CW Blog

Aerospace 14 Jul 2016

Building a market for recycled carbon fiber

Recycling uncured and cured carbon fiber was once a challenge, but that hurdle has been cleared. The difficulty we have now is in developing a market for what has become a mountainous amount of recycled material. CW's Carbon Fiber 2016 conference will address this issue.

Mass Transit 13 Jul 2016

Next-generation pressure vessels in space

After a name change, next on the horizon for Infinite Composites Technologies is supplying Type V tanks to the space race.

Adhesives 11 Jul 2016

Structural adhesives, Part II: Aerospace

Tried-and-true legacy epoxies are a must for aerospace composites, but usage is increasing with improved forms.

Aerospace 11 Jul 2016

The emerging commercial space industry

A decade since NASA opened extraterrestrial space to potential use as a commercial industry workplace, CW traces the role composites have played in public/private progress toward that goal.

Ketones 7 Jul 2016

Nanocomp Technologies Inc., Merrimack, NH, US

Its millimeter-length macro CNTs are finally realizing their commercial composites potential, with spacecraft applications leading the way.

Weaving 6 Jul 2016

Not your average carbon fiber part

A Swedish industrial designer and artisan, Ragnar Friberg, contacted CW recently about a new project: a one-of-a-kind custom champagne glass and an accompanying storage cabinet that incorporates carbon fiber — along with a number of high-end materials.

Editorial 30 Jun 2016

Cooperating on new-generation ground transport

CompositesWorld's editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan shares his observations about the mixture of excitement and anxiety about the future of composite in the auto industry on display at the recent Thermoplastics Composites Conference for Automotive (TCCA), held in the Detroit suburb of Novi, MI, US.

Aerospace 29 Jun 2016

Boeing 787 assembly aided by automated positioning/joining

Massive composite components mated via motion control software.

Consumer 29 Jun 2016

Trace: A simple, must-have tool

This recently discovered constant in laminate calculations can put designing with CFRP materials on par with designing with metals.

Materials Testing 29 Jun 2016

Bearing testing of composites

CW columnist Dr. Dan Adams (Wyoming Test Fixtures, Salt Lake City, UT, US) reviews the available options for testing the bearing strength of mechanically fastened composite joints.

Pressure Vessels 29 Jun 2016

Get ready for Composites 4.0!

It might seem like science fiction, but it must be our path if we are to make composites competitive.

Automotive 23 Jun 2016

Covestro kicking the tires on polycarbonates for automotive

Although development work has only just begun, the company's Makrolon polycarbonate, in a carbon fiber-reinforced composite, is proving highly impact resistant and offers a Class A surface.