Appliance Design - March 2009 - (Page 27)

METALS MetFlame burners heat up in seconds and get hotter than ceramic burner systems. ted metal fibers, and 100 DegC higher surface temperatures than sintered metal fibers. It is not just the increased temperature range that metal foams offer, but also the speed to which the burners get up to temperature. According to Heamon, a ceramic burner might take up to 4 minutes to get up to temperature, whereas the metal foam burner reaches that temperature in about 30 seconds and cools down equally as quick, he says. In a different, and more novel flow-through application, German manufacturer FPE Fischer used metal foam produced by M-pore to make a computer cabinet. They found that the metal foam was highly permeable to streaming air, while still providing a tight barrier for EMI. Temperature measurements have shown that the cabinet’s temperature was reduced about 20 DegC without any other changes to the cabinet, says Ulrich Fischer, president of the company. Metal foam capabilities, and aesthetics, can be increased with some post processing. The material can be machined into various forms and shapes, painted in all colors, or coated. For instance, FPE Fischer was able to coat the computer cabinet with a metallic coating that allowed the cabinet to act as an air purifier by de-ionizing the air in the office in which it operates. In another case, Hipke says that a stylish effect was added to an open-cell metal foam to create a lamp. The lamp, which measured 35 centimeters in height and consisted of 90 percent air, was coated with a transparent synthetic resin and colored plastic. Metal foams can be mounted by traditional joining methods such as brazing, soldering, sintering, welding, and melting. The researchers at Bekaert found that sintering yielded the best heat transfer results because the foams could be used at higher temperatures and did not include an intermediate layer that could act as a heat transfer barrier or increase the corrosion rate at the foam/carrier interface. The material is available in a number of standard shapes and forms. They can come as pre- Screw It Snap It Pop It Fasten It Authorized Stocking Distributor for: Screw Products, Inc. SM ISO 9001: 2000 and much more www.thread-rite.com M-pores’ metal foam on this FPE Fischer computer cabinet is colored for a stylish effect. www.applianceDESIGN.com AD03094Thread.indd 1 9630 W. Foster Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60656 Phone: 773. 992. 2290 trsales@thread-rite.com applianceDESIGN March 2009 27 2/16/09 9:40:36 AM http://www.thread-rite.com http://www.thread-rite.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Appliance Design - March 2009

Appliance Design - March 2009 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Transmitting Power Wirelessly Promises to Reduce the Ever-Growing Tangle of Cords and Cables Found in the Modern Home. There Are Different Technological Approaches for Achieving this Goal, and Some Are Already on the Market. Electrochemical Capacitors Can Provide an Extra Peak-Power Boost in Battery-Operated Appliances, Allowing Product Designs to Have Smaller Battery Packs. Metallic Foams Put the Properties of Metals into Lightweight Packages. Applications for this Emerging Technology Include Gas Burners, Heat Exchangers, and Electronics Housings. Hall-Effect Switches Are Compact and Provide a High Degree of Reliability and Durability as They Virtually Eliminate Mechanical Wear, Shock, and Contact Oxidation. Blowing Agents for Polyurethane Foam Insulation Face Increased Scrutiny Due to Global Warming Concerns, but Alternatives with Lower GWP Values May Provide Solutions to Meet These Challenges. Design Marts Association Report: AHAM Advertisers' Index

Appliance Design - March 2009

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