CW Blog

Wind/Energy 6 Oct 2008

On the road with CW

Late summer and early fall is a busy travel time for the writers and editors of CT.

Out of Autoclave 6 Oct 2008

Engineered fiberglass cladding replaces metal for retail architectural applications

When FormaShape's (Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada) engineering manager Henry Czenczek approached Husky Energy, one of Canada's largest energy companies, his demonstration of the way fiberglass composites could dramatically improve the look, weatherability and vandal-resistance of the ribbed tin architectural cladding on Husky's Travel Centre retail outlets was enough to persuade Husky execs to overhaul the entire network. For the Husky project, FormaShape applied NEi Nastran finite element analysis software, Solidworks 3D, supplied by Noran Engineering Inc. (Westminster, Calif.

Weaving 6 Oct 2008

FRP forms enable fluted concrete column design

The Century Project, a 42-story luxury condominium tower in Los Angeles, Calif. , designed by Robert A. M.

Out of Autoclave 22 Sep 2008

Standing Up to Natural Disasters

Composites are answering the call for residential and commercial structures that can weather future "perfect storms."

ATL/AFP 15 Sep 2008

New packaging machine uses lightweight carbon fiber airshafts

When Premier Paper Converting Machinery (New Berlin, Wis.) introduced its new custom machine for producing Kraft paper honeycomb used to make packaging materials, the device was equipped to hold four massive 98-inch/2.4m wide rolls of paper, each one weighing 5,300 lb/2,409 kg. To support these paper rolls during u

NDI 15 Sep 2008

Low-cost ultrasonic NDT method yields real-time results

Ultrasonic nondestructive inspection methods are based on the principle of wave propagation through a solid medium. A transmitter emits a sound wave, above the range audible to humans, that excites the structure, while the same (or a second) transducer picks up the resulting structural waves. In a typical setup, a C

Editorial 13 Sep 2008

CW Forum launches

About once a month, I get into a low-grade argument with an elderly acquaintance, who likes to tell me what a complete flop the Internet is.

Adhesives 9 Sep 2008

Equibiaxial flexural strength testing of fiber-reinforced ceramics

In my last column, I discussed uniaxial flexural strength testing of fiber-reinforced ceramics, that is, simple three- or four-point bending of a strip of material of rectangular cross section (see "Learn More," at left). As was noted, the strength of this test specimen is sensitive to machining defects at its edges. Also, in many applications of fiber-reinforced ceramics (and unreinforced ceramics), the stress state is not uniaxial, but rather biaxial.