In its seventh year of growth, the marine industry is surging in boat production and new models. This could be seen in the 28th International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference (IBEX, Oct. 2-4, Tampa, FL, US), which posted a 23% increase in attendees to reach 4,300 and a 14% increase

The University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center (Orono, ME, US) has received $500,000 from the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) to form a technology cluster to help Maine boatbuilders explore how large-scale 3D printing using economical, wood plastic composites (WPCs) can prov

Composite materials and innovations are constantly evolving. In addition to industry news, features, blog posts and podcasts, CW also maintains a comprehensive collection of product announcements provided by companies. This monthly roundup includes links to regular posts con

Thermoset 3D printing CW has reported widely on 3D printing composites using thermoplastic resins. But over the past year, we’ve seen growth in printing with thermoset resins (and continuous fiber, see May 2018 blog and Sep 2018 blog). This trend seems poised for further growth, with Large-sc

Alltec (São José dos Campos, Brazil), a company specialized in the development and production of high-performance parts in composite materials, is investing in increasing its production capacity of structural parts, based on thermoplastic composite press technology. In order to be

Bond-Laminates GmbH (Brilon, Germany) announced Oct. 16 it is increasing its production capacity for continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites of the brand Tepex. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of specialty chemicals company LANXESS (Cologne, Germany), is currently building a new,

On a cool Friday morning on Oct. 26, 52 people gathered in a meeting room at the Huntington, IN, US production facility of Tier 1 Continental Structural Plastics (CSP, Auburn Hills, MI, US, a Teijin Group company [Tokyo, Japan]). They were there to celebrate the opening of a new, US$33.5 m

Incognito, a 28-year-old catamaran, is still setting speed records and besting much newer craft. It was fabricated by Gougeon Brothers Inc. (Bay City, MI, US) in 1990, and is owned by Russell Brown of Port Townsend, WA, US, who was the first solo finisher in the 2018 grueling R2AK (Race to Alaska).

Continuous fiber manufacturing (CFM) is the 3D printing/continuous fiber deposition process patented by moi composites (Milan, Italy). The company was established in February 2018 by materials engineer and professor Marinella Levi, design engineer Gabriele Natale and architect Michele Tonizzo. It wa

I’m actually going to cover these CAMX 2018 highlights out of order, starting with a new thermoplastic composite material on display.  

VELOX (Hamburg, Germany), an IMCD company, announced Oct. 30 that it has entered into a strategic distribution partnership with Ashland (Columbus, OH, US) for Sweden, Norway and Denmark, effective Dec. 12, 2018. The agreement includes Ashland’s complete product range of unsatur

Last held in 2005, this conference dedicated to filament winding will be held again Nov 27-28 at the Hôtel des Trois Hiboux in the Parc Astérix, Piailly, France.  The world has changed. Industrial equipment has become more productive — exploitin

Sicomin Epoxy Systems (Châteauneuf les Martigues, France) has announced new marine partnerships and is launching a new bio foaming epoxy. The company’s epoxy resins have been selected for ENATA’s (Sharjah, UAE) high performance Foiler motor yacht design. The ENATA F

AVK is the German professional association for fiber reinforced plastics/composites, which represents the interests of producers and processors on a national and a European level. Its services include organization of task forces, seminars and conferences, as well as providing market relevant informa

INOMETA GmbH (Herford, Germany), a leader in lightweight construction, has announced it is expanding its portfolio with new equipment technology for the laser-assisted and robot-based winding of thermoplastic tapes. The technology is implemented through a collaboration with the specia

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (Covington, KY, US) on Nov. 15 announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Composites business and the butanediol (BDO) manufacturing facility in Marl, Germany, to INEOS Enterprises (Runcorn, UK) in a transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion. The t

Gazechim Composites (Falkenberg, Sweden) announced in October that Polynt-Reichhold (Durham, NC, US) has appointed Gazechim as official distributor for Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The distribution agreement includes Polynt-Reichhold’s range of unsaturated polyester products incl

Werner Loscheider is the is head of Unit IVB4 at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy and New Materials (Berlin, Germany). He encourages attendees to Composites Europe’s Lightweight Technology Forum to debate with him the possibilities of how his ministry can support the industry,

Park Electromechanical Corp. (Melville, NY, US) has introduced RadarWave, a new family of prepreg materials developed for the fabrication of advanced radome systems, principally for aerospace and defense applications. RadarWave is offered with an epoxy or a cyanate ester resin matrix and featur

Having full visibility into a composite and/or adhesive bondline during cure has been an issue for decades. Current temperature sensors — thermocouples — are too large to be embedded without causing a defect in the part. Thus, it is now only possible to read temperature at the