The IWK materials and plastics processing institute at HSR university in Rapperswil, Switzerland, has developed a carbon reinforced plastic (CFRP) trumpet for DaCarbo by using lost core technology in resin transfer moulding (RTM).
To make the trumpet, IWK used a two part-mould. Each part has an aluminium end-piece and a diecast bismuth-tin alloy core, Plastic Mould and receives a preform consisting of several braided hoses for resin impregnation and curing. The finished cured trumpet body is removed then the lost cores are melted in a hot water bath for re-use, along with the aluminium end-pieces.
The trumpet, exhibited at Fakuma 2011, has no condensed water pitting corrosion, which often happens with brass trumpets. It is also more robust, weighs less and needs fewer adjustments before playing, says IWK.
The institute's head, Frank Ehrig, told European Plastics News the trumpet is also easier to play because it requires less air pressure. Trumpet players at the Zurich Tonhalle orchestra have not detected differences in tone quality over a brass trumpet, he adds.
IWK developed the trumpet with CarboHorns Swiss, now DaCarbo, founded in 2009 by Werner Spiri, who has 30 years experience in making trumpets at his Musik Spiri company, and Andreas Keller, a material scientist at the ETH university in Zurich.
Keller says the DaCarbo trumpet produces a warm, full-bodied sound, as it suppresses energy-consuming wall vibrations better than brass.
2011年12月5日星期一
2011年5月22日星期日
Snobelen: Big bucks not for bird brains
There is a gang our political leaders seem unwilling to confront.
I am, of course, referring to the Sciuridae. You know them better as squirrels.
Specifically the diabolical squirrels that are known to attack urban and rural properties, knocking over, mangling and destroying bird feeders of every design. Their malicious behavior forces good men and women from the comfort of their homes in the dead of winter to try to resurrect the %&*# feeder.
Otherwise solid relationships have been ruined as spouses are ordered out into the cold to deal with squirrel carnage.
I can report from four decades of personal experience that the offending rodents sit in trees and laugh almost audibly while the feeders are resurrected.
I don’t begrudge the politicians for avoiding the whole squirrel issue. After all, there isn’t any solution. Or at least there wasn’t until now.
A 13-year-old student from Alberta, Ty Godfrey, has invented the planet’s first (as far as I know) squirrel-proof bird feeder. He will, I assume, soon be receiving the Order of Canada from a grateful nation.
I might have missed Ty’s remarkable invention if his father hadn’t casually mentioned they were visiting Toronto this weekend.
Attending a ball game I asked? Nope, attending the Canada Wide Science Fair (CWSF), he replied.
Ty is one of 500 young people who won the right to represent their region in the CWSF finals held this week in Toronto. This is the 50th anniversary of the CWSF and the competition is intense. But then it should be; there is almost a million dollars in prizes and scholarships to be won.
The young scientists who have earned the right to compete in the CWSF come from every corner of Canada. Their projects span the range of scientific inquiry from insects to quarks. The only common elements in the projects and papers are rigorous study and inquisitive minds. That, it seems, is a powerful combination.
Young Ty is a case in point. The invention of the squirrel-proof feeder, an ingenious combination of a two-litre pop bottle and a plastic tie, was a byproduct of research into the effect of colour on the feeding habits of birds.
I am, of course, referring to the Sciuridae. You know them better as squirrels.
Specifically the diabolical squirrels that are known to attack urban and rural properties, knocking over, mangling and destroying bird feeders of every design. Their malicious behavior forces good men and women from the comfort of their homes in the dead of winter to try to resurrect the %&*# feeder.
Otherwise solid relationships have been ruined as spouses are ordered out into the cold to deal with squirrel carnage.
I can report from four decades of personal experience that the offending rodents sit in trees and laugh almost audibly while the feeders are resurrected.
I don’t begrudge the politicians for avoiding the whole squirrel issue. After all, there isn’t any solution. Or at least there wasn’t until now.
A 13-year-old student from Alberta, Ty Godfrey, has invented the planet’s first (as far as I know) squirrel-proof bird feeder. He will, I assume, soon be receiving the Order of Canada from a grateful nation.
I might have missed Ty’s remarkable invention if his father hadn’t casually mentioned they were visiting Toronto this weekend.
Attending a ball game I asked? Nope, attending the Canada Wide Science Fair (CWSF), he replied.
Ty is one of 500 young people who won the right to represent their region in the CWSF finals held this week in Toronto. This is the 50th anniversary of the CWSF and the competition is intense. But then it should be; there is almost a million dollars in prizes and scholarships to be won.
The young scientists who have earned the right to compete in the CWSF come from every corner of Canada. Their projects span the range of scientific inquiry from insects to quarks. The only common elements in the projects and papers are rigorous study and inquisitive minds. That, it seems, is a powerful combination.
Young Ty is a case in point. The invention of the squirrel-proof feeder, an ingenious combination of a two-litre pop bottle and a plastic tie, was a byproduct of research into the effect of colour on the feeding habits of birds.
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