excellent technique to produce parts for power generation applications and the harsh conditions they must endure - such as humidity and moisture, corrosive chemicals, ultraviolet ...
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The Value of Investment Casting (Part 1)
Description: Investment Casting can yield any required shape using almost any metal alloy; design functionality can be maximized due to the amount of materials to choose from. Various features can also be ...
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Titanium Investment Casting: What You Need to Know
Description: Investment casting is a versatile process used with a variety of materials to create intricate components with a smooth surface finish. Due to the highly reactive nature of titanium, investment ...
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What are Cores in the Sand Casting Process?
Description: A core is an insert that will be placed into the mold. The sand is poured over the pattern while being compacted and pressed. The core's purpose is to direct where the molten metal will go to fill the ...
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What to Know About 3D Printed Investment Casting Patterns
Description: A 3D printer can be used by many industries to create products made from materials such as plastic. However, these machines can 3D print out parts in resin, metal and even food for certain industries. ...
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What to Understand About Precision Machining Techniques for Aircraft Parts
Description: The manufacturing of aircraft parts is a highly complex process. These mission-critical components have extremely specific requirements to ensure the safe operation of systems within the entire plane. ...
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Three Reasons Why Digital Die Cutting Is Great for Rapid Prototyping
From: JBC Technologies, Inc.Description: Digital die cutting isn't just another way to produce parts from foam, felt, foil, insulation, cork, rubber, and other materials. As a rapid prototyping method, this parts production technique meets ...
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Designing, Fabricating, and Installing Accelerator Room Doors for Cancer Care Centre
From: MarsMetalDescription: Mars Metal was contracted by a large commercial construction company to build accelerator doors for a cancer care facility in Washington, USA. We were brought on board due to our expertise in ...
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Take You to Know the Endoscope
From: BRD Optical Co., Ltd.Description: Endoscope is a testing instrument that integrates traditional optics, ergonomics, precision machinery, modern electronics, mathematics, and software. One has an image sensor, optical lens, light ...
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High Precison Bore Honing Maching
Description: With advanced Swiss hone bores machine,we machine ultra hard material including sapphire,ruby.ceramic and steel bore sizes from 0.10 to 0.80 mm. It is possible to mount long single parts as well as ...
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Aerospace Casting and Surface Treatment Capabilities
Description: Aerospace and aviation companies face unique challenges for their equipment and components. First, they require highly complex and precise parts that perform their functions reliably and efficiently. ...
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CNC Machining VS 3-D Printing: Pros and Cons
Description: As newer innovations in the manufacturing world enter the market, the two methods that are most talked about are 3D printing and CNC machining. These two manufacturing processes can provide a variety ...
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Mexico Manufacturing Expansion Creates Local-for-Local Supply Chain Benefits
Description: Manufacturers around the world have been closely watching the ongoing trade war that has been occurring between the United States and China. The trade war impacts a range of goods, raw materials and ...
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Mexico's Free Trade Agreements Allow Manufacturers to Boost Supply Chains
Description: Manufacturers consider dozens of factors when it comes to expanding their operations. In addition to the costs associated with expansion, they also consider whether the new operations will feature the ...
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Optimizing Sand Casting Pattern Design
Description: The customer almost never sees the most important part of a sand casting, because that's the pattern. The pattern is what forms the cavity in the sand that's subsequently filled with molten metal. Get ...
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Resin Sand Casting Capabilities and Processes
Description: For manufacturing processes, a casting method can be used to create a product by using a mold. The material to make the product, such as metal or plastic, is poured into the mold where it cools. The ...
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Thinking About Draft Angles
Description: Some design engineers will say you always need a draft angle on sand cast parts. The reality is, that's not strictly correct. If you can orient the pattern to provide natural draft, there's no need to ...
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What Impro's Mexican Expansion Means for North American Customers
Description: Global trade policies impact our customers in different regions around the world. It can impede customer demand, slow down supply chain capabilities and raise production costs. To offset these hurdles ...
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When Surface Lay Matters
Description: For some machined parts satisfactory performance depends on correct orientation of the "lay." Get the lay wrong and consequences can include premature failure and warranty costs. Here's an ...
