But among contract manufacturers, additive opens different doors: These businesses are increasingly adopting AM technology not just to enhance existing operations, but to diversify the customer base and reach into new spaces.

Such diversification makes good business sense. Any manufacturer that primarily serves just one market is subject to the ups and downs of that market. Serving multiple markets tempers these waves.

But why is additive manufacturing the means to do so? How does additive manufacturing help businesses reach beyond their current markets into new ones?

The key is the flexibility that additive manufacturing inherently provides.

A process like casting or injection molding requires hard-tooled certainty before production can begin. Not so for a 3D printer. The same additive machine that is making downhole drill components today can easily switch to making a spacecraft thrust chamber or firearm components tomorrow.

Knust Godwin’s 15 3D printers are used to manufacture parts for oil and gas, the company’s historic primary market, as well as emerging industries like commercial space. Source: Additive Manufacturing Media (All Images)

This exact scenario is playing out at Knust Godwin, an established machine shop business built on the foundation of serving oil and gas customers. But as the company has grown its additive manufacturing expertise, it has also expanded into commercial space and firearms with this capacity.

Both of these application spaces are very different industries from oil and gas, with different standards and even part sizes and common geometries. But both are growing fast, fast enough that existing supply chains can’t keep up, and with enough new products being developed that additive doesn’t need to defeat an incumbent process to be adopted.

With its laser powder bed fusion printers and in-house machining capacity for finishing 3D printed parts, Knust Godwin has been able to offer value for these newer markets that the legacy machining business might not have reached otherwise, even while continuing to 3D print oilfield parts. Knust Godwin has stretched to accommodate these new industries (adding an ITAR-controlled postprocessing area for firearms parts for example), but as a result, it is less subject to the fluctuations of oil and gas, or any market that it serves.

Combustion chambers, rocket nozzles and other combustion system components are a major market for Howco Additive’s services — and a point of differentiation from its parent company’s focus on products for oil and gas. 

Similarly, Howco Additive was launched as a deliberate effort to diversify the business of its parent company, Howco Group, a distributor of barstock, piping and other value-added metal products primarily for oil and gas. While the additive group also produces parts for this market, it has found an equally important niche in 3D printing parts for hypersonics and commercial space — bringing Howco overall into spaces it might never have served otherwise.

Other manufacturers have used AM to diversify by launching their own product lines, or even spinning up service businesses that can make parts for many industries.

Metal 3D printing is just one of many processes operated by Bifrost Manufacturing, but one that has opened opportunities in industrial automation (like this drive sprocket for a roller lead) among other markets.

But additive also makes it possible to establish a diverse customer base from the get-go, as illustrated by Bifrost Manufacturing. This custom engineering firm in North Dakota offers services in everything from metal fabrication to laser cutting to machining, but its most flexible and scalable capability is additive manufacturing. AM has enabled the company, founded in 2023, to establish itself as a reliable supplier for everything from drone bodies to industrial machinery components to power tool prototypes and more — meaning it does not have to rely on any one type of work as its primary breadwinner.

Companies thinking about adopting additive should consider diversification in the calculations. How might AM enable you to reach beyond the confines of the industries you typically serve, and shore up your business over the long haul?  

Source (All Images) | Aeromech

Aeromech (Brisbane, Australia) has announced the opening of the Aeromech Training Centre in Brisbane to deliver advanced composites training for aerospace manufacturing and repair across Australia first, with subsequent expansion to New Zealand, the broader Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. Alongside this launch, the company highlights its flagship “Advanced Composites Aerospace Manufacturing and Repair” training program offering comprehensive training across the full life cycle of composite manufacturing and sustainment.

“This is more than a training center — it’s a strategic capability enabler,” says Joe Bryant, founder and managing director at Aeromech. “Whether you’re starting out or building on years of experience, our programs equip professionals with the technical knowledge and hands-on skills needed to meet modern aerospace requirements.”

The goal, he says, is to address the aerospace and defense skills shortage and build a robust, sovereign workforce — all with minimal disruption to operations through the Training Centre’s portable, turnkey delivery mode. “We bring the same quality training to your location — whether you’re in Brisbane, Darwin, Auckland or anywhere across the region,” says Bryant. “It’s flexible, efficient and always industry-grade.”

Aeromech’s training course was developed by experienced engineers and technicians with extensive defense and commercial aerospace backgrounds. It is designed for current and aspiring manufacturing and repair technicians, engineers and managers. Exceeding the standards of the EASA- and FAA-approved SAE AIR4938 – Composite and Bonded Structure Technical Specialist Training, the program includes:

• Occupational health and safety
• Understanding and handling of composite materials
• Understanding tooling and structural design
• Layup, bonding, curing and composites fabrication techniques
• Inspection, nondestructive testing and damage assessment
• Structural repair, quality assurance and compliance
• Surface prep and painting
• Supply chain, quality and the management of composites end to end in a manufacturing and operational environment
• Real-world scenarios from rotary and fixed-wing platforms in civilian aviation and defense.

The course combines in-depth theoretical knowledge with practical, hands-on experience, delivered by practicing aerospace industry professionals. All materials and equipment are provided and course content is tailored from entry-level through to advanced users and specialized applications, depending on a participant’s expertise and skill level. Accredited and non-accredited options available.

The “Advanced Composites Aerospace Manufacturing and Repair Training” course is now open for enrollment at the Aeromech Training Centre in Brisbane, with portable training delivery available across Australia, Asia, Oceania and the Middle East. To learn more or to register, visit www.aeromech.com.au or contact@aeromech.com.au.

Aeromech’s roots in aerospace

Aeromech was founded by Joe Bryant, a recognized expert in aerospace composites and a former senior leader at Airbus Australia. Bryant led and managed Airbus Australia’s Advanced Composites Manufacturing Facility and was also responsible for the NH90 Final Assembly and Delivery Line, overseeing the local production and delivery of advanced multi-role military helicopters.

His first-hand experience with high-performance aerospace manufacturing and complex aircraft integration underpins Aeromech’s training philosophy: real-world relevance, industry credibility and future readiness.

The Training Centre is also supported by Joseph Saporito, former CEO of Airbus Australia and executive vice president of supply chain at Airbus Helicopters, further strengthening Aeromech’s strategic alignment with global aerospace standards.

Joe Bryant and Joseph Saporito.

“This is exactly the kind of practical, targeted training the region needs,” says Saporito. “Aeromech is preparing the next generation of aerospace professionals with the knowledge and hands-on ability to deliver on real operational demands.”

The opening of the Aeromech Training Centre follows the success of the company’s Advanced Composite Workshops for high school students, which have introduced hundreds of students across Australia to aerospace manufacturing. These workshops are bridging the gap between education and industry, sparking early interest and creating clear career pathways into aerospace, defense and advanced manufacturing.

Dubbed NGSA (next-generation single-aisle), it will make extensive use of new and emerging materials and manufacturing processes, including composites, metallic alloys and additive manufacturing. Airbus has told its suppliers that anything at TRL 6 by 2030 will be considered. The goal: construction of a supply chain to support assembly, eventually, of 100 aircraft/month. Compare this to the 58 A320s Airbus produces each month now.

Boeing, meanwhile, has been an observer of this process, but quietly doing its own materials and process assessment for an NGSA to replace the 737. On Sept. 30, however, The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing has publicly acknowledged it is pursuing an NGSA. Then, Reuters chimed in with this report saying, in effect, that an NGSA “is some time off.” Which it is if you think 2030 is some time off. But to the aerospace industry, 2030 is tomorrow.

Whenever NGSA comes to fruition, 200 shipsets per month of high-performance, highly qualified aerostructures is not trivial. It’s also unprecedented. In short, the aerospace supply chain is about to be asked to do something that it’s never done. Which is why Boeing and Airbus are talking about the challenge now — to give the supply chain time to mature and ramp up. This is easier said than done, but a fantastic challenge.

Source | AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings

AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings (Amsterdam, Netherlands) is launching its  AS7489-certified training program, created to advance the adoption of the globally recognized standard in aerospace coatings application and raise professional standards.

Developed as part of AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings’ Aerofleet Training+ offering, the program is fully compliant with SAE International’s AS7489 standard, a globally recognized framework for the training and qualification of Aerospace Organic Coatings Applicators.

While certifications have long existed for mechanical, structural and safety disciplines, there was no universal benchmark for coatings. AkzoNobel’s program directly addresses this gap by improving access to professional training for the global aerospace industry.

AkzoNobel’s AS7489 training is structured across five progressive levels, in accordance with the AS7489 technical standard and approved for delivery by SAE International. The courses go from theoretical fundamentals (Level 1) to advanced, practical assessments (Levels 2, 3 and 4) that test hands-on skills and understanding, to Level 5 which provides in-depth specialization for expert applicators.

AkzoNobel’s training center in Troy, Michigan, has been approved and AkzoNobel’s first cohort of Technical Service Representatives have been certified to deliver AS7489-certified training to customers. The company plans to establish and certify additional training centers and Technical Service teams to support the future rollout of AS7489 training across Europe.

“For years, we’ve helped applicators understand and use our coatings effectively, and we will continue to do so, but the introduction of the AS7489 program takes our customer training to a step further,” says Michael Green, business services manager at AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings. “We’re enabling professionals to achieve globally recognized credentials that raise the bar for skill, safety and quality across the industry, and we’re supporting our customers in the MRO and aftermarket. With visible, tangible proof of staff competence and professionalism, our customers will be able to demonstrate both compliance and a high level of service quality, helping them to stand out in an increasingly competitive market.”

Supporting the rollout of the new program is AkzoNobel’s bespoke online training and certification platform, which gives applicators, assessors and employers full visibility of training progress and qualification status.

Through the online training platform, participants can submit their work, track their learning journey and store digital records of their certifications. Independent assessors will use the system to review and grade submissions, ensuring objective evaluation against the AS7489 standard. Employers will be able to monitor employee progress, identify development needs and, when recruiting, verify the credentials of candidates.

Wichita State University. Source | WSU NIAR

Computational intelligence company Altair (Troy, Mich., U.S.) and aerospace research institution National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University (WSU, Kan., U.S.) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to advance innovation across the aerospace and defense industries.

According to Pietro Cervellera, senior vice president of aerospace and defense at Altair, the partnership will enable new opportunities for bringing “cutting-edge technology to the industry. By combining our expertise, we’re helping companies and startups innovate faster, reduce costs and bring products to market more sustainably.” The partnership focuses on three main areas:

Bringing digital twin technology to industry. Combining NIAR’s certification by analysis (CBA) methodologies with Altair’s simulation and data analytics tools, companies can design, test and optimize aircraft, drones and advanced air mobility vehicles faster and more efficiently, reducing the need for costly physical testing.

Supporting startups. Aerospace and defense startups working with NIAR and WSU will gain privileged access to Altair’s platforms and training to accelerate their product development, testing, certification and production processes.

Exploring new applications. The collaboration will explore how digital twins and Altair technology can support broader applications, including maintenance, additive manufacturing, robotics and defense systems.

“This agreement with Altair provides our students, researchers and clients with access to tools and expertise that will help accelerate development to support the next generation of aerospace technology and innovation,” says John Tomblin, WSU executive vice president for research and industry and defense programs and NIAR executive director.

Sources (clockwise) | IFP, Secara, Zeisburg Carbon and EDAG Engineering

The German Federation of Reinforced Plastics (AVK, Frankfurt, Germany) announces the 2025 winners of the Innovation Award for fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs), awarded to companies, institutes and their partners for outstanding composites innovations in three categories:

• Products and Applications
• Processes and Procedures
• Research and Science.

A jury of experts comprising engineers, scientists and trade journalists has evaluated the submissions in these three categories based on criteria such as degree of innovation, degree of implementation and sustainability.

The awards for 2025 are as follows.

AVK Innovation Awards group photo. 

Products and Applications Category

1st Place — Zeisberg Carbon GmbH
► 3D-Formwork

Source | Zeisburg Carbon GmbH

Believed to be Germany’s largest 3D printer for fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, this system, built by Zeisberg Carbon, produces laminating tools measuring up to 6,000 × 2,000 × 3,000 millimeters, as well as finished components, prototypes and — as a new approach to the Industry 4.0 concept in the construction industry — molds for the production of concrete components. 

This 3D-Formwork is printed automatically, layer by layer, from recycled plastic, enabling a high degree of innovation in prefabricated component factories or for in situ concrete construction. Architectural freedom can be reimagined because 3D-Formwork creates individual façade elements for serially manufactured buildings, such as bridges. Thus, infrastructure can be built aesthetically but also quickly. 

2nd Place — INVENT GmbH with partners Nord-Micro, KOHPA GmbH ► Carbon Heating System (CHS) for aircraft cabins

Source | INVENT, KOHPA Technology

INVENT has developed an innovative CHS for aircraft where the heating function is integrated directly into fiber-reinforced composite pipes using conductive carbon fiber. All development steps, including endurance testing (>3,300 hours) and DO-160 qualification by laboratory partner Nord-Micro, have been completed.

The system uses the existing cabin air distribution system to replace conventional metal heaters or bleed air heating, saving weight, fuel and emissions. Passengers benefit from clean air without oil contamination. CHS is reported to be a milestone for electric cabin systems and sustainable aircraft architecture. INVENT is now ready as a series manufacturer with partner Nord-Micro.

3rd Place — 3D|CORE GmbH & Co. KG
► 3D|CORE FR Sealing

Source | 3D|CORE GmbH & Co. KG

This polymer-mineral foam offers an efficient, cost-effective and weight-saving solution for fire protection in lightweight structures, particularly in the transport industry. Fire protection for sandwich constructions used in trains, ships and vehicles has traditionally required manual application of additional glass fiber layers and use of additional quantities of fire-modified resins. This significantly increased manufacturing cost and component weight.

3D|CORE GmbH & Co. KG is launching 3D|CORE FR Sealing, an innovative fire protection foam that is easily applied by spraying or rolling. The system provides effective fire protection without adding unnecessary weight. The foam has been extensively tested and meets the stringent requirements of the IMO FTP Code 2010 maritime standards and the European standard for rail vehicles EN 45545-2, achieving the requirements of the highest hazard level HL3. The two-component system consists of a medium-viscosity foam and an activator that controls the processing time. Chemical reactions and delamination are avoided by precisely matching the polymer components to the resin system of the component. 

Processes and Procedures Category

1st Place — Secara
► Chemical recycling process for reinforced engineering polymers

Source | Secara

Secara has developed a process that enables technical plastics — such as polyamides, polycarbonates and polyesters such as PBT — to be recycled efficiently and with minimal loss of value. With a global annual production of around 15 million tonnes, these key materials have previously been mostly incinerated due to a lack of recycling options.

Secara’s scalable process also enables the recycling of old, glass fiber-reinforced and mixed plastic waste. Pilot plants are already demonstrating how Secara’s process depolymerizes plastics into high-purity monomers that are chemically identical to fossil raw materials and can be seamlessly integrated into existing value chains. The process already saves up to 70% in CO_₂ emissions, but using renewable energies, it is possible to produce completely decarbonized monomers. Secara is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Social Fund as part of the EXIST program.

2nd Place — Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research (IPF) with partner Elbflorace Formula Student Team TU Dresden

► Design and manufacturing of spatial CFRP structural frame based on flat TFP preforms

Source | IPF and Elbflorace

A complex, high-load 3D carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite wishbone bracket for a Formula Student racing vehicle was produced using tailored fiber placement (TFP). The TFP process allows the reinforcement fibers to be deposited variably axially, enabling spatial optimization of fiber positioning and alignment. This means that an optimized fiber placement pattern can be created for each segment and manufactured using a TFP system.

