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High-pressure gas storage vessels represent one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for advanced composites, particularly for filament-wound carbon fiber composites. Although they are used in self-contained breathing apparatuses and provide oxygen and gas storage on aerospace vehicles, the primary end markets are for storage of liquid propane gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), renewable natural gas (RNG) and hydrogen gas (H₂).

Filament winding is a specialized technique used in composite manufacturing, involving the precise and automated winding of continuous fibers onto a rotating mandrel or mold. This method allows for the creation of strong and seamless structures, optimizing the alignment and orientation of the fibers to meet specific design requirements. Filament winding is employed in producing cylindrical or conical composite parts, such as pipes, pressure vessels, and aerospace components, enabling engineers to tailor the strength, stiffness, and performance characteristics of the final product.

Processes in composites manufacturing encompass a diverse array of techniques employed to fabricate composite materials. These processes include methods like hand layup, where layers of resin and reinforcement materials are manually placed, and vacuum infusion, where a vacuum draws resin into a preform. Other techniques like compression molding, filament winding, and automated methods such as 3D printing are utilized to create intricate and specialized composite structures. Each process offers unique advantages in terms of precision, scalability, and efficiency, catering to diverse industry needs. As technology advances, newer methods are emerging, promising faster production cycles, reduced waste, and increased customization, driving the evolution of composite manufacturing towards more sophisticated and versatile methodologies.

The wind energy market has long been considered the world’s largest market, by volume, for glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites — and increasingly, carbon fiber composites — as larger turbines and longer wind blades are developed, requiring higher performance, lighter weight materials. The outer skins of wind and tidal turbine blades generally comprise infused, GFRP laminates sandwiching foam core. Inside the blade, rib-like shear webs bonded to spar caps reinforce the structure. Spar caps are often made from GFRP or, as blade lengths lengthen, pultruded carbon fiber for additional strength.

Blade Total Service follows maintenance service guidelines to ensure greater safety and security at wind power facilities when inspecting blades for repair.

Machine learning framework provides real-time feedback during composite fabrication process, with some cases achieving 95% predictive accuracy and computation faster than physics-based simulations.

Turkey-based plant deploys lean management strategies and a diverse workforce to produces two-piece carbon fiber blades for GE’s Onshore Cypress platform as well as wind blades for regional and global wind farms.

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completes environmental analysis for proposed U.S. commercial-scale offshore wind farm with expectations to announce a decision by mid-2021.

The new capability, which enhances the available level of design freedom, was added to encourage manufacturers to develop new innovations using tape winding.

A dedicated 65,000-square-foot building is home to Mach 8 and HYPULSE wind tunnels to advance hypersonic evaluation and testing, and the HAMTC for materials and manufacturing work with partners.

Automated filament winding cell achieving wind speeds of 6 meters/second improves production performance, shortens curing cycle for serial production of 700-bar Type IV tanks.

This sidebar to CW’s July 2024 feature article reviews the company’s achievements and capabilities through years of composites R&D programs.

Plataine’s AI-based solution provides flexible optimization of primary production lines while reducing operational costs and carbon footprint.

Thermochemical method involving pyrolysis extracts fibers, which can then be reprocessed as thermoplastic composites for various recyclable products.