OUTOFAUTOCLAVE

Aerospace

Novel dry tape for liquid molded composites

MTorres seeks to enable next-gen aircraft and open new markets for composites with low-cost, high-permeability tapes and versatile, high-speed production lines.

Ginger Gardiner
Senior Technical Editor, CompositesWorld

Prepregs

CAMX 2022 exhibit preview: NEXX Technologies

NEXX Technologies introduces a range of its modified epoxy and cyanate ester prepreg materials for a more streamlined prepreg manufacturing process.

Aerospace

Trelleborg launches low-friction thermoplastic composite bearing

The HiMod Advanced Composite Bearing Plus is a dual-layer bearing with a low-friction PEEK liner that doubles as an impermeable sealing surface, in addition to 50% less sliding friction, increased wear performance.

Poly/Vinyl Esters

CAMX 2022 exhibit preview: Renegade Materials Corp.

Renegade Materials is promoting its high-performance prepreg, RTM resin and adhesive products for use in demanding aerospace applications.

Resins

CAMX 2022 exhibit preview: Radius Engineering

Radius Engineering enables aerospace customers to use qualified prepregs to produce net-shape composite structures out of autoclave via its SQRTM and RTM workcells.

Composite resins price change report

CW’s running summary of resin price change announcements from major material suppliers that serve the composites manufacturing industry.

Molds/Tools

Materials & Processes: Tooling for composites

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.

Aerospace

Materials & Processes: Fiber formats for composites

Fibers used to reinforce composites are supplied directly by fiber manufacturers and indirectly by converters in a number of different forms, which vary depending on the application. Here's a guide to what's available.

Staff

Carbon Fibers

Materials & Processes: Fibers for composites

The structural properties of composite materials are derived primarily from the fiber reinforcement. Fiber types, their manufacture, their uses and the end-market applications in which they find most use are described.

Automotive

Materials & Processes: Composites fibers and resins

Compared to legacy materials like steel, aluminum, iron and titanium, composites are still coming of age, and only just now are being better understood by design and manufacturing engineers. However, composites’ physical properties — combined with unbeatable light weight — make them undeniably attractive.

Prepregs

Materials & Processes: Resin matrices for composites

The matrix binds the fiber reinforcement, gives the composite component its shape and determines its surface quality. A composite matrix may be a polymer, ceramic, metal or carbon. Here’s a guide to selection.

Marine

Materials & Processes: Fabrication methods

There are numerous methods for fabricating composite components. Selection of a method for a particular part, therefore, will depend on the materials, the part design and end-use or application. Here's a guide to selection.

Carbon Fibers

RUAG rebrands as Beyond Gravity, boosts CFRP satellite dispenser capacity

NEW smart factory in Linköping will double production and use sensors, data analytics for real-time quality control — CW talks with Holger Wentscher, Beyond Gravity’s head of launcher programs.

Aerospace

Haydale Graphene awarded Innovate UK grant to develop smart composite tooling

The ESENSE project aims to replace costly autoclave processes with a multi-zone OOA self-heated tooling solution, potentially cutting lead times by 20%, energy by 15% and halving the cost of autoclave manufacturing.

Construction

The state of recycled carbon fiber

As the need for carbon fiber rises, can recycling fill the gap?

Scott Francis
Contributing Editor, CompositesWorld

Processes

DLR Institute of Structures and Design releases video on TB-Rumpf welded thermoplastic composites

Autoclave-free consolidation and resistance welding validated for future aircraft thermoplastic composite fuselage.

Marine

Hexcel introduces G-Vent technology for thick, OOA marine structures

Hexcel marine prepregs are available with G-Vent integrated, enabling out-of-autoclave processing with reduced time, cost and autoclave-comparable porosity for highly loaded masts and foils without debulking.

Injection/Overmolding

Plant tour: Victrex Composites Solutions, Bristol, Rhode Island, U.S.

De-risking thermoplastic composites at industrial scale via hybrid overmolding.

Aerospace

Middle River Aerostructure Systems displays aeroengine nacelle using AFP and RTM composites

Highlights technologies and manufacturing processes that enhance aeroengine operating efficiency while reducing fuel consumption and noise.

Aerospace

Airbus C295 technology demonstrator makes maiden flight, proves novel design, manufacturing processes

C295 Flight Test Bed 2 (FTB2) tests OOA composite semi-morphing wing, flaps and flap tabs, as well as SatCom antenna for future turboprop aircraft.

Curing

Fingerprinting liquids for composites

Collo uses electromagnetic sensors and edge analytics to optimize resin degassing, mixing, infusion, polymerization and cure as well as monitoring drift from benchmarked process parameters and enabling in-situ process control.

Fabrics/Preforms

One-piece, one-shot, 17-meter wing spar for high-rate aircraft manufacture

GKN Aerospace has spent the last five years developing materials strategies and resin transfer molding (RTM) for an aircraft trailing edge wing spar for the Airbus Wing of Tomorrow program.

Jeff Sloan
Editor-in-Chief, CompositesWorld

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.

Aerospace

METEOR project studies optimization of thermoplastic prepreg production

Completed project aimed at optimizing and reducing the cost and energy involved in CFRTP prepreg manufacture, with the end goal of industrialization.

Carbon Fibers

Fully U.S.-made fairing launched into space features OOA composites

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched a U.S. defense satellite into space. The payload fairing, produced by RUAG Space, is composed of OOA CFRP face sheets.

Urban Air Mobility

Composites end markets: Aerospace (2022)

The distribution of vaccine and the apparent retreat of COVID-19 — even if sporadic and uneven — has allowed passengers to return to flying again with increased confidence. But the commercial aircraft landscape seems permanently altered by the pandemic.

Aerospace

Higher performance, lower cost helicopter rotor blades developed with OOA, FAA-qualified composites

Erickson Inc. and partner Toray Advanced Composites replaced legacy aluminum S-64 main rotor blades with out-of-autoclave, multi-material composite alternatives.

Fabrics/Preforms

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.

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