Hexion Inc. (Columbus, Ohio, U.S.) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on April 1, 2019, through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. According to Hexion, the company has been granted interim approval to access up to $600 million in debtor-in-possession fin

A team of engineers from NASA’s Ames Research Center (Moutain View, Calif., U.S.) and the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) have built and tested an airplane wing assembled from a lattice comprising hundreds of tiny identical polymer pieces. The win

SABIC (Sittard, Netherlands) at JEC World 2019 offered a virtual reality-based peek at its new Digital Composites Manufacturing line — a solution for automated, large scale laminate production of thermoplastic composite parts that the company developed in partnership with Airborne (T

Arcitell (Sugarcreek, Ohio, U.S.), a manufacturer of residential siding products, revealed its innovative alternative to traditional building claddings at the recent 2019 edition of the International Builders Show (IBS) in Las Vegas, Nev., U.S., held Feb. 19-21. Qorad, a lightweight fiber-reinforced

Alpine Advanced Materials LLC (Alpine; Dallas, Texas, U.S.) recently announced that it has executed an exclusive global license agreement with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (Lockheed; Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.) for the commercialization of Lockheed’s high-performance thermoplastic nanocomposi

Nouryon (Amsterdam, Netherlands; formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals) has introduced a powder version of its Perkadox 16 (BCHPC) organic peroxide, which is designed to allow customers in the North American composites market to safely store larger volumes of product while meeting the latest f

Xenia (Vincenza, Italy), a compounding company specializing in polymer-based materials, introduces its XECARB 11 series of short carbon fiber-filled polypropylene (PP) thermoplastic composite grades. After more than a year of testing and improvements, Xenia says XECARB 11 offers a so

The National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP) at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (Wichita, Kan., U.S.) has announced the release of its first approved additive manufacturing qualification program, for ULTEM 9085 resin by Stratasys&

INEOS Styrolution (Frankfurt, Germany), has announced that it is planning to set up a new production site for its StyLight thermoplastic composite product line StyLight is said to offer a combination of structural stiffness, aesthetics, processability, dimensional stability and good 

Broetje-Automation (Rastede, Germany) has introduced its STAXX product line for automated fiber placement to support serial composite production for both for thermoplastic and thermoset composite applications. The STAXX Compact 1700 is a CNC-controlled machining center for automated fiber plac

Though the company’s base is most certainly filament winding, CompoTech has pushed that process into new applications via pin-based winding, overwinding and innovative tooling and materials concepts. The result is a fluidity in process that often achieves new levels of performance via hybridiz

One challenge to kitting prepreg fabrics or unidirectional (UD) tapes is figuring out what to do with trimmings that are too small or whose fibers are incorrectly aligned for reuse in another project. Although nesting software and cutters have reduced scrap significantly, trimmings still often go in

Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) reports that it has developed a new carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) prepreg optimized for use in primary structural aerospace components that can be molded using an out-of-autoclave (OOA) vacuum-assisted pressure molding process. The company

As carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) and ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials proliferate in aircraft engines, space components and hypersonic applications, machining becomes an issue where precision and efficiency can alter program outcomes. Trying to machine high-reliability and high-accu

TRB Lightweight Structures Ltd. (TRB; Cambridgeshire, U.K.) has developed a new carbon fiber-reinforced biocomposite sandwich panel door leaf with a 100% recycled foam core, specifically designed and fire rated for both overground and underground rail use. The composite structur

Solvay’s (Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.) carbon fiber composite materials have been selected by boat manufacturer Balance Aquitectural Naval (Murcia, Spain) for the structure — and sails — of a new racing catamaran, Balance A+. Solvay’s carbon fiber is used to build s

3D printing of continuous fiber-reinforced composites continues to expand and advance. Many new companies and developments have emerged since Markforged announced the Mark One continuous fiber 3D printer in 2014. I have blogged on many of these, and I will continue to explore the rapidly&n

TxV Aero Composites (TxV; Bristol, R.I., U.S.) has received AS9100 and ISO 9001:2015 certification for its automated thermoplastic composite part manufacturing facility. To receive the AS9100 aerospace certification, TxV defined all process interactions and developed QMS documen

Sicomin (Châteauneuf les Martigues, France) has announced that it provided epoxy resins for a flying car concept designed by graduates of the Royal College of Art (RCA, London, U.K.) Intelligent Mobility program and manufactured by ENATA Aerospace (Sharjah, U.A.E.). The An

Evonik (Marl, Germany) is reorganizing its high-performance polyamides business, which includes construction of a new polyamide 12 (PA12) facility in Marl, Germany as well as expansion of its transparent polyamides production at the Marl Chemical Park. As part of the reorganization process