CW Blog

Space

Roth filament winder to facilitate major Ariane 6 weight/cost cuts

One of the world’s largest filament winding systems will soon begin manufacturing components for the Ariane 6 space launch vehicle, which is expected to transport satellites into Earth orbit for the European Space Agency (ESA) as early as 2020.

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Defense

Q&A: Michael Del Pero, managing director, FocalPoint Partners

Editor’s note: The highly dynamic nature of the composites industry makes it a strong target for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity from a variety of companies and investors eager to be a part of the industry’s growth.

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Aerospace

Brexit and US/China trade war aside, aeromarket to surge

In the lead-up to the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow (held July 16-22 in Farnborough, UK), aerospace industry pundits were asking a lot of worried questions. But when the show started, none of that seemed to matter in the light of OEM market predictions.

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Marine

Hell’s Bay skiff redesign repeats win in clean water benefit race

Open sea boat racing has proven a perennially fruitful opportunity for boat designers and builders to hone their composites skills, and the recent third running of the Skiff Challenge — a 1,600-mile endurance race around the Florida coastline, was no exception.

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Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET): A broader mission

3D woven fabric enables scalable, tailorable heatshield that cuts cost, boosts performance for future spacecraft.

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Glass Fibers

Graphene goes industrial without a bang

SWNT-based filler prevents tank explosions without limiting product performance.

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Braiding

The International 14: High-tech but still accessible

Naval architect Paul Bieker and Henderson Boat Co. team take this venerable marine racing class to a more affordable performance/cost combination.

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Ketones

Welding thermoplastic composites

Multiple methods advance toward faster robotic welds using new technology for increased volumes and larger aerostructures.

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Safe cycling: Keys to composite bike design integrity

Steps bike designers and manufacturers must take to keep high-performance carbon fiber bikes safe, upright and on the road or trial.

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Mass Transit

CAMX 2018 Preview

CAMX combines forces with IFAI for a big Texas Event.

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Marine

Composites Index trends lower yet still in growth mode

The GBI: Composites Fabricating Index registered 56.6 in July, indicating that he US composites industry was experiencing modestly slower growth as compared to the first quarter of 2018.

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Overcoming barriers to adoption of structural autocomposites

Although much attention has been focused on material costs and development of high-rate, automated manufacturing processes for structural autocomposites, production of viable products depends on the ability to design and simulate the structures for these exciting new FRP applications. 

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