Composites in the News

An Olympic buzz has helped more than Canadian tourism; it has boosted composites sales from sports equipment to aviation. And in preparation for the 2014 Olympics in Russia, composite walls will be used to strengthen the company’s rail zones. In other recreational news, several carbon fiber-enhanced models will be on display at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Richmond, Va. Henry-Griffits is using Neo-Fiber Industrial Company Ltd.’s 90-degree orientation carbon fiber in the production of its new filament-wound graphite golf club shafts. In recreational driving, BMW revealed plans to manufacture its all-electric carbon fiber Megacity vehicle in Leipzig, Germany.

The aerospace and marine industries had a few highs. The U.S. State Department is set to purchase 110 modernized S-61 Sikorsky helicopters for use in Afghanistan. Bye Energy is developing an alternative-energy plane, which will integrate an electric-hybrid propulsion system for use in light, general-aviation aircraft. IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. has acquired Beralcast Corporation to expand its alloy manufacturing business for aerospace and advanced technology applications. Concept Yacht expanded its composites department, including a new facility, to provide a wider variety of advanced composite capabilities. And SP-High Modulus made waves, becoming the first in the New Zealand industry to secure IANZ accreditation, used for mechanical testing of composite materials.

At universities this week, students at Columbia University have made it to the next round of Walmart’s Better Living Business Plan Challenge. The team has proposed a business venture that would make energy efficient, lightweight composite wheels for buses, trucks and other large vehicles. The University of California at San Francisco will construct a new neuroscience building that will save water and be more energy efficient by utilizing composite waterless urinals. The University of Dayton Research Institute won a $270,000 grant to design and test fiberglass and resin materials and structures for wind turbine towers.

Meanwhile, a consortium of researchers (including Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Department of Energy) has formally aligned behind the “Oak Ridge Energy Corridor,” a regional initiative to promote issues such as alternatively-fueled mass transit vehicles and recharging facilities for electric and hybrid vehicles. Rail construction is being done in the Dulles Toll Road in the D.C. metro area with fiberglass rather than steel because of the overhead power lines. A new analysis from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) says that due to improvements in wind turbines, the U.S. wind energy potential is three times higher than previously thought, a fact taken into consideration during a meeting between governors of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf region and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Salazar vowed to work closely with Atlantic Coast states to streamline permitting and offshore wind development in order to identify suited areas and discourage too-soon claims.

In other parts of the world, Clipper Windpower broke ground on a new offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Tyne, U.K. The facility will be used to develop 72-meter-long blades. Australia opened its 11^th wind farm, located in the country’s southern region, which will generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 30,000 homes or eight percent of the population. Chevron will soon be constructing a new solar panel facility in Questa, New Mexico, and once completed will be the largest concentration of solar panels in the U.S.

For daily composites updates, subscribe to CM Twitter.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Composites in the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.