Composites 4.0: Where to start?
Sensors, IoT platforms, data analytics — the tools for more intelligent, efficient manufacturing abound, but where to start is actually much simpler.
Ginger Gardiner
Senior Editor, CompositesWorld
Fabrication methods
There are numerous methods for fabricating composite components. Selection of a method for a particular part, therefore, will depend on the materials, the part design and end-use or application. Here's a guide to selection.
Composite part design criteria
Designers of composite parts can choose from a huge variety of fiber reinforcements and resin systems. That makes knowledge of how those materials work together a critically important aspect of part development. Here's a short description of what that knowledge entails.
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. Here's a guide to what's available.
Supply and demand: Advanced fibers
Demand for advanced fiber, virgin and reclaimed, is on an upswing after a dip during the recent recession. Fiber suppliers are gearing up to meet an expected increase in demand as manufacturers in a number of composites end-markets scale up or start up part development and production programs
The fiber
The structural properties of composite materials are derived primarily from the fiber reinforcement. Fiber types, their manufacture, their uses and the end-market applications in which they find most use are described.
Composites: Materials and processes
High strength at low weight remain the winning combination that propels composite materials into new arenas, but other properties are equally important. This article outlines the case for composites and introduces SourceBook's overview of the materials and processes used to make them.