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When to Select Investment Casting for Components
Description: Selecting the appropriate precision casting and machining company to make components relies on understanding the needs of the application, your budget, and your time to market deadlines. Another ...
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How Precision Machining is Important to the Medical Device Manufacturing Industry
Description: The medical device industry is vast. Health care professionals from local family doctors to highly trained medical specialists rely on devices to provide the highest levels of care to patients around ...
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Fluoropolymer Etching for Secure Bonding in Bearings
From: Technetics GroupDescription: PTFE is engineered for a low coefficient of friction. Bonding a PTFE sheet to other surfaces requires that the surface of the PTFE be modified utilizing a chemical etching process. ...
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'Tis the Season to Shop for Tech Toys
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Well, it's December now, and anyone celebrating one of the gift-giving holidays that's coming up is likely going into shopping overdrive. Even though my kids are grown up, and there are as yet no ...
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3D Printed Housing: It's Happening!
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: I have a long-standing fascination with 3D printing. It's such an interesting technology, and has been put to so many good uses. It's great for product prototyping and manufacture. It has many medical ...
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Have You Ever Seen A Building Walking?
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: It didn't happen all that often, but every once in a while, when I was growing up, there'd be something in the news about a house being moved from one location to another. As I recall, it was usually ...
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Die-Cutting Specialty Materials: A Vendor Q & A Compendium
From: JBC Technologies, Inc.Description: About a year and a half ago, we started our Vendor Q&A blog series with one goal in mind: to provide our customers with in-depth, useful information straight from the experts on some of the more ...
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Steel Rule Die Cutting 101
From: JBC Technologies, Inc.Description: Die cutting isn't a one size fits all process. Depending on the quantity and type of material your project requires, your precision die cutting professional might recommend one of several die cutting ...
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Ultrafast Lasers & Advanced Motion Control Systems Improve Performance in Material Processing
Description: When it comes to material processing, less (time) is often more. Ultrafast lasers offer extremely short pulsewidths. Often optimized process parameters include other specs as well such as wavelength, ...
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Frequently Asked Questions for Sapphire Material Machining
Description: Microwork is capable of making the mini size to 0.0118"for OD, 0.00118" for ID, 0.002" for thickness and 0.0157" for spheres.Since our work is done by diamond grinding, Our standard tolerance is +/- ...
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Additive Manufactured Titanium-Ammonia Heat Pipes for Space Electronic Devices
From: Boyd CorporationDescription: Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a unique fabrication method that enables complex and flexible geometry designs for a wide range of components, including two-phase thermal management components like ...
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Designing with FEA
Description: Why use FEA? FEA offers many advantages over traditional trial-and-error prototyping, helping you bring your product to market faster: FEA is more cost effective than making prototypes. FEA can ...
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Why do Surface Finishes Matter?
Description: Stainless steel surface finishes will largely depend on the intended post-fabrication application. To help in deciding which secondary process is best-suited for your company's needs, here are six ...
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Electropolishing for Nitinol: A Specialized Finishing Process
Description: Pathogen resistance and cleanability are critical features for the makers of medical implants. ...
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Electropolishing for the Pharmaceutical Industry
Description: When it comes to the surface finish of metal parts used in pharmaceutical manufacturing, there is a simple standard: it's got to be perfect. ...
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Pickling vs. Electropolishing for Precision, Consistency & Strength
Description: Metal pickling and electropolishing are both finishing treatments that can be used to remove surface impurities and contaminants from metal parts, but they represent two vastly different approaches in ...
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How Do I Know if My Part is Passive?
Description: Passivation is an acid-cleaning process designed to remove free iron from the surface of stainless steels. This process is an essential step in removing foreign matter from the surface of the metal ...
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Mechanical Polishing vs. Electropolishing
Description: Mechanical polishing is a manual process performed on individual parts, while electropolishing can be performed on multiple parts at one time. Wondering which treatment provides better results? Follow ...
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The Benefits of Electropolishing 440C AND 416 Stainless Steel
Description: Stainless steel components can be treated in a number of ways to lengthen their useful life, but the right choice may depend on the grade of stainless steel. What should manufacturers consider when ...
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Vibratory Polishing vs. Electropolishing
Description: As companies examine ways to enhance their metal parts, they will be able to choose from a variety of metal finishing treatments, including vibratory polishing and electropolishing. Each process ...
