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Five-axis CNC machining center delivers on versatile materials processing needs  | CompositesWorld

In addition to its composite aircraft, Overair will support infrastructure, aircraft operations and training to ensure a comprehensive and sustainable AAM ecosystem.

This initial project under the Space Act Agreement is focused on studying and developing high-performance battery cells, as well as performing safety testing, to achieve purpose-built solutions for electric aircraft.   Aluminum Extrusion Machining

Five-axis CNC machining center delivers on versatile materials processing needs  | CompositesWorld

AeroZero TPS, applicable for metals and composites, will protect critical battery housing and parts in the Lilium Jet eVTOL aircraft from burn through and risk of thermal runaway.

V-tail, five-passenger aircraft builds on the vison of the S-A1, designed with a priority on safety and a focus on sustainability.

Agreement with green hydrogen producer extended for 2024, investment will support ongoing global capacity expansions including CFRP cylinder production.

Multifunctional four-axis winding system offering fiber flexibility will underpin the NCC’s work in testing and manufacturing pressure vessels leading to commercial production.

The new alliance will broaden National Composites’ capabilities in SMC and BMC and tooling, while providing customers with comprehensive solutions, from initial design to final delivery.

A new ASTM-standardized test method established in 2022 assesses the compression-loaded damage tolerance of sandwich composites.  

Composites automation specialist increases access to next-gen technologies, including novel AFP systems and unique 3D parts using adaptive molds.

Combined LSAM and five-axis CNC milling capabilities will optimize D-Composites’ production services, flexibility and cut time and cost for composite tooling manufacture.

Evaluation of CFRTP m-pipe through Element’s U.K. facility aims to qualify the system for new operating environments.

Innovative prepreg tooling is highly drapable, capable of forming complex carbon fiber tooling shapes, in addition to reducing through thickness porosity and only requiring one debulk during layup.

Available as filament and granules for extrusion, new wood composite matches properties yet is compostable, eliminates microplastics and reduces carbon footprint.

A recent study conducted on vacuum-infused thermoplastic fiber-metal laminates has highlighted the performance benefits behind using TFP’s nonwovens for consistent, uniform bondlines and interfacial bonding.

To incorporate more environmentally conscious practices into its manufacturing processes, VSC is working with Carbon Conversions to reclaim, recycle and reuse its carbon fiber materials.

Switching from prepreg to RTM led to significant time and cost savings for the manufacture of fiberglass struts and complex carbon fiber composite foils that power ORPC’s RivGen systems.

Sara Black’s 2015 report on the development of snap-cure epoxies for automotive manufacturing still resonates today. 

JEC World 2024: The Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp is hosting an extended Natural Fibre Village, in addition to its latest work with the ecoinvent materials database and a conference session.

Available as filament and granules for extrusion, new wood composite matches properties yet is compostable, eliminates microplastics and reduces carbon footprint.

A recent study conducted on vacuum-infused thermoplastic fiber-metal laminates has highlighted the performance benefits behind using TFP’s nonwovens for consistent, uniform bondlines and interfacial bonding.

Switching from prepreg to RTM led to significant time and cost savings for the manufacture of fiberglass struts and complex carbon fiber composite foils that power ORPC’s RivGen systems.

Sara Black’s 2015 report on the development of snap-cure epoxies for automotive manufacturing still resonates today. 

JEC World 2024: Zünd is highlighting digital excellence via its ZCC Cut Center, heat sealing module (HSM), G3 Cutter and ZPC software.

JEC World 2024: Endless Industries offers 3D printing customers integration of its proprietary printhead, software and fiber filaments to achieve the benefits of lightweight composite parts.

CW explores key composite developments that have shaped how we see and think about the industry today.

Knowing the fundamentals for reading drawings — including master ply tables, ply definition diagrams and more — lays a foundation for proper composite design evaluation.

As battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles continue to supplant internal combustion engine vehicles, composite materials are quickly finding adoption to offset a variety of challenges, particularly for battery enclosure and fuel cell development.  

Performing regular maintenance of the layup tool for successful sealing and release is required to reduce the risk of part adherence.

Increasingly, prototype and production-ready smart devices featuring thermoplastic composite cases and other components provide lightweight, optimized sustainable alternatives to metal.

The composite pressure vessel market is fast-growing and now dominated by demand for hydrogen storage.

The burgeoning advanced air mobility (AAM) market promises to introduce a new mode of transport for urban and intercity travelers — particularly those who wish to bypass the traffic congestion endemic to the world’s largest cities. The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft serving this market, because they depend on battery-powered propulsion, also depend on high-strength, high-performance composite structures produced at volumes heretofore unseen in the aerospace composites industry. This CW Tech Days will feature subject matter experts exploring the materials, tooling and manufacturing challenges of ramping up composites fabrication operations to efficiently meet the demands of a challenging and promising new marketplace.