A topology-optimized, additively manufactured titanium wishbone bracket served as a reference. Topology optimization and segmentation for a CFRP wishbone bracket were first carried out based on the corresponding installation space and specifications. After consolidating the preforms in a multipart silicone mold, a CFRP wishbone bracket with a mass of only 183 grams was produced. This is ≈40% lighter than the titanium component and can still safely transmit loads of up to 5 kilonewtons.

3rd Place — Amiblu Germany GmbH
► Recycling of GFRP grinding dust waste

Source | Amiblu

At its Trollenhagen site, Amiblu Germany manufactures around 300 kilometers of glass fiber-reinforced (GFRP) pipes per year in nominal diameters ranging from DN 200 to DN 2450 using a centrifugal casting process. This process produces grinding dust as a waste product. With the help of an in-house developed technology, it is now possible to return more than 90% of approximately 220 tonnes of grinding dust per year to the production process, saving raw materials and reducing waste disposal costs. Recycling the dust into new products is a significant step toward sustainable GFRP pipe production.

The plant has been in series operation since summer 2024. The process not only significantly reduces waste, but also saves around 4% of the calcium carbonate raw material.

Science and Research Category

1st Place — EDAG Engineering GmbH with partners INVENT GmbH, Fraunhofer IWU and Applus + Rescoll

► Durable, thermally detachable fiber composite structures

Source | EDAG pitch at RECREATE event

The EU-funded RECREATE project has developed a modular system that enables the circular use of CFRP structures. Its core components are thermally detachable adhesive bonds that enable components to be separated without damage by applying specific temperatures without compromising strength during operation. Combined with standardized profiles and connecting elements, this creates a modular system that enables repair, reuse, remanufacturing and single-type recycling. Through the practical implementation of design for circularity, this solution addresses key strategies of the circular economy while creating a basis for new business models for applications from modular vehicle frames to industrial secondary uses.

2nd Place — Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT)
► Tape-REx recycling process for thermoplastic UD tapes

Source | Fraunhofer IPT

Fraunhofer IPT has developed a recycling technology that enables components made of unidirectional (UD) thermoplastic composite tape to be unwound at the end of their life cycle. What makes this technology unique is that the recovered recyclate is then also available as UD tape, retaining the fiber length and orientation as well as the matrix. 

These properties represent an enormous improvement over conventional recycled products in which the fibers are generally recovered as disordered short or long fibers. The retained-length recycled UD tapes can be processed in conventional manufacturing processes such as automated tape laying/fiber placement (ATL/AFP) and hot pressing in the same way as newly produced virgin material tapes.

3rd Place — Faserinstitut Bremen E.V. (FIBRE) with partner Saxon Textile Research Institute (STFI)
► Highly integrated hybrid rCF organosheets and thermoforming for contoured aerostructures

In the HIOS project, a segment of a spoiler was used as a demonstrator (left) for recycled carbon fiber (rCF) organosheets. The micrograph at right shows a thickness increase from 2 to 6 millimeters. Source | STFI

In the LuFo VI-2 project — Highly Integrated Organic Sheets (HIOS) FKZ: 20E2116A; 20E2116 — FIBRE and its project partner STFI developed a resource-efficient process chain from semi-finished products to components with a closed-box structure, local reinforcements and variable thickness where a spoiler segment served as an example.

STFI developed a quasi-continuous interval hot pressing process for manufacturing organosheets with variable local thickness based on nonwovens made from recycled carbon fibers (rCF). Local reinforcements were integrated during the manufacturing process. FIBRE developed a complementary thermoforming process, including tools, that allows the closed-box structures to be manufactured in a resource-efficient manner. To this end, thermoforming and joining of the components were integrated into a single process step.

Source | FIBRE 

Sam Staincliffe, co-founder and CEO of Uplift360 (left) and Chloe Barker, managing director for Babcock’s UK Aviation business (right). Source | Uplift360, Babcock

FTSE 100 defense company Babcock International Group (Babcock, London, U.K.) has signed a contract with Uplift360 (Luxembourg and Bristol, U.K.), a company that specializes in the recycling of advanced materials. The partnership will explore how composite materials from a Typhoon aircraft can be broken down and repurposed, and how this process could be applied more widely across additional defense platforms. 

“By combining our operational experience with Uplift360’s specialist expertise, we’re working together to support our customers’ sustainability ambitions,” says Chloe Barker, managing director for Babcock’s UK Aviation business. “This partnership is focused on delivering practical solutions that contribute to more efficient use of resources and strengthen the long-term resilience of U.K. defense supply chains. [Moreover] this collaboration is a great example of how we can work side by side with small and medium enterprises to deliver meaningful change.”

Uplift360 is a cleantech company developing circular chemical recycling technologies for high-performance materials such as carbon and aramid fibers. The company uses its room-temperature chemistry to recover mission-grade composites from end-of-life waste — helping defense and manufacturing partners reduce waste, secure supply chains and meet sustainability goals. Uplift360 was established in the U.K. in 2021 with DASA funding and has expanded operations to Luxembourg.

Big Daishowa Inc. has expanded its fixed 90-degree angle head lineup with the introduction of the TAG90 center-through-coolant angle head and AG35 high-pressure coolant adapters. This new offering provides productivity, flexibility and accuracy benefits while improving chip evacuation for operators.

These center-through-coolant angle heads deliver coolant directly from the machine spindle to the cutting edge, bypassing the stop block. This design improves cooling efficiency and chip removal. The angle heads support coolant pressures up to 1,000 psi.

Customers can select between two options: the Build-Up-type angle head, which enables operators to change the adapter for use in a variety of machining applications, or the HMC-type angle head, a high-rigidity milling chuck. The Build-Up-type angle head utilizes AG35 high-pressure coolant adapters, including the New Baby Chuck and Side Lock adapter types.

Big Daishowa’s angle head lineup enables shops to combine vertical and horizontal operations on a single machine and access hard-to-reach features on a workpiece that would otherwise require multiple setups. This capability reduces cycle times, improves overall accuracy, and minimizes the potential for error caused by multiple setups.

According to Alan Miller, senior manager of engineering at Big Daishowa, the TAG90 angle heads are well-suited to industries like aerospace, defense and automotive, where manufacturers aim to machine larger, more complex workpieces in fewer setups while addressing chip evacuation challenges, especially with hard-to-machine materials.

Source | Dawn Aerospace

Dawn Aerospace (ChristChurch, New Zealand) successfully flew its Aurora spaceplace carrying California Polytechnic State University’s (Cal Poly) student-built payload, reaching Mach 0.79 and an altitude of 37,000 feet. 

This June 24^th flight — Aurora’s first from Dawn’s newly operational launch facility at Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre — carried Cal Poly’s payload, making it the first U.S. student-built experiment to fly aboard Aurora and marking a major milestone for university-led research in reusable spaceplane development. 

“This mission is putting student-built hardware on the frontlines of aerospace innovation,” says Dr. Kurt Colvin, Cal Poly professor and payload advisor. “Working with a next-gen spaceplane like Aurora gave our team firsthand experience integrating a payload for a reusable commercial spaceplane — a paradigm shift from traditional expendable rocket launches.”

Cal Poly’s payload was designed to test whether student-built hardware could withstand the rigors of  high-altitude, spaceflight-like environments. Using a modified data system from Bolder Flight Systems (Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.), the mission focused on proving that the team could build and operate a payload ready to integrate with a commercial spaceplane. Just as importantly, it served as a training mission — giving students hands-on experience and laying the groundwork for future Cal Poly launches from the upcoming Paso Robles, California Spaceport.

Aurora’s horizontal launch architecture — taking off and landing like a conventional aircraft — offers benefits for academic institutions include rapid, reusable operations; reduced infrastructure costs; and expanded university access through commercial partnership.

This mission builds on Dawn’s recently announced partnership with the State of Oklahoma and the Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics (formerly Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority), to bring the Aurora spaceplane to the Oklahoma Air & Space Port in Burns Flat — operations set to begin with first flights in 2027. This collaboration underscores a leap forward in scaling reusable suborbital spaceflight across the U.S. with operations at the Oklahoma Air & Space Port set to extend Aurora’s flight profile to 100 kilometers. By teaming with Cal Poly, Dawn says it is demonstrating how academic institutions can help lead this transformation while highlighting the opportunity for U.S. research units to leverage Oklahoma’s forward‑looking spaceport as a national hub for innovation and direct access to space.

“Aurora is the perfect tool for students to not only learn the theories of aerospace, but also design, build, qualify and operate in the real world,” says James Powell, spaceplane chief engineer and co-founder. “Because we recover the payload, customers gain deeper insight into performance and can more easily modify and upgrade for future flights.”

Figure 1. Illustration of off-axis ply placement using fiber patch placement (FPP) technology. Source (All Images) | Cevotec

Cevotec (Munich, Germany) is participating in an Airbus (Toulouse, France)-led R&D consortium within the German aerospace research program “LuFo VII-1,” that is focused on developing a high-rate manufacturing route for carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) fuselage structures.

The 3‑year program, launched in August 2025, centers on technology route development and validation. The consortium comprises Airbus (Lead), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Fraunhofer institutes IGCV, ICT and IFAM, the Leibnitz Institute IVW and Cevotec. Cevotec is contributing its fiber patch placement (FPP) preform expertise for off‑axis (±45°/90°) ply layup for fuselage frames (Fig 1.), providing a technology module for a future integrated process chain that also includes automated 0° ply layup, stamp forming and trimming. The shared goal? To reduce weight, increase layup rates and develop a scrap‑lean process chain that can support future production of more than 75 single-aisle aircraft per month.

The project team intends to build up the modules of a future integrated process chain, purpose‑built for rate and repeatability. Cevotec’s robots place off‑axis patches (±45°/90°) to form complete stacks. Zero-degree plies that carry axial loads efficiently will be placed by Fraunhofer IGCV using thermoplastic composite (TPC) automated fiber placement (AFP). Airbus then takes over with stamp forming; the preforms are heated and shaped in seconds, followed by trimming and downstream finishing.

The process will be digitally defined and traceable; placement data can be used to verify that fiber orientations and locations match design intent. An AI-driven vision system to monitor the accuracy of placement will be investigated. Those will be building blocks of a “first‑time‑right” process that minimizes scrap and stabilizes quality across shifts and manufacturing sites.

The project is guided by an ambitious set of outcomes, says Cevotec. First, weight: Moving to CFRP frames is a direct lever on reducing airframe mass, resulting in lower fuel burn and emissions over the aircraft’s life. Second, rate: Each step — from placement to forming — must fit a takt‑time‑driven environment capable of supporting more than 75 aircraft per month. Third, cost and sustainability: By combining precise patch placement with robust forming, partners are targeting a step‑change reduction in production scrap and a path to circularity enabled by thermoplastics.

Figure 2. Virtual manufacturing cell Cevotec Samba Step L system (digital mock-up for frame preforming).

For the intended process chain, FPP is expected to achieve higher layup rate than AFP for off‑axis plies on complex geometries. AFP remains the efficient choice for the curved, continuous 0° layers, while FPP is applied to lay up the non-zero (i.e., “off-axis”) plies. In one fast placement operation, a wide patch with the desired fiber orientation can be placed. Compared to multiple AFP placement operations required to cover the same width, FPP offer the opportunity to improve cycle and takt time, thereby process economics and rate capability.

The shared goal? To reduce weight, increase layup rates and develop a scrap‑lean process chain that can support future production of more than 75 single-aisle aircraft per month.

The HERA project focuses on validating technology modules for a high-rate thermoplastic process chain for future aircraft structures. To develop and validate the FPP module, Cevotec will modify and expand the capabilities of its Samba Step L lab system (Fig. 2). This equipment offers a high flexibility to integrate project-developed sub-modules, while benefiting from general precision placement of larger plies as validated in previous aerospace projects.

This research program is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) under the support code 20W2405E.

Source | CMH-17 

The Composite Materials Handbook-17 (CMH-17) provides standardized methods and guidance for the characterization, testing and use of composite materials, particularly in aerospace applications. Its six published volumes establish a consistent approach for how to generate, analyze and qualify composite material data.

CMH-17 is not a regulatory standard but seeks to provide a common technical framework for industry, government and certification authorities. It defines procedures for:

• Conducting mechanical and physical property tests on composite materials.
• Developing and documenting statistically based design allowables.
• Accounting for variability, environmental conditions and processing effects.
• Managing data quality assurance and database management for composites

The handbook is maintained by the CMH-17 Coordination Group, a consortium of experts from government agencies, industry and academia. The handbook is an important resource, providing a technical foundation for the qualification and certification of composite materials, enabling consistent, traceable and statistically valid design practices across the aerospace community.

From Mil Handbook-17 to AAM and eVTOLS

CMH-17 started decades ago as Mil Handbook-17, explains Royal Lovingfoss, director of Advanced Materials & Processes at the National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP), a program of the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University (Wichita, Kan., U.S.). “Since then, it has evolved, leaving the military side and taking on FAA sponsorship in 2006, with the CMH-17 Handbook annotation adopted in 2012.”

Starting in 2012, NIAR has operated as the Secretariat, says Lovingfoss, “which means we help to coordinate how the actual CMH-17 Handbook is put forth, as well as coordinate when the virtual and in-person working groups and general meetings occur.”

Source | CMH-17

He notes there are many different working groups operating under the CMH-17 banner, such as Testing, Statistics and Guidelines, as well as the Materials and Process Working Group.

“Our newest, the Additive Manufacturing Working Group, was added in 2018. All of these post information into the handbook, and as the Secretariat, we at NIAR ensure that material is indeed appropriate and meets all of the formatting requirements. We also help coordinate communications between the different working groups.”

“There are also special task groups such as Bonding Process, Sandwich topics and statistics topics like Statistics Process Control. These task groups are temporary and they solve discrete interdisiplinary problems or document specific situations.”

CMH-17 also includes members from different levels of industry, notes Lovingfoss, “from Tier suppliers and smaller sub-tiers, like Fiber Dynamics, up to large OEMs, like Airbus and Boeing, and everyone in between, including materials and equipment suppliers. For example, Toray, Hexcel, Syensqo and Teijin are all large companies that participate, but we also have small mom and pop shops that may have a vested interest in a particular material or aircraft type.” The latter can be in general aviation, spacecraft and/or commercial aviation, which also encompasses eVTOLS, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM). “Several companies producing these newer types of aircraft are becoming more involved in CMH-17, such as Joby and Archer,” he adds. “We also have engine companies that participate, including GE Aerospace, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney.”

Lovingfoss points out that CMH-17 is worldwide, with members from almost every major country that works with composites and advanced manufactured materials. “A lot of the companies that participate in CMH-17 are based in Europe and Asia, such as Toray and Teijin,” he explains. “But there are many others. So, there’s no issue with foreign organizations working with us or submitting data on just input, whether that’s on materials, processes, damage tolerance, guidelines or CMC [ceramic matrix composites]. We want engagement from all different types of groups in the global industry.”

Volume 7 – Additive Manufacturing

The new Volume 7, set to be released by the end of 2026, will be dedicated to nonmetallic additive manufacturing (AM) materials that can be made publicly available. It will focus on fused filament fabrication (FFF) — also known as fused deposition modeling (FDM) — and laser powder bed fusion processes, which includes selective laser sintering (SLS), but content on other technologies will be added in subsequent releases.

“This volume will enable companies and organizations to design with these materials and understand the type of material and process controls they need to have in place for aviation-grade parts,” says Lovingfoss. “This type of data isn’t out in the industry right now. Many groups have done their own development work, but that data is typically held as proprietary. CMH-17 Volume 7 will offer a single accessible repository, so that you don’t have to piecemeal data from 10 or 20 different reports, which will support wider use of these materials in certified components.”