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Injection Molding Principles
From: XometryDescription: Injection Molding combines the latest injection molding processes with proprietary technology and an experienced team to deliver end-use parts ...
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Mastering Tolerances
From: XometryDescription: General machining tolerances & specific tolerances guidelines ...
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The Importance of Rapid Prototyping
Description: As a forecast of the end product, the RP process has many advantages ...
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Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing
From: XometryDescription: This guide outlines 3D printing, its basics, getting started, and the top commercial 3D printing processes and materials used today. ...
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Improving Gas Compressor Performance and Service Life
Description: SermaLon fouling-resistant coating improved efficiency and increased service life in a challenging deep sea environment. ...
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The Importance of Powder Coating
Description: In industries of manufacturing, the term "powder coating" is fairly common. However, when a client orders custom springs, they may not fully understand what powder coating is and its importance to the ...
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The Huge Need for Zero Defect, Large Scale Molding Processes
From: BTG LabsDescription: Backyard pool retail showrooms are a true wonder. Seeing behemoth, empty vessels crowding a giant indoor space is disorienting, but it's not the most stunning aspect of that strange, magical feeling. ...
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Send in the Drones!
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Like those belonging to pretty much everyone else, the electronics devices and gadgets I rely on occasionally run out of juice. I forget to charge my phone. Or my smart watch. I misjudge how long my ...
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Carbon Footprint: LUMIFLON LF710F vs. PVDF
Description: This bulletin examines the carbon footprint of an FEVE resin powder coating compared to that of a liquid PVDF extrusion coating. ...
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3D Printing & Injection Molding: Same Team, Different Roles
Description: Additive manufacturing and injection molding offer nearly unmatched capability in terms of usable materials, speedy prototyping and production, cost-effectiveness, and the production of challenging ...
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Q&A About Aluminum Nitride
Description: With the development of the electric components, smaller but better performance and lower energy cost elements are pressing demand. The high dense, high power and a high-frequency component may ...
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What are the Main Applications of Optical Coating?
From: BRD Optical Co., Ltd.Description: The main high precision optical thin film include reflective films, anti-reflection films, polarizing films, interference filters, beam splitters, and so on. ...
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Design Guide for Material Shrinkage
Description: Material selection is a critical factor in the design process, and considering the effect of shrinkage on your part when selecting a material is critically important, particularly in tight tolerance ...
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Ensuring the Durability of Oleophobic Coatings on Consumer Tech
From: BTG LabsDescription: We're all thinking a lot more about the surfaces we touch and the invisible things that might be on those surfaces. Manufacturers have been thinking about how surfaces interact with our skin and the ...
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Guide for Designing Bosses
Description: When adding bosses to your plastic part design, wall thickness and height are critical to success. This guide provides tips to help achieve success with boss features. ...
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Complex Custom Rubber Extrusions Simplified
Description: A complex rubber extrusion made to specification is no simple task. Because of the special shapes and features required for optimum performance, complex extrusions take more time and diligence to ...
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How to Know if Hydrophilic Coatings on Medical Devices Provide the Necessary Comfort for Patients
From: BTG LabsDescription: Comfort is more than just a nice thing to hope for when it comes to medical devices like tubing, catheters and stents that are implanted into the human body. Comfort, in this instance, is referring to ...
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Chip News, from NASA and Intel
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: When it came to chips, last week was a big one for news. First, we learned that NASA has produced a new chip that will be able to withstand the extreme conditions on Venus. ...
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Mind Over Matter. In this Case, a Prosthetic Hand.
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Mind-controlled prosthetics for amputees have been around for years. And they're amazing. But the functionality they provide is limited. They can be awkward to use and don't provide fine motor ...
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Case Study: Thermal Imaging
From: Knight Optical (UK) LtdDescription: Using its expertise, Knight Optical recommended using a germanium window with precise coating requirements. Using a state of the art metrology laboratory, the ability to ensure each window performed ...
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Direct-to-Metal UV Coating Solutions
Description: The applications of UV technology in metal finishing vary widely from shafts and cylinders to complex shapes, such as portable propane gas cylinders, hydraulic cylinders, motor assemblies, oil ...
