Engineering White Papers

White Papers, Catalogs, Case Studies and Resources for Engineers and Professionals

White Papers, Tech Notes, Catalogs and Case Studies

Actuators

Specifying electric rodless actuators: Ten tips for maximizing actuator life and system performance

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Electric rodless actuators have an inherent advantage over rod-style actuators for being able to support and carry loads. This reduces costs and design time by eliminating the need for other load-bearing and guiding elements. In contrast to rod-style actuators, a rodless actuator’s stroke lies completely within the length of its body, resulting in a smaller working footprint than rod-style actuators. In addition, electric rodless actuators can be either screw- or belt-driven, with each style having its own advantages depending on the application. However, sizing an electric rodless actuator involves more than merely calculating force and stroke. Download this white paper for the top 10 tips for achieving optimal performance, reliability and efficiency in applications using rodless-style actuators.

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The truth about actuator life: Screw drive survival

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Determining useful life of machines and their components is a fundamental problem of any motion system design project. In a broad sense, actuator service life (or useful life) is the period during which the actuator continues to operate and satisfy its required function. This paper discusses the causes of fatigue, factors affecting screw life, load-life relationships, dynamic and static loading and other variables that should be considered when determining actuator life expectations.

The useful life of any actuator depends on the life of the components that perform most mechanical work or carry the most load. Lead screw drives are a typical example. Service (useful) life of a lead screw can be defined as the actual life achieved by a screw before it fails for any reason. Among possible reasons for its failure are: fatigue, excessive wear, corrosion, contamination, insufficient structural strength, or loss of any function required by the application.

How do you determine the life of a screw actuator and make comparisons that are truly “apples to apples?” Examples of load-life conversion calculations contained in this paper will demonstrate the importance of load on screw life and how application requirements sometimes may have to be modified in order to achieve the desired life results.

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Top Ten Tips: How to specify electric rod-style actuators for optimal performance, reliability and efficiency

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With today’s demand for controlling costs while achieving high speed and high precision in factory automation, it is more important than ever to fully analyze a linear actuator application and precisely determine a project’s parameters. This is especially true with electric rod-style actuators due to their higher initial cost, more advanced design and more predictable performance compared to fluid power cylinders, both pneumatic and hydraulic. Additional engineering and analysis at the front end of an electric actuator application will reduce overall costs and result in automation systems with higher reliability, better performance, lower energy expenditures and reduced maintenance.

In the hurry to get factory automation applications up and running, there is always the impulse to make educated guesses or take shortcuts. This paper will outline the top ten tips to consider during sizing to ensure optimal performance, reliability and efficiency of your electric rod-style actuator application.

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Evaluating actuators for washdown in food & beverage applications

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Hygienic design principles and material selection are critical to actuator performance in food & beverage environments.

Food and beverage production on today’s industrial scale would not be possible without a high level of automation. Pneumatic, hydraulic and electric actuators are critical moving components in equipment used for processing and packaging both food and beverage products around the globe. In addition to efficient production, machines in these processes must keep food & beverage product safe by preventing bacteria, lubricating fluids or other contaminants that could harm consumers from contacting the product.

As a result of increased food safety regulations emphasizing the prevention of foodborne illnesses, the use of hygienic design principles in today’s food processing equipment has become critical. With mechanical actuators, the use of appropriate materials, methods of sealing and methods of construction are critical to eliminate collection points where bacteria can flourish and resist corrosion that could contaminate the processing environment. In addition, suitable actuators must protect against high pressure, high temperature wash-down procedures with a variety of sanitary cleaning solutions.

This paper will examine mechanical system (including actuators) hygienic design considerations that ensure performance in the challenging food and beverage processing environment and mitigate risks of contamination events.

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What are dual-motion hybrid actuators and where do they excel?

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Some motion applications need axes to deliver both linear and rotary motion. Conventional designs for such functionality are often complicated and bulky. What’s more, rotary motors put to linear motion often have output shafts that are inadequate for supporting heavy side loads.

Download the Ametek white paper…

Stepper Motor Linear Actuators 101

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Haydon Kerk Stepper Motor Linear ActuatorWith trends towards miniaturization, precision, computer control and cost reduction, hybrid and can-stack style integrated stepper motor actuators are being used in an ever increasing range of applications. These precise, reliable actuators can be found in many applications including blood analyzers, robotic surgery, medical instrumentation, imaging equipment, valve control, X-Y tables, inspection and test equipment. This attractive technical solution eliminates the use of numerous components and the associated costs related to assembly, purchasing, inventory, etc. This white paper gives an overview of integrated step motor linear actuators and how to apply them to an application.

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Stepper Motors and the Effect of Acceleration and Deceleration Ramps

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This white paper explains stand test methodology for generating force versus velocity curves and the benefits of adding acceleration and deceleration ramps. One of the first parameters that is considered when choosing a stepper motor based linear actuator for an application is how much force can the actuator produce. So naturally a speed versus force curve is the first place someone looks. There are a couple of different ways to present these speed vs. force curves, one is force versus pulse rate and the second is force versus linear velocity.
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When to Apply External, Non-Captive and Captive Step Motor Actuators

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A common way to generate precise linear motion is to use an electric motor (rotary motion) and pair it with a leadscrew to generate a linear actuation system. Depending upon what this linear actuator interfaces with it can be constructed in a number of different ways. This white paper will explain the different style of leadscrew/nut based linear actuators and guide the user in selecting the right style for their application.

Haydon Kerk
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Improve the Productivity of your Factory Automation Systems with Lightweight Gears and Actuators

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After sliding from its peak more than 25 years ago, U.S. manufacturing appears to be on the way back. Factory automation is a critical element enabling U.S. manufacturing companies to effectively compete in the global marketplace. To maintain this competitive trend, modern robotic and automation systems require higher precision and faster speeds than ever before.
HarmonicDrive
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Spectral Decomposition: Coordinated control of fast- and slow-tool servo actuators

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As demands for machine productivity increase, there is a growing interest in the use of fast-tool servos in motion control applications. These actuators have a very high bandwidth, but typically a very limited travel range. Examples include voice-coil motors, piezo crystals, laser galvanometers and magnetostrictive transducers.

Our latest application note describes Spectral Decomposition, a new strategy for pairing these fast tool servos with standard slow-tool servos. The result is a servo system that can deliver high-bandwidth performance without sacrificing range of travel.

DeltaTau
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