Liquid cooled connectors are used for carrying high power levels like those found in extreme fast charging (XFC) EV chargers. Connectors for liquid cooling are more common and used for cooling EV battery packs, cooling XFC EV charging stations, and other thermally demanding applications. This FAQ will review the performance and use cases for liquid […]
Rotary slip ring connectors — what are they used for?
Rotary slip ring connectors are important components in various applications like multi-axis robots in industry 4.0, wind turbines for sustainable green energy, machine tools, medical systems, and more. This FAQ considers how slip ring connectors differ from commutators, and looks at how mercury-wetted, pancake, and wireless slip ring connectors work. Their capabilities and reviews applications […]
How can connector sustainability be improved?
Before it became fashionable, connector makers were at the forefront of sustainability. It started with replacing cadmium plating to meet RoHS requirements and soon expanded to using plastic regrinds and bio-based plastics instead of 100% new plastics for connector bodies. Connector makers have more recently embraced new, more sustainable materials for high-performance contacts. This FAQ […]
How are terahertz connectors different?
Terahertz (THz) systems represent one of the next frontiers in electronics. THz applications are expected to include automotive advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for autonomous vehicles, next-generation telephony like 5G and 6G, augmented and virtual reality (AR & VR) technologies for the metaverse, and more. There will be numerous challenges to overcome in the development […]
Rare earths and EVs — it’s not about batteries
Rare earths play an important part in the sustainability of electric vehicles (EVs). While there are sustainability challenges related to EV batteries, rare earths are not used in lithium-ion batteries. They are necessary for the magnets that form the main propulsion motors. The batteries mostly rely on lithium and cobalt (not rare earths). At the […]
What are the types of magnets and how can they contribute to sustainability?
There are multiple types of magnets, including temporary magnets, permanent magnets, and electromagnets. Each type of magnet has a variety of uses and can contribute to a more sustainable society. This FAQ reviews the basics of each type of magnet, looks at what it can be used for, presents some efforts to develop sustainable permanent […]
What are the six kinds of magnetism?
Diamagnetism, paramagnetism, ferromagnetism, ferrimagnetism, antiferromagnetism, and superparamagnetism are the six kinds of magnetism. This FAQ begins with a brief review of the basic sources of magnetism, considers the magnetic susceptibility of various materials, and then briefly presents the characteristics of the six types of magnetism. The root cause of magnetism is the behavior of electrons, […]
What’s the difference between hard and soft magnetic materials?
These distinctions refer specifically to ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials, not just hard and soft materials. There are super-soft, very-soft, soft, semi-hard, and hard magnetic material classifications based on the magnetic coercivity (HC) measured in ampere/meter (A/m) units or Oersteds (Oe). This FAQ is focused primarily on soft, semi-hard, and hard magnetic materials. It begins with […]
How do magnetic poles, fields, flux and domains work?
Magnetics is a key technology for sustainable power conversion, electric vehicle motors, motion sensing and control in various medical, industrial, and consumer applications, and advanced data storage technologies. Advances in magnetics often provide the foundation for advances in electronic technologies and devices. This FAQ presents the basics of magnetic field lines and field strength, looks […]
What are the top ten Li battery regulations?
That depends. There is a wide range of regulations for lithium (Li) batteries. Some regulations, like those related to the transport of Li batteries and Li battery packs, have a broader impact than application-focused regulations like those for Li battery packs in electric vehicles (EVs) or industrial systems. This FAQ begins by looking at three…