Weaving
New Options In Personal Ballistic Protection
Emerging materials and processing techniques expand choices for manufacturers of vests, helmets and shields.
Read MoreExperienced Aerospace Manufacturer Relies On Proven Methods
Composite Structures LLC employs metal bond techniques for high-performance aircraft and rotorcraft components.
Read MoreNew Lightweight Trailer Delivers Heavy-duty Performance
All-composite chassis and trailer design offers truckers increased cargo capacity plus greater durability.
Read MoreThermoplastic Composites Making An Impact
Product/process developments accelerate use of long-fiber-reinforced thermoplastics in automotive and industrial markets.
Read MoreComposite Components: The String And The Glue
Fibers — whether glass, carbon or more esoteric varieties like aramid — are the backbone of composites. A single glass filament, thinner than a human hair, has a tensile strength of approximately 500 ksi/3.5 GPa, but essentially no compressive strength. To achieve a structural building material, fibers are enc
Read MoreDesign Issues
Typical FRP pipe is reciprocally filament wound with a fiber angle of ±54.75° relative to the longitudinal (0°) axis. This architecture satisfies stress loads in both the circumferential (hoop) and longitudinal (axial) directions for most pipes and pressure vessels. It withstands the in-use pressure, ther
Read MoreOther Applications Expand
A growing area in the offshore world is the refitting or “recycling” of older oil platforms to support additional production. A particularly active area for recycling is in the North Sea, where additional pipelines can be run to existing rigs for about $1 million (as opposed to spending $20 million for a new r
Read MoreComposites Used For Repair by Statoil
Statoil has used composites to repair steel topside components for more than 10 years on the Statfjord and Gullfaks platforms, using wet layup methods designed for each application, says Melve. “We repaired four water lines at an onshore oil storage facility between 1983 and 1987,” he says. “After nine years,
Read MoreJoining
Whenever possible, multiple composite parts should be joined together during cure. This process is called “co-curing” and results in the strongest composite-to-composite bond. It also has the advantage of reducing part count and minimizing related machining operations Achieving good metal-to-composite
Read MoreRiser Arch Trays, Mud Mats Provide Multiple Benefits
In 1999, 42 composite riser arch trays were supplied by DML Composites (Plymouth, U.K.) to Halliburton Subsea for the Norsk Hydro Troll C field riser support system, in 1,100 ft/340m of water. The trays, which sit atop two 260 ft/80m tall steel jacket riser support structures, cradle the flexible risers that c
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