FOCUSONDESIGN

Resins

High glass transition temperature, 100% bio-based thermoset resins for space composites

With the European Commission Restrictions Roadmap soon banning entire classes of chemical substances found in fossil fuel-based synthetic polymers, the space industry is looking to a chemical combination to produce competitive thermoset resins.

Stewart Mitchell
Contributing Writer

Design/Simulation

Protecting EV motors more efficiently

Motors for electric vehicles are expected to benefit from Trelleborg’s thermoplastic composite rotor sleeve design, which advances materials and processes to produce a lightweight, energy-efficient component.

Carbon Fibers

CFRTP enables better, greener smartphones

Carbon Mobile’s “monocoque” design eliminates separate case, cover and frame, better protects electronics and simplifies disassembly.

Marine

Modernizing the mechanical rotor sail

Composites are key for Norsepower’s award-winning redesign of a century-old rotor sail for reducing carbon emissions on passenger and cargo ships.

Core

Composite buildings go monocoque

Superior protection from the elements plus fast, affordable installation and maintenance have quickly made Orenco Composites’ DuraFiber buildings an attractive choice for water and wastewater, communications, transportation and power industry outbuildings.

Aerospace

Digital design, multi-material structures enable a quieter supersonic NASA X-plane

NASA’s composites-intensive X-59 QueSST experimental aircraft is set for its first flight by the end of 2022, after nine years of design, manufacture, assembly and testing by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.

Glass Fibers

Refurbishing bridges at half the time, cost versus replacement

Instead of demolishing and rebuilding bridges, SUREbridge doubles the strength and durability of existing structures with an FRP deck for a smart, sustainable solution.

Natural Fibers

Thermoset-thermoplastic joining, natural fibers enable sustainability-focused brake cover

Award-winning motorcycle brake disc cover showcases potential for KTM Technologies’ Conexus joining technology and flax fiber composites.

Hannah Mason
Technical Editor, CompositesWorld

Processes

Hydrostatic membrane consolidation: Skin-stringer panels in 60 minutes

Airbus and Siempelkamp demonstrate press process as alternative to thermoplastic welding, aimed to enable rate 100 aircraft and future mobility manufacturing.

Glass Fibers

Multi-composite thrust chamber aims to boost rockets, reduce cost for New Space economy

Black Engine uses new, microporous CMC liner for transpiration cooling and multiple lightweight composites in modular design that offers increased lifetime and lower maintenance versus current launch vehicle engines.

Glass Fibers

SMC material configurations tailored to automotive battery enclosure design

SMC battery cover offers various module configurations, levels of performance, mass and cost for electric vehicles.

Automotive

BMW rolls out multi-material Carbon Cage with 2022 iX vehicle line

For its new battery-electric iX sports activity vehicle, BMW combines CFRP strategies from previous i3, i8 and 7-Series designs and adds CFRTP for a lightweight, rigid frame.

Design/Simulation

Composite ring frame improves safety, cost for workhorse helicopter

Airbus Helicopters replaces aluminum primary structure with CFRP using multi-piece preform and single-shot infusion.

RTM

Designing for automated composites manufacturing of low-volume aerostructures

The commercial aerospace industry is heavily focused on design for efficient high-rate manufacturing, but there is still need for automated, affordable fabrication of low-rate aerostructures.

Thermoplastics

CFRTP upper stage propellant tank

PROCOMP uses in-situ consolidation AFP and ultrasonic welding to demonstrate lightweight, novel tank design.

Ginger Gardiner
Senior Technical Editor, CompositesWorld

Core

Leveraging motorsports composites for next-gen rotorcraft

FastCan consortium integrates hollow, solid and cored CFRP into single-cure, single-piece canopy for reduced weight and cost.

Core

Industrial-scale wave energy system enabled by mobile filament winding

Sweden-based CorPower Ocean designed its 9-meter-long, filament-wound GFRP buoy prototype for high-efficiency, durable wave energy generation and fast, on-site manufacture.

Aerospace

Integrating antennas into composite aerostructures

ACASIAS project integrates Ku-band array antenna in novel AFP orthogrid with drastically reduced tooling for more fuel-efficient, multifunctional CFRP aircraft fuselage panel.

Aerospace

Rocket engine thrust frame proves a strong candidate for composites conversion

The engine thrust frame of a space launch vehicle, located at the bottom of a rocket stage, joining fuel tanks to engines, must deliver strength and stiffness across a range of temperatures — cost-effectively.

Wind/Energy

Optimizing a wind turbine nacelle cover to meet LCOE demand

Suzlon Group redesigned a composite nacelle cover with in-situ molded stiffeners to reduce manufacturing and material costs while maximizing part performance.

Testing

Design innovations improve efficiency of composite medical table

WIT-Composites' efforts to design a more effective all-composite surgical table led to development of complex components and an elastic carbon fiber material.

Glass Fibers

One-shot manufacture of 3D knitted hybrid thermoplastic composite structures

MAPICC 3D project replaces steel seat support in heavy-duty vehicle with a 3D knitted composite made from thermoplastic hybrid yarns comprising the matrix and reinforcing components.

Stewart Mitchell
Contributing Writer

Glass Fibers

Composites protect subsea cables for offshore wind power

Balmoral uses FRP to improve installation, performance and service life while reducing cable failures in rough seas.

Epoxies

Hydroelectric turbine blade design propelled by composites

Glass fiber composites power the development of a modular, spiral-shaped hydroelectric micro turbine blade for low-cost, high-efficiency renewable energy generation.

Design/Simulation

Liftgate design puts modified filament winding to the test

Heavily modified winding process produces light, structural support frame for performance-critical liftgate.

Glass Fibers

Thermoplastic composite structure replaces metals on safety-critical brake pedals

First all-composite brake pedals developed by Boge Rubber & Plastics Group are lighter, stiffer, stronger and offer improved driving haptics.

Aerospace

The Alpha launch vehicle: Designing performance in, cost out

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha 2.0 launch vehicle, designed to deliver satellites into low Earth orbit, gets a composites makeover in pursuit of larger payload capacity and more cost-effective performance.

Automotive

EV battery enclosure inspires material, process innovations

High unit volume and low weight requirements for electric bus battery enclosures fueled development of TRB Lightweight Structures’ specialized epoxy system and automated composites production line.

View All focusondesign Articles