Aerospace Exchange Blog

Both reciprocating and turbine aircraft engines operate on the basic principle of igniting fuel and air mixtures. While combustion can provide sufficient propulsive force and mechanical energy for aircraft to fly, it also causes a large amount of heat generation that must be mitigated for the integrity of engine components and surrounding structures. The cooling system of an aircraft may vary depending on the type of engine and its design, often relying on methods such as liquid cooling and air cooling to protect assemblies.

Machines and tools are critical to the optimal performance of countless industrial applications. Critical to these machines and tools themselves are pins, the fasteners that hold them together and prevent them from falling apart. Industrial pins are a type of fastening hardware used for several purposes, among which are aligning, mounting, coupling, assembling, and penetrating two different machines or pieces of hardware. Industrial pins are used for different purposes and employed based on the operation or function they are expected to carry out. In this blog, we will look at the eight most common types of industrial pins and their defining characteristics.

A lathe machine is a type of machine used to shape and machine many types of workpiece. Depending on the size and material of the workpiece, there are many different types of lathe machines to choose from. While lathe machines were typically only used for metal machining, modern technological advancements have broadened their functionality to work with a range of various materials. The main purpose of a lathe machine is to remove extra or unwanted material from a workpiece to create a product. Lathes are capable of producing many different shapes and forms in very little time and with high accuracy. This blog will cover the six most common types of lathe machines: the speed/wood lathe, engine lathe, tool-room lathe, capstan and turret lathe, special purpose lathe, and CNC lathe.

Flared and flareless fittings are both commonly used throughout the aerospace industry in many applications. For example, the Army-Navy (AN) military standards require tighter tolerances and define all fittings types, wherein the joint intelligence center utilizes AN specifications as a basis to form their own standards covering fewer sizes. This blog will discuss both flared and flareless fittings and their specific types.

Within the realm of piping and fluid transportation, pipe flanges serve as a useful method for connecting components to one another for establishing a system. By bolting together two flange components with a gasket in between, a variety of assemblies can be made. Second to only welding, utilizing the flange method of piping attachment is useful for the ability to separate and disassemble systems with ease, ensuring that maintenance and replacement of parts is much simpler. As such, flanges can create a more flexible approach to piping systems for an ease of access.

O-rings are found throughout a broad range of manufacturing and industrial facilities and machines. Their versatility and array of applications mean there are many different O-rings materials to choose from. This blog will explain O-rings and provide some information to help you decide what material of O-ring is best suited to your particular situation.

In a manual transmission, the engine is connected to the transmission through the use of a clutch. Without this connection, the car would not be able to stop without killing the engine. However, in automatic transmissions, there is no clutch. Instead, they use a device called a torque converter. This blog will explain what torque converters are, how they work, and more.

Airplane deicing is to some degree like how one may deice the windows of a vehicle before driving. In idea, they are equivalent, however as you go about the de-icing process, you begin to see the distinctions. To comprehend those distinctions, it's ideal to look into what airplane deicing is and why the requirement for airplane deicing frameworks parts is so significant.

While electricity has provided for much of our systems and appliances that we rely on daily, electricity can be harmful to both components and individuals if unregulated and uncontrolled. To ensure that there is protection in place, electrical insulator materials may be implemented to avoid or prevent such dangers that electricity poses. There are many types of electrical insulators that are commonly used, and they enable the safeguarding of electronics and components of all types that rely on electricity.

Just like aircraft use thrust to move along the sky, so too do ships and boats in the water. This thrust may be produced through multiple means, including those such as marine propeller systems, pump-jets, sails, and buoyancy. Throughout history, engineers have implemented many technologies to help improve upon the capabilities of thrust, each presenting different methods of marine propulsion. In this blog, we will discuss a few of the main types of marine propulsion systems and how they generate thrust for marine vessels.