CompositesWorld

Localized, large-format additive manufacturing is redefining what a microfactory can do. Haddy Manufacturing's facility in St. Petersburg, Florida, operates eight CEAD Flexbot systems with integrated CNC finishing — delivering an estimated 16 times throughput advantage over conventional 3D printing. Robotic print beds measuring 2 × 2 × 14 meters enable production ranging from sculptural furniture to large marine vessels. The operation is built on sustainable materials: recycled and repurposed plastics processed into high-performance PETG, reinforced with carbon or glass fiber depending on structural requirements. AI-driven 3D printing and advanced robotics work in tandem to support full-service, rapid part and component production. With plans to establish microfactories globally, the model is designed to bring high-end manufacturing capacity closer to the regions that need it. Key capabilities at a glance: - 8 CEAD Flexbot systems with CNC finishing - Recycled PETG with optional fiber reinforcement - Print beds up to 2 × 2 × 14 meters Read the full plant tour for a closer look at this LFAM facility. https://lnkd.in/ePjeD68c

Depth of technical knowledge is not the same as timeliness — composites professionals need both. CompositesWorld was founded on the conviction that composites manufacturing is too technically demanding and too consequential to be covered from a distance. Process articles, material characterization features, certification deep dives and supply chain analyses remain central to that mission. But the industry operates at the intersection of forces that can shift quickly: defense spending priorities, automotive platform strategies, wind blade demand tied to policy environments, fiber and resin qualification timelines, and supply chains with their own planning cycles. Most composites professionals are working with a picture assembled from fragments. Manufacturing Connected (MC) — a new daily intelligence platform built on the editorial foundation of Gardner Business Media's brands — is designed to fill the space between publication cycles. The goal is not to replicate deeply reported technical work. It is to help composites professionals see what's moving, why it matters and what to watch next. Learn more at mfgconnected.com. https://lnkd.in/ejGZ9-hB

Energy infrastructure is under pressure — and composites are at the center of the response. The July 2026 issue of CompositesWorld examines how composite materials are enabling both energy generation and transmission at a scale the industry has rarely seen. On the generation side, approximately 165 gigawatts of new global wind capacity were installed in 2025 — a 40% increase over the previous record. Glass fiber composites dominate blade and nacelle markets, while carbon fiber spar caps are enabling longer, more efficient blades. On the transmission side, the challenge is equally acute: - Half the U.S. grid is more than 30 years old - Load forecasts have surged six-fold in the past three years - Replacing steel core conductors with composite cores can increase current-carrying capacity by up to 200% and cut transmission losses by up to 50% These aren't marginal improvements. They're the foundation supporting AI data centers, electrified transportation, and the broader digital economy. Read the full energy end markets report and feature on composite conductor cores at CompositesWorld. https://lnkd.in/etrFR4gy

ZAG SKIS set out to recreate its UBAC 95 touring ski with an ambitious set of requirements: maximize bio-based and recycled content across the entire construction, while still maintaining the mechanical performance of a conventional ski. This redesign included a topsheet with 50% bio-based content, up to 80% recycled fiber production offcuts in the base and 50% recycled ABS sidewalls. One particularly challenging materials aspect was increasing the bio-based content of the structural epoxy from 35% bio-content to ... as high as possible, while still meeting requirements for bond strength, impact resistance, thermal stability and compatibility with the other materials within the skis. ZAG naturally turned to long-time resin supplier partner Sicomin for this project. The result? GreenPoxy80 (GP80), a structural epoxy that meets all requirements with 80% bio-content. "There is no perceptible change in the feel or behavior of the ski on snow, which is really the ultimate validation," says ZAG R&D director Bastien Saillard. Read the full article on CompositesWorld's website or in the July issue for more: https://lnkd.in/ekH7Vej2

Carbon fiber can represent up to 72% of the cost of a 700 bar Type 4 H₂ pressure vessel (as documented in our updated report: Composites and Carbon Fiber Use in Hydrogen Storage). And what happens in the hydrogen economy doesn't stay there, it runs directly through the entire carbon fiber supply chain. The CompositesWorld market report Ginger Gardiner, Michael Favaloro, Karen Mason and Jeff Sloan wrote covers this market segment by segment, region by region, manufacturer by manufacturer. For anyone making capital decisions, capacity investments or supply agreements that touch the carbon fiber supply chain: get your copy today at https://lnkd.in/ecUhDwDT

The Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD) — an 8-meter-long, 4-meter-diameter fuselage section made entirely from carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites — was assembled without a single drilled hole. Continuous ultrasonic welding, resistance welding and conduction welding joined its components instead. Conceived in 2014 under the EU-funded Clean Sky 2 initiative and led by Airbus, the program reached TRL 5 by its close — a meaningful milestone, but still several steps from a production line. The harder questions are just beginning: - How do these welding processes scale? - Who qualifies them for flight? - Which aircraft program will be first to put them to the test? CW has been reporting on this project for a decade. 🆕Watch a recap video published by CW in collaboration with ThermoForged: https://lnkd.in/exmurSRS 📰Read CW Executive Editor Ginger Gardiner's in-depth feature detailing the end of the project: https://lnkd.in/gacKBQNR

Workers who handle graphene as a dry powder can be exposed to airborne concentrations far above any proposed safety benchmark — but when graphene is bound in a liquid or solid form, exposure drops significantly. That contrast sits at the center of a NIOSH study of 44 workers at 11 U.S. graphene producers and users — the first workplace exposure measurements for the graphene family of nanomaterials collected inside operating U.S. facilities. Key findings: - Respirable EC concentrations ranged from below 0.01 to 1,825 µg/m³; inhalable from 0.01 to 6,327 µg/m³ - NIOSH's Occupational Exposure Banding process assigned graphene a Band E classification — the most potent — yielding a preliminary OEL of less than 10 µg/m³ - 38% of respirable and 53% of inhalable samples exceeded that benchmark - Handling dry powder drove exposure; solid and liquid forms reduced it For composites fabricators, the practical guidance is clear: avoid handling nanocarbons as dry nanopowder. Where possible, source graphene embedded in a masterbatch — a paste, liquid dispersion, or polymer pellet — ready to use in your process. Read the full report from Advanced Carbons Council for the complete methodology and exposure data. https://lnkd.in/ejyeKzq9

Maximizing gas payload while minimizing trailer length is the engineering challenge behind Hexagon Composites' Titan 510 — currently the largest Type 4 composite cylinder in production. Launched in May 2026, the Titan 510 is optimized for 80,000-pound gross vehicle weight limits in the U.S. and Canada. Its 45-foot module length improves maneuverability in crowded industrial settings, while thermoplastic sandwich panels with glass fiber-reinforced skins replace metal roofing and sides — saving nearly 2,000 pounds. The design reflects decades of collective learning across applications: - Wet filament winding is retained over towpreg for less fiber damage and more efficient use of carbon fiber - Composite laminates are bespoke to each cylinder's length and diameter - More than 30 sensors guided dynamic testing across hundreds of miles of varied terrain Beyond mobile pipeline, Hexagon is re-entering commercial aerospace with high-pressure tanks for space, where reusable launch vehicles are demanding durability cycles closer to vehicular use while retaining aerospace-grade performance. Read the full article for a detailed account of the engineering, manufacturing strategy, and market outlook behind these developments. https://lnkd.in/eUEQcCu8

Building end-of-life recycling infrastructure for thermoplastic composites is far more demanding than the recyclability promise itself. SPIRAL Recycled Thermoplastic Composites B.V. (Spiral RTC), based in Enschede, Netherlands, is working to close that gap, advancing mechanical recycling methods and developing a business model that spans waste collection through commercialization. As co-founder Winand Kok puts it: "There are many challenges and considerations when trying to scale from an academic lab process to an industrial recycling level. There were — and still are — a lot of questions to answer." The core challenge is one the broader composites industry has yet to fully resolve: translating recyclability from concept to operational, industrial-scale reality. That requires more than technical solutions. It demands logistics, partnerships and viable economics working in concert. A snapshot video produced by ThermoForged introduces Spiral RTC and provides a glimpse into a conversation between Winand Kok, ThermoForged's Yatine Boodhoo and CW Executive Editor Ginger Gardiner :https://lnkd.in/eAKTrVS7 Additional links to in-depth content in the comments 🔽

Most end-of-life carbon fiber is either landfilled or reduced to filler-grade granules through pyrolysis or mechanical grinding. Either way, recovered fiber typically only retains 30–60% of its original mechanical properties. That performance gap is what makes structural-grade recovery so difficult. Holy Technologies' Infinite Fiber Placement (IFP) system addresses this at the process level. A single, continuous carbon fiber tow is deposited by a six-axis robot along digitally optimized load paths — never cut from spool to finished part. At end of life, mild acetic acid solvolysis at 70–90°C dissolves the Recyclamine-based epoxy in approximately one hour, and the intact tow is respooled for reuse. Testing conducted with Hamburg University of Technology across three full life cycles showed: - 7% reduction in tensile strength - 6% reduction in modulus The full CW article details the fiber path planning, RTM process, DIC strain analysis, and the lifecycle assessment showing up to 76% lower global warming potential versus prepreg alternatives: https://lnkd.in/ehAVQXnt