Here at New Way Air Bearings ®, we take pride in supporting research and development applications from a wide array of fields in both industry and academia. To this end, today we’ll be highlighting how our porous media air bearings have found a place in aerospace academic research, where they’re prized for their frictionless motion, hysteresis free error, and simple operation. From satellite control law development to PWM mapping state of the art autonomous quadcopters. At the University of Michigan, the Michigan Autonomous Air Vehicles team (MAAV) is a student run group who competes in the a ..read more

For supporting rotating artifacts such as natural gas turbines, compressors, turboexpanders, pumps, motors and more, the choice of bearings and motion solutions can be daunting. Despite the leaps and bounds made in contact bearings technologies; new coatings, lubricants and more, these systems are still bound by tribological effects, and eventually wear down. Fluid film bearings offer a solution to this problem. Broadly divided into hydrostatic and hydrodynamic designs, these bearings make use of a fluid medium between the bearing faces, where shear within the fluid acts as the contacting mot ..read more

Here at New Way Air Bearings ® we remain committed to supporting the cutting edge of precision manufacturing, and today we want to discuss how this starts at home. With the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the US government has unveiled a 50 billion dollar program to revitalize the production of semiconductor wafers and associated products within the United States. This process will entail both expanding additional domestic manufacturing capabilities and standing up entirely new facilities. For both of these avenues, new technologies are needed to futureproof the growing US semiconductor indust ..read more

At New Way Air Bearings ®, we remain committed to continuous innovation in the field of porous media air bearings, both in advancing our own technologies and its applications to new industries. Today we want to highlight the innumerable benefits porous media offers to the turbomachinery sector, backed up by the work of our founder, Drew Devitt, in conjunction with researchers from General Electric, Texas A&M University, and more. Benefits like reduction of amplitude in whirl frequencies, high stiffness and ease of manufacture stand in stark contrast to dry gas seals, foil bearings, and a ..read more

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world saw unprecedented shortages of many critical supplies . Of all of these, perhaps the most impactful to the global economy has been semiconductors chips. These chips are enormously important, with the products they control touching almost every aspect of our daily lives. While the shortage of semiconductor chips appears to be easing as supply chains open up, it is worth diving into the changes the industry can make so as to avoid these bottlenecks in the future, and create faster, more reliant systems in the process. The Importance of Air B ..read more

Here at New Way Air Bearings®, we’re proud to support cutting edge processes for manufacturing, inspection and motion technologies. In this article, we want to discuss how Porous Media Technology™ impacts automated inspection testing. Learn how our unique air bearings offer a multitude of benefits to any manufacturer who’s looking to increase both throughput and quality control in their process. Thanks to advances in machine learning and automation capabilities, ‘lights-out’ manufacturing is coming into focus as a new paradigm for OEM’s everywhere. These highly automated systems are dependent ..read more

Semiconductor Manufacturers Stand to See Incredible Benefits from New Way’s Linear Slide Technology New Way Air Bearings® has a long history of deep integration within the precision manufacturing community. We want to highlight how our Porous Media™ linear slides are bringing the future of nanometer computing to the consumer. Our linear slides offer enormous benefits to semiconductor manufacturing. From their role as an integral component in positioning wafers during the etching process to moving completed components, linear slides offer cleanroom compatibility, precision motion and retrofit c ..read more

Here at New Way Air Bearings, we’re always committed to expanding our Porous Media™ air bearings to new applications and industries. Here, we want to discuss one of the unique capabilities of our bearings which make them so versatile: Shock and vibration mitigation. While traditional contact systems might require discrete spring or fluid damping systems, air bearings are naturally damped owing to the squeeze film effect, and as such provide this two fold benefit to your application. Both linear and rotary applications have their resonant frequencies mitigated when contact is eliminated throug ..read more

New Way Air Bearings ® remains committed to our goal of bringing the benefits of Porous Media™ air bearings to as many emerging markets as possible. Here, we want to highlight what our products can bring to the renewable energy sector. The renewable energy market—encompassing wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear—was valued at upwards of 768 billion dollars in 2021 with an expected compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.6% until 2030. Suffice it to say this is a booming market. Any energy supplier would be wise to consider what other technology they can upgrade as they transition from fo ..read more

New Way® Air Bearings is proud to be at the forefront of dynamic solutions for legacy and emerging industries. Here, we want to highlight how Frictionless Motion™ can enhance the production of electric vehicles (EVs). With the government offering a federal EV tax credit, manufacturers have never been more encouraged to enter the market. As consumers become more environmentally conscious, they’re seeing the benefits of a car which charges at home and skips the gas pump. The number of EV’s on the road in 2022 increased year over year by a staggering 65%, with over 800,000 sold in the United Sta ..read more