Environmental restrictions and economic pressures have spurred greater interest in hybrid and electric off-road mobile machinery. According to researchers Tatiana Minav, Matti Pietola and Shuzhong Zhang of Aalto University in Espoo, Finland, in addition to well-established methods for energy saving in hydraulic systems, a promising concept is zonal or decentralized hydraulics—an approach first pioneered in […]
Research
3D-printed excavator wows the crowd at IFPE and CONEXPO-CON/AGG
Kicking off the Tech Experience at IFPE and CONEXPO-CON/AGG, the unveiling of the 3D-printed excavator—dubbed Project AME—was a fitting start to the “Imagine What’s Next” theme of the two massive shows this year. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), in collaboration with CCEFP university student designers from the University of Illinois, the University of Minnesota, and […]
Is the sun rising or setting on the fluid power industry?
In his recent “state of the union” presentation on fluid-power research, the director of the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP), Professor Kim A. Stelson of the Univ. of Minnesota, posed that exact question regarding the future of the industry. And in answer, he hedged his bet a bit by stating, “I’m really […]
Presentation submittal deadline for FPIRC16 extended to May 15
NFPA and the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) invite both industry and academic researchers to submit a short abstract of their work for consideration as a presentation at the next Fluid Power Innovation and Research Conference (FPIRC), which will be held October 10-12, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis in Minneapolis, Minnesota. […]
Bauma and sustainability
While hydraulic and machine performance and value are front and center at Bauma, sustainability is a key theme as well. Since 1991 productivity in the construction machinery sector has been flat in terms of output per hour, signifying the need for more automation, labor saving and worker safety. That’s according to Juergen Weber, head of […]
NFPA to take handlebars of Chainless Challenge
The annual Chainless Challenge was held in Irvine, Calif. last month, inspiring eight teams of college engineering students to redesign a traditional bicycle using hydraulics as the mode of power transmission. The Challenge was started and supported by Parker Hannifin in 2006, and the NFPA is becoming involved—and will manage (and broaden) the program in […]
Bauma opens today
Bauma, one of the world’s leading exhibitions for construction and mining equipment, opened today in Munich. With 17 halls and an expansive outdoor display area, the show has a total exhibition area of more than 600,000 m2—making it the world’s largest trade show. Attendance is expected to exceed 500,000 visitors. Hydraulics winners of the Bauma […]
Hydraulic controls bring precision and flexibility to force testing
by Rick Meyerhoefer, Delta Computer Systems Dead-weight testing is finally replaced by something decidedly more 21st century. Traditionally, repair facilities test hoists in a pretty straightforward way—they lift heavy loads after the repairs have been completed, to make sure that they operate correctly and to their rated capacities. John Henry Foster Co. (JHF) of St. […]
CCEFP research aims to improve mobile hydraulic efficiency
Transportation is one of the largest segment users of energy in the U.S., consuming 30 quadrillion (quads) of BTUs a year. Making up this segment are light-duty and beyond-light-duty transportation vehicles. Light duty refers to the cars that Americans drive every day. Beyond-light duty refers to everything else, from mobile machinery to large trucks. Mobile […]
What manufacturing can learn from Thailand
Earlier this month, I was part of a journalist delegation to Thailand, the Southeast Asian country that’s probably known more for tourism than industrial engineering prowess. But after a week of touring manufacturing facilities that included such international heavyweights as Caterpillar and Nissan, I left with a new mindset for how industry needs to succeed […]
