CW Blog
Boeing 787 assembly aided by automated positioning/joining
Massive composite components mated via motion control software.
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Trace: A simple, must-have tool
This recently discovered constant in laminate calculations can put designing with CFRP materials on par with designing with metals.
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Bearing testing of composites
CW columnist Dr. Dan Adams (Wyoming Test Fixtures, Salt Lake City, UT, US) reviews the available options for testing the bearing strength of mechanically fastened composite joints.
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Get ready for Composites 4.0!
It might seem like science fiction, but it must be our path if we are to make composites competitive.
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Covestro kicking the tires on polycarbonates for automotive
Although development work has only just begun, the company's Makrolon polycarbonate, in a carbon fiber-reinforced composite, is proving highly impact resistant and offers a Class A surface.
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Massive Stratolaunch nears completion
Paul Allen's Vulcan Aerospace is working with Scaled Composites to build the largest aircraft yet made, and it uses a lot of composites. The plane, it is hoped, will deliver satellites into low-Earth orbit — affordably and efficiently.
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Taking the hand out of hand layup
Hand layup has a long history in aerospace composites fabrication, but it's not well suited for automotive composites manufacturing, where volumes are much higher. But the discrete placement of fiber reinforcements still has value. Research is pointing toward automated hand layup that might help this process bridge the aerospace-to-automotive divide.
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Composites help bring Shanghai Disneyland’s Tomorrowland alive
Many sections of both the interior and exterior of the buildings and rides were made from fire retardant gelcoated FRP composite molded parts.
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Getting real: Thermoplastic resin transfer molding
KraussMaffei is launching this fall thermoplastic resin transfer molding (T-RTM), through which caprolactam is injected into a preform and then in-mold polymerized to create polyamide 6.
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Composites in a very large gate
The Wilhelmina Canal in Northern Europe is getting a major upgrade from massive (6.2m by 12.9m), lightweight (24 MT) composite doors that are designed for up to 80 years of continuous in-water service.
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An FRP facelift
When the University of Valencia's business school expanded its facilities, it turned to fire-rated composite structures to fabricate the 7000-sq-m of façade used to help modernize the structures.
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Thermoplastic composite pipe goes deep
Magma Global has already made a name for itself with the manufacture of its PEEK-based m-pipe for subsea oil exploration. Now it can go as deep as 10,000 ft/3,000m at pressures up to 15 ksi.
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