Manufacturers often struggle with production anomalies that can be traced back to material deviations. These can cause fluctuations in material flow, cooling, and cure according to environmental influences and/or batch-to-batch variations. Today’s competitive environment demands cost-efficient, error-free production using automated production and stable processes. As industries advance new bio-based, faster reacting and increased recycled content materials and faster processes, how can manufacturers quickly establish and maintain quality control? In-mold dielectric sensors paired with data analytics technology enable manufacturers to: Determine glass transition temperature in real time Monitor material deviations such as resin mix ratio, aging, and batch-to-batch variations throughout the process Predict the influence of deviations or material defects during the process See the progression of curing and demold the part when the desired degree of cure, Tg or crystallinity is achieved Document resin mix ratios using snap-cure resins for qualification and certification of RTM parts Successful case histories with real parts illustrate how sensXPERT sensors, machine learning, and material models monitor, predict, and optimize production to compensate for deviations. This Digital Mold technology has enabled manufacturers to reduce scrap by up to 50% and generated energy savings of up to 23%. Agenda: Dealing with the challenge of material deviations and production anomalies How dielectric sensors work with different composite resins, fibers and processes What is required for installation Case histories of in-mold dielectric sensors and data analytics used to monitor resin mixing ratios and predict potential material deviations How this Digital Mold technology has enabled manufacturers to optimize production, and improve quality and reliability

SolvaLite is a family of new fast cure epoxy systems that — combined with Solvay's proprietary Double Diaphragm Forming technology — allows short cycle times and reproducibility. Agenda:  Application Development Center and capabilities Solutions for high-rate manufacturing for automotive Application examples: battery enclosures and body panels

OEMs around the world are looking for smarter materials to forward-think their products by combining high mechanical performance with lightweight design and long-lasting durability. In this webinar, composite experts from Exel Composites explain the benefits of a unique continuous manufacturing process for composites profiles and tubes called pull-winding. Pull-winding makes it possible to manufacture strong, lightweight and extremely thin-walled composite tubes and profiles that meet both demanding mechanical specifications and aesthetic needs. The possibilities for customizing the profile’s features are almost limitless — and because pull-winding is a continuous process, it is well suited for high volume production with consistent quality. Join the webinar to learn why you should consider pull-wound composites for your product. Agenda: Introducing pull-winding, and how it compares to other composite manufacturing technologies like filament winding or pultrusion What are the benefits of pull-winding and how can it achieve thin-walled profiles? Practical examples of product challenges solved by pull-winding

Composite systems consist of two sub-constituents: woven fibers as the reinforcement element and resin as the matrix. The most commonly used fibers are glass and carbon, which can be processed in plane or satin structures to form woven fabrics. Carbon fibers, in particular, are known for their high strength/weight properties. Thermoset resins, such as epoxies and polyurethanes, are used in more demanding applications due to their high physical-mechanical properties. However, composites manufacturers still face the challenge of designing the right cure cycles and repairing out-of-shelf-life parts. To address these issues, Alpha Technologies proposes using the encapsulated sample rheometer (premier ESR) to determine the viscoelastic properties of thermosets. Premier ESR generates repeatable and reproducible analytical data and can measure a broad range of viscosity values, making it ideal for resins such as low viscous uncured prepreg or neat resins as well as highly viscous cured prepregs. During testing, before cure, cure and after cure properties can be detected without removing the material from the test chamber. Moreover, ESR can run a broad range of tests, from isothermal and non-isothermal cures to advanced techniques such as large amplitude oscillatory shear tests. During this webinar, Alpha Technologies will be presenting some of the selected studies that were completed on epoxy prepreg systems utilizing ESR and how it solves many issues in a fast and effective way. It will highlight the advantages of this technique that were proven with the work of several researchers. Moreover, Alpha Technologies will display part of these interesting findings using the correlations between the viscoelastic properties such as G’ and mechanical properties such as short beam shear strength (SBS).

