Many refineries and chemical plants are built with large pieces of rotating equipment in an outdoor setting exposed to the elements. The author has been researching thermal growth issues for decades across North America.

This issue Engineering Showcase features some of the leading suppliers of couplings.

Couplings. There certainly is no shortage of couplings - or things to couple them with. There also seems to be no lack of applications for them. You say you need to reduce the transmission of shock loads from one shaft to another? That's a classic application for shaft couplings; but really, couplings are application-intensive. They're everywhere.

As manufacturers continually search for ways to cut costs and increase ROI, machine monitoring and predictive maintenance (PdM) solutions are an increasingly cost-effective way for plants and factories to help reduce process downtime.

Good machinery can last a lifetime. But, replacement parts for older equipment may be near impossible to find. So, what do you do when you're looking to replace hard-to-find bearings and related parts for older machines?

If you can find that magic bullet that will reduce the machining process, you can achieve meaningful efficiency gains. It is imperative that check-weighers or in-motion weighing systems remain both accurate and efficient while attaining a consistently smooth operation because they dynamically weigh products as they move across the belt.

While some organizations focus on real-world analytics and data collection for predictive maintenance, simulation tools and virtual prototyping can be another solution for motor efficiency.

Motor Operation Gets Big Boost from Smart Technology (Here's How to Take Advantage)

The technology continues to evolve in chain- and belt-driven systems

Here's what one supplier is doing to take advantage of the mobile phone in your pocket.