2019’s Leading Composite Industry Highlights

 

Back side of Spirit AeroSystems’ ASTRA fuselage panel. Source | CW

 

 

The top news stories from 2019 spanned from next-generation aerocomposites, to thermoplastics, to 3D printing, to the latest developments in shipbuilding and offshore wind energy.

Here are 10 of CompositesWorld’s most viewed news stories from 2019.

 

Top 10 Composites News Stories of 2019:

1. Spirit AeroSystems debuts next-generation composite fuselage panel. The 18-by-12-foot (5.5-by-3.7-meter) demonstrator panel debuted at the Paris Air Show in June 2019 features integrated skin and stringers and offers substantial cost savings combined with strong performance attributes.
2. General Atomics Aeronautical developing tool-less thermoplastics composites process. Announced in January 2019, aerospace manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. is developing a novel process for the fabrication of thermoplastic composite structures that obviates the need for traditional molds or tooling.

3. Airbus Albatross features flapping wings made from composites. In June 2019, Airbus demonstrated the first in-flight, flapping wing-tips, with potential to revolutionize aircraft wing and wing box design.

4. Teijin to acquire Renegade, expand carbon fiber business in aerospace. Announced in February 2019, the acquisition aligns with Teijin’s goals to expand its carbon fiber intermediate materials business and expertise into next-generation aerospace.

5. Janicki Industies opens aerospace composite manufacturing plant. Announced in September 2019, the 90,000-square-foot facility in Hamilton, Wash., U.S., will produce carbon fiber composite aerospace parts.

6. Arevo introduces 3D-printed carbon fiber unibody bike frame and rim.Arevo’s 3D-printed carbon fiber unibody production bike frame and 3D-printed thermoplastic rim were displayed at Eurobike 2019 in September 2019.

7. FIBRESHIP demonstrates ship hull section built in fiber-reinforced composite. The EU-funded project aims to replace steel in ships, reducing weight, fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

8. Graphene consortium produces graphene-enhanced composite leading edge. Resin used to produce the leading edge showed increased mechanical and thermal properties upon graphene addition, including a decreased fracture speed.

9. GKN Aerospace delivers RTM demonstrator tool for Wing of Tomorrow. The 4-meter mid-scale tool, delivered October 2019, enables large-scale use of resin transfer molding to manufacture a composite wing spar with reduced costs and weight.

10. LM Wind Power manufactures longest wind turbine blade. The 107-meter-long blade was designed for GE’s Haliade-X 12-megawatt offshore wind turbine.

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