CW Blog

Carbon Fibers

Closing in on commercial-scale ocean-energy capture

Water-flow power pioneer preps to place major composites-enabled submersible tidal power generation system near energy-rich Bay of Fundy.

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Construction

Russian Orthodox cathedral in Paris topped with composite domes

Infused, multi-piece molded sections formed finished domes that reduced dead load on the final building structure by 80%.

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Aerospace

Gardner Business Index at 54.1 in January

The US composites industry looks as strong as it has since early 2015, with expectations the highest in years.

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Wind/Energy

In praise of technical service reps

Tech service representatives: without them, molding trials fail and manufacturing issues go unresolved.

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Aerospace

Aerospace composites in “the more for less” era

The past decade was about innovation and new technology. The next will be about productivity.

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Autocomposites and the myth of $5/lb carbon fiber

The $5/lb line in the sand comes with a similar challenge that, ultimately, will determine the fate of carbon fiber in automotive: Manufacturability.

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Weaving

Wet-spinning carbon fiber precursor begins in Australia

Australian R&D center CSIRO is working on wet-spinning polymers to produce precursors for carbon fiber. Polymers being used include polyacrylonitrile, cellulose, lignin and blends of these materials. Q&A with Derek Buckmaster.

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Resin prices on the rise

UPR, vinyl ester and gel coat prices are on the rise in the US, Europe and the Middle East. The culprit, it appears is styrene, whose supply is short thanks to unforeseen technical problems.

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Space

NASA carbon fiber glider to gather weather data during flight

The teams are still working on the design but the aircraft is expected to have a wingspan of about 3 feet and will be made of double ply, carbon fiber.

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Aerospace

Google shoots the moon

Google Lunar XPRIZE contenders turn to space- and launch-friendly composites.

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Medical

A tsunami of growth: An inside look at the CSP/Teijin merger

I had the opportunity to meet and interview the top executives of Continental Structural Plastics (CSP, Auburn Hills, MI, US) and Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) last week. The occasion was an open house and celebration of the acquisition of CSP by Teijin.

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Automotive

Machine vision: Rapid error detection

Aerospace-aimed ply placement technology evolves into process management and near-real time inspection system for production laminated composite parts.

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