CW Blog
Composites manufacturing — where the excitement lives
A regular CW columnist and the chief commercialization officer for the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI, Knoxville, TN, US), Dale Brosius points out that for today's engineering students, a Ph.D in manufacturing could open the door to an exciting, alternative career path.
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VABO Composites: Dutch innovator excels in diverse applications
From yacht masts and ship doors to front loader buckets and architectural projects, VABO uses resin infusion and ingenuity to push composites forward vs. metals.
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Using 3D printing for composite molds and tools: the trend continues
Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is becoming more common in the aerospace tooling realm. Production tooling can be made quickly and on-demand, which helps the tooling industry keep pace with accelerating composite part design cycles and demand for faster overall part processing speeds.
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3-D printing autoclavable composite molds
The polymer additive manufacturing research team at the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory reports that it has successfully fabricated autoclave-capable carbon fiber composite molds, manufactured using large-scale 3D printing/additive manufacturing.
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Composites recycling becomes a necessity
Boeing and Airbus each is generating as much as a 1 million lb of cured and uncured carbon fiber prepreg waste each year from 787 and A350 XWB production. If you include the entire supply chain for these planes, the total is closer to 4 million lb/year. And with the automotive industry poised to consume (and waste) more carbon fiber than ever, recycling of composite materials has become an absolute necessity. The technology is there, but the markets are not. Yet.
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Composites help to repair earthquake-damaged bridges
Utah researchers designed a new repair process that involves carbon fiber-reinforced polymer “donuts” to fix damaged bridges quickly.
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Delta throws Bombardier's C Series a lifeline
After anemic sales threatened the future of the composites-intensive C Series, Delta's order of 75 CS100 aircraft, with options for 50 more, might have put the single-aisle aircraft on a path to sustainability.
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Cost-effective aerocomposites: Dry fiber AFP and resin infusion
Aurora Flight Sciences and NONA Composites aim to improve toughness, repeatable aerospace quality and affordability for large-scale NASA structures.
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Carbures, el Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain
On a rapid and audacious growth trajectory, this Tier 2 supplier based on the Iberian Peninsula opens the doors of three foundational facilities near Spain’s aerospace epicenter.
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Up close and personal with Solar Impulse 2
CW was at the scene when the composites-intensive Si2 landed in Phoenix, AZ.
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Carbon/epoxy Cadillac hood in production
While they typically keep their research efforts close to the vest, automakers and automotive Tier suppliers nevertheless are always in the process of evaluating the multitude of materials available for lightweighting.
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Composites in tornado shelters
A new design aims to defeat the threat from debris, both as heavy piles preventing exit and as projectiles traveling at ballistic speeds.
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