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Filament winding is a specialized technique used in composite manufacturing, involving the precise and automated winding of continuous fibers onto a rotating mandrel or mold. This method allows for the creation of strong and seamless structures, optimizing the alignment and orientation of the fibers to meet specific design requirements. Filament winding is employed in producing cylindrical or conical composite parts, such as pipes, pressure vessels, and aerospace components, enabling engineers to tailor the strength, stiffness, and performance characteristics of the final product.

Processes in composites manufacturing encompass a diverse array of techniques employed to fabricate composite materials. These processes include methods like hand layup, where layers of resin and reinforcement materials are manually placed, and vacuum infusion, where a vacuum draws resin into a preform. Other techniques like compression molding, filament winding, and automated methods such as 3D printing are utilized to create intricate and specialized composite structures. Each process offers unique advantages in terms of precision, scalability, and efficiency, catering to diverse industry needs. As technology advances, newer methods are emerging, promising faster production cycles, reduced waste, and increased customization, driving the evolution of composite manufacturing towards more sophisticated and versatile methodologies.

The wind energy market has long been considered the world’s largest market, by volume, for glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites — and increasingly, carbon fiber composites — as larger turbines and longer wind blades are developed, requiring higher performance, lighter weight materials. The outer skins of wind and tidal turbine blades generally comprise infused, GFRP laminates sandwiching foam core. Inside the blade, rib-like shear webs bonded to spar caps reinforce the structure. Spar caps are often made from GFRP or, as blade lengths lengthen, pultruded carbon fiber for additional strength.

Swancor will supply all recyclable resin to Siemens by 2026, contributing to RecylableBlade efforts.

Vestas builds upon key partnership, leveraging LM Wind Power’s knowledge, capabilities and global footprint for the design and production of V172-7.2 MW wind turbine blades.

Large offshore wind farm in the U.K. will have 44 out of 100 of its wind turbines equipped with recyclable composite blades, the largest order to date.

Spanish-based engineering firm will accelerate technical development and innovation activity of Gazelle’s floating offshore wind platform.

APQP4Wind’s quality assurance methodology is designed to reduce risk and lower the costs of poor quality, which Exel plans to apply to all of its global wind production sites where composite components are manufactured.

CW editor-in-chief Scott Francis discusses trends in aerospace on display at JEC World — as the composites industry awaits a new single aisle aircraft program, the industry puts continued focus on new space, defense, UAM.

The Chinese wind turbine manufacturer surpasses its 16-MW platform, optimizes wind farm construction costs for 1-GW wind farms.

Inometa Thermoplastics, Dynexa and Xelis businesses have been joined under the Avanco Composites brand, combining thermoset and thermoplastic composites competencies.

Should GE win sufficient order volume, GE anticipates a wind blade and nacelle facility for the Haliade-X, run by LM Wind Power and GE Vernova respectively.

Wind Energy Technologies Office releases $28 million in funding for interested parties to address barriers to the deployment of wind energy onshore, offshore and distributed.