Out of Autoclave

Wind/Energy

Composites in tornado shelters

A new design aims to defeat the threat from debris, both as heavy piles preventing exit and as projectiles traveling at ballistic speeds.

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Construction

Full steam ahead for composite ship doors and hatches

VABO Composites (Emmeloord, The Netherlands) has added to its wide range of composite products these ship doors and hatches that offer a 50% weight reduction vs. conventional steel doors.

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Out of Autoclave

Business briefs: May 2016

ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd. and recycled carbon fiber.

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Carbon Fibers

JEC World 2016: Fully recyclable sailboat hull demonstrator

Arkema (Colombes, France), in addition to news of its collaboration with Polystrand (Englewood, CO, US), had as the centerpiece of its stand a complete carbon fiber sailboat hull made with the company’s trademarked Elium liquid thermoplastic resin.

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Glass Fibers

JEC World 2016: Automotive highlights

On the automotive side, Henkel (Düsseldorf, Germany) emphasized on its JEC stand a glass fiber-reinforced composite leaf spring, based on Henkel’s polyurethane matrix resin Loctite MAX 2, used in the chassis of the new Volvo (Gothenberg, Sweden) XC90, a premium crossover SUV; the platform of this vehicle is expected to be applied to other Volvo cars in the coming years.

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Aerospace

JEC World: Aerospace highlights

Fokker Aerostructures BV (Hoogeveen, The Netherlands), a GKN Aerospace company, demonstrated at its stand a thermoplastic composite aircraft demonstrator spoiler, fully functional and consisting of only three parts: top skin, bottom skin and a single spar.

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BMW cars again a composites showcase at JEC World 2016

BMW AG (Wolfsburg, Germany), already notable for its progressive use of composite materials in its i3 and i8 automobiles, provided the Parisian canvas for a palate of composites innovations.

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Pultrusion

Ushering in a new era for windows … and more

Superlative stiffness and thermal efficiency could make this highly glass-filled pultruded polyurethane insert a construction industry go-to material of choice.

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NDT

Fastener-free, composite aircraft door and control surfaces

All-composite, integrated structures using RTM cut weight and cost by more than 30%.

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CFRP: Opportunities in orthopedics

Carbon fiber has a niche, but can it secure a larger piece of a high-growth pie?

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