CW Blog
Automate or emigrate
Automated fiber and tape placement is not just a notion, but a real manufacturing strategy, and one being embraced by HITCO Carbon Composites.
Read MoreAircraft interior bins benefit from fast-heat, fast-cool tool
Airbus Industrie (Toulouse, France) wanted to cut cycle time off the production of interior storage bin doors for its A320 and A380 commercial airplanes and identified part cooling in the mold as the most likely source of potential time savings. The doors, about 1m long, are fabricated of a glass fiber prepregged with
Read MoreAviation Outlook: Composites in rotorcraft reaching new altitudes
One of the earliest markets for advanced composites, helicopter manufacture is and will continue to be a stronghold for industry growth.
Read MoreAligned discontinuous fibers come of age
Discontinuous but aligned carbon fibers are proving formable and formidable in high-performance, compound-curvature applications.
Read MoreTesting Tech: Multiple-fastener, single-shear laminate bearing strength testing
Dr. Don Adams (Wyoming Test Fixtures Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah) follows up his HPC January 2008 discussion of double-shear testing of a single fastener while advice about testing multiple fasteners under single-shear loading conditions.
Read MoreStartup struggles
A week before Adam Aircraft made the somewhat surprising announcement that it had run out of cash and couldn’t find anyone to lend it money, I found myself on the phone with one of the company’s composites design engineers. We were discussing trends in composites design for aerospace, aerospace design challenges, and
Read MoreChemical vapor deposition of diamond material helps reduce cutting time, increase quality for JSF wing skins
Who wouldn’t give $105,000 to gain $222 million? Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. (LMAC, Ft. Worth, Texas) did and in the process was able to fabricate dimension-critical aerostructures more efficiently, more accurately, and faster. LMAC is a major components manufacturer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the
Read MoreFormulating challenge: Creating better epoxies for vacuum-infused aerospace parts
More attention is being focused on fabricating processes for aircraft structures that can save time and money and improve efficiency while yielding high-quality parts. Historically, nearly all aircraft designers have assumed autoclave cure as the norm, despite the well-documented cost and time advantages of
Read MoreEngineering Insights: Composites Lessen Load in Fuel-Cell Demonstrator
CFRP decklid helps offset fuel-cell system weight to meet vehicle weight target.
Read MoreOil drives the Big Three
This is, in some ways, a tough time to be a U.S.-based automaker. Detroit’s traditional Big Three (GM, Chrysler, Ford) are struggling to keep up with Japan’s Big Three (Toyota, Honda, Nissan) and trying hard to develop cars and trucks that are good-looking, reliable and fuel-efficient. On top of this, rising oil
Read MoreDust Collection: Expense or Investment?
Well-engineered dust control systems not only improve shop air quality but also boost productivity, prolong machine life and save energy.
Read MoreFRP troughs help remove iron from mine water discharge
For more than 60 years, iron from iron ore deposits has polluted water that flows out of the abandoned Marchand Mine near Lowber, Pa., into Sewickley Creek and the Youghiogheny River. After it was shut down in the early 1940s, the mine began to discharge iron — almost 1 million lb (more than 450,000 kg) annually. In
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