Engineering news

Engineering

Researchers develop new way to reduce metal waste in manufacturing

Manufacturing aircraft components, battery materials, cutting tools, biomedical implants and other precision-engineered parts often involves metals in powder form.

Engineering

Curated hydrogen database reveals links between storage capacity and release pressure

Hydrogen's ability to power a cleaner future hinges not only on finding materials capable of efficiently storing and releasing it, but also on understanding the trade-off between storage capacity and practical operating conditions.

Engineering

Rust-free infrastructure: Portable polymer welding method could simplify repairs

Researchers from Skoltech have found a way to assemble and repair structures made from thermoplastic polymer composites—a type of glass fiber–reinforced plastic—in the field.

Engineering

Drone system uses VR for warehouse inventory

Engineering students at the University of Cincinnati are developing an easy-to-use system to deploy autonomous drones in warehouses to take inventory and alert workers about leaks from containers. UC College of Engineering ...

Engineering

Ultrasound creates a tube that guides matter through the air

A small stream of liquid flows quietly in midair, horizontally, as if inside an invisible tube. Nothing touches it. About 5 centimeters (2 inches) away, a cylinder lined with hundreds of tiny speakers surrounds the stream, ...

Engineering

Turning coffee waste into 3D-printed architectural forms

RMIT researchers have turned coffee waste into 3D-printed architectural forms, opening a potential pathway towards more sustainable, low-carbon construction. The project brings together scientific, architectural and engineering ...

Engineering

Safety-conscious drop tower improves TN bridges

If you are inside the John D. Tickle Engineering Building at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and think you hear a semitruck slamming into a highway overpass, your ears aren't deceiving you. You've just stopped by ...

Engineering

Turning waste into fuel could help cut cement's carbon footprint

Waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill could help low-carbon cement production by reducing the industry's reliance on fossil fuels, according to Adelaide University researchers. Ph.D. candidate Geethmi Thisakya, ...

Engineering

Strengthening wood with needle and thread

Wood laminates are used in many different ways, for example, in the manufacture of skis and snowboards or in components for vehicle interiors. However, their weight advantages for lightweight construction also have disadvantages. ...

Engineering

What 100,000 simulations reveal about the US power grid

On August 13, 2003, a single transmission line near Cleveland, Ohio, sags into an overgrown tree limb and short circuits. Within minutes, nearby lines overload and trip one after another, triggering cascading failures across ...

Engineering

Why solid-state batteries keep short-circuiting

Batteries that use solid metal as their charge-carrying electrolyte could potentially be a safer and far more energy-dense alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Unfortunately, these solid-state batteries have been plagued ...

Engineering

Harvesting heat and electricity from the sun, when you need it

Solar energy is abundant and frustratingly ill-timed. A sunbeam can become either electricity (useful for running modern life) or heat (useful for keeping spaces warm). But conventional solar hardware is single-minded: Photovoltaic ...

Engineering

Mach 1.5 tests reveal noise feedback loops from supersonic jets

Researchers from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion, or FCAAP, are helping to solve a safety challenge in military aviation: the extreme noise generated by supersonic jets ...

Engineering

New bifacial solar cells yield efficiencies above 32%

Solar cells, devices that can convert sunlight into electricity, are now widely used in many countries worldwide. Over the past few years, energy engineers have been exploring alternative designs that could further boost ...