Building a better tail boom
Out-of-autoclave carbon fiber/thermoplastic demonstrator is a 30 percent lighter drop-in replacement for an existing aluminum design.

Composites automation: Trending smaller and robotic
Although AFP and automated tape laying (ATL) lamination technologies are widely used in the aircraft industry, market conditions in the past few years are driving some changes in composites equipment supplier product lines. Consultant Carroll Grant explains why.

AMRC Composite Centre moves into new facilities
The University of Sheffield (U.K.) Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has moved its Composite Centre into new facilities that expand the organization's design, manufacturing, assembly and structural testing services.

Automated Dynamics delivers fiber placement head to AMRC
Automated Dynamics' new interchangeable fiber placement head will be used on the fiber placement robot that was already supplied by AD; the four-tow, quarter-inch head will be used in research at the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.

Automated Dynamics wins fiber placement contract with U.S. Navy
Automated Dynamics is under contract with the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, to manufacture an automated fiber placement (AFP) work cell featuring a four-tow Individual Tow Control fiber placement head.

Lab scale fiber placement machine
Automated Dynamics has introduced the Research Workcell, a small-scale, self-contained robotic automated fiber placement (AFP) machine designed to be an affordable and flexible piece of research and development equipment for higher education institutions and small composites laboratories.

The markets: Oil and gas (2012)
Composites are recognized as an enabling technology in deepwater drilling scenarios, but the recent economic downturn and the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has caused market uncertainty. It will take time for composites to see growth, again, in the offshore oil environment.

Laser-based heating for fiber placement
Automated fiber placement (AFP) machinery manufacturer Automated Dynamics reports that it is testing the use of a laser-based heating method for its AFP equipment. Integrated into Automated Dynamics’ fiber placement technology, it will replace and/or supplement hot gas for heating.

Laser-based heating for fiber placement
Fiber placement machinery manufacturer Automated Dynamics reports that it is testing the use of a laser-based heating method for the production of fiber-placed composite materials.

Carbon fiber/PEEK takes hydraulic pump to new depths
A switch from metal to composites reduces weight, minimizes part deflection in ultradeep ocean installations.

Status update on composites automation
Consultant Carroll Grant reviews progress made in recent years toward greater variety in automated composites processing machine sizes configurations and capabilities.

Automated Dynamics achieves AS9100 certification
The manufacturer of advanced composite structures and high-performance composite processing equipment has met the quality management standard for the aerospace industry.

Automated Dynamics to develop fiber placement cell for Concordia University
Under a $1 million contract, Automated Dynamics will develop a six-axis robot to fabricate cones, flat laminates, open and closed sections with convex and/or concave shapes, triangles, box beams, cylinders, ovals and more.

Automated Dynamics develops carbon fiber structure for deep-sea use
Automated Dynamics manufactured a high-performance carbon fiber composite hydraulic pump with Cameron, a provider of flow equipment products, systems and services to worldwide oil, gas and process industries

News Briefs: HPC, September 2010
Automated Dynamics delivers machinery to GKN; CGTech forms Brazilian subsidiary; Lockheed Martin formally begins F-35 wing production; HITCO announces Boeing contract

SQRTM enables net-shape parts
New out-of-autoclave process combines resin transfer molding with prepregs for complex helicopter part prototype.

Automated Dynamics delivers machinery to GKN Aerospace
The fiber placement machine has been installed in GKN’s new pre-production facility on the Isle of Wight, which will be at the heart of the next developments in the Environmental Lightweight Fan (ELF) research program.

2010 SAMPE Europe/JEC Paris Showcase
Record crowds and reignited technological development testified to the composite industry’s renewed health and the recent recession’s demise.

JEC Composites 2010 Product Showcase
Although clouds of volcanic ash shut down postshow air traffic, the traffic on the show floor helped dispel the clouds of economic recession.

News briefs - Aug. 25, 2009
Automated Dynamics names Robert Langone president; Compsys names Ron Taibl executive vice president; Cytec facility receives Spirit award; General Plastics graduates 25 from leadership education program; Michigan State University develops new nanocomposite; Premix celebrates 50 years; Reichhold picks Whitaker Oil as distributor; Stanford University to host composites design program.

AFP/ATL design-to-manufacture: Bridging the gap
Managing production of a structure made via fiber or tape placement often requires software-aided  manipulation of the subtle differences between that which is designed and that which can be manufactured.

News briefs -- March 24, 2009
ACMA announces corrosion conference; AT&T to buy fleet of CNG vehicles; Automated Dynamics receives ISO certification; Delcam founder Donald Welbourn dies; Dieffenbacher, Fraunhofer intensify cooperation; DNB opens lightning lab; Ferarri working on hybrid prototype; Hybrid Plastics wins customer service award; IFAI accepting entries for fabrics competition; IPS names Harker & Associates as rep; Paratherm names Rich Clemens COO; Seminars for Engineers announces composites seminar.

Fiber placement for tubulars
Automated Dynamics' AFP-0245 Tubular produces parts up to 45 ft/13.7m long and 2 ft/0.6m in diameter.

COMPOSITESWORLD Expo 2008 Showcase
The inaugural COMPOSITESWORLD Expo Conference and Exhibition draws participants from all segmentsof the industry, including many new faces.

COMPOSITESWORLD Expo Preshow Preview
CWExpo organizers pull aside the curtain for a sneak preview of the Expo's two keynote speakers and some new products that exhibitors will have on display in Schaumburg.

ATL and AFP: Defining the megatrends in composite aerostructures
Automated tape laying and automated fiber placement technologies take a key enabling role in production of today’s — and tomorrow’s — composite-airframed commercial jets.

Aviation Outlook: Fuel pricing ignites demand for composites in commercial transports
A confluence of aircraft OEM technical innovation and economic pressures on their airline customers creates increasingly favorable market conditions for aerospace composites.

JEC COMPOSITES 2008 show review
Composites professionals converged on this annual Parisian gathering in greater numbers than ever before, confident that the market’s global growth will continue.

JEC COMPOSITES Show highlights
The annual gathering in Paris reflects the industry’s confidence that the market’s global growth will continue.

Managing multi-axis manufacturing
Much early computer numerically controlled (CNC) machinery served short-run military and space programs where cost per part was too high to be acceptable in the manufacture of commercial aircraft. Now, Automated CNC machinery moves toward volume production and part-specific design.

New Equipment Brings Tape Placement Within Reach Of Smaller Shops
"Right-sized" automated tape laying head is simple and affordable.

Design Issues With Subsea And Downhole Components
    For structures below the water line and in the borehole, composites add to their list of benefits the key characteristic of design flexibility, because composite materials can be tailored to meet specific challenges. For example, composites can add buoyancy to low-pressure steel air cans on a spar platform’s r