Sikorsky Aircraft, Stratford, Conn., has completed the initial phase of testing for the composite main and tail rotor blades manufactured for the U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K heavy lift helicopter program. At 35 ft span length, and almost 3 ft chord width, the CH-53K main rotor blade has 12% more surface area than the CH-53E blade.
ASB Industries, Barberton, Ohio, announces that its Mesta heavy duty grinder (60 in. diameter by 288 in. long) is to be rebuilt and modernized. This major capital investment will allow two-axis grinding for complex roll crowns with extreme accuracy and efficiency. The project will include CNC Controls Fagor 8065T for two-axis wheel movement, and a Renishaw Touch Probe for data collection, keeping roll history during refurbishments.
The Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich., is proving that pickups can be green and tough by adding rice hulls to the list of sustainable materials used to build F-150. Plastic reinforced with rice hulls-a byproduct of rice grain-is being used in an electrical harness in the 2014 F-150. The company will need at least 45,000 lb of hulls in the first year.
Dymax Corp., Torrington, Conn., released OC-4021, a UV-curable, optically clear hard coating typically used in the manufacture of electronic touch-panels, polarized sunglasses, safety glasses and goggles, and LCD polarized displays. The coating, engineered for superior scratch, abrasion, and chemical resistance, is ideal for use with film substrates such as PET and TAC, and is especially suitable for printing applications that require printing on top of the hard coating.
Olympus America Inc., Center Valley, Pa., introduces the OmniScan SX, which is 33% lighter and 50% smaller than its predecessor. Featuring an easy-to-read 8.4-in. touch screen, the single group OmniScan SX provides a cost-effective solution for linear zero-degree inspections, such as corrosion mapping and composite inspection. It also enables weld inspection using one phased array group or one TOFD channel. The OmniScan SX comes in two models: the SX PA and SX UT.