Surface preparation is a critical step in composite structure bonding and plays a major role in determining the final bonding performance. Solvay has developed FusePly, a breakthrough technology that offers the potential to build reliable and robust bonded composite parts through the creation of covalently-bonded structures at bondline interface. FusePly technology meets the manufacturing challenges faced by aircraft builders and industrial bonding users looking for improved performance, buildrates and lightweighting. In this webinar, you will discover FusePly's key benefits as well as processing and data. Agenda: Surface preparation challenges for composite bonding FusePly technology overview Properties and performance data

Venue ONLY ON-SITE @AZL Hub in Aachen Building Part 3B, 4th Floor Campus Boulevard 30 52074 Aachen Time: January 31st, 2024 | 11:00-16:00h (CET) This first constitutive session will shape the future of the workgroup. ✓ Insights into solutions for e.g. circularity, recycling, sustainability, end of life etc. ✓ Interactive exchange along the value chain to tackle these challenges: Share your input in the “World Café” workshop session! ✓ Are you a solution provider? Take your chance and present your solution approach in a short 5-minute pitch. Get in touch with Alexander.  

The Transformative Vertical Flight (TVF) 2024 meeting will take place Feb. 6–8, 2024 in Santa Clara, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley and will feature more than 100 speakers on important progress on vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft and technology. 

The EPTA – European Pultrusion Technology Association in cooperation with the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) invites you to the 17th World Pultrusion Conference which takes place on 29 February – 1 March 2024 in Hamburg, Germany. Visit the most important event in Europe in the market for pultruded fiber reinforced materials  This conference takes place every two years and is the meeting point of the European and worldwide Pultrusion Industry. More than 25 international speakers from Finland, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Turkey, UK, USA, Canada and others will present practical presentations about innovative applications, technologies and processes. Equally current market trends and developments are on the agenda. This World Pultrusion Conference takes place again in the week before the JEC World Composites Show (5-7 March 2024, Paris). The presentation language will be English. Please finde here the full program and booking opportunities. We appreciate very much welcoming you in Hamburg! Inquiries should be requested by email: info@pultruders.com

The Program of this Summit consists of a range of 12 high-level lectures by 14 invited speakers only. Topics are composite related innovations in Automotive & Transport, Space & Aerospace, Advanced Materials, and Process Engineering, as well as Challenging Applications in other markets like Architecture, Construction, Sports, Energy, Marine & more.

JEC World in Paris is the only trade show that unites the global composite industry: an indication of the industry’s commitment to an international platform where users can find a full spectrum of processes, new materials, and composite solutions.

Charting the Skies of Tomorrow: The Sustainable Aviation Revolution Welcome to a new era of air travel where innovation meets sustainability. Electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogen-powered aircraft represent a promising path to reach climate neutrality goals, with the aviation industry and governments jointly pushing boundaries to bring disruptive aircraft into service by 2035. From cutting-edge technologies to revamped regulations and greener airports, the pursuit of sustainable aviation requires unparalleled collaboration throughout the whole aviation value chain and ecosystem. Join us at the Clean Aviation Annual Forum from 5 until 6 March 2024, as we navigate towards cleaner skies together.

Thousands of people visit our Supplier Guide every day to source equipment and materials. Get in front of them with a free company profile.

Jetcam’s latest white paper explores the critical aspects of nesting in composites manufacturing, and strategies to balance material efficiency and kitting speed.

Arris presents mechanical testing results of an Arris-designed natural fiber thermoplastic composite in comparison to similarly produced glass and carbon fiber-based materials.

Cevotec, a tank manufacturer, Roth Composite Machinery and Cikoni, have undertaken a comprehensive project to explore and demonstrate the impact of dome reinforcements using FPP technology for composite tanks.   

Initial demonstration in furniture shows properties two to nine times higher than plywood, OOA molding for uniquely shaped components.

The composite tubes white paper explores some of the considerations for specifying composite tubes, such as mechanical properties, maintenance requirements and more.

Foundational research discusses the current carbon fiber recycling landscape in Utah, and evaluates potential strategies and policies that could enhance this sustainable practice in the region.

As the marine market corrects after the COVID-19 upswing, the emphasis is on decarbonization and sustainability, automation and new forms of mobility offering opportunity for composites.

Novel material to combine Ohoskin’s leather alternative made from orange and cactus byproducts with ReCarbon’s recycled carbon fiber.

The three-year strategic collaboration will help boost the company’s growth, reinforce its commitments to become carbon neutral by 2040 and innovate more circular chemicals and materials.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies Group helps industrial partners tackle the sustainability challenges presented by fiber-reinforced composite materials.

Eco-friendly carbon fiber slashes carbon footprint by half through renewable energy, a commitment echoed in SGL’s Lavradio biomass plant set to reduce CO2 emissions by 90,000 tons.  

JEC World 2024: Flax fiber producer Groupe Depestele and sustainable composites company Greenboats demonstrate flax fiber materials, demonstrators and product offer Circular Structures.

CW’s editors are tracking the latest trends and developments in tooling, from the basics to new developments. This collection, presented by Composites One, features four recent CW stories that detail a range of tooling technologies, processes and materials.

