Norplex-Micarta announces contract prepreg manufacturing capabilities
Norplex-Micarta has begun offering prepreg contract manufacturing at its Postville, Iowa, USA headquarters, with capacity to process materials up to 48 inches wide.

Epoxy/fiberglass composite for tubing
Norplex-Micarta has introduced RT571, high-strength tubing composed of a heavy-weave glass fabric with an epoxy resin system.

News Briefs: Dec. 6, 2011
Norplex-Micarta names Richard Chen project manager; Renegade names Kory Abbitt director of business development; Royal Engineered Composites expands Nebraska facility.

New Briefs: Oct. 4, 2011
Norplex-Micarta expands quality assurance lab; Performance Composites earns ISO 9001 certification; STRUCTeam opens Warsaw office; Richmond Aircraft Products recommended for certification to AS9100 Rev. C.; ATL Composites updates website.

Structural armor or armored structures?
Either way, antiballistics engineers seek structural integrity and ballistic deterrence from a single design.

Antiballistics: Composites in the cross hairs
An increasing quantity and variety of fiber/polymer solutions are stopping bullets and blast debris in armored ground vehicles and stationary structures.

Composites employed for thermal insulation in space observatories


Standing Up to Natural Disasters
Composites are answering the call for residential and commercial structures that can weather future "perfect storms."

Convolute tubing materials
Norplex-Micarta (Postville, Iowa) has introduced Micro ID convolute tubing materials for use as extra-fine bearings in the electrical market and insulation and support components in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. Inside diameters range from 0.094 inch to 0.187 inch (2.4 mm to 4.7 mm); outside diameters r

Biz Brief: Norplex-Micarta
Thermoset composite manufacturer Norplex-Micarta (Postville, Iowa) has recently expanded its services to offer contract manufacturing. The service will be used to enhance its customers’ current manufacturing capabilities or to augment customers’ offerings in areas not offered. Norplex-Micarta is already providing

Focus on Design: Composite adaptor board supports medical treatment
Carbon fiber/epoxy the only material choice in this critical X-ray application.

Hybrid Glass/Aramid Prepreg Beats Heat in Heavy Industrial Pump
In demanding environments like cement plants, rotary compressor pumps are used to move heavy fluids that contain significant amounts of particulate. Pumps have a rotating core fitted with sliding blades or “vanes,” which fits within a static cylinder – as the rotor spins during operation, centrifugal force causes the

Thermoset Prepreg, Tubing
Norplex-Micarta’s (Pottsville, Iowa) new line of nonadhesive thermoset prepregs (B-stage materials, see photo) are dry to the touch and therefore do not require the release film found on conventionally tacky prepregs. Available substrates include glass fiber, carbon fiber, cotton fiber, paper and customer-specific

Reinforced Plastics Mold New Niches In Electronics
For manufacturers and consumers, composites are protecting delicate circuitry and making devices more durable.

Solder Pallet Material
Norplex-Micarta (Postville, Iowa) announced the availability of WaveMax 5000, a thermoset composite material for durable, high-temperature solder pallets. It provides high mechanical strength at a continuous operating temperature of 260°C/500°F. The material easily withstands exposures to temperatures approaching

New Material Reduces Wear And Tear At Skate Parks
Countless numbers of people visit skate parks each day to practice jumps and have some fun, but all the friction from skateboard and skate tires, not to mention impacts from rider spills, takes its toll on ramps and half pipes. At Father Marinaro Skateboarding Park in Butler, Pa., for example, which opened in 2003,