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.
Dr. Rehan Ahmed and Prof. Christopher C. Berndt will serve as Guest Editors for a special issue of the Journal of Thermal Spray Technology on the subject of “Development and Applications of Nanocomposite Coatings.” This issue will review and highlight the most recent advances in nanocomposite materials with special reference to thermal and cold spray processing.
The Timken Co., Canton, Ohio, announces that its board of directors has approved a plan to pursue a separation of the company’s steel business from its bearings and power transmission business through a spinoff, creating two publicly traded companies. A leading global manufacturer of carbon and alloy bar, producing ingot-cast and continuous-cast steel bars for the automotive, bearing, energy and industrial market segments, the separation is designed to improve performance in both companies.