In the Automated Composites Knowledge Center, CGTech brings you vital information about all things automated composites.

Explore the cutting-edge composites industry, as experts delve into the materials, tooling, and manufacturing hurdles of meeting the demands of the promising advanced air mobility (AAM) market. Join us at CW Tech Days to unlock the future of efficient composites fabrication operations.

Closed mold processes offer many advantages over open molding. This knowledge center details the basics of closed mold methods and the products and tools essential to producing a part correctly.

The composites industry is increasingly recognizing the imperative of sustainability in its operations. As demand for lightweight and durable materials rises across various sectors, such as automotive, aerospace, and construction, there is a growing awareness of the environmental impact associated with traditional composite manufacturing processes.

During CW Tech Days: Thermoplastics for Large Structures, experts explored the materials and processing technologies that are enabling the transition to large-part manufacturing.

This CW Tech Days event will explore the technologies, materials, and strategies that can help composites manufacturers become more sustainable.

CompositesWorld’s CW Tech Days: Infrastructure event offers a series of expert presentations on composite materials, processes and applications that should and will be considered for use in the infrastructure and construction markets.

CompositesWorld’s CW Tech Days: Infrastructure event offers a series of expert presentations on composite materials, processes and applications that should and will be considered for use in the infrastructure and construction markets.

Explore the cutting-edge composites industry, as experts delve into the materials, tooling, and manufacturing hurdles of meeting the demands of the promising advanced air mobility (AAM) market. Join us at CW Tech Days to unlock the future of efficient composites fabrication operations.

Thermoplastics for Large Structures, experts explored the materials and processing technologies that are enabling the transition to large-part manufacturing.

Explore the technologies, materials, and strategies that can help composites manufacturers become more sustainable.

A report on the demand for hydrogen as an energy source and the role composites might play in the transport and storage of hydrogen.

This collection features detail the current state of the industry and recent success stories across aerospace, automotive and rail applications.

This collection details the basics, challenges, and future of thermoplastic composites technology, with particular emphasis on their use for commercial aerospace primary structures.

This collection features recent CW stories that detail a range of tooling technologies, processes and materials.

CAMX 2023: Biesse America highlights the Rover Plast A FT, capable of adaptable milling and cutting operations for plastics and composite materials with high precision and a quality finish.

Photo Credit, all images: Biesse America

Visit Biesse America (Charlotte, N.C., U.S.) for a demonstration of the Rover Plast A FT, a three-axis with four-axis prearrangement machining center for milling and cutting plastic and composite materials typically used for the production of technical articles and in the aerospace, motor, construction and wind energy sectors. Precision and high finish quality are some of its key features.

The Rover Plast A FT is said to be the ideal solution for machining materials of different formats, sizes, thicknesses and densities. The highly rigid and well-balanced structure is designed to withstand notable machining strain and ensure high levels of precision.

The CNC machine can be equipped with cutting units with blades of different types. The tangential/oscillating blade, combined with a video camera for optical recognition of the print markers, gives the machine greater versatility to adapt to every market need.

The Rover Plast A FT is equipped with B_Solid, the company’s 3D CAD/CAM software application that supports the performance of any machining operation thanks to vertical modules designed for specific manufacturing processes.

From preventative maintenance to predictive maintenance, Biesse America’s goal is to not only provide quality technology but industry-leading after sales support. Sophia, Biesse’s Internet of Things (IoT) and Parts platform, is said to bring these machines to the next level. CAMX attendees will be able to learn how the cyber-physical assistance system can delivery greater value, providing a comprehensive overview of machine performance features with remote diagnostics, continuously updated statistics and full integration with the company’s new Parts portal where customers can purchase parts, check availability and track purchases 24/7.

BMW AG's Dingolfing, Germany, auto manufacturing facility is well known for churning out a variety of car models and types, and the 7 Series is among them, famous for its steel/aluminum/composites construction. Does this car represent the optimum of composites use in vehiicles? This plant tour of the Dingolfing plant looks at how composites on the 7 Series come together.

Boeing and Airbus each is generating as much as a 1 million lb of cured and uncured carbon fiber prepreg waste each year from 787 and A350 XWB production. If you include the entire supply chain for these planes, the total is closer to 4 million lb/year. And with the automotive industry poised to consume (and waste) more carbon fiber than ever, recycling of composite materials has become an absolute necessity. The technology is there, but the markets are not. Yet.

Decades of development have propelled it to prominence but its future demands industrial solutions for handling cost, complexity and process control.

Five-axis CNC machining center delivers on versatile materials processing needs  | CompositesWorld

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