CW Blog
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.
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Polyurethanes: Collaboration and adaptation for optimal application
Guest columnist Kevin Meyer, associate scientist, Dow Polyurethanes, The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, MI, US), asks, and suggests some answers to, the question, "Why have polyurethanes, given their performance advantages, not been adopted in place of other thermosetting resins in a host of applications?"
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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.
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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?
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CompoSIDE and Trace: Game-changer for development of composite parts
Structural design challenges (delamination, coupling and shape distortions, resin-driven failures, local stress concentration and the like) are inherent in laminate architecture. The author's contention is that a solution can be found in design simplification afforded by the work of Dr. Stephen Tsai in Trace-based analysis.
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November 2015 — 42.9
Composites fabricators see materials price breaks, mid-level plants expand, future business expectations rebound.
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Disruptive composite infrastructure
FiberCore Europe claims the "Holy Grail" of delamination-resistant FRP bridge and infrastructure components with its patented InfraCore technology.
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What the Detroit Auto Show does and does not show
There are composites seen and unseen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and hints about what the next few years might bring.
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CW opens up on out of autoclave, in February
You may not know that CW has prepared a Supplement to the upcoming February 2016 issue that examines out of autoclave processing in detail. It asks the question: Can OOA options be matured sufficiently to yield parts with <1% void content, outside of the autoclave?
Read MoreAerocomposite material certification: To coupon or not to coupon?
There is much discussion in the composites industry about the potential to migrate away from the expensive and voluminous physical testing required to certify a composite material for use in aerospace applications.
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