Composites trends of 2024: Innovating for a sustainable, high-rate future

Happy New Year! As we kick off 2025, CW looks back on the stories we’ve published over the past year, highlighting those that captured the most attention from our print and digital audiences. Having become a bit of a New Year’s tradition at CW, we hope it provides a glimpse into the trending topics within the composites industry, helping to set the stage for the year ahead. In compiling our top 20 stories list (we typically avoid news and product items and market overview compilations) it’s not surprising that these articles represent a few overarching industry trends that we’re all already familiar with:

1. Combining multifunctional thermoplastic composites, additive manufacturing for next-gen airframe structures
2. Plant tour: Teijin Carbon America Inc., Greenwood, S.C., U.S.
3. Carbon fiber, bionic design achieve peak performance in race-ready production vehicle
4. The next evolution in AFP
5. Active core molding: A new way to make composite parts
6. Plant tour: Aernnova Composites, Toledo and Illescas, Spain
7. Automated robotic NDT enhances capabilities for composites
8. The next-generation single-aisle: Implications for the composites industry
9. Plant tour: Airbus, Illescas, Spain
10. Plant tour: Sekisui Aerospace, Orange City, Iowa, Renton and Sumner, Wash., U.S.
11. Reinforcing hollow, 3D printed parts with continuous fiber composites
12. Carbon fiber composite pallet revolutionizes freight industry
13. Filament winding increases access to high-performance composite prostheses
14. Low-cost, efficient CFRP anisogrid lattice structures
15. “Structured air” TPS safeguards composite structures
16. SMC composites progress BinC solar electric vehicles
17. Aviation-specific battery system uses advanced composites to address electric, hybrid flight
18. Co-molding SMC with braided glass fiber demonstrates truck bed potential
19. FiberJoints innovates composite bolted joints for reduced weight, cost and maintenance
20. Life cycle assessment in the composites industry

The quest for high-rate production is still a running theme within the industry. The demands of commercial aerospace, as well as the increased use of composites within the automotive sector, driven by vehicle electrification, is putting pressure on composites manufacturers to continuously streamline operations and find new efficiencies.

Next-generation aerospace continues to be a big topic for the composites industry as companies seek ways to achieve increasingly lightweight structures and also find ways to meet high-rate production demands mentioned above. The next-generation single-aisle aircraft — Airbus’ NGSA and perhaps Boeing’s mid-market aircraft — will target entering service in the 2030s and likely feature more composites than the current generation. According to the U.K.’s Counterpoint Market Intelligence, the demand on such a program would require processes capable of reaching up to 100 aircraft per month.

As the industry matures and composites manufacturers strive to meet rate requirements, hand layup of multi-ply and increasingly complex laminates continues to be replaced with automated tape layup (ATL) and automated fiber placement (AFP) technologies. Trends in this area include optimizing system modularity, the addition of winding for end products such as pressure vessels and increased implementation of digital solutions for improved process control. Technology approaches range from the simplest, easiest entry into AFP to automated mass production of more than half a million parts per year.

Sustainability goals are also playing a large role in influencing trends in the industry. Today, OEMs expect comprehensive environmental responsibility from their supply chains including material sourcing, recycling and waste reduction — things that are quickly becoming essential strategies embedded within all manufacturing operations. While composites have long been synonymous with lightweighting and energy efficiency, the industry has seen increasing focus on the development of bio-based composites, recycling technologies and life cycle analysis. This also reflects a broader industry shift toward creating materials and processes that not only offer high performance, but that are also environmentally responsible.

In addition, other innovations including additive manufacturing processes, active core molding, the use of embedded sensors and smart materials, and automated NDT solutions are also playing a role in efforts to achieve high-rate and sustainability goals.

As composites manufacturers adapt to the evolving demands across all sectors, the integration of advanced automation, digital technologies and environmentally responsible practices will continue to reshape the landscape. It will be exciting to see what 2025 brings!