You’ve probably used a ballpoint pen to write, a hard drive to store data, a skateboard to zoom around, and, of course, an electric motor to power a household machine or two. But do you wonder what makes them run so smoothly and quietly? Bearings make machines like these run. Without
Thousands of years ago duplicate metal structures were cast from an original sculpture by the lost-wax casting process. Investment casting is one of the oldest metal-forming techniques based on this lost-wax casting process. A beeswax pattern is coated with refractory ceramic material, which then hardens and takes the shape of the casting.
Whether it’s a whole machine, a simple component, or a complete vehicle, fasteners are essential to the construction of these objects. The absence of fasteners in design and construction may lead to adverse consequences. Besides possible safety implications, fastener failure can represent a significant proportion of a product’s warranty costs. Understanding
Gears are thought to be one of the oldest components known to humankind. Early examples of gears trace back to the fourth century BC in China. Since then, gears have been used extensively for the transmission of power. They find application in almost all modern machinery. To meet the strenuous service conditions, gears should have
You will be surprised to know how much of our daily safety depends on non-destructive testing (NDT). In 2014, at least 126,698,000 lug nuts were NDT tested on 7,918,601 new cars sold in the US. There were 295 derailments in 2014 due to structural failure which could have been detected