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UV Curing Three Dimensional (3D) Parts
Description: UV curing of coatings and paint on three dimensional (3D) complex shaped parts can be a challenge because UV curing is "line-of-sight", meaning that every point on a surface must see the UV energy to ...
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Coatings on Car Sensors and Why We Don't Have Driverless Cars Yet
From: BTG LabsDescription: Our relationship to our vehicles may have changed in the past few months with the idea of commuting to work looking more like a shuffle to the desk across the room rather than a drive to the office ...
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How to Catalog Parts
From: Advanced Assembly, LLC.Description: Every manufacturer has their own unique part numbering scheme. In addition to the part type, the numbering scheme helps to differentiate between alternate footprints. ...
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High Reliability PCB Design Tips for Aerospace and Other Harsh Environments
From: Advanced Assembly, LLC.Description: Whether a sensor package is placed on an airplane, a spacecraft, or down the borehole of a wellhead, the cost of failure can often be measured in hundreds of lives or millions of dollars lost.For ...
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Ultra-thin Metal Cutting
Description: ultra-fast femtosecond laser cutting machine in ultra-thin metal foil is high accuracy, suitable for micro-precision processing; ultraviolet laser cutting machine is suitable for precision processing, ...
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LPCVD Technology - A Method for Coating Optical Components of Complex Geometry
Description: Information on common complex geometries and LPCVD as a coating solution ...
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Protective Coatings for Optics
Description: Information on protective coatings in general and for optics in particular, application-specific requirements for optics and testing methods and challenges ...
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5 Common Foams That Can Stop Your Buzz, Squeak, and Rattle [Infographic]
From: JBC Technologies, Inc.Description: But with many options available, choosing a particular foam might not be quite as simple. Here is a breakdown of the five most common foams used to eliminate BSR: This synthetic material has the ...
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Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS)
Description: A closer look at this exciting technology ...
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Specifying Coatings for Military and Aerospace Applications
Description: Optics are employed in virtually every area of military operations, from vision systems and target designators used by troops on the ground, through guidance systems utilized in both manned and ...
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Application of Laser Etching Technology in Solar Cell Manufacturing
Description: Laser etching is an important tool for the production of thin-film solar cell modules, especially high-performance ultra-short pulse lasers, which can provide ultra-short pulses with a duration of ...
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How to Design Body Care Foam Using Scientific Numbers
From: Kruss USADescription: The words body care already say it: consumers couldn't care less about the scientific numbers that describe foam. They want to brush their teeth with just the right amount of foam. They want smooth, ...
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Emerging Technologies for 2017 - Part One
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: As a new year begins, I always like to take a look at what the pundits are predicting for technology trends in the upcoming year. On embedded.com, EDN and EE Times editors - a.k.a. the pundits - ...
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Emerging Technologies for 2017 - Part Two
From: Critical Link, LLCDescription: Earlier this month I had a post that covered half of the hot technology predictions from EDN and EE Times editors as featured on embedded.com. Here's the second half of what the EDN and EE Times ...
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Adhesion on Glass
From: Kruss USADescription: Contact angle and surface tension in glass cleaning and coating ...
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Adhesion on Metals
From: Kruss USADescription: Contact angle and surface tension for the processing of metal surfaces ...
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Adhesion on Polymers
From: Kruss USADescription: Contact angle and surface tension for optimizing plastic coatings ...
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Coating of Fibers
From: Kruss USADescription: Methods for monitoring wetting, adhesion and cleaning ...
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Coating of Glass
From: Kruss USADescription: Quality control of the interface chemistry of glass bonds and treated surfaces ...
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Coating of Polymers
From: Kruss USADescription: Methods for measuring wetting and adhesion ...
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Paints and Varnishes on Surfaces
From: Kruss USADescription: From spreading, adhesion, interfacial tension to the final functions of the finished coating ...
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What's CNC Machining?
Description: Machining cuts raw material into a desired final shape and size. ...
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Laser Etching, Scribing, and Cleaning Equipment for Perovskite Batteries
Description: New perovskite batteries have entered the field of vision of ordinary people from the research field of scientific researchers, and are initially produced and used in small areas in commerce. Our ...