Aiken Engineering Blog

Advances in Riser Design

Aiken Staff — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 20:37:07 +0000

Feeding risers can impact the chemistry of metal and introduce contamination into steel castings. Read this report on Foundry.

Post-Tsunami Wisdom: Predicting Multiple Complex Systems is the Challenge

Aiken Staff — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:01:26 +0000

At Aiken, we obviously are concerned about the ability to predict outcomes. As Gordon Crovitz of the Wall Street Journal commented in the aftermath of the Japanese nuclear plant disaster (See Tsunamis of Information, March 21) we “fear what we cannot predict.” Perhaps we assume more predictability than is possible. Predicting multiple complex systems becomes the challenge.

Connections As Important as Corrosion Protection System

Aiken Staff — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:49:14 +0000

How can you protect structural steel from corrosion? It’s not only critical to choose the right protection system; you must design the right connection system. Read the Corrosion Protection and Connection Design report in the March issue of Steelwise by Modern Steel Construction.

Increase Efficiency with New Tool Design

Aiken Staff — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:33:16 +0000

Reduce operating time and material use with a new forging technique developed in Germany.

Forging Plain Carbon and Low Alloy Steels

Aiken Staff — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:34:29 +0000

Forging plain-carbon and low-alloy steels offer superior properties to those formed by casting or machining. How steel behaves in the forging process, however, must be understood to produce the best components. Read this series of articles.

Internally Cured Concrete Use On the Rise

Aiken Staff — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:17:26 +0000

Internally cured concrete is being used increasingly in the construction of bridge decks, pavements, parking structures, water tanks and other structures. The benefit: bridge decks made with internally cured, high-performance concrete were found in one study to have a service life of 63 years. Conventional concrete’s service life is estimated at 22 years, and 40 years for high-performance concrete without internal curing.

Costs are initially higher (up to 12 percent) but the study’s co-authors, NIST chemical engineer Dale Bentz and Jason Weiss, Purdue University civil engineering professor, say the risk of cracking is reduced, the concrete tolerates salt damage better, and overall the structure is more durable with a longer life and lower life-cycle costs.

MIT Research Shows How Water Droplets React on Surfaces

Aiken Staff — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:59:30 +0000

Understanding how a water droplet hits a surface can explain why power plant turbine blades deteriorate rapidly. MIT’s finding published this week in the journal Physical Review Letters could help engineers design more durable condensing surfaces in power plants.

Graphite Foam Will Benefit Commercial LED Lighting

Aiken Staff — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:49:36 +0000

Graphite foam technology developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been licensed to a LED manufacturer. The foam is anticipated to extend the life of LED lighting systems. It’s lighter, has high thermal conductivity, easy machinability and will offer a more efficient cooling option.

Forging Outlook for 2011

Aiken Staff — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:31:48 +0000

Respondents in the recently published Forging Outlook 2011 said “raw material lead-time” was the most significant problem, with “higher raw materials costs” coming in second. For full survey results, click on the above link.

Molecular Selection by Size and Substance

Aiken Staff — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 12:58:01 +0000

Separating molecules in manufacturing can involve the use of nanofilters, and a new system devised at MIT could add a vital new feature: filtering not only by molecular size, but also by chemical property.