Both the aerospace and automotive industries are interested in applications using thermoplastic prepreg tapes. As might be expected, the quality of the finished parts is significantly affected by the quality of the raw material for the laminate. Though thermoplastic prepreg tapes have been used for

Bitrez Ltd. (Wigan, U.K.), manufacturer of specialist polymers and chemicals, has announced the appointment of Georgia-Pacific Chemicals (Atlanta, Ga., U.S.) as exclusive distributor for its Curaphen specialty phenolics across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The appointment extends to all

Hexion Inc. (Columbus, Ohio, U.S.) has announced that it has received final authorization from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Wilmington, Del., U.S.) to access the full amount of its $700 million in committed debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing. The company had previously r

Solvay (Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.) has signed a long-term agreement with Safran (Paris, France) for the supply of high-temperature composites and adhesives. Safran says it will use these advanced materials on several of its critical engine components. The new contract extends and reinfor

The Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) will hold its annual event from May 20-23 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C., U.S. Marking its 75th anniversary, SAMPE will host a special celebration that includes opening keynote speaker

The U.K. and Ireland chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (SAMPE) will hold its annual seminar in Edinburgh, Scotland — the first time it has been held outside of England — on June 6, 2019. The change in location is meant to broaden the scope of

Century Tool, (Fenton, Mich., U.S.) a Tooling Tech Group company, has announced the expansion of its compression moldmaking operations with the installation of a new FPT Ronin EVO 3+2-axis horizontal milling machine. The new machine can reportedly accommodate workpiece sizes ranging to to 343 inches

Oilfield technology firm Airborne Oil & Gas (IJmuiden, Netherlands) and engineering company SÍMEROS Technologies have signed a collaboration agreement which aims to deliver the first qualified thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) risers for deepsea oil and gas use in Brazil.&

Impossible Objects (Northbrook, Ill., U.S.) has announced a partnership with BASF (Wyandotte, Mich., U.S.) on polyamide 6 (PA6) carbon fiber composites for additive manufacturing. Through a collaboration with BASF, Impossible Objects’ Model One and CBAM-2 printers will support BASF&rsquo

The Utah Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Initiative (UAMMI; Kaysville, Utah, U.S.) announced that it has successfully created and fit-checked its first carbon fiber 3D-printed part for the United States Air Force. The part, a first aid kit restraint strap for the B-1 aircraft a

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, Arlington, Va., U.S.), part of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), has a long history in advancing the development of composites technology. This includes programs such as Affordable Composites for Propulsion, Out of Autoclave Materia

Karl Mayer Technische Textilien GmbH (Obertshausen, Germany) has launched a new line for mass production of thermoplastic unidirectional (UD) tapes for lightweight construction applications. The line was developed, the company says, to fulfill a need for reproducibility, quality and effici

Thermoplastic composites (TPC) aren’t new to the aerospace sector, but the past couple of years have seen thermoplastic usage in commercial aircraft reach a tipping point. While TPCs have been used for some time for smaller parts such as clips and brackets, or smaller interior comp

When asked about the most challenging aspect of the CarbonPro carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composite pickup box, which debuted on 2019 short-bed (crew-cab) GMC Sierra AT4 (off-road) and Sierra Denali half-ton pickups, Mark Voss, engineering group manager of advanced structural compo

Revolution VLR is a consortium in the U.K. — led by Transport Design International Ltd (TDI, Stratford upon Avon) — which won funding in 2013 to develop a self-powered rail bogie with an integral, hybrid propulsion system. TDI believes that designing lighter “light rail” vehi

BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany) plans to build an engineering plastics compounding plant and a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) plant at the company’s proposed integrated chemical production site, called Verbund, in Zhanjiang, China. These will be the first production plants to come onstream

Technical Fibre Products (TFP, Burneside, U.K.) has launched its range of next-generation surfacing and adhesive support veils, designed to offer superior flexibility and surface smoothness, and to supplement the company’s current Optiveil materials. The next-generation ve

Solvay Composite Materials (Alpharetta, GA, US) has developed FusePly, an epoxy-based film that is designed to co-cure with a prepreg and provide a chemically active surface that reacts with functional groups in adhesives to create a covalently bonded structure. Accordi

With 7,000 employees worldwide and 2018 revenues of €2.2 billion, STELIA Aerospace (Toulouse, France) plainly states its primary products and industry position: No. 1 in Europe/No. 3 in the world for aerostructures, No. 1 worldwide for pilot and crew seats and No. 3 worldwide for first- and bus

Daher (Paris, France) on June 3 announced that it has acquired KVE Composites Group (The Hague, Netherlands) with the goal of extending its thermoplastic composites capabilities for structural aircraft components. The acquisition is part of Daher’s “Succeed Together&r