Evraz North America, Chicago, announces Board approval of its plan to expand heat treat and threading capacity at its tubular facility in Calgary, Alberta. The multimillion dollar project, which will commence next month, includes expanding heat treat capacity by over 150% and threading capacity by about 40%. Work is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2014.
What if you could reach through a microscope to touch and feel the microscopic structures under the lens? In a breakthrough that may usher in a new era in the exploration of the worlds that are a million times smaller than human beings, researchers at Université Pierre et Marie Curie in France have unveiled a new technique that allows microscope users to manipulate samples using a technology known as “haptic optical tweezers.
A temperature sensor developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, could improve the efficiency, control, and safety of high-temperature engines. The new sensor, or thermocouple, reduces drift by 80% at temperatures of 1200°C, and by 90% at 1300°C, potentially doubling the lifespan of engine components. The thermocouple withstands oxidization and minimizes any contamination to the wires from the metallic sheath.
Hardide Coatings Ltd., UK, has developed a TSP (thermally stable polycrystalline) diamond coating to extend the life and improve the performance of drilling tools operating in extremely abrasive environments. This is the first successful high-performance coating that can withstand the higher temperatures associated with TSP brazing, extreme loads, and aggressive media.
Dow Corning, Midland, Mich., announces that it is among the newest members of Imec, San Francisco. One of the key challenges is the bonding of the device wafer to a carrier wafer prior to wafer thinning, and the safe debonding of the thin wafer after completion of backside processing. This was Dow Corning’s goal when designing its temporary bonding solution, aimed at simple processing with a bi-layer concept comprising an adhesive and a release layer.