CMH-17 Volume 7 will include material property data on (top left, clockwise) unreinforced Ultem 9085, microfiber-reinforced Antero 840CN03, chopped fiber-reinforced HexPEKK-100 and continuous fiber materials from Markforged. Source | Stratasys, Hexcel, Markforged

Materials being reviewed by the Data Review Working Group include filaments made from neat polymer and also with chopped/milled fiber. For example, Stratasys’ (Eden Prairie, Minn., U.S.) Ultem 9085 neat PEI will be included as well as its Antero 800 unreinforced PEKK and 840CN03 microfiber PEKK materials. Hexcel’s (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) HexPEKK-100 reinforced with finely chopped/milled carbon fiber for SLS will also be included. Markforged (Waltham, Mass., U.S.) has also submitted a data set for continuous fiber-reinforced filament.

Volume 7 will also contain a lot of discussion about key topics, says Lovingfoss. “There will be introductory discussions about different AM processes and also about testing and statistical analysis for AM materials, specifically looking at sources of variation. The Guidelines Working Group and Material and Processes Working Group will also add to a more generic baseline of information for people that want to explore using polymer AM in their next aviation product, including information to understand the steps involved in certification.”

Revisions in Volumes 3, 5, 2 and 6

Volume 3 is going into revision H and is available for purchase now from the CMH-17 Publisher, SAE International. This will include significant updates on bond processing, design and analysis, certification steps for bond processes, bolted joint design and analysis, durability and damage tolerance and supportability of bonded and bolt repairs, as well as integrated crashworthiness and some structural engineering technology discussions. It also includes new chapters for spacecraft and engine applications.

Source | CMH-17

Volume 5 revision B, scheduled for release in early 2026, will focus on CMC. Revision B includes the first CMH-17 published CMC data set on oxide fiber-reinforced oxide matrix — also known as Ox/Ox composites or OCMC. This revision will also include fiber material property testing, design considerations, creep testing of CMC and new content based on selected environmental barrier coatings (EBC).

Even though there is quite a bit of carbon/carbon CMC and silicon carbide (SiC) CMC testing going on in the industry, notes Lovingfoss, “most of that is not publicly available. If there is such data that is publicly available, then we would encourage companies to reach out to us.”

Volume 2 revision J, planned for release in summer 2026, will include new datasets and updated definitions. “The gist of this revision is adding more materials to this volume on Polymer Matrix Composite Materials Properties,” says Lovingfoss. “Most of this data is based on prepreg laminates, including woven and unidirectional reinforcements, but these may be produced using hand layup, automated fiber placement [AFP] or press consolidation. There is also some data on thermoplastic composite laminates made from semi-preg, which is also known as organosheet, and is in a sheet form instead of on a roll.”

The last release will be Volume 6 on Structural Sandwich Composites, he continues, “where we are reviewing composites made with core materials. There was some debate about which volume this belongs in, but it was decided that the Sandwich Structures Working Group would review this data at a minimum. The first data sets being vetted are for Nomex honeycomb core, but we will also include data on metal hexagonal honeycomb and corrugated core, as well as foam core to match the information in Volume 6. Data for all of the CMH-17 volumes must meet pedigree requirements to be considered.”

Teresa Vohsen, part of the CMH-17 Secretariat Team at NIAR, adds that for nonmetallic honeycomb, the working group is including hexagonal core (hex core) and also flex core — which has cells shaped to make the honeycomb more easily formed into compound curves. “This revision for Volume 6 will be a large overhaul, with information added about structural design as well, so it will probably double in size,” she notes.

Capturing knowledge, growing composites applications

“There are a lot of exciting things happening in CMH-17 — a lot of growth and change, as well as a fast publication cadence,” says Vohsen. “We've got two books coming out this year, two books next year and at least one in 2027. We’re filling a really important gap in the aerospace industry. A large chunk of engineers are retiring or preparing for retirement, which means there’s a lot of knowledge that is going to be missing when they leave. CMH-17 helps capture that knowledge.”

Vohsen explains that as a young engineer, she used CMH-17 to help ask more educated questions. “This role in industry is important, and as knowledge transfer needs continue to grow, I think people need to understand how CMH-17 is able to help companies and their engineers by giving them the opportunity to know these best practices that took 20-30 years to develop, and also that we’re updating that content and growing into the latest materials that will be used to support the future of aviation.”

Getting involved 

CMH-17 is a growing organization that is free to join. There is an upcoming virtual Coordination Meeting and information can be found on the CMH-17 website. The organization, which includes subject matter experts from certifying agencies, government, academia and industry, works together and collaborates to continue growth of the team-driven handbook content and to foster a thriving network of industry experts.  

Source | (top left, clockwise) Cummins, AMSL Aero Pty Ltd, Hexagon Purus, AZL Aachen

Pressure vessels have been a strong market for composites, driven historically by steady growth in compressed natural gas (CNG) for clean energy, including Type 3 (metal liner) and Type 4 (plastic liner) tanks in CNG vehicles and Type 4 mobile pipelines for industrial transport. Composite pressure vessels are also used onboard space vehicles to store cryogenic fuel for rocket propulsion and gases for other systems.

All of these systems typically use carbon fiber and traditionally relied on epoxy resins, but new designs are being developed with a thermoplastic polymer matrix.

The use of Type 4 tanks to store pressurized hydrogen (H₂) grew dramatically during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as this zero-emission fuel for industry and transport was added to the mix of technologies needed to keep global temperature rise below 2°C. (See CW’s 2024 market summary.)

However, beginning Q1 2025, the Trump administration reversed U.S. climate and clean energy policy, prioritizing fossil fuels. The H₂ market has been further weakened by tariff-induced global economic uncertainty while European governments have diverted billions away from climate aid commitments to defense. AI is also a factor, drawing away billions in investment capital but also rapidly ramping its demand for immediate access to huge amounts of power, setting back the transition to clean energy.

Even though the H₂ economy has been dealt a severe blow, efforts are still ongoing, especially in Europe and Asia, where strategic and financial incentives exist for countries who have abundant clean power for producing H₂, for those who don’t have oil and gas and also for those still prioritizing saving the planet. Meanwhile, composite Type 4 tanks continue to be used for CNG and renewable natural gas (RNG), which is a carbon-negative fuel, as well as to enable the rapid rise in New Space, where more tanks will be needed for the projected growth in launch vehicles and extraterrestrial operations.

Tanks for space

Rocket launches are projected to increase from a record 258 in 2024 to as many as 2,000/year by 2030. This increase is driven by satellite deployment and replacement, cislunar operations (between the Earth and the Moon), Mars exploration and space tourism as well as in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing. Type 4 and composite-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs), which have traditionally used an aluminum liner, may be used to store fuel for propulsion but also gases for life support and other systems.

SSLC develops composite Type 5 tanks as primary structure for space launch vehicles. Source | SSLC

Proven since the 1980s, Type 5 composite pressure vessels without a liner are gaining traction. A notable example is the use of such Type 5 cryogenic propulsion tanks onboard Intuitive Machine’s (IM, Houston, Texas, U.S.) Nova-C lunar lander. All-composite Pressurmaxx liquid methane and liquid oxygen tanks made by Scorpius Space Launch Co. (SSLC, Torrance, Calif., U.S.) were used on the successful IM-1 and IM-2 lunar missions (read “Type V pressure vessel enables lunar lander”). SSLC has built 150-200 tanks over 15 years. A 2025 CW Talks podcast interviews Markus Rufer from SSLC, discussing the company’s aims to integrate tanks into the spacecraft structure, reducing parts and weight.

Dawn Aerospace works with Com&Sens to develop composite-overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) with embedded sensors toward qualified 30-liter tanks by 2025. Source | Dawn Aerospace

Meanwhile, space company Dawn Aerospace (ChristChurch, New Zealand), builder of the Mk-II Aurora spaceplane with a primary composite structure, is expanding its satellite propulsion system offerings by partnering with Com&Sens (Eke, Belgium) to work on smart COPVs through a development contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems’ (ARTES) Core Competitiveness program. Dawn designs and manufactures 30-liter tanks with an aluminum liner overwrapped in carbon fiber and epoxy. Com&Sens is collaborating with semi-automated sensor embedding during filament winding to digitize production and testing parameters using embedded strain and temperature FBG optical fiber sensors. “Using smart technology during the development allows us to bring a better product to market, faster,” says Stefan Powell, CEO of Dawn Aerospace. These tanks will be capable of supporting large satellite systems and geosynchronous orbit (GEO) missions (read “Dawn Aerospace … develops smart COPVs”).

Note, Com&Sens has provided hands-on training workshops on using fiber optic sensing for digital manufacturing of composite pressure vessels. See “Com&Sens presents workshop on fiber optic sensing for COPVs.”

Rocket manufacturing company Reaction Dynamics (RDX, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada) is working to advance its 18-meter Aurora orbital launch vehicle which features a booster stage with several carbon fiber composite tanks designed in-house to store liquid oxidizer. The company was awarded $1.5 million from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) with $1 million directed to optimizing the mass of large composite propellant tanks. Critical for improving Aurora’s launch capabilities, this project builds on RDX’s expertise in composite pressure vessels as it moves toward a full-scale demonstration. The company says that its goal is to maximize Aurora’s payload capacity, with a spaceflight demo planned for 2025.

One notable player in Type 5 tanks for spacecraft was awarded funding in January 2025 to advance Type 4 tanks for H₂ storage in vehicles on Earth. Infinite Composites Inc. (Tulsa, Okla., U.S.) announced a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.) to advance 700-bar storage tanks with the following innovations:

• Development of integral gas barrier materials to replace permeation barrier layers.
• Application of novel, high-aspect ratio 2D nanofiller-based barrier coatings.
• Use of additive manufacturing techniques to aid tank production.

Continued sales in CNG/RNG

Truck powered by Cummins X15N natural gas engine. Source | Cummins

Reports from Hexagon Agility (Costa Mesa, Calif., U.S.) and its parent company Hexagon Composites (Ålesund, Norway) have shown continued sales in RNG/CNG fuel systems using Type 4 pressure vessels. A new wave of orders in late 2024 totaling $4.3 million was driven by sales of Cummins’ (Columbus, Ind., U.S.) X15N natural gas engine, designed specifically for the North American heavy-duty commercial truck market. At the end of April 2025, Daimler Truck North America joined Kenworth and Peterbilt as the leading Class 8 truck OEMs to offer X15N engine options. Additional orders based on the X15N engine were announced for 60 trucks in July 2025 and for 100 heavy-duty trucks to be operated by Trayecto, said to be the largest trucking company in Mexico, in August 2025.

Unfortunately, the freight industry has been experiencing a sustained downturn since mid-2022. As described by an American Trucking Association (ATA) economist in a series of reports by WEX, trucking companies are facing impacts from tariffs, inflation and an uncertain consumer market. Tariffs are driving up prices in materials and slowing manufacturing, which has cut demand and freight volume. Meanwhile, costs for fuel, operations and maintenance are increasing. However, movements toward cleaner energy, like with the X15N engine, are seen as a positive dynamic.

Hexagon Agility Titan Mobile Pipeline module. Source | Hexagon Agility

This dynamic has also helped Hexagon Agility sell CFRP tank-based Mobile Pipeline units. A U.S. oilfield services company is using Titan 450 modules to transition its fleet of well completion equipment from diesel fuel to natural gas while Watani, the country of Jordan’s National Advanced Natural Gas Company, will use ADR X-Store 45-foot modules for flexibility and efficiency to supply both industrial zones and remote communities alike.

Also in 2025, Hexagon Composites fully acquired the alternative fuels subsidiary of Worthington Enterprises known as Sustainable Energy Solutions (SES). Now renamed SES Composites, the business manufactures composite cylinders and systems in Słupsk, Poland, and operates a valve assembly facility in Burscheid, Germany. “This acquisition brings complimentary capabilities to our portfolio and can realize further synergies across our production and supply chain,” says Phillip Schramm, CEO of Hexagon Composites. “As recognized by European OEMs, natural gas, whether renewable or conventional, will remain a key part of the European energy transition for the foreseeable future, and this acquisition strengthens our position as a trusted partner to OEMs in the commercial transportation sector.”

Source | Hexagon Digital Wave

Another key subsidiary of Hexagon Composites is Hexagon Digital Wave (Centennial, Colo., U.S.), which uses proprietary modal acoustic emission (MAE) technology to perform in situ requalification of metal and composite pressure vessels and virtual pipeline trailers. In 2025, it announced a long-term agreement (LTA) to provide exclusive requalification services to a U.S. oil services company’s fleet of virtual pipeline trailers with composite cylinders. Such requalification is required every 5 years for pipeline trailers.

Green H₂ markets: China will lead, U.S. will lag

Source | Clean Hydrogen Partnership

Europe is still pushing forward, albeit at a slower pace. Citing economic and political pressures, many projects have slowed or delayed while others have been canceled. However, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership announced 26 new projects in 2025 to accelerate the development and deployment of H₂ technologies across Europe. Meanwhile, China is set to dominate the global market for green hydrogen. According to S&P Global (New York, N.Y., U.S.), Chinese electrolyzer development has surged in 2025, with manufacturers signing contracts with green hydrogen projects in Europe, the Middle East, Brazil and the U.S.

The U.S., however, will now lag behind. The Trump administration has delayed loans for clean H₂ projects and canceled grants for industrial producers seeking to reduce their emissions. Due to this and canceled tax credits, estimates for U.S. electrolyzer installations have been cut by more than 60%.

India prepares to launch its first H₂-powered train. Source | X post by @AshwiniVaishnaw, minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology, Government of Bharat, India

Meanwhile, the Indian government aligns with China in seeing clean energy as a growth strategy, with goals to install 500 gigawatts of non-fossil electricity capacity by 2030, become an energy-independent nation by 2047 and attain net zero by 2070. As part of this, it has established a National Green Hydrogen Mission that aims to make India a “global hub” for using, producing and exporting green H₂. The country launched its first green H₂ hub in January 2025 and is preparing to launch its first H₂-powered train, manufactured by Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.

China is also launching H₂-powered rail. In September 2024, CRRC Corp. Ltd. (Beijing, China) announced two product launches, the Cinova H₂, a new energy intelligent intercity train, and the autonomous rail rapid transit (ART) 2.0. Images and video released of the new train show standard roof-mounted units for housing H₂ storage tanks. Cinova H_₂ offers advancements in speed, passenger capacity and range, offering a transportation option that can be used on non-electrified railways worldwide. The ART 2.0, which will reportedly also use H₂, is designed for medium-to-low passenger volumes, blending the benefits of trams and road-based vehicles to meet urban transport needs.

Type 4 tanks for H₂ vehicles

As reported by Hydrogen Insight, 4,102 H₂ fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) were registered worldwide in H1 2025, a 27.2% decline year on year. Even China, which is currently the largest market for FCEVs, saw 2,040 units sold, an 18.4% decline versus 2024. In a separate report, the news outlet notes vehicle OEM Stellantis has exited the FCEV market.

 

A Honda associate at the Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio, sub-assembles the hydrogen tanks for the all-new 2025 CR-V e:FCEV. Source | Honda  

Even so, certain vehicle OEMs remain committed to H₂ models. In 2024, Honda (Tokyo, Japan) started production of its 2025 Honda CR-V e:FCEV at its Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio, U.S. The compact CUV will use two Type 4 H₂ storage tanks. In February 2025, the company released specifications for the Honda Next Generation Fuel Cell Module, which slashes production cost by 50%, increases durability by >200% while reducing size thanks to a three times increase in volumetric power density for more flexible layouts in the CR-V and potentially other vehicles.

