Aerospace
Will TPCs reshape commmercial aircraft?
HPC's editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan asks, How much of the next generation of commercial aircraft primary structure will be made with thermoplastic composites?
Read MoreCarbon fiber: Program news
In addition to the prognostications of carbon fiber industry watchers, attendees at Carbon Fiber 2010 (Dec. 7-9 in La Jolla, Calif.) also heard news of carbon fiber inroads to a number of composites programs.
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Composites enable new advances in engine technology
ÂÌñÏ×ÆÞ's conference director Scott Stephenson recalls a presentation at the recent Carbon Fiber 2010 conference (Dec. 7-9, La Jolla, Calif.) by Doug Ward of GE Aviation (Cincinnati, Ohio) on design trends in commercial jet engines that favor the use of composites.
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Carbon fiber market: Cautious optimism
As the recession recedes, the demand for carbon fiber, and the supply to meet it, will exceed prerecession expectations.
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Supply and demand, redux
HPC editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan says carbon fiber producers and users need to re-associate.
Read MorePerformance requirements: CAI vs. OHC
John Russell, who manages nonautoclave research programs for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio), recently threw down the gauntlet at the Fall SAMPE conference in Salt Lake City, Utah: “Give us a 25 percent improvement in notch properties with no microcracking in high-modulus fibers.” While OOA prepreg suppliers can’t do much about fiber microcracking, Advanced Composites Group (ACG, Tulsa, Okla.) already has announced that its XMTM47 material will be commercial by next year, designed for 120°C/248°F service with the increased notched performance requested.
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Out-of-autoclave prepregs: Hype or revolution?
Oven-cured, vacuum-bagged prepregs show promise in production primary structures.
Read MoreOld is new in vacuum bonding honeycomb sandwich
In Care and Repair of Advanced Composites (published by the Warrendale, Pa.-based Society of Automotive Engineers in 1997), Dr.
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GKN A350 spar program update
Automated fiber placement to replace established tape laying/drape forming process for the composite rear spars on the new midsize commercial passenger jet.
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CFRP upgrades economy seating
First aircraft seat to use visible CFRP revolutionizes aesthetics and comfort.
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