CW Blog

Automotive 22 Jan 2016

What the Detroit Auto Show does and does not show

There are composites seen and unseen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and hints about what the next few years might bring.

Space 20 Jan 2016

CW opens up on out of autoclave, in February

You may not know that CW has prepared a Supplement to the upcoming February 2016 issue that examines out of autoclave processing in detail. It asks the question: Can OOA options be matured sufficiently to yield parts with <1% void content, outside of the autoclave?

19 Jan 2016

Aerocomposite material certification: To coupon or not to coupon?

There is much discussion in the composites industry about the potential to migrate away from the expensive and voluminous physical testing required to certify a composite material for use in aerospace applications.

19 Jan 2016

January 2016 CW: Correction

Corrections to stories in the November 2015 issue of CW.

Automotive 19 Jan 2016

2050 Motors to showcase China-built CFRP-bodied e-GO EV, Ibis to follow

2050 Motors Inc. announced on Nov. 15, 2015 that the first off-the-assembly-line carbon- fiber-bodied e-Go Electric EVs (electric vehicles) to enter the Western Hemisphere had arrived in the US the previous week.

Adhesives 8 Jan 2016

How have composite bridges measured up?

The latest US highway bill includes a provision to assess performance of composite bridges built years ago, bridges that CW wrote about.

RTM 8 Jan 2016

Wet compression molding

Automated process cuts cycle time and cost for CFRP parts with potential for 65% fiber volume via Dynamic Fluid Compression Molding variant.

Design and Testing 1 Jan 2016

Fracture mechanics testing of composites

Dr. Daniel O. Adams, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Composite Mechanics Laboratory at the University of Utah, and vice president of Wyoming Test Fixtures Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT, US), addresses ways to acquire mechanical test data and then calculate the values for the composite material property of fracture toughness.

Carbon Fibers 1 Jan 2016

Carbon Fiber: Refiguring the supply/demand equation

CW editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan returns from Carbon Fiber 2015 in Knoxville TN, US, with news that carbon fiber demand will outstrip supply by 2020, prompting expansion in the 2018-2019 timeframe that could include sources in China.

Application 1 Jan 2016

Cast polymer in a new role: Industrial structural repair

Advantic LLC's (Dayton, OH, US) stainless steel/cast polymer "jackets" for this mining company's stockpile canopy's corroding steel support structure offer a life-prolonging solution at less then 40% of the cost of the lowest-priced alternative.

Aerospace 1 Jan 2016

New Year’s resolutions

CW contributing writer and composites industry consultant Dale Brosius, who presently serves as chief commercialization officer for the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI, Knoxville, TN, US), imagines an automotive world where composites are king, then — more realistically — calls on the industry to resolve to make it capable of worthy service.