Additive manufacturing and foundry innovation

Additive manufacturing is expected to transform and upgrade the traditional foundry industry to realize the integrated manufacturing and rapid and low-cost development of high-performance components with complex shapes. The additive manufacturing technology commonly applied in casting mold preparation (fusible molds, sand molds/cores and ceramic cores) mainly includes selective laser sintering (SLS) and binder injection three-dimensional printing (3DP). In this work, the research status of SLS/3DP-casting processes on material preparation, equipment development, process optimization, simulation and application cases in aerospace, automotive and other fields were elaborated. Finally, the developing trends of the additive manufacturing technology in the future of foundry field are introduced, including multi-material sand molds (metal core included), ceramic core-shell integration and die-casting dies with conformal cooling runners.     

UHF RFID标签谐振特性非接触测试方法的研究与实现

针对U H F RFID标签贴附在介质表面时,标签的谐振特性用接触式测量方法存在较大的误差问题,通过建立标签的接收功率模型,分析标签芯片获取到的能量与频率之间的关系,提出非接触式测试 U HF RFID谐振特性的方法。详细描述了利用频率和距离关系测试标签谐振特性的原理,说明了非接触式测试方法硬件测试平台的搭建方法和测试软件的编写思想,并完整地实现了该平台。实测实验证明,该测试方法和平台能有效地测试标签的谐振特性。在实际应用中,可以根据标签的谐振特性设计适合不同物体的标签。     

Drop printing of pharmaceuticals: Effect of molecular weight on PEG coated‐naproxen/PEG 3350 solid dispersions

Solid dispersions have been used to enhance the bioavailability of poorly water‐soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). However, the solid‐state phase, compositional uniformity, and scale‐up problems are issues that need to be addressed. To allow for highly controllable products, the drop printing (DP) technique can provide precise dosages and predictable compositional uniformity of APIs in two‐/three‐dimensional structures. DP was used to prepare naproxen (NAP)/polyethylene glycol 3350 (PEG 3350) solid dispersions with PEG coatings of different molecular weights (MWs). A comparison of moisture‐accelerated crystallization inhibition by different PEG coatings was assessed. Scanning electron microscopy, second harmonic generation microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry analysis were performed to characterize the morphology and quantify the apparent crystallinity of NAP within the solid dispersions. Thermogravimetric analysis was employed to measure the water content within each sample. The results suggest that the moisture‐accelerated crystallization inhibition capability of the PEG coatings increased with increasing MW of the PEG coating. Besides, to demonstrate the flexibility of DP technology on manufacturing formulation, multilayer tablets with different PEG serving as barrier layers were also constructed, and their dissolution behavior was examined. By applying DP and appropriate materials, it is possible to design various carrier devices used to control the release dynamics of the API. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 4502–4508, 2015     

电容法微力测量中轴偏对电容梯度的影响

电容法微小力值测量中电容传感器会存在轴偏现象,影响测量精度。基于理论模型,分析计算了电容传感器在轴偏情况下的电容梯度。设计了合理的测量方案,通过高精度图像传感器及机器视觉算法,实现了轴偏及电容梯度测量,对轴偏与电容梯度之间理论数值关系进行了实验验证。实验证明了理论推导的正确性及测量方案的可性行,为后续的微力精密测量提供了误差补偿依据。在当前的电容传感器条件下,轴偏不大于50μm时,可满足误差1%以内的系统整体测量目标。