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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.

The quest for a sustainable source of acrylonitrile for carbon fiber manufacture has made the leap from the lab to the market.

Funding will investigate how composite materials can best be used in final products, mitigation of their environmental impact and overall sustainability. 

Composites are ripe for entry into a variety of markets, but advanced air mobility and hydrogen storage are poised to put unprecedented pressure on the supply chain.

The company provided advanced hardware for both the ULA Atlas V launch vehicle and the InSight lander.

ORIBAKO, a polyhedron structure comprising FRP panels connected by hinges, is expected to be commercially available in 2022.

As we celebrate National Composites Week here’s a look at some of the ways composites help us explore.  

The $125,000 grant will further development of SwiftComp software to improve modeling and design for deployable structures built from high-strain composites.

Orbital Composites is pursuing a variety of collaborative projects to apply its Orbital S robotic additive manufacturing system.

The humbling, startling, dusky, stunning unreality of a total eclipse of the sun.

While the industry returns to some semblance of normality, a pre-pandemic “business as usual” does not seem likely. Dale Brosius ponders some of the questions that need to be faced.