Top products for 2000

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Aerospace Engineering editors reviewed readers' responses to products appearing during the past 12 months. From the list of over a thousand products, the top scoring 50 products were chosen. Of the top 50, we have displayed "the best of the best." The runners-up are listed at the end of this section.

Adhesive sourcebook

The Adhesive Sourcebook from Loctite Corp. outlines the company's complete line of more than 1400 adhesives, sealants, coatings, and lubricants, as well as dispensing and curing equipment. The book is organized into four major application categories: assembly products for industrial applications, electronic products for microelectronics assembly, products for maintenance and repair operations, and adhesive dispensing and curing equipment.

High-temperature materials handbook

Cotronics' High Temperature Materials Handbook covers electrical, structural, and industrial applications. It provides technical data for machinable ceramics, refractories, insulation products, putties, epoxies, conductive adhesives, and protective coatings available for use to 4000°F. New products include moisture-proof ceramics, flexible potting compounds, conductive adhesives, instant adhesives, and heat tracing compounds.

Advanced composites

3M's latest brochure, 3M Advanced Technologies for Aerospace Structures, features details of the company's structural composites, structural adhesives, and protective products. Colorful photos throughout the brochure illustrate the countless products available for the aerospace industry, while numerous graphs and tables give full details of product properties.

Self-plugging blind rivet

The Cherry 3/32-in SPR self-plugging blind rivet from Textron Aerospace Fasteners provides higher strength than pull-through rivets, yet is in the lower price range of nut plate rivets. The rivet is suitable for securing nut plates located in inaccessible and hard-to- reach areas in which bucking or squeezing of solid rivets is unacceptable. The product's design allows a positive lock to be achieved without an additional lock ring component.

Aluminum epoxy

Tra-Con's Tra-Bond 2122 is an aluminum metal-filled epoxy formulation designed for industrial casting, bonding, and repair applications in which a strong aluminum-like adhesive is required. This two-part epoxy formulation is easily mixed at room temperature to form tough, durable bonds to aluminum and other nonferrous and ferrous materials, woods, ceramics, glass, concrete, and many plastics. It has low shrinkage and sets up quickly for fast repairs.

Depainting materials

U.S. Technology Corp.'s Magic adds significant speed to depainting projects. It performs three to four times faster than the firm's best plastic blasting media and outperforms competing materials by an even larger margin. Engineered from a nanocomposite material, Magic can depaint an entire aircraft in two days, vs. four days for competing materials.

Additive process reduces material and machining costs

AeroMet Corp.'s Lasform additive process produces high quality titanium shapes without the use of tools or dies. This efficient process can help eliminate the wasted material and machining hours associated with machining from either forgings or plate stock. The additive nature of laser forming makes it possible to add material selectively to structures that have been produced using conventional approaches. The process creates 100% dense structures, operates within an inert atmosphere, and uses commercially available precursor materials. It allows geometry changes from part to part and supports large part sizes up to 3.0 x 3.0 x 1.2 m.

Airframe wire meets mil-spec

Tensolite Co.'s general-purpose, composite-wrapped Tufflite 2000 - medium-wall and thin-wall lightweight versions - has passed all tests prescribed in MIL-W-22759/80-92 Rev. A. The wire, developed by Tensolite in cooperation with the Boeing Company, has proven through third-party tests to out-perform Kapton and XL-ETFE construction. These tests include flammability, wet and dry arc tracking, smoke generation, high-temperature performance, and dynamic cut-through at temperatures as high as 260°C.

Foil masking tape

T3612 aluminum foil masking tape from Scapa Tapes North America is a durable, self-wound, dead-soft aluminum foil tape coated with an aggressive acrylic adhesive formulated to withstand exposure to harsh chemicals. It offers superior chemical resistance, good temperature resistance, and excellent conformability for bonding to irregular and curved surfaces. The material provides superior bonding to metal substrates and meets LT 80B and Mil-T-23397B, Amendment 2 Type II standards.

Elastomeric bearings

Chicago Rawhide Aerospace Business Unit's load-carrying elastomeric bearings and isolation systems absorb, dampen, and/or control large forces simultaneously occurring in several directions. This includes vibration isolation, centrifugal force retention, and motion control in three axes.

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