Component Management

Heraeus Electronics has expanded its range of no-clean soldering pastes with a low melting point. The new F498 product series allows significant cost savings in the soldering process. The new series of soldering pastes is characterised by a low void rate and outstanding wetting properties on a wide range of different surfaces. This reduces the formation of solder balls (mid-chip balling).

A high-performance material has been added to Dow Performance Silicones’ growing portfolio of advanced assembly solutions for the automotive industry. It is being showcased at the productronica exhibition in Munich. Offered under the new DOWSIL brand (formerly Dow Corning) EA-6060 Adhesive develops strong adhesion to metal and plastic substrates in under an hour at temperatures below 100°C.

Now available from Farnell element14, the Metcal CV-5200 Soldering Station incorporates Metcal’s patented Connection Validation technology to provide real-time closed-loop feedback on intermetallic compound formation: a key indicator of soldered joint quality. The CV-5200 also incorporates a new communication port that enables the addition of process traceability software and firmware upgrades, making investment in the unit future-proof.

The signs continue to be set for growth in the organic and printed electronics industry. This is the clear message to result from the latest business climate survey conducted by the OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association), a Working Group within VDMA (Mechanical Engineering Industry Association). Over 80% of survey participants expect the industry to continue its positive development in the coming year.

Stanford researchers have developed a reversible fabric that, without expending effort or energy, keeps skin a comfortable temperature whatever the weather. In a paper published in Science Advances, a team led by Yi Cui, professor of materials science and engineering, created a double-sided fabric based on the same material as everyday kitchen wrap. Their fabric can either warm or cool the wearer, depending which side faces out.

  Derbyshire-based Paul Fabrications, a Unitech Aerospace company, has been used for both aqueous and solvent systems for a long time to wash machined, pressed and fabricated stainless steel components for its customer, Springfields Fuels, near Preston, which supplies fuel pellets for advanced gas-cooled reactors in the UK.

Global supplier of industrial RTV silicones, adhesives, sealants, encapsulants, conformal coatings, tapes, casting and mould making materials, Techsil, has launched a new fast curing epoxy adhesive Structalit 5610 from manufacturers Panacol. This adhesive is specially designed for bonding Surface Mounted Devices (SMDs) on to circuit boards. Due to its high viscosity the adhesive is well-suited for screen printing.

In cities and large-scale manufacturing plants, a water leak in a complicated network of pipes can take tremendous time and effort to detect, as technicians must disassemble many pieces to locate the problem. The American Water Works Association indicates that nearly a quarter-million water line breaks occur each year in the U.S., costing public water utilities about $2.8 billion annually.

If you have ever watched television in anything but total darkness or used a computer while sitting underneath overhead lighting or near a window, you have experienced a major nuisance of modern display screens: glare. Most of today’s electronics devices are equipped with glass or plastic covers for protection against dust, moisture, and other environmental contaminants, but light reflection from these surfaces can make information displaye...

In recent years, research efforts such as the Materials Genome Initiative and the Materials Project have produced a wealth of computational tools for designing new materials useful for a range of applications, from energy and electronics to aeronautics and civil engineering. But developing processes for producing those materials has continued to depend on a combination of experience, intuition, and manual literature reviews.