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Cobham Composites: San Diego, CA, US
An aerocomposites force since the dawn of the 1980s, this fabricator’s Big Idea is to move from quality control to in-situ process control on the strength of metrics powered by Big Data.
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Exelis Aerostructures: Salt Lake City
Braided composite shafts and struts for aircraft are its specialty, but there’s much more to this Utah, US-based rising star.
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New aerocomposites niche: Helicopter transmission gears?
A NASA study shows that steel/composite hybrid gears save significant weight, and could mitigate vibration-related noise.
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Tooling (2015)
Composite parts are formed in molds, also known as tools. Tools can be made from virtually any material. The material type, shape and complexity depend upon the part and length of production run. Here's a short summary of the issues involved in electing and making tools.
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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.
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The matrix (2015)
The matrix binds the fiber reinforcement, gives the composite component its shape and determines its surface quality. A composite matrix may be a polymer, ceramic, metal or carbon. Here's a guide to selection.
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Fabrication methods (2015)
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.
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Benzoxazines for OOA tooling
Can infusible formulations of this newer resin system produce aerospace-capable tools?
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Plant tour: ATK Aerospace Structures, Clearfield, Utah, U.S.
High-volume, high-precision fiber and tape placement for the aerospace industry are among many specialties for this composites manufacturing behemoth.
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Composites in commercial aircraft engines, 2014-2023
The drive to boost aircraft operating efficiency continues to fuel adoption of polymer matrix composites in jet engines.
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