Weaving
All-carbon fiber wheel moves to the carbon fiber-bodied Ford GT
This carbon fiber wheel, manufactured by Carbon Revolution, already had been specified for the 2015 Ford Shelby GT350R Mustang. Each wheel reduces unsprung wheel mass by 2 lb per wheel compared to the aluminum versions.
Read MoreComposites manufacturing — where the excitement lives
A regular CW columnist and the chief commercialization officer for the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI, Knoxville, TN, US), Dale Brosius points out that for today's engineering students, a Ph.D in manufacturing could open the door to an exciting, alternative career path.
Read MoreComposites recycling becomes a necessity
Boeing and Airbus each is generating as much as a 1 million lb of cured and uncured carbon fiber prepreg waste each year from 787 and A350 XWB production. If you include the entire supply chain for these planes, the total is closer to 4 million lb/year. And with the automotive industry poised to consume (and waste) more carbon fiber than ever, recycling of composite materials has become an absolute necessity. The technology is there, but the markets are not. Yet.
Read MoreOshkosh “Fly-In” preview: Multi-day infusion demo
Visitors to the Experimental Aircraft Assn.’s (EAA) AirVenture 2016 (July 25-31) will have the opportunity to attend a reprise of last year’s multi-day infusion processing demo, again sponsored by Innegra Technologies (Greenville, SC, US).
Read MoreComposites in tornado shelters
A new design aims to defeat the threat from debris, both as heavy piles preventing exit and as projectiles traveling at ballistic speeds.
WatchCIBOR advances aerospace materials in medical applications
CFRP in surgical instruments and orthopedic implants gets assistance from Wichita R&D center.
Read MoreA&P, TenCate test database compares slit-braid and woven fabric
A&P Technology Inc. (Cincinnati, OH, US) introduced at JEC World 2016 a new database of test data, developed with TenCate Advanced Composites (Morgan Hill, CA, US) to compare laminates composed of its trademarked QISO quasi-isotropic (0°, ±60°) fabric, a slit braid material, with laminates composed of conventional woven fabric, both prepregged with TenCate’s highly toughened TC275-1 epoxy resin.
Read MoreIn defense of glass fiber
Given the hype around carbon fiber, CW columnist Dale Brosius says it's easy to overlook the importance and future of glass fiber.
Read MoreMore on Spanish composites: Solution providers
My pre-JEC Europe 2016 trip through Spain yielded much fodder for future editorial content, and proved to me that the country’s composites sector is brimming with innovation.
Read MoreCan we make recycled carbon fiber “sexy”?
Although we have methods to create useful product forms from recovered fiber, creating demand for those products will require new entrepreneurial effort.
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