Thermoplastic composites (TPCs) have been promoted extensively in recent years due to their high potential to increase production rates and enable weight reduction. One of the most discussed topics for increasing production rates with TPCs is in-situ consolidation (ISC) during automated fiber

Clean Sky 2 has announced that its ECOFUNEL project successfully developed a new kind of thermoplastic that is said to work just as well as current state-of-the-art materials, and also delivered several real-scale environmental control system (ECS) prototypes parts 

One long-held barrier to widespread composites adoption, notably in the automotive industry, is the need for high-volume production and lower costs than are feasible with many types of composites manufacturing processes. Startup company WEAV3D Inc. (Norcross, Ga., U.S.) is seeki

Lanxess (Cologne, Germany) reported on March 16 that the Carbon 1 MK II smartphone being debuted this month by startup company Carbon Mobile (Berlin, Germany) has replaced plastics and aluminum with advanced composite materials. Said to be first carbon fiber smartphone,

On March 16, Sicomin (Châteauneuf les Martigues, France) confirmed the use of its GreenPoxy resins in the build of the sustainable Mini 6.5 class yacht, the FLOKI 6.5. Designed by Antoine Mainfray of Atelier Interface (France), a leading naval architect and bio-c

Photo Credit: UBQ Materials UBQ Materials (Tel Aviv, Israel) is a startup which has developed a bio-based thermoplastic composed of converted household waste like food waste and paper products. On March 22, the company announced that it has earned ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015

Alpine Advanced Materials (Dallas, Texas, U.S.) recently reported that it has added UV resistance to the growing benefits of its flagship HX5 thermoplastic nanocomposite. Based on testing using both UVA and UVC (ultraviolet A and ultraviolet C) exposure, the novel material

Water storage and delivery in Bogotá, Colombia, like for any large urban area, is complicated. The challenge is not one of supply, for the city of some 9 million people receives 32 inches (824 millimeters) of rain each year, plus the Bogotá River flows through the city. The chall

  I have written about cure monitoring via AvPro’s (Norman, Okla., U.S.) ThermoPulse microwire sensors, which it aims to use in its cure management systems and also about Synthesites’ (Uccle, Belgium) direct current (DC) dielectric sensors for in-situ monitoring and real-time

TUMI (South Plainfield, N.J., U.S.) an international travel and lifestyle brand, has unveiled its new composite capsule luggage and travel collection designed and developed in partnership with luxury supercar maker and U.K.-based Formula 1 team, McLaren. The nine-piece collection&rsqu

L&L Products (Romeo, Mich., U.S.) has launched a new technology line, called T-Link, an advanced engineering thermoplastic resin with reportedly excellent adhesive properties. L&L says the vision driving T-Link was to enable customers to benefit from the adhesion pr

It was reported on April 6 that RAMPF Tooling Solutions (Grafenberg, Germany) and its partner Gusstech (Kraków, Poland) is providing customers with high-performance epoxy board and liquid materials as well as encompassing technical support for cutting-edge composites construc

Airbus’ Wing of Tomorrow (WOT) program, launched in 2015, has spent the past six years exploring more cost-competitive, higher-throughput material, manufacturing and assembly technologies for single-aisle commercial aircraft wings (see CW’s previous coverage of the WOT program). A

Horizon 2020 project SUSTAINair, a collaboration of 11 European research organizations and industrial partners, was recently launched in January 2021 to research and develop solutions to achieve a circular aviation economy. This includes increasing resource efficiency and aircr

Purdue University’s Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center (CMSC, West Lafayette, Ind., U.S.) and Thermwood Corp. (Dale, Ind., U.S.) have agreed to establish a large-scale additive manufacturing (LSAM) laboratory to perform industry-funded research into large-scale

Although composites have made some inroads in automotive body-in-white (BIW) structures, materials use in this area of the vehicle have long been dominated by steel and, more recently, aluminum. Because of this, automakers rely heavily on welding and mechanical fasteners like bolts and sc

Cato Composites (Rheden, Netherlands) manufacturer of high-quality continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite (CFRTC) products and components, has used the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to invest and prepare for future growth. In November 2020, the company rep

All-composite tabletop, side rails and optional surgical arm enlarge area of X-ray transparency. Elastic composite sections within rail and hinge connection systems enable air pumping system for securely attaching medical equipment to the table. Technology serves as a springboard for futur

Sicomin (Châteauneuf les Martigues, France) formulator and supplier of bio-based epoxy resin systems and fire retardant (FR) epoxy solutions has launched its new SR FireGreen 37 FR hand laminating resin. The latest addition to the company’s GreenPoxy ra

Building on the experience gained from extensive testing with leading market players, Berndorf Band Group (Berndorf, Austria) has recently improved its modular double-belt press technology for the continuous consolidation of thermoplastic composite laminates by integrating&