Also in 2024, BMW Group (Munich, Germany) and Toyota Motor Corp. (Tokyo, Japan) announced they would launch a series production FCEV in 2028. The model will use composite pressure vessels for H₂ storage. In a September 2025 report by Hydrogen Insight, BMW announced that it is on track to start series production of its next-generation fuel cells for passenger cars in its Steyr, Austria, facility with construction for H₂-based drivetrains due to start in May 2026.

In September 2025, Dongfeng Motor Corp. (Wuhan, Hubei), one of the largest Chinese stated-owned automobile manufacturers, said it would build a facility to convert existing vehicles to run on H₂ in the city of Ruzhou in central China. The first vehicle modification line will convert 1,000 trucks and 450 other vehicles to run on H₂ in the first 3 years.

Key H₂ tank manufacturers

Hexagon Purus’ fully automated, Industry 4.0 line for H₂ pressure vessels advances efficiency and versatility in a small footprint for next-gen, sustainable composites production.

Hexagon Purus (Oslo, Norway) remains the leading manufacturer of Type 4 tanks for H₂ storage. CW toured its factory in Kassel, Germany, and reported on its fully automated, Industry 4.0 production line which advances efficiency and versatility in a small footprint for next-gen, sustainable composites production. In December 2024, it announced supply of Type 4 H₂ storage cylinders to New Flyer (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) for the fifth year in a row, including the zero-emission transit bus Xcelsior Charge FC, with cylinders delivered throughout 2025.

Source | Hexagon Purus

Notable announcements in 2025 include a multiyear agreement in March with Stadler (Bussnang, Switzerland), a manufacturer of rail applications, for H₂ fuel storage systems for H₂ rail applications in California. In April, the company received its first order from MCV, a bus manufacturer in the Middle East and Africa, for next-gen H₂ fuel storage systems to be delivered in 2025 for use onboard MCV’s fuel-cell electric buses while CIMC-Hexagon (Shijiazhuang, China), a joint venture company between CIMC Enric Holdings Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) and Hexagon Purus, delivered its first Type 4 high-pressure H₂ cylinders for use in Hexagon Purus’ distribution modules in Europe.

In its report for Q2 2025, revenues are down 63% versus Q2 2024, and yet, order backlog is up 33% versus Q1 2025, totaling 1,056 million Krone, not far off from its 1,242 million Krone backlog in Q1 2024. The company continues to focus on H₂ transit bus and infrastructure applications and has also seen growth in Type 4 tanks for space vehicles as well as industrial gas transport.

In April 2024, Type 4 tank manufacturer NPROXX (Heerlen, Netherlands) completed its move to a larger 10,000-square-meter facility in Alsdorf, Germany, to handle larger orders, streamline operations and potentially accommodate up to five times current production, to 30,000 tanks/year.

Voith HySTech Type 4 hydrogen tank made with towpreg. Source | Voith LinkedIn

Also in April 2024, Voith Group established a separate subsidiary, Voith HySTech GmbH (Garching, Germany), focused on Type 4 tanks made using towpreg, and announced a strategic cooperation with the Chinese Weifu High Technology Group (Wuxi) for research, development, production and application of H₂ storage systems.

Thermoplastic composite pipe and tanks for H₂

Continuous thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) manufactured in lengths up to 1.2 kilometers by Hive Composites improves H₂ distribution performance versus steel pipe. Source | Hive Composites

One notable trend in the development of H₂ storage and transport is the use of thermoplastic composites (TPC) versus the traditional epoxy-based thermoset matrices. In April 2025, CW wrote about Hive Composites’ (Loughborough, U.K.) development of TPC pipes for H₂ distribution which reduce operational and decommissioning emissions by 60-70% versus steel pipes. A multilayer barrier system prevents H₂ permeation while 1.2-kilometer continuous pipe lengths speed installation rates by 40 times, yet the pipes still offer a 30+ year service life, maintaining structural integrity even after rapid decompression events.

Key projects in TPC tank development for H₂ storage include:

• COCOLIH2T aiming for two TPC demonstrators and TRL 4 by 2025;
• OVERLEAF for a TPC LH₂ tank with 40% storage efficiency, 60% less weight and 25% boost in storage capacity (see webinars and 3D printing achievements);
• LeiWaCo (2022-2025) for economic series production of TPC LH₂ tanks;
• THOR, completed in 2022, for industrialized production of Type 4.5 TPC tanks;
• Efforts at the National Composites Centre in the U.K. and the Netherlands LH₂ composite tank consortium.

Source | TU Dresden-ILK, BRYSON project, APUS Zero Emission

Another key project is BRYSON (2020-2023). In late 2024, CW wrote about this project’s achievements, including automated TPC tube production and investigation into permeability, noting that EVOH provides 25 times better barrier properties versus PA6. In addition to potentially enabling H₂ storage that fits into EV battery compartments, this concept could also be applied to narrow tanks housed in aircraft wings.

CW also updated readers on the Netherlands liquid hydrogen (LH₂) composite tank consortium, which aims to validate a fully composite long-life tank for civil aviation by 2025 and won the Best Poster Award at the 7^th International Conference and Exhibition on Thermoplastic Composites (ITHEC, Oct. 9-10, Bremen, Germany). The consortium is working with Cetex TC1225 UD tape prepreg comprising carbon fiber and LMPAEK polymer (supplied by Victrex, Clevelys, U.K.). Key topics include tape quality monitoring, continuous ultrasonic welding and induction welding, fiber steering, composite baffles and sensors. (Read “Development of a composite liquid hydrogen tanks for commercial aircraft.”)

AZL CAD design and CAE analysis examples for Type 4 H₂ pressure vessels, including an example of a winding scheme and relative weight results for different pressure vessel designs. Source | AZL Aachen GmbH

In July 2025, AZL Aachen GmbH (Aachen, Germany) also launched a project to rethink pressure vessel design and production in alignment with TPC materials and manufacturing. “Thermoplastic Pressure Vessel Production – Benchmarking of Design-for-Manufacturing Strategies to Optimize Material Efficiency and Cost” will analyze current technologies, develop new design concepts for H₂ and CNG storage tanks and benchmark resulting configurations in terms of weight, cost, recyclability and production KPIs. AZL also announced successful completion of its 12-month R&D project entitled “Trends & Design Factors for Hydrogen Pressure Vessels.”

The ROAD TRHYP project, started in January 2023, has successfully designed a TPC Type 5 cylinder with gravimetric capacity higher than 7%. Supported by the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, the project will conclude in June 2026.

Conformable tanks

Multicell integral H₂ storage tank being developed in the Czech Republic. Source | CompoTech

BRYSON is one approach to developing conformable tanks with flexibility for fit into tight vehicle spaces, but CW has reported on others over the past year, including:

• The Czech project “Composite integral fuel tank for pressurised hydrogen” composite multicell integral tank being developed in the Czech Republic for aviation
  including winding specialist CompoTech PLUS; 
• Polar Technology’s (Eynsham, Oxfordshire, U.K.) “Hydrogen in a Box” development;
• Noble Gas Systems (Wixom, Mich., U.S.), which has received an Approval in Principle (AiP) certificate for its dry fiber conformable H₂ storage vessel from DNV (Bærum, Norway) and raised $4.2 million in Series B funding.

Aviation industry’s drive for tanks

Another blow to the developing H₂ economy this year was Airbus’ announcement that it will push back its original 2035 entry-into-service objectives for the H₂-powered ZEROe passenger aircraft by up to 10 years. Although it remains committed to bringing a commercially viable, fully electric H₂-powered aircraft to market, Airbus explained, development of the necessary infrastructure and ecosystem are not yet on pace to support full-scale operations of such aircraft.

And yet, the 2025 Paris Air Show featured multiple announcements regarding H₂ developments, including:

• Airbus, MTU Aero Engines to advance H₂ fuel cell technology.
  A memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MTU Aero Engines (Munich, Germany) will progress H₂ fuel cell propulsion to decarbonize aviation.
• GKN Aerospace supports Airbus-led ICEFlight program.
  GKN Aerospace (Redditch, U.K.) has joined the collaborative Innovative Cryogenic Electric Flight (ICEFlight) project. Led by Airbus, the consortium will collectively explore the use of liquid hydrogen (LH₂) as a fuel source as well as a cold source for the electrical system cooling.

Fabrum’s onboard LH₂ storage uses a metal shell for ground-based vehicles and all-composite construction for aviation. Source | Fabrum

CW also reported on the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) first international workshop on the challenges and future processes for certifying aircraft powered by H₂, with the aim of developing a certification approach that has the support of the entire community. More recently, AMSL Aero (Sydney, Australia) has received funding from the Australian federal government to develop and demonstrate LH₂-powered aircraft for regional and remote Australia using its Vertiia eVTOL aircraft, which comprises an electric motor with a battery, a H₂ fuel cell and a composite tank, developed with Fabrum (Christchurch, New Zealand).

Meanwhile, ZeroAvia (Everett, Wash., U.S.) continues to progress toward certification of its ZA600 H₂-electric powertrain. Although it has tested cryogenic tanks for LH₂, it hasn’t confirmed these will use composites. However, in my 2022 interview with Val Miftakhov, founder and CEO of ZeroAvia, he did see the future for composites in this application:

“We see the most promising approach is using composite tanks and we are working with a couple of partners on that already. We want to see H₂ aircraft flying as far as jet fuel aircraft, possibly in 10-20 years, and I think cryogenic tanks using lightweight composites will be key to that.”  

In March 2025, the company announced its selection by AFWERX for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to conduct a feasibility study focused on integrating H₂ propulsion into Cessna Caravan aircraft alongside advanced aircraft automation technology. “This feasibility study will provide greater insight into how H₂ fuel cell propulsion can reduce detectability and costs of air operations, enhance capability of autonomous air vehicles and de-risk fuel supply in forward operating environments,” says Miftakhov. The company believes H₂ fuel cells are a promising technology to improve the range, duration and turnaround time for a variety of electric unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

Cavorite X7 eVTOL. Source | Horizon Aircraft, ZeroAvia

This was followed in July 2025 with ZeroAvia’s announcement that it would work with New Horizon Aircraft Ltd. (Toronto, Canada) to develop regional H₂ eVTOL air travel, exploring ZeroAvia’s ZA600 H₂-electric powertrain for Horizon Aircraft’s Cavorite X7 eVTOL (CW has reported extensively on the ZA600, see “ZeroAvia advances to certify ZA600 in 2025...” and “ZeroAvia receives FAA G-1...”). The partnership will also accelerate research into the necessary infrastructure and certification guidelines for a zero-emission pathway for Horizon Aircraft. “More and more eVTOL companies are looking to H₂-electric propulsion as the breakthrough that can extend range potential and durability of electric propulsion systems,” explains Miftakhov.

In August 2025, ZeroAvia announced it had progressed from milestone G-1 to P-1 toward FAA certification of the ZA600 and is also advancing toward certifying the company’s first fully H₂-electric powertrain with the UK Civil Aviation Authority. ZeroAvia launched a component offering in May 2024 to serve potential applications including battery, hybrid and fuel cell electric fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft and UAVs. ZeroAvia’s complete ZA600 H₂-electric powertrain is designed for up to 20-seat commercial aircraft.

Cryo-compressed H₂

Cryogas tank provides high-density storage of cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH₂) using an inner tank wrapped with carbon fiber/epoxy towpreg. Source | Cryomotive

A promising alternative to LH₂ that already uses a composite inner tank is cryo-compressed H₂ (CcH₂). In July 2024, Cryomotive (Pfeffenhausen, Germany) announced that its CcH₂ storage system for heavy trucks was beginning on-road demonstrations. The Cryogas system features a 400-bar Type 3 inner tank — aluminum liner wrapped with carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin via towpreg, which Cryomotive says provides higher repeatability and faster winding speeds for more cost-effective mass production.

A single tank system stores 38 kilograms of CcH₂ and has successfully passed hydraulic burst and cycle testing. Cryomotive offers two frame-mounted tanks to store 76 kilograms, or 3-4 vessels, in a rack storing up to 150 kilograms of CcH₂. A system cost of €500/kilogram is possible at a production volume of 1,000 tanks/year.

Verne’s frame mounted CcH₂ system for heavy-duty trucks (top) and collaboration with ZeroAvia to explore CcH₂ systems for aircraft. Source | Verne

Meanwhile, Verne (San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) successfully demonstrated its first CcH₂ truck in southern California in late 2024. Verne reports its composite CcH₂ technology provides 33% greater storage density versus LH₂ and 87% greater density than traditional 700-bar compressed H₂ gas. Additionally, CcH₂ reportedly offers lower densification costs and less H₂ boil-off losses relative to LH₂. The company also signed an MOU with ZeroAvia to jointly evaluate the opportunities for using CcH₂ onboard H₂-powered aircraft

However, with the sharp decline in clean transportation funding in the U.S., Verne has now pivoted to using its technology to offer H₂ and clean CNG solutions to help companies with reliable access to decentralized power for industry and applications like data centers for AI.

New tank manufacturers and products

Companies that have reported new developments in composite tanks over the past year include:

• B&T Composites
• Gas Vessel Production
• Konvegas
• Pressura
• Quantum Fuel Systems.

Source | Graphmatech

New materials announced for composite pressure vessels include Tenax IMS65 E23 36K 1630tex, the first 36K carbon fiber by Teijin Carbon (Wuppertal, Germany). This high-tensile, intermediate modulus (IM) fiber reportedly enables high-speed filament winding and improved spreadability for producing prepreg tape. Meanwhile, startup Graphmatech (Uppsala, Sweden) secured a €2.5 million EU grant to develop a pilot facility in Uppsala for its polymer-graphene H₂ storage lining technology, aiming to reduce potential leakage by 83%.

Type 5 pressure vessel for H₂ at BTU. Source | Mikrosam

New processes include winding, dome reinforcements and recycling. Engineering Technology Corp. (ETC, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.) has showcased its latest systems featuring high-speed filament winding, automation and integrated robotics as well as towpreg and slit tape winding. Mikrosam (Prilep, Macedonia) delivered a system to BTU in Germany enabling increased precision in automated composite layup of Type 5 H₂ pressure vessels, while Magnum Venus Products (MVP, Knoxville, Tenn., U.S.) has highlighted developments in four-axis filament winding for wet winding and prepreg applications and Roth Composite Machinery GmbH (Steffenberg, Germany) has developed an innovative automation concept for reliable fiber changing, as well as its winding software µRoWin for increased efficiency.

Cevotec (Munich, Germany) commissioned its Samba Pro PV system at the National Composites Center Japan (NCC Japan, Nagoya) for developing lightweight, sustainable composite tanks with increased storage volume. The systems based on fiber patch placement (FPP) technology will aid with production of dome reinforcements for H₂ pressure vessels, enabling reduced weight, cost and environmental footprint of composite tanks. Cevotec’s dome reinforcement solution won the 2024 CAMX Combined Strength Award and was further showcased at CAMX 2025.

Meanwhile, Cygnet Texkimp (Northwich, U.K.) partnered with H₂ powertrain solutions developer Viritech (Nuneaton, Warwickshire, U.K.) to recover high-value, continuous carbon fiber from pressure vessels as part of a strategy to improve circularity in the manufacture of filament-wound parts.

Source | CIKONI

There are also an array of developments in software and sensors. Composites engineering firm CIKONI (Stuttgart, Germany) has worked for more than a decade on projects to optimize composite pressure vessel designs, including work with Cevotec using dome reinforcements to optimize layup and achieve a 15% reduction in carbon fiber use while maintaining equivalent mechanical properties, enabling reduced wall thickness for 17% more usable storage capacity. CW reported on its advances in “Using multidisciplinary simulation, real-time process monitoring to improve composite pressure vessels.”

