CAMX eNewsletter

Resins for the Fast Zone An automotive supplier must have the ability to produce a composite part in a minute, or at least in minutes — not hours or days, the norm for composites in most other industries. Meeting that part-per-minutes goal is a huge hurdle that a few composite fabricators have cleared, and many more are involved in development …

3D Printing Moves Into Tooling Components Some pundits predict that 3D printing, or additive manufacturing (AM), will change our world forever. While that may yet be, one thing is clear: The growth of 3D printing over the past two decades has wrought significant change in composites tooling. Although AM’s most obvious advantage is direct part production without tooling, the growing …

A Critical Market Sector: Downhole Composites in Oil and Gas The U.S. has experienced an unprecedented onshore energy boom over the past decade that has brought the country nearly to energy-independence. Much of that boom has been the result of a technology called hydraulic fracturing, often termed “fracing,” the process of artificially fracturing or perforating low-permeability rock strata in the …

HP-RTM on the Rise Already used in series production of structural carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) parts in BMW’s i3 and i8 models, high-pressure resin transfer molding (HP-RTM) is viewed by some as new technology. To others, it is merely modernization of early RTM processes, like that used to build Dodge Viper parts (25 years ago!). What differentiates HP-RTM from …

Composites Riding High in Commercial Aero Engines Composites debuted in a commercial aircraft engine 20 years ago when GE Aviation introduced the GE90, which featured first-of-its-kind carbon fiber fan blades. Since then, composites have steadily worked their way into more structures, including fan surrounds, nacelles and other components. Today, every major engine manufacturer uses composites to some extent, and almost …