Defense

Braiding

Antiballistics: Better defense, less expense

Armor applications grow on the strength of new markets, new composite materials.

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Carbon Fibers

GKN A350 spar program update

Automated fiber placement to replace established tape laying/drape forming process for the composite rear spars on the new midsize commercial passenger jet.

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Weaving

Future combat helmet: Promising prototype

Tape laying, thermoforming methods hold hope for rapid coforming of thermoplastic shell and ballistic liner for U.S. Army’s future warfighter headgear.

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Aerospace

Future multifunctional structures: Composites needed

Barton Bennett (Odyssian Technology, South Bend, Ind.) discusses multifunctional systems that will soon integrate composite structures with sensors, mechanisms and subsystems.

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Glass Fibers

Structural armor or armored structures?

Either way, antiballistics engineers seek structural integrity and ballistic deterrence from a single design.

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Thermoplastics

New MIL antiballistics standard

New military specifications for unidirectional thermoplastic laminates used in antiballistics applications are circulating in draft form for comments and should be completed by year’s end.

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Thermoplastics

Hybrid Enhanced Combat Helmet enters final testing phase

The U.S. Army and Marine Corps are conducting final validation testing of the U.S. military’s next-generation — and radically new — thermoplastic composite Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH).

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Space

Cost-effective carbon composite reflector dish

Modular manufacturing method forms different dish sizes with near mirror-perfect reflective surfaces, without resort to one-off tools.

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Out of Autoclave

A400M cargo door: Out of the autoclave

This structural military airframe part is the largest made to date via the vacuum-assisted resin infusion process.

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Carbon Fibers

DDG-1000 Zumwalt: Stealth warship

U.S. Navy navigates radar transparency, cost and weight challenges with composite superstructure design.

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Composites One
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