Articles
SAMPE 2017: Highlights
SAMPE returned to Seattle, WA, US, May 22-25 and featured the usual mix of conference presentations and exhibit hall activity. CW was there and offers this summary of highlights from the event.
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Automated Preforming, Part 2: Glide Forming
Flat layups are shaped into stringers with different cross-sections, lengths, thicknesses and curvatures using a single machine at rates up to 10 mm per second.
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3D TPC structural preforming process lightens car doors
Automated cell manufactures and pre-impregnates continuous-fiber 3D preforms for injection/compression overmolding of parts with complex shapes, and tailored structural properties.
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An aerocomposites wish list
Boeing R&T fellow Tom Tsotsis offers his vision of how design and manufacture of composite parts and structures might evolve in the aerospace industry.
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Preforming goes industrial: Part 1
ATL and AFP-based preforming options now abound for processing dry and/or impregnated reinforcements as quickly as 1 minute or less with potential yearly part yields in the millions.
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Composites recycling is gaining traction
Although CW’s coverage of composites recycling dates back over a decade, informal statistics still show that only ~2% of composites-related companies are active recyclers. That said, three years since our most recent feature on the subject, there is demonstrably greater interest and activity, and real applications of recycled fiber are growing.
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Composites at AIA 2017
The ACMA Architectural Division exhibited its 4th annual Composites Pavilion and 2nd annual COMPOSITES CHALLENGE for architectural students.
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Composite submersibles: Under pressure in deep, deep waters
Manned deepsea exploration calls for a highly engineered composites solution that saves weight and preserves life — at 6,500-psi service pressure.
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Polyurethane’s processing speed, properties enable bigger blades
Decade-long development effort reaches key wind energy cost-reduction milestone using epoxy-besting infusion resin.
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Automated Preforming, Part 1: Numbers and Landscape
CW’s multi-blog series on preforming begins with an overview and quick look at the numbers: 1-minute take time, 10-15 seconds per layer, 490-kg/hr and 3.5 million parts/year. Are you ready for serial CFRP production?
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Composites recycling: Gaining traction
Recycling of carbon fiber, glass fiber and — at last — resins, is growing as new players enter the space.
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