Composites launch to Mars
NASA’s recently launched Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter are supported by numerous composite materials and structures.
Hannah Mason
Associate Editor, CompositesWorld
Perseverance rover takes one step for composites on Mars
The rover’s successful landing on Feb. 18 begins a two-year science investigation of Mars’ Jezero Crater for ancient microbial life.
CAMX 2020 exhibit preview: Renegade Materials Corp.
Renegade Materials Corp. is promoting its prepregs, resins and adhesive products.
Kordsa expands thermoplastic prepreg lineup
The new woven prepregs are offered with polypropylene or polyamide resin matrices in sheets up to 1.2 by 1.2 meters.
Gurit features core materials, adhesives, resins, molds for wind, aerospace
Gurit is featuring its offerings and expertise for wind energy, composite tooling and lightweighting applications such as aerospace, rail, healthcare and marine.
Tech Table: Adhesives
A table of aerospace structural adhesives includes collected from data provided by suppliers.
CAMX 2019 exhibit preview: Specialty Materials
Specialty Materials Inc. is emphasizing its line of boron monofilament and prepreg materials, as well as SCS silicon carbide monofilament.
Boron fiber: The original high-performance fiber
History and future developments for high-performance boron fiber.
New Products: December 2018
CW’s roundup of new products for the composites industry – the past couple of months have seen innovations from Airtech, Cincinnati Inc., Composites Evolution, Evonik, Finepart, Granta, Gurit, Huber, Hyosung, Owens Corning, Park Aerospace, SAERTEX, Siemens, Thought3D and Victrex.
Park Aerospace's epoxy, cyanate ester resins target advanced radome applications
Park Electromechanical Corp. has introduced RadarWave, a new family of prepreg materials developed for the fabrication of advanced radome systems, principally for aerospace and defense applications.
CAMX 2018 preview: Compotool
Compotool (Monroe, WA, US; Auckland, New Zealand) is featuring its inorganic tooling board made from specialized formulated calcium silicate materials that reportedly exhibit favorable thermal and process characteristics.
CAMX 2018 preview: Renegade Materials/Maverick
High-temperature materials specialists Renegade Materials Corp. and Maverick Corp. (both in Miamisburg, OH, US) are featuring their prepregs and adhesives, powered by Maverick-developed, non-MDA polyimide resins.
Researchers successfully 3D print carbon fiber
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers claim to be the first to 3D print aerospace-grade carbon fiber.
Materials & Processes: Fiber formats for composites
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.
Tooling, precision enable composites in satellite subsystems
Tight tolerances drive design and engineering of large-format composite component and dishes to create unique satellite structures.
Scott Francis
Contributing Editor, CompositesWorld
First 3D woven composite for NASA thermal protection systems
A NASA-led team develops 3D woven quartz preform, hybrid process to infuse it with cyanate ester resin (0.5% voids) and achieves TRL5 in three years to replace CF/phenolic in the Orion spacecraft’s compression pads.
Harris Corp., Rochester, NY, US
High-technology telescope and space structures expertise has its roots in legacy Kodak programs.
Outer space: The “final frontier” is exciting again!
CW contributor Dale Brosius, a composites industry consultant and the chief commercialization officer for the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), points to evidence that the composites industry will, once again, be the beneficiary of renewed drive for space exploration.
Fiber reinforcement forms (2015)
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.
Farnborough 2014 Airshow Report
No longer a novelty at aerospace trade events, composites nevertheless faced competition from conventional materials at this year’s event.
Composites carry the Curiosity rover to a safe Mars landing
From launch to touchdown, composites performed in flight and stuck the landing!
Composites in the race to space
Advanced materials use in current and upcoming NASA missions.
Scott Francis
Contributing Editor, CompositesWorld
BMI and benzoxazine battle for future OOA aerocomposites
Offering weight, cost and process advantages, these “hot zone” resins are moving down the thermometer and into out-of-autoclave structural applications and autoclavable tooling now dominated by epoxies.
CFK-Valley Stade 2013 Review
Quality papers, candid speakers and compelling subject matter put the Carbon Composite Valley on the international map.
The Private Space Race
NASA passes the development torch to legacy contractors and NewSpace entrepreneurs, igniting a new competition in space transport.
Orion re-entry system: Composites displace metal
World’s largest heat shield updates metal design with out-of-autoclave process.
Resins for the Hot Zone, Part II: BMIs, CEs, benzoxazines and phthalonitriles
Next-generation aerospace programs demand higher temperatures for structural and hot-section components, fostering advances in thermoset resin chemistry.
SAMPE 2009 Product Showcase
Showgoers at the SAMPE 2009 Conference and Exhibiton in Baltimore, Md. found many suppliers undeterred by poor economic news.
