Defense
Portable wind turbine powers the warrior
DARPA-financed program puts wind energy to use for battery and system recharging.
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Antiballistics: Better defense, less expense
Armor applications grow on the strength of new markets, new composite materials.
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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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Future combat helmet: Promising prototype
Tape laying, thermoforming methods hold hope for rapid coforming of thermoplastic shell and ballistic liner for U.S. Army’s future warfighter headgear.
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Future multifunctional structures: Composites needed
Barton Bennett (Odyssian Technology, South Bend, Ind.) discusses multifunctional systems that will soon integrate composite structures with sensors, mechanisms and subsystems.
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Structural armor or armored structures?
Either way, antiballistics engineers seek structural integrity and ballistic deterrence from a single design.
Read MoreNew MIL antiballistics standard
New military specifications for unidirectional thermoplastic laminates used in antiballistics applications are circulating in draft form for comments and should be completed by year’s end.
Read MoreHybrid Enhanced Combat Helmet enters final testing phase
The U.S. Army and Marine Corps are conducting final validation testing of the U.S. military’s next-generation — and radically new — thermoplastic composite Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH).
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Cost-effective carbon composite reflector dish
Modular manufacturing method forms different dish sizes with near mirror-perfect reflective surfaces, without resort to one-off tools.
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