Design Engineering Fluid Power
Return of the Airship
All-in-One Automation
Digital Edition
Maximizing Hydraulic Efficiency
Choosing the most efficient control option requires full understanding of a hydraulic application.
Pneumatic Air Guitar rocks the trade show circuit
Clippard’s guitar-playing machine melds fluid power components, an ipad and a six-string to belt out its 16 song repertoire.
How to slash power usage costs of hydraulic systems
Root out energy wasters and increasing profitability at the plant equipment level.
World’s first hydraulic hybrid transit bus unveiled
Altair ProductDesign’s BUSolutions LCO-140H improves on standard diesel bus fuel economy by 110 percent.
Fluid Power
Actuator Control Valve
Midland-ACS SIL3 valve helps systems builders meet IEC 61508 & 61511 safety standards.
Islington school wins Canadian Fluid Power Challenge
Annual competition inspires middle school students to careers in machine building, automation.
UWindsor to open product development lab
Provincial innovation funding supports creation of on-campus product development and fabrication facility.
Chrysler, EPA to design Hybrid Hydraulic mini-van
Joint engineering project to boost fuel efficiency by 30 percent.
Sic Transit
Altair Engineering software and design talents craft the next generation of fuel efficient transit buses.
The Future of Fluid Power
According to Kim Stelson, director of the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP), hydraulics and pneumatics is being challenged in the manufacturing sector. While still the clear leader in power density, fluid power components are gradually being replaced by technologies that are more compact and efficient. As a consequence, electronic components have encroached ...
Fluid Power Roundtable ’10
DE: Has fluid power seen a decline in manufacturing over the last five years or is it simply experiencing the same fall off as any other technology due to the recession? Casey Samaroo, Customer Solutions Manager, Festo Canada: I think it is both of those factors. Certainly with the price coming down on electrical technology, ...
Good Things Come in Small Packages
When discussing the wide variety of applications for hydraulics, most discussions eventually lead to the large force and power transfer capabilities of hydraulics. Large industrial presses can have input power in excess of 750 KW (roughly 1000 HP) or more and generate forces in excess of 60 million newtons (15 million pounds) of force. However, ...
Hodgson wins Canadian Fluid Power Challenge
On May 7th, 18 Toronto middle schools teams competed in the ninth annual Canadian Fluid Power Challenge. A partnership of the Canadian Fluid Power Association, Kidder – TTS and the Toronto District School Board, the Challenge provides Grade 8 students with hands-on fluid power and automation experience building a mechanism with real world applicability. This ...
Fix It, Don’t Nix It
Cost savings and increases in productivity are crucial if a company is to survive and prosper in today’s economic uncertainty. Hydraulic cylinders, although a small cog in the wheel of industry, are one area where a company can save money by developing and adhering to a maintenance program. And when a cylinder breaks down or ...
Get What You Spec’d
The silver lining of an economic slowdown is that it gives us an opportunity to focus on areas that will affect the bottom line; when things turn around, we can move ahead as cost effectively as possible. When it comes to hydraulic systems, however, known practices proven to increase hydraulic system reliability are too often ...
Hydraulics contain elephants at Quebec zoo
You’d think that Toutoune and Sarah could get their way: the Granby, Que., residents are stars, after all. And it’s tough to ignore them—especially with their respective weights of 4,300 and 3,300 kilograms. But staff members at the Granby Zoo are able to contain these African elephants with a hydraulic system that was developed by ...
Expanding Possibilities
Fluid power has been around for hundreds of years—and even dates back to ancient Greek and Chinese societies—so it’s not often machine builders see something out of the ordinary. But, with its patented variable volume reservoir (VVR), Bois-des-Filion, Que.-based Sobacor Inc. may have an alternative to the static volume reservoirs traditionally found on hydraulic systems. ...
Get Safe, One Press at a Time
Safety concerns continue to rise in prominence, and perhaps in no other industry is this more relevant than that of metal stamping. In the U. S. alone, power presses cause 650 worker amputations annually, says Mark Pendlebury of Newmarket, Ont.-based Reflex Integration. “Many times, the culprits are older power presses that were built when the ...
Seal the deal with polyurethane pneumatic seals
Polyurethane, with its good elastic properties and unique mechanical strength, is the ideal material for pneumatic seals. The material formulation as well as the design development is best focused on the demands of pneumatic applications to achieve optimal results. A testing and validation program by Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has proven the performance of the new ...
Building Better Pumping Systems: Optimizing New Designs
Although most pump systems operate longer than 15 years, the initial costs represent a small portion of the total expenditures needed to operate these systems throughout their life. Optimum design and efficiency are in the best interest of industrial facilities, which rely heavily on pumping systems for the operation of most processes. New pumping systems ...
Why certification?
Fluid power is mode of power transmission and motion control that is used in a wide variety of industries. It can be used to transmit and control large amounts of power, is used to move and hold very large loads and, in some cases, incorporates critical safety features. So why is it that there is ...
Fluid Power: The Original Motion Control
Fluid power is the original motion control technology and has been used for everything from pressing and packaging to injection moulding and handling. As manufacturers’ requirements for precision and control grew, fluid power evolved to meet this challenge with servo and proportional control, offering cost-effective and high-performance solutions. However, the development of servo motor technology ...