CW Blog
Cast polymer concrete structures save city's sewers
Beneath its historic colonial charm, Charleston, S.C. had an underground sewer system in need of repair. Engineers at U.S. Composite Pipe (Alvarado, Texas) devised a solution that included unique cast polymer composite sewer interceptor structures — 10-ft/3m-diameter vertical access shafts that extend as far as 110
Read MoreBio-Composites Update: Bio-Based Resins Begin to Grow
Substituting agricultural for fossil-based feedstocks in polymer resins is not new, but maturing technology now promises composites less dependent on petrochemicals for their performance.
Read MoreBuilding Bridges to Bridge and Building Rehab Markets
Despite a lack of standardization and education in the civil construction sector, these innovators use carbon and steel fibers to reinforce the business case for composites.
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A faster, more stable Olympic dinghy
The 470-class dinghy, a small, two-person monohulled racing craft, has been used in Olympic sailing competition since 1976 and, today, vacuum-infused glass fiber/polyester is the standard for hull construction. Designers of the dinghy that will be used by Marcelien De Koning and Lobke Berkhout, members of the Dutch
Read MoreSAMPE announces 2008 class of Fellows
The Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) has announced that five industry leaders will be honored with the designation of Fellow of the Society.
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Out-of-autoclave tooling gets out of the blocks
General aviation aircraft manufacturer adopts new oven-cure tooling.
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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
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Aviation 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.
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Testing 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.
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Chemical 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
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