Composites

Velox GmbH of Hamburg, Germany, has signed a distribution partnership with Ilium Composites, a manufacturer of glass reinforcements for closed mould and speciality applications based in Bahrain.

A pultrusion process that is more efficient than conventional process – thereby cutting costs for manufacturers – has been developed by Covestro of Leverkusen, KraussMaffei of Munich and the Instit

A polyetheretherketone (PEEK, Zeniva ZA-500) from Solvay is being used by DiFusion Technologies to produce its ZFUZE osteoconductive (bone growth-promoting) PEEK composite for spinal implants. 

A long glass fibre-reinforced polypropylene (LGFPP) instrument panel carrier for the 2017 Mini Countryman has won the Body Interior category at the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE)’s

SGL Group has bought Benteler’s shares in the joint-venture company the two set-up in 2008, automotive composite parts manufacturer Benteler-SGL. 

Personnel and processing equipment are being installed at GE Aviation’s factory complex in Huntsville, Alabama—the first in the USA to be mass-producing silicon carbide (SiC) materials for the manu

North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT) is working with 4a manufacturing to develop carbon prepreg foam sandwich materials, which the two companies claim to be the thinnest in the world.

Chomarat of Le Cheylard, France, says that multiaxial machine for the manufacture of carbon fibre reinforcements it has purchased from Karl Mayer of Obertshausen, Germany, is ten-times more product

Researchers in the USA have developed an experimental device to test the durability of high performance and robust polymers that appear to strengthen themselves under a rapid series of impacts.

A JEC Asia Innovation Award has been presented to R-Tech Materials for its work on developing an early warning safety sensor for hydrogen fuel cell storage tanks in cars.

Methods for the cost-effective use of filament sensors in fibre-reinforced plastics are being developed by researchers in Germany.

Boeing and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have agreed efforts to reduce the costs involved in MHI's production of wings for the 787 Dreamliner. 

Cobra International Co Ltd of Chonburi, Thailand, has established a business unit dedicated to the manufacture of large composite structures for the architectural and mass transport markets.

A major German car manufacturer is equipping the first vehicles of various model series that are delivered to countries with poor road infrastructure with an engine undertray made of a particularly

Continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic inserts from Lanxess are being used to reinforce the injection-moulded front ends of Volkswagen’s Atlas and Teramont sports utility vehicles (SUVs), which

Toray Industries Inc of Tokyo, Japan, is to open its Automotive Center Europe (AMCEU) near Munich, Germany, in August 2018.

Continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP) and a highly efficient production method for the manufacture of housings for electronic devices has been developed by Covestro of Leverkusen, Germ

Hexcel Corp of Stamford, Connecticut, USA, has expanded its existing supply agreement with Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Aarhus, Denmark, to provide composite materials for wind turbine blades.

Gurit of Zurich, Switzerland, has won a contract for the production and supply of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) exterior car body panels from an Italian premium carmaker. 

Solvay of Brussels, Belgium, is launching a grade of polyarylamide (PARA) reinforced at 55% by weight with a hybrid of glass and carbon fibres. 

AnalySwift LLC ‘s VABS software has been licensed by North Thin Ply Technologies (NTPT) for the simulation of high-end composite golf club shafts and other tubes for use in aerospace, industrial an

Tools that enable the measurement and monitoring of the raw materials (fabrics and rovings) and epoxy resin coatings (prepregs) for composites, while also determining the height of topological mate

Gurit of Zurich, Switzerland, is to transfer its UK prepreg business to its Spanish prepreg production facility in Albacete by the middle of 2018. 

Porcher Industries has completed the acquisition of technical fabrics manufacturer Interglas Technologies from the Preiss Daimler Group. 

Hexcel Corp of Stamford, Connecticut, USA, has completed the acquisition of Structil SA, a producer and supplier of high-performance composites based in Vert-le-Petit, France.

The European glass fibre-reinforced plastic (GFRP) market will grow by around 2% in 2017 (compared with 2016) with production forecast to total 1.118 Mt (for thermosets and long fibre-reinforced th

The Composite Recycling Technology Center of Port Angeles, Washington, USA, and ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd of Coseley, UK, have manufactured an automotive seatback from recycled carbon fibre.

A storage-stable wood fibre-reinforced composite for the manufacture of furniture that can be processed via hot moulding has been developed by BASF and Sonae Arauco.

A method for embedding unidirectional carbon fibres in carbon fibre sheet-moulding compound (SMC) can be used to produce lightweight structural components in under three minutes, according to the U

Mould technology from Roctool of Le Bourget Du Lac, France, has been installed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, USA. 

An epoxy prepreg (HexPly M77HF) developed for a quick three-minute cure cycle using low-pressure processing techniques is to be launched by Hexcel of Stamford, Connecticut, USA.

Hexcel is launching a UK Government-backed £7.4-million research and development project on multiaxial fabrics for composites and is expanding its manufacturing facility in Narborough, UK. 

The threat posed to the US State of Florida by Hurricane Irma, notices of flight cancellations and an indication from Orlando Airport of its possible closure have prompted the American Com

Carbon Fibre Preforms (CFP) of Solihull, UK, is to launch two carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) products manufactured using an automated process it claims is rapid and efficient.  

Gurit of Zurich, Switzerland, has completed acquisition of PH Windsolutions of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 

DSM Engineering Plastics of Emmen, The Netherlands, has developed a process for the manufacture of composite high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks.

A consortium of international companies is being formed to drive the development of high-performance sheet moulding compound (HP-SMC), an established and cost-efficient material for the production

Diab Americas of Desoto, Texas, USA, has invested in additional stabilization chambers to support the growing need for its Divinycell HT and Divinycell HP foam cores.

Markforged of Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, is introducing two three-dimensional (3D) printers for carbon fibre-reinforced parts that it claims are fast and cheap.

Toray Industries of Tokyo, Japan, is to construct a polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) compound production facility at the site of its subsidiary and large-tow carbon fibre manufacturer Zoltek in Nyerges

Haydale of Ammanford, UK, has agreed heads of terms for a technical and commercial collaboration with Rogers Advanced Composites (RAC) Ltd of Fawley, UK. 

A quick and accurate inspection method for composite components has been developed by FACC of Ried, Austria, and the Upper Austrian University of Applied Sciences and the Higher Technical College (

Automotive supplier Valeo is producing a top column module whose housing and levers are made of BASF’s Ultramid polyamide (PA) and Ultradur polybutylene terephthalate (PBT). 

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and nano-enhanced nonwovens are among the innovations to be exhibited by Technical Fibre Products (TFP) of Kendal, UK, at the CAMX show in Orlando, Florida,

Advanced composites manufacturer Pentaxia is to double its existing production capability through the purchase of a large manufacturing site in Derby, UK. 

Carver Non-Woven Technologies of Fremont, Indiana, USA, is to begin commercial production of pre-impregnated, preconsolidated glass-mat thermoplastic (GMT) composite products. 

N12 Technologies Inc is to work with the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) to develop high production capacities for its NanoStitch interlaminar reinforcement product.

Henkel of Düsseldorf, Germany, has opened a test facility for composites in Japan.