What CW's analytics have to say about 2021 composites trends

Happy New Year! (I am reticent to use exclamation points, so I hope you appreciate the gravity of the one I just used.) It’s mid-December as I write this and around this time each year the CompositesWorld team conducts a little inventory-taking of the year that was — particularly regarding our editorial performance.

Part of this effort includes publishing our annual list of top 10 articles and top 10 news stories of the year. Frankly, it’s hard to beat CW’s website analytics as a raw measure of the topics, applications and ideas that resonate with you, our audience. And looking more closely at the content that performed well last year tells us much — not just about what interests you, but also about where the composites industry is headed.

So, let’s take a closer look at CW’s best-performing stories in 2021 and see what we can learn. First, here’s the list of top 20 articles, with the broader topic and/or end market for each noted.

1.  Why aren’t composites synonymous with infrastructure? (infrastructure)
2. Contactless measuring of temperature and pressure inside composites (process)
3. Large-format 3D printing enables toolless, rapid production for AUVs (3D printing, marine)
4. Novel dry tape for liquid molded composites (material, aerospace)
5. Out-of-autoclave VBO rear spar, thermoplastic ribs target Wing of Tomorrow (material, process, aerospace)
6. Wing of Tomorrow ribs: One-shot, thermoplastic, OOA consolidation (material, process, aerospace)
7. Braided carbon fiber and resin transfer molding for complex composites (material, process)
8. Recycling end-of-life composite parts: New methods, markets (wind energy)
9. Advancing the OOA infused wing box (material, process, aerospace)
10. Reprocessable, repairable and recyclable epoxy resins for composites (material)
11. Porosity, voids and bridging in prepreg autoclave and vacuum bag-only laminates (process)
12. Composites as auto body reinforcements (material, automotive)
13. Challenges of laser-assisted tape winding of thermoplastic composites (material, process)
14. Designing a versatile multi-material EV battery enclosure (material, automotive)
15. Hydrogen is poised to fuel composites growth, Part 1 (hydrogen storage/pressure vessels)
16. Composite thermal breaks boost window insulation value (material, construction)
17. Stelia Aerospace Composites advanced hydrogen storage (hydrogen storage/pressure vessels)
18. Composites testing challenges, Part 1: Introduction to mechanical testing of composites (testing)
19. Manufacturing the upper half of the Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (material, process, aerospace)
20. Assessing a composites supply chain in flux (supply chain)

What did I notice? What surprised me most about this list was #1. This was an editorial I wrote for the June 2021 issue when President Biden’s Infrastructure Bill was still wending its way (slowly) through Congress. I am not sure what I wrote was particularly novel or noteworthy, but it clearly tapped a nerve regarding the lack of, and potential for, composites use in infrastructure applications.

You will also notice several stories (#4, #5, #6, #9, #19) are focused on aerospace, with a clear trend toward out-of-autoclave materials and process combinations that will, almost certainly, drive composites fabrication for next-generation aircraft programs. It’s also worth noting that each of these stories involves companies/organizations — Daher, GKN Aerospace, MTorres, Airbus, Clean Sky 2 — that are based in Europe. Indeed, Europe is driving much publicly funded R&D aimed at progressing commercial aerospace materials and processes. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see CW’s newest column, called The Troubleshooter, make the list, checking in at #11 and #13. We launched The Troubleshooter in 2021 to help our audience address common composites manufacturing challenges. The column’s popularity with readers sends a clear signal for its continuation in 2022.

Hydrogen, not surprisingly, appears twice on this list, at #15 and #17. The value of carbon fiber-overwrapped pressure vessels for hydrogen storage is turning into a massive market opportunity for the composites industry — one that is simultaneously exciting and daunting. We will continue to watch this space closely in 2022. 

The automotive end market is represented in #12 and #14, the latter of which is a report we did on a multi-material battery enclosure for electric vehicle (EV) applications. Enclosures, like hydrogen pressure vessels, are turning into an application that stands to benefit greatly from the benefits composites convey. And with EV on the rise, demand for composite enclosures promises to skyrocket.

Finally, this list ends as it began, with another editorial I wrote. My May 2021 column, #20, was about the challenges posed by composites industry supply chain disruptions. It turns out I was too optimistic in that column, suggesting we’d see supply chain problems ironed out by the end of the year. Nevertheless, this month’s Composites Index report and a new year offer some hope for a change for the better.