Resins
The positive consequences of regulating styrene
In 1859, Thomas Austin imported 24 wild rabbits from England and released them into the Victoria, Australia, countryside to provide animals for sport hunting.
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Additives and modifiers: Matrix optimization
New and reengineered modifiers for thermosets and thermoplastics target previously elusive goals in composites processing and performance.
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Market outlook: Fiber-reinforced phenolics
Phenolics gain new footholds in anticorrosion markets now dominated by polyesters and epoxies.
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U.S. crew and cargo candidate takes shape with composites
Crew-capable Dream Chaser to enable ISS transport missions from U.S.
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Pultruding polyurethane: Sheet pilings break boundaries
High-pressure pultrusion process creates polyurethane composite sheet pile system with the strength and stiffness to compete with steel.
Read MoreEvolution of tailored D-LFT
In the past two decades, two competing composite technologies — sheet-form glass-mat thermoplastic (GMT) and pelletized long-fiber thermoplastic (LFT) — led to the development of a new form of glass-reinforced thermoplastic composite.
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Chevy Volt battery pack: Rugged but precise
GM and partners engineer composites for this complex assembly with an accent on repeatability.
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Paddleboard productivity: Adhesively bonded hull/deck is key
Dragonfly Boatworks LLC's (Vero Beach, Fla.) new standup paddleboard for fly fishing is built without fasteners, with the aid of SG200-40 methacrylate adhesive from SCIGRIP Smarter Adhesive Solutions (Durham, N.C.).
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Deep draw: Unique laminate architecture enables bus part
For a major mass-transit manufacturer, Amtech LLC (Wapato, Wash.) successfully thermoforms a luggage cover with a remarkably deep draw of 40 inches (1,016 mm), using a laminate architecture that includes a top layer of 0.180-inch/4.5-mm gauge Grade 4800 thermoplastic sheet, supplied by Boltaron (Newcomerstown, Ohio).
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Cure for cratering: Gel coat perfected with design of experiments software
Resin manufacturer Interplastic Corp. – Thermoset Resins Div. (St. Paul, Minn.), a major gel coat producer, recently developed a new gel coat with the aid of Design-Expert design of experiments software from Stat-Ease Inc. (Minneapolis, Minn.).
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