Articles
The rise of rapid manufacturing
An outgrowth of rapid prototyping, tool-free additive fabrication technologies have the potential to form small, limited-run composite parts directly from CAD data.
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SAMPE 2009 Product Showcase
Showgoers at the SAMPE 2009 Conference and Exhibiton in Baltimore, Md. found many suppliers undeterred by poor economic news.
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JEC COMPOSITES 2009 Product Showcase
Despite the doleful state of the global economy, the turnout in Paris — exhibitors and visitors — proved surprisingly strong.
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Solvent-free release a good match for wind blade molding
Wind power’s reputation as a “green” technology belies the fact that production of turbine components requires many materials and products that aren’t green.
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Winds of change
It’s not hard, in this down economy, to get excited about the wind energy industry.
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JEC Composites 2009 showcase
Despite the doleful state of the global economy, the turnout in Paris — exhibitors and visitors — proved surprisingly strong.
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Windpower 2009 highlights
 The show confirmed wind energy’s status as a recession-proof market for composites, but blade manufacturers were put on notice about the need to automate.
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Offshore wind: How big will blades get?
Explosive growth in offshore wind farms will push the limits of blade engineering as manufacturers pursue massive designs that will harvest more megawatts.
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SAMPE Europe/JEC highlights
The global economy might be on the wane, but there was little evidence of it at the annual SAMPE Europe conference and nearby JEC Composites Show in Paris.
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The half-full glass
During a recession — and I’ve only known relatively mild downturns until now — an editor always heads off to a trade show with, at best, some hesitancy and, at worst, gloomy pessimism.
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Lightweight, stable large-tool concept requires no master model
After two years of testing, partners Advanced Composites Group (ACG, Tulsa, Okla.) and GrafTech (Parma, Ohio) are commercializing the ACG GRAFOAM FPA-20 tooling system, a new concept in dimensionally stable, low-mass, high-temperature-compatible composite tooling. The system’s foundation is carbon foam.
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C-Scan inspection facility cuts cost for commercial copter
Bell Helicopter Textron’s (Ft. Worth, Texas) 429 helicopter, first revealed in 2008, is targeted to individual, corporate and emergency-services customers.
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