CW Features
Life cycle assessment in the composites industry
As companies strive to meet zero-emissions goals, evaluating a product’s carbon footprint is vital. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one tool composites industry OEMs and Tier suppliers are using to move toward sustainability targets.
Hannah Mason
Technical Editor, CompositesWorld
Bio-based, fire-resistant composites become mainstream
Projects use Duplicor prepreg panels with highest Euroclass B fire performance without fire retardants for reduced weight, CO2 footprint in sustainable yet affordable roofs, high-rise façades and modular housing.
Read MoreThe next evolution in AFP
Automated fiber placement develops into more compact, flexible, modular and digitized systems with multi-material and process capabilities.
Read MoreRTM, dry braided fabric enable faster, cost-effective manufacture for hydrokinetic turbine components
Switching from prepreg to RTM led to significant time and cost savings for the manufacture of fiberglass struts and complex carbon fiber composite foils that power ORPC’s RivGen systems.
Read MoreIncreased molding productivity via additive manufacturing
Companies in multiple segments turn to 3D printing for end-of-arm tools, fixtures for increased safety and functionality, lower cost and faster turnaround times.
Read MoreCW Top Shops 2023: Honoring global top-performing facilities
CW congratulates the 2023 CW Top Shops honorees and composites fabricators whose leaders cite team expansion, focus on Industry 4.0 and adaptation to emerging markets among this year’s top achievements.
Read MoreCelebrating 30 years of CompositesWorld, Part 2
CW covers key composite developments that have taken place from the 1990s to today in the second part of this two-part retrospective.
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European boatbuilders lead quest to build recyclable composite boats
Marine industry constituents are looking to take composite use one step further with the production of tough and recyclable recreational boats. Some are using new infusible thermoplastic resins.
A new era for ceramic matrix composites
CMC is expanding, with new fiber production in Europe, faster processes and higher temperature materials enabling applications for industry, hypersonics and New Space.
Read MoreComposites manufacturing for general aviation aircraft
General aviation, certified and experimental, has increasingly embraced composites over the decades, a path further driven by leveraged innovation in materials and processes and the evolving AAM market.
Read MoreAutomotive chassis components lighten up with composites
Composite and hybrid components reduce mass, increase functionality on electric and conventional passenger vehicles.
Read MoreNatural fiber composites: Growing to fit sustainability needs
Led by global and industry-wide sustainability goals, commercial interest in flax and hemp fiber-reinforced composites grows into higher-performance, higher-volume applications.
Read MoreMetal AM advances in composite tooling, Part 2
Toolmakers and molders continue to realize the benefits of additive versus conventional/subtractive manufacturing of molds and mold components.
Read MoreComposites end markets: Aerospace (2023)
With COVID in the past and passengers flying again, commercial aircraft production is ramping up. The aerocomposites supply chain is busy developing new M&P for an approaching next-generation aircraft program.
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Composites end markets: Electronics (2024)
Increasingly, prototype and production-ready smart devices featuring thermoplastic composite cases and other components provide lightweight, optimized sustainable alternatives to metal.
Scott Francis
Editor-In-Chief, Gardner Business Media
Composites end markets: Automotive (2023)
Electrification and a focus on sustainability lead to opportunities and innovations in composites, from battery enclosures to structural components and more.
Read MoreDrawing design cues from nature: Designing for biomimetic composites, Part 2
As biomimetic design continues to inform composites manufacturing, technologies like 3D printing, tailored fiber placement, braiding and filament winding prove strong candidates for making these structures a reality.
Read MoreThe state of recycled carbon fiber
As the need for carbon fiber rises, can recycling fill the gap?
Read MoreMetal AM advances in composite tooling, Part 1
Multiple metal additive technologies are gaining market acceptance and interest for composite tooling used in processes ranging from short-fiber injection to autoclave-cure prepreg.
Read MoreDrawing design cues from nature: Designing for biomimetic composites, Part 1
Biomimicry is an interdisciplinary methodology that can inform composites design and manufacturing via use of more effective and sustainable materials, structural fabrication and technological practices.
Read MoreThermoplastic composites welding advances for more sustainable airframes
Multiple demonstrators help various welding technologies approach TRL 6 in the quest for lighter weight, lower cost.
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Industrializing additive manufacturing in the defense/aerospace sector
GA-ASI demonstrates a path forward for the use of additive technologies for composite tooling, flight-qualified parts.
Peggy Malnati
Contributing Writer
Mass, cost, durability improvements: EV battery enclosures, Part 2
As interest grows in composite battery covers and trays, composite materials suppliers work to meet current and future needs of automakers, battery module producers.
Read MorePrice, performance, protection: EV battery enclosures, Part 1
Composite technologies are growing in use as suppliers continue efforts to meet more demanding requirements for EV battery enclosures.
Read MoreCarbon fiber in pressure vessels for hydrogen
The emerging H2 economy drives tank development for aircraft, ships and gas transport.
Read MoreMoving toward next-generation wind blade recycling
Suppliers, fabricators and OEMs across the composite wind blade supply chain ramp up existing technologies, develop better reclamation methods and design more recyclable wind blades.
Read MoreCycling forward with bike frame materials and processes
Fine-tuning of conventional materials and processes characterizes today’s CFRP bicycle frame manufacturing, whether in the large factories of Asia or at reshored facilities in North America and Europe. Thermoplastic resins and automated processes are on the horizon, though likely years away from high-volume production levels.
Read MoreSensors: Data for next-gen composites manufacturing
In the quest for sustainability, sensors are reducing cycle times, energy use and waste, automating closed-loop process control and increasing knowledge to open new possibilities for intelligent manufacturing and structures.
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