Getting the Proper Cure
Getting the proper cure for a composite application is important to meet performance requirements, such as longevity, corrosion and fatigue resistance, low odor and more. Simply put, curing refers to hardening...
Pultrusion Basics
The unique advantages of pultruded fiber reinforced polymer composites have enabled them to penetrate markets where other materials could not meet the design or end-use requirements efficiently. For...
Selecting Sandwich Core Materials
When it comes to composites, you have probably heard this before: “There are so many factors that influence the selection of .” Some argue that selecting a sandwich core material is even more complex due...
Variations in Glass Fiber Reinforcements
In most composite applications, looks matter. One of the main factors affecting cosmetics is part shrinkage. Resin shrinks up to 8 percent as it cures, while glass reinforcement does not shrink at all. When...
Gel Coat Basics
Unsaturated polyester resins (UPR) were first developed in the late 1920s in the research group of Dr. Wallace Carothers at DuPont. In the late 1940s, coatings made from these resins were applied to molds to...
A Primer on Glass Fiber Reinforcements
The Making of Glass Fiber Engineered minerals are melted in high-temperature, firebrick lined furnaces, refined to allow volatile materials to escape the “melt.” The melt flows out of the furnace...
