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How to save money and improve productivity with the next generation of vibration-resistant fasteners

The problem: Not all vibrations are good vibrations A properly designed joint utilizing a nut and bold worked perfectly for over a century in applications without vibration. Unfortunately, many fasteners do experience vibration causing the most common reason for failure excluding improper joint design. The Ferrule-Lock™ design solves the vibration problem simply and effectively. Ferrule [...]

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OptiTrac™ Global Peak

There’s a better way to mitigate shade. Groundbreaking OptiTrac™ Global Peak technology from SMA has been proven in Europe and is now available in the United States on the new Sunny Boy 3000/4000/5000TL-US series. While conventional MPP trackers only observe the vicinity of the current operating point, OptiTrac Global Peak technology will always find the [...]

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An intro to lightning protection for wind turbines and their electrical equipment

Wind turbines are often the highest features on a landscape making them susceptible to lightning strikes. Electronic and electrical equipment mounted the blades, nose, hub, nacelle, tower – even at the base – are exposed to lightning and other over-voltage transient sources. This paper provides the basics of how the IEC and IEEE methods quantify [...]

Roller Pinion System: An Alternative to Traditional Linear Drive Systems

With today’s emphasis on efficient production, cost reduction and productivity levels, every manufacturing or machine component must be chosen with care. This white paper describes how implementing the Roller Pinion System (RPS) in place of traditional linear drive technologies can improve overall application operation. By eliminating common challenges, such as backlash, low rigidity, cumulative error, [...]

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How To Choose Fasteners That Maximize Assembly Life

    Fasteners are usually the smallest, least expensive components within an assembly. Even though fasteners usually hold the entire assembly together, they are often overlooked until the end of the design. As important as fasteners are, Design Engineers usually receive no formal training on the mechanics of fastening and joining. (Not something you want [...]