Appliance Design - May 2008 - (Page 14)

NEW & NOTABLE Changing the Rules Illustration of a reformer for a portable fuel cell application. The cracker-sized, complex component has both its ceramic substrate and platinum catalyst deposited during the same fabrication process. Novel process makes small parts with vast possibilities. I by richard babyak 14 applianceDESIGN May 2008 n the realm of fabrication methods, there are innovations that make familiar things in a new way, then there are technology leaps that permit the making of entirely new things in a previously unimagined way. The high-volume, print-forming process developed by EoPlex Technologies, Redwood City, Calif., falls into the latter category. In a nutshell, the EoPlex technique can produce complex, miniature, functional parts made of multiple materials, and crank them out by the thousands. One could, for example, design a plastic component that contained metal electrical conductors and ceramic dielectrics, and whose geometry included interior voids, and have it made in high volume by the EoPlex method with no assembly or secondary operations required. Another example can be seen in the image above, which illustrates a cracker-sized reformer for a portable fuel cell, an actual part in development. The building of the ceramic substrate, the deposition of the platinum catalyst, and the formation of the convoluted fuel paths are all simultaneously achieved in the same process. Conceptually, the process seems simple and is analogous to printing – the company actually uses modified printing presses. Different materials are printed in a pattern onto a surface, similar to the way multi-color printing presses print different colors. In this case, a specific press would be devoted to a specific material to avoid crosscontamination and maintain speed. A printing press, of course, prints a single, flat, two-dimensional layer. A three-dimensional component must be printed in successive layers, so that the printed patterns of different materials will stack up to form the part. At first blush, the build-by-layer approach sounds like rapid prototyping. But the crucial distinction is speed. An RP machine, using a laser or nozzle, “draws” a layer point-by-point before building the next layer. EoPlex equipment applies an entire layer at once – just as fast as paper flies through a high-speed printing press – so the layers build up quickly. After each pass, the new layer receives a temporary cure so that it will not be disturbed by the application of the next layer. www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Appliance Design - May 2008

Appliance Design - May 2008 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch New and Notable Displays & Indicators Elastomers Quality & Standards Indoor Air Quality IHHS Highlights New Products Classifieds Design Marts Advertiser’s Index Association Report: PSMA

Appliance Design - May 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.