Category Archive: Project Snapshot

Pharmaceutical Process Products

Customer: Amesil, NJ
Industry: Pharmaceutical Process Products

Developing Medical Quick Clamps That Don’t Fail – Pharma Hose Clamp Analysis
Developing plastic clamps that are user friendly and reduce finger and wrist fatigue is not as simple as it seems. A major clamp and tubing manufacturer was having problems with product failures and needed a remedy. Medical personnel clamp and unclamp hoses dozens of times per day and the new design needed to be comfortable as well as durable. Sigma Design was brought in to review and analyze the parts for a new clamp design that would eliminate failures in the field and also have the feel and control needed. These new parts were made to be manufacturing smart injection molded.

Services Performed: Medical device product development, computational plastic stress analysis, design for manufacturing, material selection, 3D rapid prototyping

Giving a Wire Weaving Company a Competitive Edge

Customer: Unique Wire Weaving Company, INC
Industry: Industrial Machinery

Sigma Design Company Unravels Equipment Challenges for a US Wire Weaving Company.
An industrial company in business since 1946 knew it needed to boost its productivity in order to continue production in the USA. The company came to Sigma Design to convert their original wire weaving machinery to increase production speed and also broaden the uses of the equipment. Sigma developed and built a modified loom and new wire feed system and drive train assembly to successfully meet those goals. A doubling of production speed and output using the same machine footprint was exactly what the customer envisioned. That experience, and keeping manufacturing and jobs in the US drives much of the engineering design and manufacturing work done at Sigma Design Company.

Sigma manufactured the machinery upgrade.

Services Performed: Field engineering, concept analysis, load simulation, machine design, detail design drawings, electronic controls, fabrication, manufacturing and testing.

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Test System Design/Build

Customer: The Egyptian Army
Industry: Filtration and Filter Testing

Verifying the Quality of After Market Filters
Sigma Designs Fuel Filter Testing Systems for Desert Vehicles

Imagine your car breaking down on the turnpike. Now imagine a similar breakdown but this time you are in a military vehicle in the desert during a critical mission. The clogging of a diesel fuel filter can be a real setback in such circumstances. Sigma Design Company was hired to develop and fabricate a state-of-the-art Fuel Filtration Testing System that tests diesel fuel filters for efficiency and dirt holding and retention capacity for mission critical vehicles to be used by the Egyptian Army. Sigma was selected due to their special expertise in applied engineering and the filtration of all types of substances – such as soil, water, blood and other fluids. Parts were designed in-house and then assembled in Sigma’s 20,000 square-foot Technology Commercialization and New Product Manufacturing Center.

Sigma is also the manufacturer of the test system.

Services Performed: Machine design, test systems development, welding services, machining and fabrication, testing and validation.

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Engine Filter

Customer: Global Filter Manufacturer
Industry: Automotive Filtration

Sigma Design Company’s advanced engineering skills and experience using analytical software uncovers problem areas to save a client time and money.
A globally known filter manufacturer had a fast-paced program and needed help to reduce their test program time. Starting with a first-pass iteration of a filter canister design, Sigma engineers used non-linear plastic simulation analysis to determine whether long-term cyclic loading would be likely to cause permanent deformation, and worse yet, failure. Sigma’s advanced engineering skills and experience using analytical software uncovered problem areas, which saved the client time and money. This insight got the client’s program back on track and on budget. Sigma’s engineering experience helps product launches stay on schedule by removing the unforeseen obstacles that delay new product development progress. Our team is capable of performing Linear Stress, Non-Linear Plastic Deformation, Computational Fluid Analysis, as well as using other specialized engineering software.

Services Performed:
Plastic Deformation and Stress Simulation, Detail Design Improvements, Design for Manufacturing, Product Development.

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Hydro Kinetic Power

Customer: GCK, TX
Industry: Alternative Energy

Turbine Flow Analysis – Computational Analysis Allows Underwater Generator to Produce Results.
Sigma Design was asked to design and analyze a novel three blade hydro turbine blade assembly. We created a single SolidWorks model and added appropriate boundary conditions to determine the hydrodynamic forces and distributed them across the blades to simulate the effect of tons of water flowing against the structure. Sigma developed fabrication drawings and worked with a local sheet metal fabricator on the manufacturing methods for these complex blade shapes. The system was fabricated and tested in Sag Harbor, New York.

For Further info:
SolidWorks Hydro Turbine

Services Performed:
Hydro power system development, computational stress and flow analysis, fabrication development and design, detail system components design, construction management, testing and validation.

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Thermal Analysis Using CFD

Customer: Global Specialty Metal Manufacturing Firm
Industry: Material Manufacturing

A global metal manufacturing firm needed Sigma Design Company to reverse engineer and model a heat exchanger.
A global metal manufacturing firm needed Sigma Design Company to reverse engineer and model a heat exchanger that is used in a foundry for creating alloy steel bars. In this application, hot metal flows in from one side, at 2800 °F, and is cooled by water that enters in from the other side. When the metal exits, it will be solidified to 1700 °F. The water and metal never touch, and because of the high heat, the heat exchanger itself had some very complex geometry and materials. Sigma was tasked with this project because of their engineering and design experience.
A SolidWorks Simulation CFD was run to determine the fluid flow profile. By running the simulation with different configurations of the heat exchanger, we could see which configuration provided better flow and therefore better system temperature control. We created areas where the flow rate could be measured, and used that data to determine the proper orientation of the components. Sigma is also the manufacturer of the modified cooling system components.

Services Performed:
Engineering services, concept development, FEA & CFD analysis and simulation, detail system design, fabrication, assembly and testing.

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New Design for the French Press G-M™

Customer: Glen Mills, Inc. NJ

Industry: Medical Laboratory Devices

Sub Heading: Sigma Design Company improves the design of a medical device to improve cell culture and tissue engineering capabilities for laboratories.

Sigma Design Company can be your partner in not only design but also in the manufacture of your new product. Consider the story behind the Glen Mills/Zellwerk Z®RP Reactor System” – a cell disruptor and high-pressure homogenizer. With the discontinuation of their previous French Press manufacturer’s production, Glenn Mills Inc. needed to find a company that could redesign and manufacture the French Press directly for them. They found this in Sigma Design Company. Working with the original design, which was based on a 60 year old medical device, Sigma reverse engineered and redesigned the machine to have more features, better aesthetics, and compatibility with all of the older system’s accessories. This new design incorporated many of the skills Sigma excels at including: tight tolerance machine components, hydraulics, circuit board design, material properties and finishes. With a newly designed product, Sigma Design Company manufactures and assembles these units in our NJ facility, providing immediate customer support, and a short lead time to our customers.

Sigma is also the manufacturer of the French Press G-M™