The excitement mounts

This issue also references the curves and lines of redesigned car parts based on composites. The work done by Prodrive Composites on the McLaren P1 shows how manufacturers are thinking about composite drapeability, fibre direction, reinforcements, the number of layers needed and material thickness, among others.

Everything needs to change. Whilst the drive is on to lower emissions as car builders turn to lightweighting, this article shows how composite materials are one solution to producing significantly lighter cars that to this eye at least, still have racy sex appeal too!

Elsewhere, this issue is packed with cutting tools boasting the sharpest edges and material systems that laugh in the face of extreme temperatures. We also look at machine tool capabilities that range from cutting test coupons up to large volume machine tools measuring 14m long used for manufacturing aircraft landing flaps.

Mergers and acquisitions often dominate the news. Whilst it’s important for large corporations to acquire the skillsets to enable them to compete with the production and delivery levels of more mature material supply industries, it’s arguable that it’s also vital the UK still has independent companies that can satisfy customer demands for supply flexibility as well. I reckon our news on the progress made by UK subcontracting specialists, Norco and Pentaxia is certainly something to get excited about.

And the excitement mounts with our show preview covering the forthcoming JEC World show in Paris next month. Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, JEC Composites continues to build on its standing as the major international meeting place for composite manufacturing-related companies.

Mike Richardson, Editor