Articles

ATL/AFP

Composites slake the world's thirst

As the global thirst for drinkable water increases, the composites industry is drinking in the tremendous possibilities in seawater desalination.

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Bonding

Paddleboard productivity: Adhesively bonded hull/deck is key

Dragonfly Boatworks LLC's (Vero Beach, Fla.) new standup paddleboard for fly fishing is built without fasteners, with the aid of SG200-40 methacrylate adhesive from SCIGRIP Smarter Adhesive Solutions (Durham, N.C.).

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Automotive

Deep draw: Unique laminate architecture enables bus part

For a major mass-transit manufacturer, Amtech LLC (Wapato, Wash.) successfully thermoforms a luggage cover with a remarkably deep draw of 40 inches (1,016 mm), using a laminate architecture that includes a top layer of 0.180-inch/4.5-mm gauge Grade 4800 thermoplastic sheet, supplied by Boltaron (Newcomerstown, Ohio).

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Thermoplastics

Cure for cratering: Gel coat perfected with design of experiments software

Resin manufacturer Interplastic Corp. – Thermoset Resins Div. (St. Paul, Minn.), a major gel coat producer, recently developed a new gel coat with the aid of Design-Expert design of experiments software from Stat-Ease Inc. (Minneapolis, Minn.).

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Editorial

CT goes blogging

CT editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan introduces the ÂÌñÏ×ÆÞ Blog.

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Wind/Energy

U.S. playing catch-up in offshore wind race

With excellent wind resources off the U.S. East Coast, it's high time wind energy developers start investing in the region. A promising start might be underway off the coast of Maine, where Statoil is working to develop a floating turbine.

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Carbon Fibers

In new Corvette Stingray, another step forward for composites

Plasan Carbon Composites puts its "pressure press" process, developed with Globe Machine, to work in the manufacture of the hood and roof for the new 2014 Corvette Stingray, introduced last week at the Detroit Auto Show.

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Prepregs

TenCate's acquisition of Amber Composites a sensible surprise

TenCate, known for years as a thermoplastics specialist, is signaling more and more that it wants to move into new markets with new materials.

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Out of Autoclave

Next-generation braiding for next-gen bike

When Grenchen, Switzerland-based Bicycle Manufacturing Co. (BMC) decided to braid the tubes for its impec racing bike frame, the use of carbon fiber and the complex tube designs and shapes prompted the use of radial braiding technology from August Herzog Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG (Oldenburg, Germany)

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Carbon Fibers

A400M wing assembly: Challenge of integrating composites

The Atlas military transport’s decade of development has lighted the path for Airbus wing development on the A350 and future programs.

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Construction

Kinetic sculpture made possible with carbon fiber composites

Halo, an unusual wind-activated kinetic sculpture is realized with the help of Gurit (Newport, Isle of Wight, U.K.) and molder Innovation Composites (South Nowra, New South Wales, Australia)

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Aerospace

Cutting and laser layup technology supports tier fabricator in Boeing project

Prototype production for The Boeing Co.’s (Chicago. Ill.) Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS) aircraft gets a boost from cutting and templating hardware/software supplied by Gerber Technology (Tolland, Conn.)

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