Molding tips and tricks soon revealed at molding show in Vegas

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Composites One, along with the Closed Mold Alliance and over 15 industry partners, will host  comprehensive, ongoing demonstrations of closed-mold technology –on the show floor – during COMPOSITES 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Presentations will take place in a specially designed staging area …

Software assists designing wind turbines

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Software called Bladed provides wind turbine and component manufacturers, certification agencies, design consultants, and research organizations a design tool that has been extensively validated against measured data from a wide range of turbines. The developer says the software is the industry …

Accurate modeling for slender composite structures (Think blades)

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: A provider of efficient high-fidelity modeling software for aerospace, energy composites, and other advanced materials has released VABS 3.6. The developer says the software is the tool of choice for efficient and accurate modeling of composite slender structures such as wind-turbine blades, he …

Carbon fiber tech center for wind and more

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Carbon-fiber manufacturer Zoltek Corp. has taken a step toward growing its carbon fiber prepreg capabilities by expanding into a new 135,000 ft2 facility near St. Louis, Mo. The new facility will house Zoltek’s prepreg manufacturing and new Technical Center. The company says it is making the mo …

Blades 101

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Rotor blades, like aircraft wings, are essentially cantilevered beams with aerodynamic exteriors. Early blades were made of wood. More recently, they are manufactured of fiberglass and epoxy resins by reaction injection molding in rather complex equipment. The quest for greater power will demand …

Manufacturer’s website offers help with carbon fibers

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: A carbon-fiber manufacturer has launched a new website at www.zoltek.com. The redesigned is to highlight many applications for carbon fiber, Zoltek Corp. products, and its service appropriate to each. For instance, the Applications section of the website includes details on Zoltek’s carbon fib …

Robotic dispenser works fast and accurately

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt:   A robotic dispensing system is said to improve adhesive dispensing and product assembly by eliminating problems such as the need to speed production, adhesive out of position, too much or not enough adhesive, excess waste, scrap or repairs and high production costs.  The Dual-Stati …

Iowa State U lab helps build a better turbine blade

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt:   A laser in Iowa State University’s Wind Energy Manufacturing Laboratory scanned layer after layer of the flexible fiberglass fabric used to make wind-turbine blades. A computer took the laser readings and calculated how dozens of the layers would fit and flow over the curves of a mol …

Composite manufacturer earns ISO 9001:2008 certification

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt: Eagle Registrations Inc., a third-party certification body that audits businesses to meet international standards, has certified Composites One LLC in Monessen, Pennsylvania, to the ISO9001:2008 with AS9120:2009 Rev A Standard. The assessment was conducted in accordance with requirements of AS90 …

Wind surpasses aerospace as top user of advanced composites

Archived; click post to view.
Excerpt:   Wind energy, powered by stringent renewable energy standards and larger installations offshore, will overtake aerospace as the largest user of advanced composite materials. The overall market for advanced composites – based on carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, and graphene – more th …