Reinforcements
SMC is on the upswing (and check out this design competition)
There’s a lot going on with sheet molding compound (SMC) right now, including a design competition for best SMC design, with the winner announced at Composites Europe.
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CW Plant Tour: Aeris Energy, Caucaia, Brazil
This young, up-and-coming wind blade manufacturer was founded to serve the Brazilian wind energy market, but it’s poised to do much more.
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Automating NDT for CFRP aerostructures
Robotic laser shearography enables 100% inspection of complex, flight-critical composite structures.
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OOA composites in next-generation launch systems
As United Launch Alliance ULA replaces Atlas and Delta with next-generation launch rockets under the Vulcan name, supplier Ruag Space has been selected to provide lower cost/improved quality out-of-autoclave fabrication of Vulcan’s composite primary structures. Ruag will manufacture 5.4m payload fairings and 400-series interstage adapters for ULA’s Atlas V rocket.
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Composites in Class A body panels: Evolution continues
Low-density SMCs lead the way as fiber-reinforced polymers make headway in auto components that must please the eye.
Read MoreClass A composites: A history
Composites have made a lingering and increasingly positive impression in the for exterior automotive body panels.
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Carbon composite driveshaft: Tailorable performance
This racing and aftermarket specialist designs and produces custom driveshafts for multiple markets.
Read MoreComposite driveshafts in production vehicles
Perennially appealing to auto racing and supercar enthusiasts, the composite driveshaft, for a time, also found use, from 1980 though the early 2000s, on a few production cars and vans as well.
Read MoreUniversity of Utah receives $4 million dollar grant to advance state’s composites industry
Through this DOD-OEA grant, an extensive analysis will be undertaken to map Utah’s entire carbon composites supply chain.
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SpaceX announces COPV’s role in September rocket explosion
Buckles (voids) between carbon composite overwrap and aluminum liner in cryotank led to ignition of super chilled oxygen — will be fixed long-term via COPV design change.
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