Cutting/Kitting
Corvette's carbon hood creates shock and awe
North America’s first mass-produced, all-CFRP hood raises the bar for production sports cars.
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Automating wind blade manufacture
Recent technology announcements portend a new era of more efficient blade production.
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CNC routers optimize cooling tower build
Although cooling towers traditionally have been made with wood and concrete, composite materials are gaining acceptance due to their corrosion and rot resistance, light weight and ease of installation.
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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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Robotic trimming radically shortens Corvette fender production cycle
Plasan USA (Bennington, Vt.) molds the Chevrolet Z06 Corvette’s front fenders with hand layed, autoclave-cured carbon/epoxy prepreg. Until recently, however, manual deflashing, trimming and drilling of the demolded parts consumed more than an hour to meet requirements for edge quality and fastener hole location
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Managing multi-axis manufacturing
Much early computer numerically controlled (CNC) machinery served short-run military and space programs where cost per part was too high to be acceptable in the manufacture of commercial aircraft. Now, Automated CNC machinery moves toward volume production and part-specific design.
Read MoreWaterjet cutting system tackles big job, outdoor environment
When Plasti-Fab Inc. (Tualatin, Ore.), a manufacturer of corrosion-resistant equipment for water and wastewater treatment and control, landed a contract to cut hundreds of circles out of 8,000-lb/3,629-kg, 1-inch/25 mm thick rectangular fiberglass plates, the company needed an efficient cutting solution. Tests with a
Read MoreJEC Composites 2006 Product Showcase - 7/1/2006
Advanced composites continue to lead the economic upswing in the composites industry.
Read MoreAircraft Repair Can And Should Be Automated
Consultant Fred Perkins (Federal Engineering Associates LLC, McLean, Va.) is currently involved in quality control and mission assurance for defense programs as well as a Phase I SBIR program for the U.S. Air Force, applying stochastic design analysis to finite element modeling of composite aircraft part repairs.
Read MoreAutomated Aircraft Repair Closer To Reality
Inspection and Repair Preparation Cell (IRPC) unveiled, revealing progress made toward automated aircraft repair workcells.
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