Process Engineering

The University of Leicester is playing a key part in a network of 33 companies and universities, set up to develop pioneering new processes for metal coatings which will offer benefits to a wide range of industries, including automotive and aerospace component manufacturers.

The network uses ionic liquid technology developed at the University of Leicester, exploited through its spin-out company, Scionix Ltd.

Companies and academics from 11 European countries have been brou

Technologies used to spin wool have been adapted to produce yarns made solely from carbon nanotubes (CNTs)

In a collaborative effort, scientists at CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology (CTFT) have achieved a major technological breakthrough that should soon lead to the production of futuristic strong, light and flexible ’smart’ clothing materials. In partnership with the world-renowned NanoTech Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas, CTFT has adapted textile tech

Tools so tiny that they are difficult to see, are solving the problems of carving patterns in glass, ceramics and other brittle materials, according to a Penn State engineer.

“Even very brittle materials like glass will cut smoothly at a micron level,” says Dr. Eric R. Marsh, associate professor of mechanical engineering. “The tools we are making are small enough so that the brittle materials behave like a malleable material like aluminum, producing smooth curly chips of glass or

St. Petersburg physicists have developed a plant that allows to cut sapphire crystals into almost ideally smooth plates being fractions of millimeter thick. The approach suggested by the researchers fundamentally differs from the traditional one. They suggest that sapphire should not be sawn by a saw, but split by laser.

It is quite common that a title like “A plant for laser scribing of sapphire wafers” would surprise an ordinary person but it sounds like music for specialists

Heraeus at the plastics industry`s trade fair K in Düsseldorf – Infrared emitters for every application

In the plastics industry today, when extruding foil, forming PET bottles, riveting automotive interior panels, drying the print on yoghurt cups, or sealing tank containers, an increasingly important tool is the unique source of heat known as infrared radiation. Heraeus Noblelight is known for its innovative product development and application of infrared heat systems. The co

Following on from the success of EUREKA project E! 2534 THERMOPOLE, which developed thermoplastic lampposts that save lives by bending on impact, EUREKA project E! 2535 FACTORY PANELFORM has adapted the thermoplastic technology to produce sandwich section panels for a market worth over €20 million a year.

The recyclable panels can be produced in three-metre wide sections at a rate of four metres per minute, in a variety of colours and finishes. The new material is stronger and more