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Industry Overview, Part I

• Fiber reinforcement forms
  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.
• Composites repair
  As more composite materials find a place on aircraft, boats, bridges and hundreds of other applications where part replacement is both difficult and expensive, OEM engineers are considering the repairability of structural and secondary composite components during the initial design phase of a project. According to a recent report by Aerostrategy Management Consulting (Ann Arbor, Mich. and Amersham, Buckinghamshire, U.
• The matrix
  The matrix material binds the fiber reinforcement, gives the composite component its shape and determines the quality of its surface. A matrix can be polymeric, ceramic or metallic. Polymer matrices are the most widely used for composites in commercial and high-performance aerospace applications.
• Fabrication methods
  There are numerous methods for fabricating composite components. Some methods have been borrowed (injection molding, for example), but many were developed to meet specific design or manufacturing challenges. Selection of a method for a particular part, therefore, will depend on the materials, the part design and end-use or application. 
• Composites: Materials and processes
  High strength and low weight remain the winning combination that propels composite materials into new arenas, but other properties —vibrational damping and low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), fatigue resistance are jsut as appealing. Moreover, the potential for significant parts consolidation provides design/fabrication flexibility that can  translate into a finished product that requires less raw material, fewer joints and fasteners and shorter assembly time.
• The fiber
  The structural properties of composite materials are derived primarily from the fiber reinforcement. In a composite, the fiber contributes high tensile strength, enhancing properites in the final part, such as stregnth and stiffness while minimizing weight.
• Tooling
  The molds used for forming composites, also known as tools, can be made from virtually any material. But tooling costs and complexity increase as the part performance requirements, surface quality requirements and/or the number of parts to be produced increase.
• Supply and demand: Advanced fibers
  Manufacturers of carbon and other advanced fibers respond to sustained composites industry growth with new fiber production capacity.
• Part design criteria
  Designers of composite parts can choose from a variety of fiber reinforcements and resin systems. Knowledge of material properties is a prerequisite to satisfactory product design, but cost is a major factor, as well. Overdesigned composites cannot compete with lower-cost, established material systems.

Industry Overview, Part II

• The markets: Civil infrastructure (2010)
  Despite demonstrable lifecycle-cost advantages, composites continue to meet resistance from civil engineers faced with first-cost restrictions.  In 2009, a promising new strategy that combines composites and conventional materials offered an affordable alternative.
• The markets: Fuel cells (2010)
      Reinforced thermosets and thermoplastics are likely candidates for the eventual materials of choice used to make the bi-polar plates, end plates, fuel tanks and other components in fuel cell systems. Fuel cell technologies of several types are designed to offer a “clean” (near-ze
• The markets: Automotive (2010)
  While the rest of the manufacturing community begins its recovery from the worst recession in decades, the global auto industry — in particular, Detroit's now not-quite-so-Big Three —  is digging its way out of a second Great Depression. As 2010 promised modest growth, automotive futurists expressed some uncertainty about the role composites will play in post-apocalyptic auto production.
• The markets: Renewable energy (2010)
   Wind power is the world’s fastest growing energy source (renewable or otherwise) and the source of the composites industry's fastest growing market for its materials. Production of electric power from tidal turbines offers another promising market.
• The markets: Construction (2010)
  When the U.S. housing "bubble" burst in late, sending shock waves throughout the world economy, composite products design for the residential construction market took a big hit during 2009, but signs point to recovery in 2010.
• The markets: Oil and gas (2010)
  Composites now are widely recognized in deepwater drilling scenarios, because their ability to stand up to the harsh subsea environment enables oil & gas prospectors to retrieve reserves at greater sea-floor depths. 
• The markets: Boatbuilding (2010)
  The 2008-2009 recession has hit the boatbuilding industry particularly hard, recalling a previous slump in 2003. But as 2009 closed out, boat business indicators were up, and the year was marked by some unusual construction projects that demonstrated composites continuing expansion in this segment.
• The markets: Aerospace (2010)
  Aircraft manufacturing continued to drive the soaring market for advanced composites even as the global economy headed into a tailspin in early 2009. Late year developments, including the first flights of the Boeing 787 commercial passenger jet and the Airbus A400M military transport, suggested an optimistic flight plan for 2010.
• The markets: Utility infrastructure (2010)
   As natural insulators with high dielectric strength, fiberglass composites revolutionized the handling of electricity when they first replaced wood and metal in 1959. Today, they're also replacing steel cores in high-voltage transmission lines and helping to regulate power flow on the electric grid.
• The markets: Sports and recreation (2010)
   Composites are found in products used for 7 of the 10 most popular outdoor sports and recreational activities. Carbon fiber leads the way in this market: At least 17.6 million lb (8,000 metric tonnes) of the fiber will go into sports equipment annually by 2013.
• The markets: Corrosion resistance (2010)
  Composites continue to provide a superior alternative to metals in corrosive environments. Two standout applications are scrubbers and chimneys in coal-burning plants and cured-in-place-pipe for subterranean water and wastewater management systems.

Introduction

• SOURCEBOOK 2010: The Online Edition
  Welcome to the online SOURCEBOOK, the searchable, updatable, Internet-based counterpart to CompositesWorld's annually published print SOURCEBOOK.

Further Research

• Industry Organizations
• Glossary of Terms