Core

Wind/Energy

Wind foam sources: PET, SAN & PVC

That polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foam is the core material of the future appears to be an open secret within the composites industry.

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Wind/Energy

Core for composites: Winds of change

Core materials suppliers lean into the bracing breeze of big-blade challenges raised by the burgeoning wind energy industry.

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Molds/Tools

Residential construction breakthrough: Composites find a home

Composite materials get the go-ahead for an unconventional but code-compliant California house.

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Core

Rigid polyurethane foam primer

In this sidebar to CT's feature story entitled "Structural polyurethanes: Bearing bigger loads," the author defines the differences between the two major types of polyurethane foam.

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Wind/Energy

Structural polyurethanes: Bearing bigger loads

The versatile polymer shows new strength (and other advantages) in pultrusion and core materials applications.

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Marine

Carbon/glass hybrid wins place on monohull for famed race

SP-High Modulus (Newport, Isle of Wight, U.K.) is supplying composite materials and engineering expertise for the M34, a new yacht design for the annual Tour de France à la Voile.

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Core

Urban turbine redesign taps benefits of additive fabrication

Michael R. LeGault details efforts to produce an anti-icing system for “small-wind” vertical-axis wind turbine blades.

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Adhesives

Dielectric heating speeds honeycomb core manufacture

Many composites, particularly those made with glass or aramid fibers in a polymer matrix, tend to be inherently nonconductive.

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Out of Autoclave

787 integrates new composite wing deicing system

The composite wing leading edge on Boeing’s Dreamliner features an integrated heating element that incorporates a sprayed metal conductive layer within the laminate stack.  

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Adhesives

Microspheres: Fillers filled with possibilities

For composite applications, these hollow microstructures displace a lot of volume at low weight and add an abundance of processing and product enhancements.

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