Wind/Energy

ATL/AFP 18 Feb 2016

Dry fiber placement: Surpassing limits

Coriolis Composites’ automated aerostructures manufacturing using dry materials moves from development projects to production.

Autoclave 12 Feb 2016

Composites manufacturing from a different angle

A bunch of really smart engineers showed up in Long Beach, CA, US this week for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ (SME, Dearborn, MI, US) AeroDef conference and exhibition. All were focused on looking at ways to manufacture products — composite or not — more efficiently.

Aerospace 11 Feb 2016

If we recycle it, will they come?

Thanks to the 787 and the A350 XWB aircraft programs, the composites industry has more scrap carbon fiber prepreg than it knows what to do with. At least, not yet.

Pressure Vessels 8 Feb 2016

Thermoplastic honeycomb cores: Tough insulated sandwiches

Foam-filled nylon/polyester fabric yields sandwich panel cores with excellent mechanicals, durability, thermal insulation.

Pressure Vessels 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.

Materials Testing 29 Jan 2016

Alternative precursor R&D: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN, US) has been at the forefront of North American research into alternatives to the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor used to make aerospace-grade carbon fiber.

Pressure Vessels 29 Jan 2016

Alternative precursor R&D: Lignin in the lightweighting limelight

This abundant, renewable resource shows promise as an alternative to PAN for low-cost, functional carbon fibers.

Autoclave 28 Jan 2016

NASA/Boeing composite launch vehicle fuel tank scores firsts

Subscale 5.5m-diameter cryogenic tank demonstrator with innovative fluted-core skirt is formed via robotic AFP and cured out of the autoclave.

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.

Carbon Fibers 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?

Keyland Polymer Webinar Coatings on Composite & AM