Sustainability

Adhesives 8 Feb 2016

Low-density SMC: Better living through chemistry

Proprietary sizing, special glass roving and microspheres strip 9 kilos of weight from Corvette body panels.

Autoclave 8 Feb 2016

Aircraft composites repair moves toward maturity

New technologies seek to address the challenges MROs will increasingly face in the age of commercial airliners with composite airframes.

Wind/Energy 29 Jan 2016

Graphene composite could help keep wings ice-free

A thin coating of graphene nanoribbons in epoxy developed at Rice University has proven effective at melting ice on a helicopter blade.

Carbon Fibers 29 Jan 2016

Recycled carbon fiber proves its potential for aircraft interiors

An Airbus-led team characterizes RCF veils and shows their ability to best glass fiber composite sidewalls in cost, weight and surface finish.

Sustainability 28 Jan 2016

Polyurethanes: Collaboration and adaptation for optimal application

Guest columnist Kevin Meyer, associate scientist, Dow Polyurethanes, The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, MI, US), asks, and suggests some answers to, the question, "Why have polyurethanes, given their performance advantages, not been adopted in place of other thermosetting resins in a host of applications?"

IACMI 28 Jan 2016

Advanced composites — An idealized future

A CW columnist, a composites industry consultant and the chief commercialization officer for the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (Knoxville, TN, US), Dale Brosius imagines an ideal future for our industry then challenges us to make it real.

Aerospace 28 Jan 2016

Recyclable composites must still be reused

Fresh from the IACMI's recent Detroit conclave, CW editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan notes the attendees' admirable commitment to ensure that the carbon fiber composites we build today will be recyclable tomorrow, but asks who will be there, as those products reach end of life, to buy and reuse those reclaimed materials?