CW Blog

Pressure Vessels 18 Jul 2014

Mini fiber-optic SHM system embedded into composites

Partners in the SMARTFIBER project have demonstrated continued and automatic structural health monitoring.

Sustainability 16 Jul 2014

Cutting time for composites design allowables

New approach by Dr. Stephen Tsai and Daniel Melo promises to reduce the required number of tests from 1,000 to mere dozens, providing results in days vs. months and at much lower cost.

Carbon Fibers 10 Jul 2014

Large-tow carbon fiber's popularity speaks volumes

Cytec's decision this week to seek an acrylic supply for large-tow carbon fiber manufacturing is only the latest effort by a carbon fiber supplier to position itself to serve the automotive industry.

Carbon Fibers 10 Jul 2014

VX-1 KittyHawk first flight video

Successful first flight test matches computer predictions and enables virtual testing of next refinements.

8 Jul 2014

When cooking becomes hazardous, composites can help

Spencer Composites is working on a Kickstarter campaign to fabricate safe, affordable fuel storage systems for cooking in developing countries.

Ketones 1 Jul 2014

JEC Americas 2014 Review

Composites industry exhibitors at this combined show emphasized the textile side of the fiber/resin mix and touted process automation.

Autoclave 1 Jul 2014

Low-rate layup tools made cost-effective with high-density polyurethane foam blocks

Nemesis Air Racing, an air racing team and kit-plane company owned and operated by Jon and Patricia Sharp, use prebonded closed-cell, polyurethane foam blocks to build the Nemesis NXT.

Materials Testing 1 Jul 2014

Compact tension fracture toughness testing

Dr. Donald A. Adams, president of Wyoming Test Fixtures Inc. (Salt Lake City, Utah) discusses compact tension fracture toughness testing.

Mass Transit 1 Jul 2014

Aerospace and industrial next-gen advanced composites: A two-way street?

The head of his own consulting company and the president of Dayton, Ohio-based Quickstep Composites, the U.S. subsidiary of Australia-based Quickstep Technologies (Bankstown Airport, New South Wales), HPC columnist Dale Brosius sees “aerospace” and “industrial” innovation as a two-way street.