Heavy-duty infusion: Scaling up for scrubbers
Infused 3-D woven fabric preforms best steel in beams and unitized deck structures built for the caustic confines of massive flue gas desulfurization systems.
Read MoreThermoplastic composites: Primary structure?
Yes, advanced forms are in development, but has the technology progressed enough to make the business case?
Read MoreTPCs on the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350
Although The Boeing Co.’s (Seattle, Wash.) 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus (Toulouse, France) A350 XWB have earned much press as showcases for thermoset composites in aircraft structure, both programs also have advanced the use of thermoplastic composites.
Read MoreMarquez innovates aircraft TPCs
Marquez (Montréal, Québec, Canada) supplies TPC ducting for The Boeing Co.’s 787 Personal System Unit (PSU), and the TPC structural window bezel used on all Bombardier (Montréal, Canada) Global Express business aircraft.
Read MorePerformance requirements: CAI vs. OHC
John Russell, who manages nonautoclave research programs for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio), recently threw down the gauntlet at the Fall SAMPE conference in Salt Lake City, Utah: “Give us a 25 percent improvement in notch properties with no microcracking in high-modulus fibers.” While OOA prepreg suppliers can’t do much about fiber microcracking, Advanced Composites Group (ACG, Tulsa, Okla.) already has announced that its XMTM47 material will be commercial by next year, designed for 120°C/248°F service with the increased notched performance requested.
Read MoreOut-of-autoclave prepregs: Hype or revolution?
Oven-cured, vacuum-bagged prepregs show promise in production primary structures.
Read MoreOld is new in vacuum bonding honeycomb sandwich
In Care and Repair of Advanced Composites (published by the Warrendale, Pa.-based Society of Automotive Engineers in 1997), Dr.
Read MoreCFRP upgrades economy seating
First aircraft seat to use visible CFRP revolutionizes aesthetics and comfort.
Read MoreDouble-bag infusion: Thickness gradient and pressure
Cliff Walker (Vacmobiles, Auckland, New Zealand), explains how the large pressure changes during infusion result in laminate compression and thickness variations across the part.
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