Donna Dawson Senior Writer Emeritus

Aerospace

Solar-powered flight: Where it all began

A very short history of solar-powered flight.

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Carbon Fibers

Spread-tow technology takes off

New, ultralight-areal-weight prepreg tapes form the thin-ply laminates will enable Solar Impulse 2’s sun-powered flight around the world.

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Aerospace

Airframers vie for shares in growing short-haul market

OEMs of aircraft with 150 or fewer seats exploit composites’ appeal to fuel efficiency-conscious regional air carriers.

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Carbon Fibers

All-composite ROTORwing prototype UAV

Composites enable construction, and handle unique VTOL loads, of unmanned aerial vehicles’ helicopter-to-airplane conversion.

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Adhesives

The Curiosity Mars rover: Descent stage composites

Apart from the aeroshell that protected the Curiosity rover during its months in space and Mars descent sequence, only a few other parts of the mission’s descent stage were made from composite materials. Here, HPC identifies and describes them.

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Carbon Fibers

Composites carry the Curiosity rover to a safe Mars landing

From launch to touchdown, composites performed in flight and stuck the landing!

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Construction

Designing pressure vessels for seawater desalination plants

Safe high-pressure service challenges manufacturers of composite pressure vessels.

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Carbon Fibers

U.S. crew and cargo candidate takes shape with composites

Crew-capable Dream Chaser to enable ISS transport missions from U.S.

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Consumer

Swimming pools: Fiberglass resurfacing option extends useful life

GRC Fiberglass Coatings (Santa Rosa, Calif.) rehabilitates aging swimming pools in the U.S. and Canada using a fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) approach first developed for steel and concrete corrosion protection in African gold refineries.

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Composites slake the world's thirst

As the global thirst for drinkable water increases, the composites industry is drinking in the tremendous possibilities in seawater desalination.

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Infrastructure

Composite-cored conductors: Holding the line

After a decade of incremental inroads, two different composite-cored electric power transmission products are connecting with those who specify for the grid.

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Weaving

Cured in place pipe: Trenchless trends

A variety of CIPP products are enabling the rehabilitation, rather than excavation and replacement, of underground pipe for wastewater and drinking water.

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