Design & Tooling
Integrating NDI into manufacturing: Online inspection of CFRP prior to cure
Esmeralda Cuevas, head of NDT technologies at Tecnatom SA (San Sebastian de Los Reyes, Spain), details efforts of the TARGET project, which investigated how to integrate NDI into the composites manufacturing process prior to cure stage.
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Looking for Lindberghs
Every paradigm-shifting invention throughout human history has been met with skepticism. CW editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan says the composites industry has need of those willing to attempt what most believe impossible.
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Incremental thinking just won’t cut it!
Composites industry consultant and regular CW columnist Dale Brosius says if this industry is to have a future that goes anywhere profitable, then we've got to get off the road we're on and map out a whole new way to think about the tasks at hand.
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Quasi-isotropic, symmetrical fabric for tooling
Well-known in structural applications, this symmetric, balanced and quasi-isotropic fabric offers savings and opens opportunities in composites tooling.
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Moldmaker bypasses patterns for high-tech production catamarans
Direct-to-milled-tool process simplifies large deck mold development.
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Getting part dimensions right in composites molding
Guest columnists Dr. Göran Fernlund (left) and Dr. Anoush Poursartip (right) of Convergent Manufacturing Technologies (Vancouver, BC, Canada) argue that today's CAD design and process simulation software can construct a "multi-physic process model" accurate enough for reliable dimensional management.
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Modeling and simulation: Is ICME the next composites breakthrough?
ÂÌñÏ×ÆÞ columnist and composites industry consultant Dale Brosius encourages empirical learners (read "hands-on, trial-and-error old-timers") like himself to buy in and start using today's software-based design and simulation tools, which, he says, have the "potential to truly transform the composite industry."
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Composite tooling without oven or autoclave
No Oven No Autoclave technology has been demonstrated in tooling for NASA, including multiple thermal cycles and use for curing epoxy infused out-of-autoclave parts.
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Tooling (2015)
Composite parts are formed in molds, also known as tools. Tools can be made from virtually any material. The material type, shape and complexity depend upon the part and length of production run. Here's a short summary of the issues involved in electing and making tools.
Read MoreTools for collecting, managing and using autocomposites data
As the composites universe expands into new markets and applications, resins and fiber reinforcements of many types are, increasingly, landing on the desks of design engineers who have little or no experience with composites.
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