Piezotech, a company in Indianapolis, has been awarded a NIST grant of $2.5m to develop piezoceramic transducers that will produce ultrasonic sound that can be focused to destroy diseased tissue. The challenge is to design the devices that can fit inside body cavities!
Read the story on the NIST web site.
Midé Technology Corporation are using lasers to cut small grooves into piezo-crystals that provides strain relief and allows the crystal to be formed into unusual shapes. Crystals can be bent into cylindrical or spherical shapes. Cuts in certain directions can cause the crystal to not only bend but also twist
Read the full article on the Missile Defence Agency web site.
Read the description on the Midé web site.
LMS International, a distributor of acoustic and vibration software, has an article about sound quality at Harley Davidson motorcycles.
At first, the notion of sound quality and HD seem at odds, because of their distinctive exhaust roar. However, engineers try to enhance some sounds such as the engine roar, and reduce other noises such as rattles and clicks.
Read the article on the LMS International web site.
Read this interesting article on digital amplifiers. These guys have made a digital amplifier the size of a credit card that can pump out 200W RMS into 8 Ohms, DC to 91kHz. They require virtually no cooling and their efficiency is almost 90%!
LMS International, the distributors of acoustic and vibration simulation software, are holding a series of free seminars about their products, which you can “attend” through the internet.
Read the article on the LMS web site.
Mathworks are shipping MATLAB release 13 – version 6.5.
Read the story on the Mathworks web site.
HKS, the developers and distributors of ABAQUS, finite element software, are now shipping version 6.3 of the software.
Read more on the ABAQUS web site
Owen Corning Automotive, a tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry, has released another product for providing acoustic insulation. The VersaMat product has been used successfully in dish washers, and washing machines. Plans are to use the material in headliners, door panels, under-the-hood applications, trunk storage systems and under carpet heat shields
Read more at the Owens Corning Automotive web site.
Lord Corporation has developed “surface effect dampers” that absorb energy as a function of displacement. Conventional dampers use oil and absorb energy as a function of velocity. The technology has been applied to engine and body mounts.
Read the story on the Lord Corporation web site.
An engineer at the University of Tel Aviv, pulled out the magnetron from a domestic microwave oven and has developed a drill that could one day replace the conventional dentists’ drill.
Read the story on the inScight web site.