CW has also reported on Taniq (Rotterdam, Netherlands), which has been globally supplying robotic filament winding equipment since 2007, and released its TaniqWind Pro software in 2022. See its JEC 2025 highlights: “Spin-off shares expertise in filament winding software, robotics.”

Finally, Touch Sensity (Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France) has developed a technology solution for structural health monitoring (SHM) of composite H₂ pressure vessels (Type 3 and 4), enabling real-time monitoring of damages, bending detection and localization to ensure safety, durability and predictive maintenance. Its SensityTech detects and locates real-time variations in material properties, providing fast and reliable information on tank integrity as well as remaining lifetime for potential reuse in new vehicles.

Source of aircraft fuel efficiency. Source (All Images) | Counterpoint Market Intelligence

Counterpoint Market Intelligence (Chesterford, U.K.), an aerospace market research consultancy, recently released a white paper entitled “The Crucial Role of Composites in Next-Generation Aircraft Design.” This in-depth report explores how advanced composite materials are transforming the aerospace industry by enabling long and thin wings, lighter airframes and significant fuel savings. Counterpoint has written the article in collaboration with Hexcel Corp. (Stamford, Conn., U.S.).

According to ICAO forecasts, air travel is predicted to grow about 4% annually through 2050. Innovations, such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or alternative propulsion technology, can assist in getting the industry to net zero. However high costs associate with supply chain development and technology’s long timeline may present a challenge for the industry. Therefore, reducing the amount of fuel consumed in the first place using existing technologies is a critical step.

So, what are the key advantages of composite use? Historically, aircraft manufacturers have improved fuel efficiency (in terms of fuel per passenger-mile) through four major levers: improved engine technology, higher density of seats and passengers, aerodynamic improvements and reducing structural weight. The use of composites is a key enabler in three of them. Although engine technology has been a key driver of efficiency in the past, Counterpoint believes that structural weight and aerodynamics will play a pivotal role in future designs as pushing the boundaries with engine technology becomes more difficult.

Composites can assist aircraft designers in reducing fuel burn through two primary mechanisms: lowering the weight of the aircraft and optimizing the wing design. This white paper discusses how the distinctive properties of composites enable aerodynamic designs that are not feasible with metallic materials. More than just being lightweight, these aerodynamic efficiencies drive large reductions in drag and resulting fuel consumption.

These advanced materials are already in widespread use in modern aircraft designs, but the untapped opportunity for composite materials remains large. In the chart at right, each stacked represents the empty weight of one aircraft, and the number of bars represents the number of aircraft produced each month based on manufacturer forecasts. Boeing and Airbus’ current single-aisle aircraft have the highest production rates in the industry. Current generation designs use relatively little composite materials, and next-generation designs have the opportunity to use significantly more composite materials.

The full white paper expands on each of these points, providing examples and data quantify the effects of composites in aircraft design.

The white paper can be downloaded here.

CFRP outer tank cap, part of composite dewar construction for cyrogenic liquid hydrogen storage. Source | © DLR. Alle Rechte vorbehalten

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute for Lightweight Systems (Braunschweig), together with INVENT GmbH (Braunschweig, Germany), has developed a 1.9-meter-diameter carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) cylindrical tank component for storing liquid hydrogen (LH₂) for zero-emission propulsion. DLR reports using LH₂ as an energy carrier for short-haul aircraft will become a reality by 2040. For this to succeed, lightweight tanks are needed that can be produced safely, easily and efficiently.

Source | © DLR. Alle Rechte vorbehalten

The 1.9-meter CFRP structure is the shorter of two segments comprising an outer tank for a dewar construction with vacuum between the inner and outer tanks, standard in cryogenic storage. It was reportedly made using materials and processes already approved for aviation, including DLR-SY’s autoclave infusion process.

It was presented for the first time at the Hydrogen Technology World Expo 2025 (Oct. 20-22, Hamburg, Germany).

DLR-SY develops and tests new systems technologies based on lightweight materials, structures and functional integration for resource-efficient and climate-friendly structures in aerospace, transport and the energy and security sectors. As part of its work in the German-funded LUFO UpLift project, this first full-scale test structure was produced using DLR-SY’s autoclave infusion process — considered an innovative approach for producing large-scale CFRP tanks.

Source | © DLR. Alle Rechte vorbehalten

The LH₂ tank must withstand cryogenic temperatures of -253°C, a pressure between 2 and 10 bar and must also provide lightweight yet robust leak-tight storage to meet the requirements of commercial aircraft. Aircraft with 100 seats and a 1,000-nautical mile range are the first target for such composite tank developments. The UpLift ground test facility enables testing of full-scale composite tank components and under realistic operational conditions for this segment of future short-haul aircraft.

This development, titled “Lightweight liquid hydrogen tanks for sustainable aviation,” is one of six finalists for the Lower Saxony Innovation Award 2025 in the Key Technologies category. Possible applications are said to include cryogenic space tanks — particularly in the upper stage for the Ariane launch vehicle — and as LH₂ or ammonia storage tanks in the maritime sector. The experience gained in the manufacture of large, thin-walled, low-pressure vessels could also be beneficial toward further advancing high-rate production of future aircraft fuselages and other large components such as pressure bulkheads or rudder shells.

Source | Embraer 

In a bold step toward India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, Embraer Defense & Security (Jacksonville, Fla., U.S.) and Mahindra Group (New Delhi, India), have signed a landmark strategic cooperation agreement (SCA) to advance the C-390 Millennium for the Indian Air Force’s Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) program. This agreement was inked alongside the inauguration of Embraer’s national office in Aerocity, New Delhi.

The agreement builds upon the memorandum of understanding signed in February 2024 at the Embassy of Brazil in New Delhi, deepening the scope of cooperation to include joint marketing, industrialization and developing India as a hub for the C-390 Millennium. Since the signing, the aircraft has further increased its operator base globally.

Embraer and Mahindra Group will work closely with stakeholders in the country and engage with India’s military and aerospace ecosystem to identify opportunities for local manufacturing, assembly facilities, supply chain and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities. The long-term ambition is to position India as a manufacturing and support hub for the C-390 Millennium aircraft, serving both domestic and regional requirements.

“The agreement is a significant milestone in our relationship with Mahindra Group,” notes Bosco da Costa Junior, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security. “This partnership is more than an aerospace deal — it reflects our commitment to ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and the growing friendship between Brazil and India.”

The C-390 Millennium, a modern military transport aircraft, can carry more payload (26 tons) compared to other medium-sized military transport aircraft and is said to fly faster (470 knots) and farther. It is able to perform a wide range of missions including cargo and troop transport, airdrops, medical evacuation, search and rescue, firefighting and humanitarian operations. It can operate from temporary or unpaved runways. The aircraft can also be configured for air-to-air refueling, both as a tanker and as a receiver.

The current fleet, in operation, has demonstrated a mission completion rate of more than 99%. It has already been selected by air forces in Brazil, Portugal, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, South Korea, Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovakia, Lithuania and an undisclosed customer.

Shot peening provides parts with a beneficial compressive stress layer several thousandths of an inch deep. Source (All Images) Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies

When an aircraft leaves the runway, an invisible battle begins. Tensile stresses — born from aerodynamic loads, cabin-pressurization cycles and corrosive environments — work tirelessly to initiate microscopic cracks. Shot peening flips the script by armoring metal surfaces with a deep layer of compressive residual stress, the most reliable counterforce in fatigue engineering. For more than 80 years Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies (CWST, Paramus, New Jersey) has been on the front line of that battle, and today the process is as critical as ever as commercial, military and space programs push materials closer to their limits.

Shot peening is used for wide array of aerospace parts, including rivets to landing gear bogies, struts and actuators, engine fan blades, structural brackets and wing panels.

How shot peening works

At its core, shot peening is cold hammer forging — millions of tiny spherical media (steel, ceramic, glass or conditioned cut wire) are propelled at controlled velocity and angle so each impact plastically deforms the surface, creating a beneficial compressive stress layer several thousandths of an inch deep. Automated nozzles or turbine wheels meter media flow, air pressure and coverage; Almen strips verify intensity; and closed-loop sensors ensure every parameter stays inside AMS 2430 or customer-specific process windows. The result is a highly repeatable, audit-friendly surface treatment that can be applied to parts ranging in size from rivets to 30-foot wing panels.

Some of the problems that shot peening addresses include:

High-cycle and low-cycle fatigue. Compressive stress delays crack nucleation and slows crack growth, extending safe life by factors of two to 10 in aluminum, titanium, nickel and high-strength steels.

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC). By suppressing the tensile stress required for SCC, shot-peened structures withstand salt fog and humid environments that would otherwise demand heavier alloys or frequent inspections.

Fretting and galling. The dimpled surface created by controlled shot peening supports micro-oil reservoirs and redistributes contact pressure, mitigating material transfer where parts rub or vibrate.

Weight reduction. Designers routinely trade excess wall thickness for the crack-arresting capability of compressive layers, enabling lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) structures.

What are some typical aircraft components where shot peening provides benefits?

Airframe and wing skins. Large-area panels are peened to safeguard against SCC and to prepare surfaces for adhesive bonding or paint.

Landing gear bogies, struts and actuators. High-strength steel components rely on deep compressive layers to survive thousands of takeoff/landing cycles.

Engine fan and compressor blades. Titanium airfoils gain fatigue margins after foreign object damage (FOD) blending.

Fasteners and springs. Small parts benefit from automated rotary table or vibratory peening equipment.

Structural additive manufactured (AM) brackets: Post-build peening removes surface tension left by laser or electron beam melting.

This diagram illustrates how shot peening is used to create an underlying layer of compressive residual stress, the most reliable counterforce in fatigue engineering.

Peen forming: Shaping flight

Shot peening not only adds residual compressive stress to critical aerospace components. Shot peen forming, a related but distinct process, uses the compressive stress induced by controlled shot peening to create a change in the component shape. Gentle curves within the elastic range of the material are regularly formed to consistent tolerances. Varying curvature requirements, material thickness, cutouts, reinforcements and pre-existing distortion can all be processed with shot peen forming. For example, following peen forming, both sides of a wing skin will have compressive stress which offers enhanced fatigue protection on the whole component.

CWST’s relationship with peen forming dates back to the early 1950s, when engineers used the die-less, room temperature method to curve wing skins of long-haul aircraft. Every shot impact stretched the top surface’s elastically while inducing plastic compression underneath, and the imbalance caused the panel to bend predictably toward the peened side. Today, CWST applies peen forming to business jet leading edges, military transport upper wing panels and even integrally stiffened aluminum-lithium skins for next-generation launch vehicles — without heat, dies or spring-back headaches.

Isotropic superfinishing: When smoothness matters

For rotating hardware — gears, bearings and pump impellers — compressive stress alone is not enough; surface roughness drives contact fatigue and micro-pitting. CWST’s Chemically Assisted Surface Enhancement (C.A.S.E) process marries controlled shot peening with vibratory finishing in a mild acid media bath. The chemistry erodes peak asperities while preserving the valley structure generated by peening, producing a mirror-like Ra of 0.05-0.15 micrometer (2-6 microinches). Components exhibit lower friction, cooler running temperatures and double-digit efficiency gains in pre-oiled testing — critical for more electric aircraft powerpacks and geared turbofan transmissions.

Preparing the additive revolution

AM is rewriting the playbook on part consolidation and topology optimization, but laser and electron-beam processes introduce high residual tensile stresses and rough, as-sintered surfaces. Hybrid postprocessing sequences at CWST start with shot peening to neutralize build-in stress and close surface porosity, followed by C.A.S.E. or laser peening for deeper compressive layers on thick AM ribs. The approach has been demonstrated on nickel 718 lattice brackets, slashing fatigue failures during full-scale vibration testing. In parallel, industry trade shows such as RAPID + TCT 2025 highlight automated support removal and finishing cells, signaling a maturing supply chain for serial AM parts.

Robotic shot peening can help ensure repeatability and precision in addition to helping manufactures meet production rate targets. 

Robotic shot peening

Automated robotic shot peening systems bring precision, repeatability and complex motion control to geometries that manual peening simply cannot reach. Robotic arms deliver uniform media coverage, consistent Almen intensity and real-time traceability — essential for high-value components like turbine blades, gear assemblies and AM structures. Modern shot peening booths are more “smart cell” than sandblaster. Multi-axis robots reach complex geometries while barcode-driven recipes upload pressure, flow and coverage data directly to production MES systems. Real-time saturation-curve analytics cut setup time and closed-loop media classifiers sustain tight S-110 or CZB-170 distributions for consistent Almen intensity.

In scenarios where the part is too large to ship — or downtime is not an option — mobile shot peening units are an option. CWST’s Mobile Robotic Shot Peening units are fully self-contained, cleanroom-compatible systems that can be deployed directly at customer facilities. These mobile cells offer aerospace-grade repeatability and NADCAP-accredited processing for large structures like wing spars, bulkheads or critical landing gear assemblies. With no need for shipping logistics or part disassembly, CWST has found that mobile peening saves time, cost and risk.

Looking ahead

As composite-metal hybrids proliferate and hydrogen-ready engines push hotter, higher-pressure cycles, shot peening’s low-energy, environmentally benign footprint stands out. Research underway at multiple universities is combining wet peening with nano-scale ceramic media to further suppress very high-cycle fatigue in titanium alloys — a promising route for thin-wall fan cases and distributed-propulsion rotors. Meanwhile, the FAA’s evolving Damage Tolerance & Durability Advisory Circulars continue to recognize compressive surface treatments as a primary means of keeping legacy fleets airborne safely to 2050 and beyond.

About the Author

 

Angelo Magrone

Angelo Magrone is the business unit manager for the Surface Technologies Division at Curtis-Wright. Contact: cwst.com

Source | Getty Images

On Sept. 26, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA, Washington, D.C., U.S.) said that it will allow limited delegation to Boeing (Arlington, Va., U.S.) for issuing airworthiness certificates — which confirms an aircraft is safe to operate — for some 737 Max and 787 airplanes starting Sept. 29, 2025. 

Safety drives everything the FAA does, and it is confident that this step forward can be performed safely. This decision follows a thorough review of Boeing’s ongoing production quality and will enable the FAA’s inspectors to focus additional surveillance in the production process. The FAA will continue to maintain direct and rigorous oversight of Boeing's production processes. Boeing and the FAA will issue airworthiness certificates on alternating weeks.   

The FAA’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program allows authorized organizations to perform certification functions on behalf of the FAA, such as issuing airworthiness and production certifications for aircraft. In May, the FAA renewed Boeing’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) for 3 years effective June 1, 2025.  

Resuming limited delegation to the Boeing ODA will enable FAA inspectors to provide additional surveillance in the production process. For example, there will be more FAA inspectors observing critical assembly stages, examining trends, ensuring Boeing mechanics are performing work to approved type design and engineering requirements, and assessing all activities for Boeing’s continuous improvement of its Safety Management System (SMS). Inspectors will also observe Boeing’s safety culture, ensuring that Boeing employees can report safety issues without fear of retribution.   

The FAA stopped allowing Boeing to issue airworthiness certificates for 737 Max airplanes in 2019 during its return to service following the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, and for Boeing 787 airplanes in 2022 because of production quality issues. 

