Sara Black Senior Technical Editor Emeritus
3D Printing Moves Into Tooling Components
Some pundits predict that 3D printing, or additive manufacturing (AM), will change our world forever. While that may yet be, one thing is clear: The growth of 3D printing over the past two decades has wrought significant change in composites tooling. Although AM’s most obvious advantage is direct part production without tooling, the growing trend in the aerospace and automotive sectors at present is its use for fast, on-demand builds of mold tools to keep pace with accelerating composite part design cycles and demand for faster overall part processing speeds.
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Thermoplastic composites technology: A view from Europe
For this Dutch consortium, bringing the manufacturability of thermoplastic materials to maturity is the goal in concert with OEMs, materials and equipment supplier members.
Read MoreThermoplastic composites: European consortia, galore!
In addition to the Thermoplastic Composites Research Center (TPRC, Enschede, The Netherlands) — see our article focused on TPRC, titled "Thermoplastic composites technology: A view from Europe" under "Editor's Picks, at top right — there are many other European consortia, comprising private industry, university and government entities, which share the goals of exploring composites materials and methods for manufacturing them, including those with thermoplastic matrices. Here's a sampling.
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First all-carbon yacht a winner
Vacuum infusion with customized fabrics enables demanding yacht build
Read MoreZoltek’s Hungarian plant to add carbon fiber production capacity
Zoltek Corp. (St. Louis, MO, US) has worked out a deal with the Hungarian government to expand capacity.
Read MoreGlass/epoxy RTM process yields “four-in-one” auto suspension blade
Hutchison (Levallois Perret, France) caused a stir at JEC Europe with its Trifunctional Auto Suspension.
Read MoreCarbon/epoxy overbraided, RTM’d spring carrier beam
Munich Composites (Ottobrunn, Germany) won a JEC Innovation award in the Transportation Category for its carbon fiber air spring carrier part.
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Laser projection: Envisioning more than templates
Advanced systems offer ply-placement verification, aids to faster assembly and manufacturing process and quality control.
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Thermoplastic composites “clip” time, labor on small but crucial parts
Preconsolidated carbon fiber/PPS and PEEK and automated thermoforming enable six-figure production of connectors for the Airbus A350 XWB.
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Massive, bondline-free tooling block
A candidate for the biggest “bun” from high-density urethane foam?
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Polyamide improves impeller performance
Direct-to-milled-tool process simplifies large deck mold development.
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