Assembly of the backbone of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the primary mirror backplane support structure, is a step closer to completion with the recent addition of the backplane support frame, a fixture that will be used to connect all the pieces of the telescope together. The backplane support frame brings together Webb’s center section and wings, secondary mirror support structure, aft optics system, and integrated science instrument module.
Press-hardening methods provide lighter weight high-strength parts
Schuler Group, Canton, Mich., offers a heat-treating technology called press-hardening to increase the strength of steel parts. In this technology, blanks or pre-formed parts are heated in a furnace to a temperature of 930°C, then placed into the press as quickly as possible, within just 10-12 seconds. The press remains closed for a few additional seconds during the forming process. During this time, the parts are cooled and hardened. The cycle times range from 8 to 30 seconds.
Lake City Heat Treating specializes in vacuum heat treating of stainless steels and cobalt alloys
Lake City Heat Treating, Warsaw, Ind., introduces new literature featuring its hot isostatic pressing and vacuum heat treating services. The company specializes in vacuum heat treating of stainless steels, cobalt and nickel alloys, and vacuum heat treatable steels. Cryogenic, hot isostatic pressing, and tempering services also offered. The literature includes photos of the company’s equipment and descriptions of its capabilities and services, as well as contact information.
Indium’s Sn-Ag-Cu-Mn solder improves drop-shock performance by 800%
Indium Corp., Clinton, N.Y., announces a new technology platform based on its SACM (Sn-Ag-Cu-Mn) solder alloy that provides stable, microstructural improvements to the intermetallic compound layer of the solder-to-pad interface. These include a fine grain size with a thin, stable IMC layer, which translates into an 800% improvement in drop-shock performance and a 50% extension in thermal cycling. The platform consists of Indium8.
Flawed diamonds: gems for new technology
Using ultra-fast laser pulses, a team of researchers led by University of Arizona (UA), Tucson, assistant professor Vanessa Huxter made the first detailed observation of how energy travels through diamonds containing nitrogen-vacancy centers-promising candidates for a variety of technological advances such as quantum computing.