Source | Fabrum

A team of New Zealand and Australian companies developing and deploying liquid hydrogen (LH₂) technologies to enable Australasia’s first hydrogen (H₂)-electric flights has made a significant step forward in the transition to zero-emission aviation. They successfully filled composite tanks with LH₂ produced and stored on-site for the first time at an international airport in preparation for pre-flight testing. This team includes:

• Fabrum (Christchurch, New Zealand), developer of zero-emission transition technologies, including composite LH₂ tanks.
• AMSL Aero (Sydney, Australia), developer of the Vertiia H₂-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
• Stralis Aircraft (Brisbane, Australia), developer of high-performance, low-operating-cost H₂-electric propulsion systems.

Fabrum designed and manufactured the advanced composite LH₂ tanks for the aircraft companies AMSL Aero and Stralis Aircraft. The refueling was successfully completed at Fabrum’s dedicated LH₂ test facility at Christchurch Airport, developed in partnership with the airport at its renewable energy precinct.

The companies are demonstrating that LH₂ fuel is a credible alternative for the aviation industry. The testing event highlighted several LH₂ technologies — including Fabrum’s triple-skin onboard tanks, featuring what is reported to be “groundbreaking” composites manufacturing techniques and the culmination of more than 20 years of R&D in cryogenics and composites. Fabrum’s LH₂ tank technology provides enhanced thermal insulation and fast refueling compared to conventional double-skin tank designs — delivering up to 70% faster refueling times and an 80% reduction in boil-off losses.

AMSL Aero will install these tanks on its Vertiia aircraft for long-range flights, enabling it to achieve optimal range, payload and speed. In addition, Stralis Aircraft’s lightweight H₂-electric propulsion system will be powered by LH₂ from Fabrum’s cryogenic tanks, which are mounted on the wings of Stralis’ fixed-wing test aircraft. Stralis expects its H₂-electric propulsion system will enable travel up to 10 times further than battery-electric alternatives and save 20-50% on operational costs compared to fossil fuel. Its first H₂ test flight is expected to take off in Australasia within 6 months.

“Our lightweight composite tanks, together with our H₂ liquefier and refueling systems, are critical enablers for H₂-powered flight,” explains Christopher Boyle, managing director of Fabrum. “By bringing all the elements together for the first time on-site at an international airport — producing, storing and dispensing LH₂ into composite aviation tanks as a fuel — we’re proving that LH₂ technologies for aircraft are now available, and that H₂-electric flight will soon be a reality in Australasia.”

Since its inception, Vertiia was designed to be powered by H₂ for long-range, cargo and passenger operations. “It must be as light as possible to achieve its 1,000-kilometer range, 500-kilogram payload and 300 kilometer/hour cruising speed,” Dr. Adriano Di Pietro, CEO of AMSL Aero, explains. “LH₂ is the lightest zero-emission method of storing energy for long-distance flight; no other technology currently comes close. We often get asked, ‘You are flying Vertiia and are developing an end-to-end H₂ system, but what else needs to happen to make Vertiia fly on LH₂?’ With Fabrum we have demonstrated the key steps in that process: from producing LH₂, to filling our ground transport container, then filling the tanks that we will install to our aircraft before our first LH₂ flights next year. This is a major milestone.”

"It’s fantastic to see more of Fabrum’s H₂ technologies unveiled and tested,” adds Bob Criner, CEO of Stralis Aircraft. “We are working with Fabrum to develop onboard tanks for our fixed-wing test aircraft to supply H₂ to our H₂-electric propulsion system. We’re excited to see Fabrum’s H₂ fuel dispensing systems for these onboard tanks proven out in testing. This is a vital step toward our first LH₂ test flights.”

These H₂ advancements stem from strong industry collaboration aimed at accelerating zero-emission aviation. Fabrum, AMSL Aero and Stralis Aircraft are members of the Hydrogen Flight Alliance in Australia, which is advancing the development of H₂-electric flight. AMSL Aero was recently awarded a grant from the Australian Government Department of Industry, Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) Program for a “Liquid Hydrogen Powered Aircraft for Regional and Remote Australia” project, with Fabrum among the collaborators. Stralis Aircraft and Fabrum have also received support from Ara Ake, New Zealand’s future energy center, to fast-track H₂ technology for Australasia’s LH₂-powered flight.

Inspired by the skin of sharks (top left, clockwise), micrometer-sized riblets are being used to reduce drag for a wide range of surfaces, including the AeroSHARK technology applied by Lufthansa Technik to aircraft fuselages. Source, AeroSHARK | Lufthansa Technik. Source (All Other Images) | Bionic Surface Technologies

A biomimetic technology inspired by the skin structure of sharks, riblets are myriad micrometer-sized “ribs” that when aligned with the direction of flow reduce fluid-dynamic drag by up to 8%, cutting fuel consumption and emissions for aircraft, trains, cars and boats, for example, with corresponding benefits in noise reduction. Up to 8% less fluid friction in pipes improves efficiency in fluid transfer, combustion and other industrial processes. Applied on wind turbine blades and propellers, riblets can increase power output by up to 7% and achieve a significant reduction in power consumption for pumps and compressors.

Riblets can be applied as films, by hand or using automation, and can be laser engraved into surfaces and molding tools.

The study of riblets has increased steadily since the 1980s. Riblets can be straight or curved and applied to 2D or complex 3D surfaces for a wide range of materials including metals, polymers and composites. They can be achieved via films and coatings, directly engraved into a surface using a laser or molded into a surface by machining negative riblets into a molding tool. (Note, riblet-like features are also being added to parts using additive manufacturing as discussed by Additive Manufacturing Media.)

Bionic Surface Technologies (BST, Graz, Austria) was founded in 2008 by two engineering students, Peter Adrian Leitl (CEO/CTO) and Andreas Flanschger (CEO), who began studying and developing riblet technology for industry. The company has since developed advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and physical testing capabilities to design and tailor riblet surfaces per application and now has completed more than 800 projects worldwide.

Applications evolution

The first important project for BST was in 2009, when it applied riblets as a film on an acrobatic aircraft that competed annually in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship. “The pilot was very happy with the performance, and we only removed it after four years because the airplane got new branding,” says Flanschger. “It could have lasted for at least five to six years.” Riblets were used in other such aircraft and BST continued to collect and analyze data on their design and performance.

Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis shows high fluid flow resistance (red, left) eliminated by using riblets (right).

Early applications included carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) in motorsports. Riblets are now being explored for electric vehicles.

 

The second key application was for motorsports. Audi Sport (Neckarsulm, Germany) began with BST wind tunnel testing with riblets film on GT race cars in 2010. “The results were impressive, and for three years we were very successful in motorsports,” says Flanschger. “This was another important step to establish the technology. But we couldn’t talk about the programs publicly. And then in 2013, the use of riblets was banned in many motorsports because they gave such an advantage yet weren’t available to all teams because there were no other suppliers.”

However, in 2014, another key application began via collaboration with aircraft services provider Lufthansa Technik (Hamburg, Germany), which eventually led to its AeroSHARK technology.

AeroSHARK

Although BST is prohibited from discussing AeroSHARK technology in depth, Lufthansa Technik has covered it widely in videos and websites. It is described as a durable film manufactured by BASF Coatings (Münster, Germany) with millions of 50-micrometer-high prism-shaped riblets. Already applied to Boeing 747 and 777 aircraft by six airlines, AeroSHARK has logged 138,000-plus flight hours, saved 7,500-plus metric tons of jet fuel and avoided 26,000-plus metric tons of CO₂ emissions.

“You apply it like you would a decal film or foil,” says Flanschger. Airlines already apply their liveries as a decal, and even though AeroSHARK is significantly more complex, Lufthansa Technik reports that once in service, the cost savings from fuel savings provides a return on investment in just two years.

“In 2022, BST applied tailored riblet film to all surfaces of a business jet — around 80 square meters,” says Flanschger. “Even though this included very complicated shapes, the film was easy to handle and it took two people only 2.5 working days to complete.” He notes BST measured a 9% reduction in fuel consumption — compared to only 1% for the fuselage of large commercial aircraft — but this included riblets also on the small jet’s wings, nacelles and empennage. “We didn’t use them on the rudder or control surfaces because it is not yet fully understood how to optimize riblets for those structures,” he explains. Still, it’s obvious that the fuselage is only the beginning of what is possible.

“The issue if you want to put riblets on the wings and empennage is obtaining certification,” says Flanschger, “because you have additional loads and it’s much more complicated than putting it only on the fuselage.” The testing for certification on wings is also lengthy and expensive. The drag reduction possible also depends on the aircraft. “The reduction in fuel consumption depends on the flight altitude, which determines the air density, and also the flight loads,” says Flanschger. “So, with mid-size commercial aircraft you may reach 4-5% savings.”

An article in Lufthansa’s Innovation Runway series reports Lufthansa Technik is already planning to certify AeroSHARK for other aircraft types and also other surfaces beyond the fuselage. Meanwhile, in addition to its Novaflex AeroSHARK film, BASF has developed a second riblet film, Novaflex BladeUp, for wind turbine blades.

Wind turbine, helicopter rotor blades

 

Riblets can increase the power output of wind turbine blades by up to 5% and have also been used on aircraft engine fan blades and impellers, where they can be laser engraved or molded into blade structures. 

In 2022, BASF Coatings announced it had teamed up with wind turbine maintenance company Omega-Tools GmbH (Ritterhude, Germany) and turbine operator Energiekontor AG (Bremen) to equip the latter’s turbine blades with Novaflex BladeUp film. The company reported that riblets reduce the formation of air turbulence on the blade surface, increasing power output by up to 3% on an initial 1.3-megawatt SWT 1,300 turbine (produced by AN Bonus) in Ilsede, Lower Saxony, Germany. Omega-Tools added that installation of the films can be done without long downtimes for the turbines.

BASF is working to extend Novaflex BladeUp to other wind turbine and blade manufacturers and believes that the riblet film could be integrated into the blade manufacturing process, enabling new wind turbines to generate a higher electricity yield.

Flanschger notes BST has trialed riblets on other blade structures, including rotor blades on helicopters. “There, we saw a massive improvement — more than 5% greater lift for the helicopter. This is especially interesting for forward flight.” Unlike fixed-wing aircraft, a change in forward air speed causes a “dyssmmetry of lift,” where one half the disc of the rotating rotor blades advances into the air flow and the other half moves with it. This increases the airspeed on the advancing side, generating significantly more lift, and decreases it on the retreating side, opening the risk of “retreating blade stall” which can cause the helicopter to roll and pitch uncontrollably. Currently, this issue is addressed by a variety of design and control measures, including letting the blades “flap.” Flanschger estimates riblets could provide an additional tool to improve blade design, “but this is ongoing research for us at the moment.”

Laser engraved and molded riblets

Riblets have also been used on aircraft engine fan blades as well as low-pressure turbine blades and shrouds. Some of this work has been completed by Nikon Corp.’s Advanced Manufacturing Business Unit (Belmont, California). Possible benefits include reducing the amount of bypass air flow required or using current air flow to increase power output and efficiency, reducing fuel consumption and emissions.

Nikon is a key partner for BST, and the companies have been working on this and other projects for more than five years. However, for these structures, riblets are not achieved by applying a film but instead laser processing to create customized riblet patterns on metals, polymers and already-applied films and paints.

Similarly, riblets can be applied to the blades of impellers used in pumps, compressors and turbomachinery. “We have done many projects on pumps, including an ongoing project at the moment, and also with power plants,” says Flanschger. “And here too, riblets are directly lasered into the coating or into the metal. But this is also a technique possible for the composites industry, by engraving the riblets into the mold and then producing a part that is optimized and ready to use.”

This approach has been used for impellers but also has potential for pipes. BST is working with a company in Norway that produces glass fiber-reinforced composite water pipes. “By engraving riblets in the molding tools,” notes Flanschger, “they could produce, for example, an 8-meter-long water pipe with riblets inside.”

Propellers, ships, hydrofoils

BST is also pursuing research on carbon fiber propeller blades for aircraft, where Flanschger believes the benefits would be significant. “We have applied for EU-funded projects and are still looking for partners,” he says. “The application would be to laser engrave negative riblets into the aluminum mold for curing the prepreg or infused laminate and the resulting parts will have the tailored riblets.”

Ship propellers are similarly interesting. In tests on commercial ship propellers, BST has achieved a 3-5% increase in efficiency. “If you calculate this for a large container ship — for example, one of the latest from China that are 400 meters long — this would equate to 200,000 less liters of diesel consumed per year and the corresponding emissions,” says Flanschger.

However, many companies are resistant, believing their expertise in producing  very shiny, super smooth propellers is what demonstrates their quality and expertise. “In reality, we are in a new era that demands new solutions,” he observes. “For example, maritime applications also includes riblets for defense, because if you apply them on submarines, torpedoes and underwater drones you have less noise from the hull and also from the propeller because turbulent flow is reduced.”

CFD is an essential tool to optimize riblets for improving efficiency in a wide range of aerodynamic and fluid dynamic applications, including boat hulls and hydrofoils.

It seems riblets would also be perfect for hydrofoils. “Yes, they have a massive effect on foils,” says Flanschger. “The foil is not really large, yet riblets produce an extremely high efficiency increase compared to the area.” And though they are forbidden for use in sports applications, riblets could boost efficiency for foiling electric boats — including water taxis and ferries — where every bit of performance helps to offset the weight of batteries, for example, further extending vessel payload and/or range.

A key example for these propeller, hull and hydrofoil applications is the regulation starting Jan. 1, 2026, that all tourist ships and ferries under 10,000 gross tons traveling in the West Norwegian Fjords must be zero-emission vessels. This will extend to larger ships on Jan. 1, 2032. Again, a 3-5% increase in efficiency could directly apply to the bottom line for vessels adopting battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and/or biogas to power zero-emission propulsion systems.

CFD analysis, challenges and next-generation riblets

But isn’t the CFD analysis required for such applications very complicated? “Yes, but this is our business, to perform these CFD analyses and help to optimize use of riblets on a wide range of structures,” says Flanschger, noting the CFD tools that BST has developed make the process much easier, including simulation automation and a vast database of designs and results. He also points out that riblets are not magic — they cannot make something that is bad good, “but if there is something good, then riblets can make it the best. This is always how they perform with applications involving aerodynamics and fluid dynamics.”

But Flanschger acknowledges that repair of structures using engraved or molded riblets could pose a challenge. “You need the riblets to remain very precise,” he explains. “For example, they must be in the correct direction and orientation.” He notes this is one advantage of using a film — you can simply repair the part and reapply the film as needed.” Some who have studied riblets on aeroengine nacelles have also noted that if they become dirty, their performance is diminished. “Therefore,” says Flanschger, “material experts play a major role to develop material for riblets which are dirt-repellent.”

Over the last few years, BST CTO Leitl has developed a new generation of patented riblets that promise even higher performance. Where AeroSHARK and other applications have shown up to an 8% drag reduction, with these new riblets, Leitl is targeting 12% with potential for up to 14% drag reduction. “The initial results from testing in 2024 look promising,” says Flanschger, “but much work remains and we are still looking for a commercialization partner.” He notes BST knows many potential partners and discussions are ongoing, “but it’s important to engage with new companies and possibly identify new applications that could really have an impact on the challenges we face in industry and sustainability.”

Originally published in sister publication CompositesWorld. 

About the Author

Ginger Gardiner

Ginger Gardiner is technical editor of CompositesWorld. She has an engineering/materials background and more than 20 years of experience in the composites industry.

Source | GE Aerospace

GE Aerospace (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) and Beta Technologies (South Burlington, Vt., U.S.) have signed a strategic partnership and equity investment agreement, subject to regulatory approval, to accelerate the development of hybrid-electric aviation by combining Beta’s rapid innovation approach with GE Aerospace’s global scale and experience.

