Environmental groups want automakers to build cars that can be scrapped in eco-friendly ways. Metal parts are easy to recycle, but tough, durable automotive plastics aren't. Now engineers at the University of Warwick's Warwick Manufacturing Group in Warwickshire, England, have found a way to make these plastics "greener"-using elephant grass.
Working with Somerset, England-based Bical, Warwick engineers have used previously discarded pieces of elephant grass to stiffen biodegradable plastic resins not previously suitable for use in cars. The resulting plastics are strong while in use yet can be encouraged to biodegrade in compost heaps. The group has already tested wheel rims made from the plastics; several European car manufacturers have expressed interest.To read the entire article you must log in:
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Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
This document is part of the “How-To Guide for Most Common Measurements” centralized resource portal. This tutorial provides a detailed guide for measurement and device considerations to take temperature measurements using thermocouples. Get an introduction to thermocouples, which are inexpensive sensing devices widely used with PC-based data acquisition systems. Also review some specific thermocouple examples and learn how thermocouples work and ways to integrate them into a data acquisition measurement system.
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