High-Performance Composites - March 2008
Aviation Outlook: Composites in rotorcraft reaching new altitudes
One of the earliest markets for advanced composites, helicopter manufacture is and will continue to be a stronghold for industry growth.
It is undeniable that commercial transport jets are undergoing an “extreme makeover” in advanced composites. Composite materials account for roughly half of the structural weight on Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner and Airbus Industries’ materializing A350 XWB. That’s more than double the percentage on commercial jets introduced just 10 years ago and triple that of predecessors brought to market during the early 1990s. While this is rightly considered a revolution, it tends to overshadow the equally significant but much earlier transformation of primary and secondary structures in the helicopter industry. While the Boeing 777 and Airbus A340 programs were “aggressively” adopting composites for 10 to 15 percent of their structural weight, the airframes of some commercial helicopters were already half composite, and those of many military rotorcraft were almost entirely composite (see Fig. 1). Read More ...
Features
Aligned discontinuous fibers come of age
Discontinuous but aligned carbon fibers are proving formable and formidable in high-performance, compound-curvature applications.
Out-of-autoclave tooling gets out of the blocks
General aviation aircraft manufacturer adopts new oven-cure tooling.
SAMPE Europe/JEC COMPOSITES 2008 Preview
As the industry gathers in Paris, event organizers emphasize composites manufacturability and environmental responsibility.
Automate or emigrate
Automated fiber and tape placement is not just a notion, but a real manufacturing strategy, and one being embraced by HITCO Carbon Composites.
About the Cover
The V-22 Osprey military tiltrotor aircraft is a product of one of many military and civilian rotorcraft development programs that have been heavily reliant on composite technologies for their success. See HPC’s rotorcraft market outlook, on p. 47.
Editorial
Columns
Market Trends: This industry is ready to explode
Testing Tech: Multiple-fastener, single-shear laminate bearing strength testing
News
Airbus, Boeing commercial aircraft demand predictions revised upward
New Launch System for Space Tourism Bid: Burt Rutan, Sir Richard Branson unveil SpaceShipTwo
Innovative general aviation aircraft manufacturers suspend operations
Boeing shifts 787 schedule, announces agreement with Indian firm Tata
First SAMPE Asia draws diverse crowd
Boeing 787 aft pressure bulkhead passes fatigue test for certification
GKN Aerospace delivers first 737 blended winglet
COMPOSITESWORLD Expo exhibit sales begin
Composite armor developments: AGY and Plasan Sasa
TenCate Advanced Composites acquires YLA and CCS Composites
Quickstep Holdings enters the composite aircraft parts market
Composites Industry Investment Forum assesses future of composites
Construction of world’s largest composite motoryacht underway
Lincoln Composites expands manufacturing capacity
WSU ranked third in aero-engineering research
Application
Formulating challenge: Creating better epoxies for vacuum-infused aerospace parts
Aircraft interior bins benefit from fast-heat, fast-cool tool
New Products & Literature
Nanosilica-filled, UV-curable epoxy
Aerospace, automotive component tester
Composites textbook revised, updated
Out-of-autoclave prepreg resins
Nanocomposite for rapid prototyping