Under the new agreement, GE Aerospace and Beta plan to develop a hybrid-electric turbogenerator for advanced air mobility (AAM) applications, including long-range vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, future Beta aircraft and other potential applications. The collaboration brings Beta’s expertise in high-performance, permanent magnet electric generators together with GE Aerospace’s tested turbine, certification and safety expertise for large-scale manufacturing and electrical power systems expertise.

This hybrid solution will tap into existing infrastructure and capabilities, such as GE Aerospace’s CT7 and T700 engines, and is expected to bring significant enhancements in range, payload and speed performance compared to other aircraft in the same segment.

Additionally, GE Aerospace will make an equity investment of $300 million in Beta, subject to regulatory approval, aligned with its commitment to work with key industry players to advance technologies that will support the future of flight. In connection with this partnership, GE Aerospace will also have the right to designate a director to join Beta’s board.

GE Aerospace is advancing a suite of technologies for the future of flight, including integrated hybrid-electric propulsion systems and advanced engine architectures. Multiple milestones have been achieved over the last decade, including a 2016 ground test of an electric motor-driven propeller. In 2022, GE Aerospace completed the first test of a megawatt-class and multi-kilovolt hybrid-electric propulsion system in altitude conditions up to 45,000 feet that simulate single-aisle commercial flight.

Beta itself has built up electric flight distance and hours flown, generating valuable, real-world data. Beta’s aircraft are engineered for all-weather performance and have been tested to operate reliably in a wide range of environmental conditions across the U.S. and Europe. 

H225M helicopter. Source | GKN Aerospace

GKN Aerospace’s business in the Netherlands, GKN Fokker (Hoogeveen), has signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Airbus Helicopters (Marignane, France) during the visit of Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands to Airbus in Toulouse on Oct. 1, 2025.

The Royal visit highlighted the strategic importance of the long-standing relationship between Airbus, the Netherlands and the Dutch aerospace eco-system. The MOU follows the official purchase of 12 H225M helicopters by the Dutch Ministry of Defence and further strengthens the collaboration between GKN Aerospace and Airbus Helicopters. It will advance the development of critical systems like electrical wiring interconnection systems (EWIS) and advanced composites technology for the Airbus H225M Caracal helicopter, creating a steppingstone for broader European defense cooperation and autonomy.

This agreement builds on the MOU signed between Airbus Helicopters and GKN Fokker in 2023. That collaboration laid the foundation for industrial participation in areas including engineering, EWIS design and manufacturing and aerostructures.

Airbus Helicopters and GKN Fokker have a long-standing partnership, notably through joint work on the NH90 program as part of the NHIndustries consortium with Leonardo. 

Heule Precision Tools’ Comp V3 tool is engineered to perform multiple drilling or countersinking operations on uneven surfaces with precision, without marking the workpiece. According to the company, it improves productivity by eliminating the inconsistency associated with manual countersinking and saves significant cycle time. A specialzied, non-rotational contact foot prevents any marking of the workpiece during operation, making it well suited for critical finishes.

The Comp V3 offers fine adjustments to the chamfer depth of 0.0008" (0.02 mm) and a drill depth of up to 2 × D with through-coolant capabilities. It produces clean, precise countersinks in a variety of materials including aluminum, titanium and composites, making it well suited for critical aircraft components like seat rails, floorboards, structural components, aluminum wheels and high-value aluminum castings. It features double compensation technology for precision and finer adjustments; the contact ring compresses as the hole is drilled, and then the contact ring holder compresses after the predetermined countersink depth is reached. This technology enables a variant of part of ±3.75 mm with height increments of +0.02 mm, making it well suited for aerospace applications and others where critical finishes are required.

The Comp V3 tooling includes an adjustment ring, a contact ring holder, a contact ring and the solid carbide step drill. In the first step, the tool head makes contact with the workpiece. As the solid carbide step drill makes the hole, the contact ring moves up. The drill continues working until the preset countersink depth is reached. When the countersink reaches maximum depth, the contact ring holder and contact ring move up together as the drill stays stationary. The drill is then removed, leaving a finished part.

The Comp V3 is spring-loaded and designed to cut a specific countersink size. Once the specific size chamfer is produced, the face of the tool stops rotation while making contact with the part, and the cutter cannot travel further into the part. Using a highly efficient threaded system for quick changes between drill and countersink operations streamlines the workflow. Each Comp V3 tool is tailored to customer specifications to provide easy integration into existing systems.

Hexagon has incorporated the enhanced version of its powerful Porosity & Inclusion analysis (PIA) tool that won an iF Award earlier this year.

Now enhanced with AI, the PIA quickly pinpoints and identifies discrepancies— such as pores and inclusions deep within metal, plastic or composite parts, components or material samples — from early product development stages through final manufacturing.

“This is the first time our tool combines all previous methods into a single, powerful solution, from analysis to reporting,” says Jan Gräser, Product Manager VG Product Line, Manufacturing Intelligence Div. “We’ve completely redesigned the user interface for this feature to make it easier for everyone — from beginners to experts — to employ the PIA to understand their results and conduct even the most complex analyses easily, accurately and efficiently.”

Key features in the Porosity & Inclusion Analysis:

· Intuitive design: All important settings are immediately visible and summarized at a glance, while advanced options are clearly accessible on separate tabs.

· Efficient workflow: Fewer clicks, more overview, maximum control. For the first time, all porosity/inclusion analysis procedures have been brought together in a single solution. This allows for direct access to the core functions and eliminates the need to switch between different dialogs, saving valuable time.

· Easier navigation: The new preview in the analysis dialog combines all key information and makes navigation easier thanks to the interactive minimap that shows the user’s current position in the analysis window.

Source | Hexcel

Hexcel Corp. (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) has announced a significant expansion of its official Americas aerospace distribution network, now including Composites One, GracoRoberts, Heatcon, Krayden and Pacific Coast Composites. This move reflects Hexcel’s commitment to increasing agility and responsiveness across the aerospace sector, particularly for startups and fast-growing segments developing capabilities for unmanned vehicles, eVTOLs, hypersonics, and other defense and space applications.

“Our goal is to be as agile as the markets we serve,” says Lyndon Smith, Hexcel’s president of Americas and global fibers. “Expanding our official distribution network enables us to deliver our aerospace materials through multiple channels, ensuring customers have access to the right products, in the right quantities, at the right time.”

Through this expanded distribution network, Hexcel will deliver its advanced composite materials more efficiently and flexibly. Customers will also benefit from broader geographic coverage, faster turnaround times and improved access to technical support. These distributors bring extensive infrastructure, specialized capabilities such as roll slitting and kitting and robust e-commerce platforms that make it easier for aerospace manufacturers to source the materials they need — whether in large volumes or small, customized quantities.

As a vertically integrated manufacturer, Hexcel controls every stage of its production process — from fiber and resin development to prepreg manufacturing and engineered core solutions. This integration ensures consistent quality, supply chain reliability and technical excellence across its entire product portfolio. 

Source | HondaJet Aircraft Co.

In February 2025, Honda Aircraft Co.’s (Greensboro, N.C., U.S.) began production of the first HondaJet Echelon (previously called the HondaJet 2600 concept) test unit with the start of assembly of the aircraft’s wing structure in Greensboro, North Carolina. The HondaJet Echelon, planned to achieve first flight in 2026, will feature a larger cabin with increased passenger capacity and range over previous HondaJet models, bringing the award-winning design features of the HondaJet to a new segment of the aviation market.

In June 2023, Honda Aircraft announced Spirit AeroSystem’s (Wichita, Kan., U.S.) expanded role in developing the aircraft’s build-to-print composite fuselage and a composite bonded frame. Honda Aircraft’s production department began introducing specialized assembly lines early in 2024, with tooling installation completed at the end of the year. With work on the first major sub-assembly of the Echelon underway, the program has entered its next development phase. The company is producing test articles to facilitate the maturation of the design in support of aircraft certification.

In January 2025, the Honda Aircraft Company Advanced Systems Integration Test Facility (ASITF) held a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the HondaJet Echelon development simulator, which now serves several functions, including a vehicle for system development testing. The development simulator uses data from wind tunnel models of the HondaJet Echelon and real aircraft hardware to predict aircraft performance in operational conditions, enabling engineers to evaluate key aircraft systems prior to the test aircraft taking flight.

“We are excited to see the HondaJet Echelon program gaining momentum,” says Honda Aircraft Co. senior vice president and chief commercial officer Amod Kelkar. “We are proud of the achievements we have made in the last several months, and it is just the beginning. We have a series of additional targets to hit in the coming months, each of which will bring us closer to the actual first flight next year [2026]. Market interest in the HondaJet Echelon grows, with almost 500 letters of intent signed to date, and numbers increasing every month.”

The HondaJet Echelon is planned to become the “first” light jet with a range capable of nonstop transcontinental flight across the U.S., offering 40% better fuel efficiency than some midsize jets. The new aircraft will introduce product features previously unseen in the HondaJet line, while still building on the high performance and operational efficiency of the original HondaJet.

Source | PF

The aerospace industry is entering a transformative era, driven by the post-pandemic rebound of commercial aviation, rapid advancements in defense and space sectors, and the emergence of advanced air mobility (AAM). This diversification demands innovative materials and components, often requiring lightweight structures and advanced materials to meet performance, safety and sustainability goals. Surface finishes, such as thermal sprays and anti-corrosion coatings, protect critical components like airframes, engine parts and landing gear from corrosion, wear and extreme conditions — ranging from high-altitude temperatures to high-performance requirements — while extending their lifespan.

For suppliers and manufacturers in the finishing sector, this evolving landscape presents both opportunities and challenges. Components must meet stringent specifications set by OEMs like Airbus and Boeing, as well as industry standards for coating thickness, adhesion strength and resistance to environmental stressors. Additionally, certifications like the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (NADCAP), managed by the Performance Review Institute (PRI), are often required. Achieving NADCAP accreditation through rigorous audits and continuous improvement is a critical differentiator for securing contracts with Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs, signaling trust and a competitive edge in a quality-driven market.

Regulatory constraints further complicate the landscape, particularly regarding the use of potentially hazardous materials like hexavalent chromium in coatings and plating processes. And while, alternative technologies are constantly being explored, the road to qualification is a long one, requiring extensive testing and validation to meet aerospace standards.

To stay competitive, finishers must invest in research and development to create sustainable, high-performance coatings that comply with regulations while striving to meet industry standards. Automation and digital technologies, including precision coating systems and real-time quality monitoring, can improve consistency and efficiency in achieving NADCAP and OEM requirements. Collaboration across the supply chain is equally vital.

In addition, as OEMs like Airbus and Boeing prioritize sustainability, finishers must develop eco-friendly processes and partner with material suppliers and OEMs to explore chromium alternatives and other green technologies.

Surface finishing is not just a final manufacturing step; it is a key contributing factor for performance, safety and longevity in aerospace. As the industry expands across commercial, defense, space and AAM sectors, the demand for advanced coatings will continue to grow. 

In this issue of PF, we spotlight some of those finishing technologies critical to aerospace manufacturing.

Our On the Line interview and corresponding podcast features experts from PPG discussing the potential of electrocoat technologies for applying primers and topcoats to increasingly complex aircraft components, including those for next-generation aircraft and AAM prototypes. 

We also explore technologies used for shaping aerospace surfaces. From landing gear to next-generation aircraft components, an advanced surface treatment known as shot peening safeguards against extreme conditions and pushes aerospace materials to new limits. You’ll learn about the process in a contributed feature story by Angelo Magrone of Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies.

In addition, we take a look at new methods for creating functionalized aircraft skins. Read about a surfacing technology know as riblets that is being used to reduce drag, fuel consumption, CO₂ emissions and noise while boosting power output, speed and efficiency.

You'll also find insights into the role of surface finishing in the growing defense market, insights for improving the efficiency of media blasting operations, expert troubleshooting clinics and more. I hope you enjoy the issue.

Source (All Images) | Greene Tweed

As the aircraft industry continues to strive for increased efficiency and sustainability, every pound of weight removed reduces fuel consumption and corresponding emissions. Composites have made significant progress in replacing heavier metallic components in aircraft engines, but more is still possible. For example, Greene Tweed (Lansdale, Pa., U.S.) has demonstrated the potential for its Discontinuous Long Fiber (DLF) materials to cut weight in complex-shaped parts by an average of 35% versus aluminum in more than 500 aircraft part numbers. However, to enable its use at the front of turbofan engines, the high-velocity impact behavior of DLF needed to be characterized to understand the effect of different composite constituents, meso-structures and possible hybridization with continuous fiber materials. The ultimate goal was to develop a design methodology and solution for improved impact resistance in such applications.

Impact resistance for DLF fan platforms

DLF thermoplastic composite (TPC) materials have successfully replaced metals in complex-shaped aerospace components for years, using aerospace-approved carbon fiber/PEEK prepreg unidirectional (UD) tapes that are cut into flakes and compression molded. These materials provide good chemical resistance, stiffness, high temperature capability and creep resistance above the glass transition temperature, as well as enhanced design freedom with the ability to integrate multiple parts into a single structure. Greene Tweed has invested in the characterization of quasi-static mechanical properties, or allowables, to support a design by analysis approach, including high-temperature strength, fatigue and creep data. However, the high-velocity (>100 meters/second) impact behavior of these materials — which form a sub-category of fiber-reinforced TPC — had not yet been substantially studied.

Rendering of Greene Tweed's aeroengine fan platform demonstrator for impact testing, featuring an internal center rib (orange) and stiffening gussets on the sides (blue) to reduce the unsupported region of its aerodynamic surface that would be subjected to hailstone impacts.

At the front of turbofan engines, fan platforms are components that cover the engine’s hub between the fan blades and direct airflow toward the low-pressure compressor. These have long been a target for Greene Tweed, potentially saving north of 8 pounds per engine versus metal. The complex geometries of these components, however, make it challenging to use traditional continuous fiber materials like UD tape, braid and fabric, although solutions do exist that use complex layups and 3D braids via processes similar to resin transfer molding (RTM).

Greene Tweed's aeroengine fan platform demonstrator made from Xycomp Discontinuous Long Fiber (DLF) thermoplastic composite materials.

Greene Tweed has demonstrated an alternative via its Xycomp DLF compression molding compounds, with the ability to rapidly manufacture highly complex parts using an automated and repeatable near-net shape process. This matched-die molding can also produce the smooth aerodynamic surfaces required for parts with airflow surfaces, while the use of a thermoplastic matrix greatly enhances recyclability from raw material to final parts.

Although Xycomp DLF is well proven — with close to half a million parts (including structural brackets, enclosures, covers, vents, doors, etc.) currently flying on 12 types of commercial aircraft — use in parts sitting at the front of an engine that are prone to hail impact damage is more challenging for a discontinuous fiber material. A prototype fan platform made with Xycomp DLF has long been known to meet typical mechanical requirements such as strength at max overspeed as well as dynamic performance requirements — except for high-velocity hail impact, where experimental results on coupons had been disappointing.

Researchers at Greene Tweed’s R&D Center for Composites (Yverdon, Switzerland) took on the challenge to understand the underlying behavior of this material when impacted at high speeds. The team launched a significant impact testing campaign on representative coupons evaluating different prepreg tapes and their constituents as well as hybrids combining continuous and discontinuous fiber-reinforced composites. Continuous fiber-reinforced composites included laminates and fabrics, while Greene Tweed’s internal research on discontinuous materials led to the use of a patented new chopped tape flake shape internally dubbed “DLF 2.0” (versus Greene Tweed’s standard 0.5 × 0.5-inch flakes). This notably increased impact resistance, prompting the fabrication of a demonstrator component that experimentally withstood the impact of a 2-inch hailstone hitting the part at 200 meters/second in its most critical location without any damage.

Exploring failure in plates

Greene Tweed's hail impact testing jig for DLF materials in plates (top) and in a demonstrator platform for aeroengines (bottom).

To characterize the impact behavior of its Xycomp DLF materials, Greene Tweed followed a building block pyramid approach, first testing plate coupons and then progressing to shaped demonstrators. Impacts were achieved using spherical, clear ice hailstones sized 2 inches in diameter, shot from a self-built hail impact testing jig. The tests were filmed by a high-speed camera capturing 10,000 frames/second to study the visually observable damage mechanisms on 6 × 12-inch, 0.15-inch thick plates that were inclined at 30° over the horizontal plane and pinned on the longer edges.

These plates were manufactured using UD tapes with a nominal volume fraction of 60% AS4 and IM7 carbon fiber reinforcing PA6, PEEK, PEKK, LMPAEK and PEI matrices, then cut into flakes to form Xycomp DLF materials. Two different AS4/PEEK materials with statistically identical quasi-static properties were tested to compare the potential effect of tape architecture while the baseline PEEK was also tested using S2 glass fiber. In addition, the baseline carbon fiber/PEEK material was cut with a novel “2.0” flake shape, as this had previously been shown to increase tensile strength in both quasi-static and fatigue testing by more than 50%. Continuous fiber laminates were also tested, including quasi-isotropic tape layups and cross-ply fabric layups. Hybrid samples tested were manufactured with continuous fiber materials on the “front” (impact facing) side and DLF on the back, as this is where shape complexity could be added to the production design. Finally, the effect of DLF plate thickness was studied on the reference material system.

Results from impact testing 6 × 12 × 0.15-inch-thick plates show resistance to 2-inch hailstone impact as a function of speed for various DLF constituent combinations.

The observed damage mode on DLF plates was always initiated by a tensile crack at the back of the plate, propagating from the impact location toward the top of the plate. Standard DLF is known to be notably weaker in tension than in other loading conditions. A high-velocity impact creates a local plate bending stress state below the impact location which, when it exceeds the tensile strength of DLF, logically leads to sample failure. This could be clearly observed on videos taken from the back of the impacted plates, where a local “tearing” of the material under the impact side could be observed while no damage of any kind could be seen at the front. Later validated in computed tomography (CT) inspections, this means that the sample geometry itself is somewhat ill-suited to showcase the real-life capability of DLF, because a real component would include a local stiffener to reduce the tensile strain in these critical part locations.

Regarding the effect of plate thickness, it appeared that each additional millimeter could add about 40 meters/second of additional impact resistance under otherwise similar test conditions. Changing from AS4 to IM7 carbon fiber did not improve impact resistance. Neither did hybrid constructions with continuous fiber materials on the impact face, further validating the critical damage mechanism previously identified. However, changing from carbon fiber to the S2 glass fiber option did improve resistance, as did using polymers with less crystallinity or continuous fiber reinforcement materials on the rear face (in tension) of tested samples, with DLF on the front face, even though such a layup would be of limited practical use.

Resistance of 6 × 12 × 0.15-inch-thick DLF coupons to 2-inch hailstone impacts, showing significant improvement of “DLF 2.0” featuring a novel flake shape.

The most striking change was obtained by using the novel flake shape (“DLF 2.0”). This patented change in geometry was brought about to reduce possible stress concentrations at the end of the composite flakes, thus increasing the apparent toughness of the material. Without changing anything else, the DLF 2.0 samples were found to exceed the hail impact resistance of continuous fiber laminates, including results obtained on a quasi-isotropic laminate made from the same base material as the modified DLF.

After evaluating all of the results, the team hypothesized that no single constituent parameter dominated the high-velocity impact behavior of DLF parts. Instead, the key parameter appears to be the composite’s apparent toughness, itself a function of the specific constituents paired and the interface achieved between them, as well as the tape’s meso-scale structure. The clearest proof of how much these intrinsic properties are interlinked is the very large increase in performance obtained by changing the flake geometry, and thus the part’s meso-structure. Despite the lack of predictability of such a material property, interesting generic trends could still be obtained in this study.

Platform demonstrator tests

Using results from the initial plate tests, an in-house-designed fan platform demonstrator was fabricated that closely approximated a real part for 25,000-35,000-pound thrust class engines. Among the design guidelines used, the Greene Tweed team limited the estimated part deflection upon hail impact to safe levels (as determined from the plate testing) by adequately stiffening the structure geometrically. This was done by strategically placing a central rib within the part and reinforcement gussets along its sides to limit the size of the unsupported region in the aerodynamic surface that would be impacted.

The rendering at left shows the five impact locations tested on demonstrator platforms with the most critical highlighted at top. Results from these trials of 2-inch hailstones impacting platforms made from various materials are shown here, where “MM” (far right on X-axis) denotes a change in molding parameters to make better use of the DLF 2.0 novel flake shape material.

Five impact locations were initially investigated, and without much surprise, the top right corner — which presented the largest unsupported region — proved to be the most critical. Once this critical location was defined, several of the key hybrid materials identified in the plate study were investigated. Thanks to the coupons study and the more fundamental understanding of DLF failure under high-velocity impact, the team was able to demonstrate that it was possible to achieve the hail impact resistance targets with the standard DLF material. Although performance was indeed higher with the modified flake geometry, being able to use the current DLF material in such applications is very welcome, removing the need to requalify a new material. Also important is the fact that Greene Tweed managed to derive sufficient design guidelines from the plate study to enable this improved impact performance. Still, the DLF 2.0 version remains an option for an application where even higher performance is required.

To ensure that nothing was missed, selected samples were scanned after impact using micro-CT. As with the initial testing on plates, it became clear that the predominance of a tensile failure mode induced by localized bending meant that no damage could be found in the bulk of parts that did not present visible damage at their surfaces. This is due to the highest strain in such a load case always being present at the outer surface of a part, ensuring that the critical location is easily observable.

Higher failure strength for future parts

As a result of this development effort to investigate and optimize DLF’s performance for high-speed impact and front-of-turbofan aeroengine applications, Greene Tweed has developed and explored a wide array of capabilities that now compliment its existing production infrastructure. Hybrid material combinations, geometrical optimization, nondestructive inspection/micro-CT and continued material development via DLF 2.0 are continuing to push discontinuous TPC into more aggressive and demanding applications.

Success for this research initiative was validated through the actual fabrication and testing of a DLF fan platform component made using the already-flying and certified AS4/PEEK carbon fiber material (Xycomp 5175), which solidifies competitive costing and ensures commercial viability. Xycomp DLF continues to offer weight, performance and cost savings compared to machined aluminum parts, with the aeroengine fan platform now proven as an example of such capability with sufficient impact resistance.

About the Author

Sebastien Kohler

Sebastien Kohler is a scientist working on thermoplastic composite materials in the Advanced Technology Group for Structural and Engineered Components at Greene Tweed (Lansdale, Pa., U.S.). He is based in the company’s R&D Center for Composites in Yverdon, Switzerland, and part of a cross-functional team developing new composite materials and novel molding processes alongside working on new applications, from ideation to final component. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, where his thesis involved multi-scale experimental and numerical investigations of thin-ply composite materials.

Macro view of iCOMAT’s Rapid Tape Shearing (RTS) technology during layup, showing tight-radius curves with no wrinkles or gaps. Source (All Images) | iCOMAT

In the realm of advanced composites, a fundamental limitation has persistently hindered the full exploitation of their exceptional properties, particularly with carbon fiber: their inherent anisotropic nature produces strength predominantly in the fiber direction. Conventional composites manufacturing addresses this limitation by stacking multiple straight fiber layers at different orientations, a compromise that often results in heavier structures using more material than theoretically necessary. This paradigm has remained largely unchallenged.

Tow steering technology aimed to optimize composite material use. However, achieving ideal fiber alignment along load paths proved difficult, often causing suboptimal curves or wrinkling. In 2021, CompositesWorld (CW) reported on a new method from iCOMAT (Bristol, U.K.) called Rapid Tow Shearing (RTS), which uses in-plane tow shearing during deposition. Its defect-free fiber placement enables precise fiber orientation throughout a composite structure and achieves production up to 10 times versus conventional methods.

When CW examined RTS in 2021, iCOMAT was a 2-year-old university spin-off conducting R&D trials with seven OEMs and preparing to place its first system with a customer. Four years later, that experimental technology has become industry ready, reaching real-world deployment.

The company now operates a 45,000-square-foot production facility, serves over 25 customers across aerospace and automotive sectors and has raised $22.5 million in Series A funding, transforming from laboratory curiosity to a commercial business. ICOMAT positions itself as a “super Tier 2” company, meaning it provides a full, integrated manufacturing solution instead of selling machines or software. Customers are charged per preform or component, with iCOMAT managing the entire process from production to delivery.

These capabilities have enabled iCOMAT to demonstrate:

• Weight reduction up to 65% and load-to-mass ratios 300% higher than quasi-isotropic designs.
• First fiber-steered cylinder with 24% higher load and 300% improved damage tolerance versus straight-fiber design.
• Lay-flat-and-form workflow enabling complex aerospace preforms in 5 minutes for <30-minute cycle time with higher quality versus AFP.

The technology is in its fourth generation, now using closed-loop tension control, precision LED heating and four-axis CNC cutting for tapes from 5 to 200 millimeters wide. ICOMAT’s full-scale production facility in Gloucester, U.K., delivers end-to-end production of components up to 6 × 3 meters.

“We’ve taken fiber shearing from theory to industrial reality,” says Dr. Evangelos Zympeloudis, founder and CEO of iCOMAT. “From first principles to full-scale manufacturing, our journey involved developing every aspect of the technology from the mechanical systems to the thermal management and process control software.”

Breaking the fiber steering barrier

Unlike conventional AFP systems that bend tapes to create curved paths that cause wrinkling, RTS uses a shearing mechanism. This approach maintains equal fiber length across the tape width during shearing, effectively eliminating residual stresses that cause defects.

“Traditional manufacturing stacks straight fiber layers at different orientations, but structures are never loaded equally in all directions,” explains Zympeloudis. “It would be far more effective to steer fibers to reinforce critical areas, resulting in lighter parts produced at lower cost while enabling true industrial automation.”

The concept of fiber steering isn’t new; NASA originally proposed it in the early 1980s. A substantial body of literature has demonstrated its theoretical benefits, but manufacturing constraints have prevented practical implementation. Conventional automated fiber placement (AFP) systems attempt to steer fibers by bending the tape, but this can potentially create defects like wrinkles and gaps that negate the potential performance advantages.

“The bottleneck was always manufacturing,” Zympeloudis notes. “It’s impossible to manufacture fiber-steered structures with AFP without generating significant defects that outweigh the many benefits. What iCOMAT has done is develop the world’s first and only technology that can actually fiber-steer without any defects, while maintaining high productivity through wide tape processing.

RTS evolution and Factory 1

RTS head integrates with robotic platforms for scalable, automated composites manufacturing.

The technology has evolved through four generations: Alpha, Beta, Gamma and now Sigma. The current Sigma RTS head represents significant advancements in process control, featuring closed-loop tension control, precision heating using advanced LED technology and four-axis CNC cutting. The system can process tape widths from 5 to 200 millimeters, offering unprecedented flexibility in optimizing material deposition for specific applications.

RTS is protected by multiple patent families and is the result of 16 years of research and development — 10 years at the University of Bristol (U.K.) followed by 6 years as iCOMAT. Factory 1, the company’s 45,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art production facility, includes a Class 7 clean room, assembly room, coordinate measuring machine (CMM), autoclaves, five-axis CNC machinery and spray-painting facilities.

Phase 1, complete at the time of writing, includes kit cutting and laser projection for template location. Phase 2 will expand production capabilities with pressing, hot drape forming and multiple RTS tape laying lines.

Inside iCOMAT’s Class 7 clean room dual robotic arms prepare for defect-free composite tape laying using RTS.

Structural efficiency transformation

The most immediate advantage of fiber shearing is enhanced structural performance. By precisely aligning fibers with load paths, RTS-manufactured components can achieve weight reductions of 10-65% compared to conventional composites, without sacrificing strength or durability.

In a collaborative project with BAE Systems (London, U.K.) and Airbus UK (London) called FibreSteer, iCOMAT produced a lower wing skin demonstration component using fiber shearing to address stress concentrations around access holes. Traditional composites face a fundamental challenge with such features: when zero-degree fibers (running parallel to the primary load path) encounter a hole, they are severed, creating significant stress concentrations that require substantial reinforcement.

“With RTS, we can route the fibers around the hole, maintaining continuous load paths that eliminate stress concentrations,” explains Zympeloudis. “The results are remarkable. Our RTS-manufactured composite part demonstrated a load-to-mass ratio three times higher than a quasi-isotropic design.”

RTS-manufactured composite panel featuring a cut-out, designed to maintain continuous load paths and eliminate stress concentrations.

When compared to the same component manufactured using conventional AFP, the difference is stark. The AFP-produced part exhibited severe local wrinkling and buckling along the steered paths, while the RTS-produced part showed no visible defects.

Similar results have been achieved in space applications. Working with aerospace partners, iCOMAT produced what it says is the world’s first defect-free fiber-steered cylinder, a geometry commonly found in launch vehicles and spacecraft structures. The RTS design not only outperformed the best straight-fiber design in ultimate load capacity by 24%, but also demonstrated a 300% improvement in damage tolerance.

“In simple terms, RTS expands the design space exponentially,” Zympeloudis notes. “With traditional composites using three layers, for example, you have three discrete points where you can optimize fiber orientation. With RTS, you can change fiber orientation at any point within each layer, creating virtually unlimited design possibilities.”

Enabling industrial-scale production

Beyond structural efficiency, RTS technology enables a transformation in manufacturing approach. ICOMAT has developed a “lay-flat-and-form” workflow that leverages fiber shearing to enable high-rate production of complex 3D components.

The RTS system first creates a flat preform with precisely engineered fiber paths. Unlike direct 3D fiber placement — which are comparatively slow and expensive — the RTS-developed flat preform can be rapidly formed into its final 3D shape using established processes like hot drape forming or stamping.

“The challenge with forming carbon fiber is that it doesn’t readily stretch,” Zympeloudis explains. “Attempting to form a complex shape from straight fibers is like wrapping paper around a football — it creates wrinkles. Our approach pre-steers the fibers in 2D so they can be formed without defects, enabling production rates up to 10 times faster than direct 3D layup.”

This manufacturing approach has profound implications, particularly where production rates and cost efficiency are paramount. Using 200-millimeter-wide tapes, iCOMAT can produce a preform for a complex aerospace component in 5 minutes, compared to 8.5 hours using conventional AFP for the same component. Including cutting and forming operations, the entire process takes less than 30 minutes while yielding higher-quality parts.

The company has also implemented this approach for automotive structures in collaboration with major OEMs. For example, in partnership with Jaguar Land Rover (Coventry, U.K.), Far-UK (Nottingham, U.K.) and CCP Gransden (County Down, U.K.) during project SOCA, iCOMAT used RTS technology to manufacture a complex automotive chassis using carbon fiber unidirectional (UD) tapes that conventional AFP systems could not process due to the tight curvature requirements of the design.

JLR chassis component demonstrator manufactured using RTS sections and recycled carbon fiber.

“In automotive applications, it’s all about cost,” says Zympeloudis. “Carbon fiber is expensive, so we use it judiciously, applying RTS to create a structural skeleton that takes 80% of the load, while using lower-cost recycled materials for the remainder.”

In SOCA, iCOMAT used UD carbon fiber to create the structural skeleton, which was then combined with low-cost, low-life cycle assessment materials such as recycled carbon, flax and glass fiber to form the “flesh” of the structure. The resulting automotive demonstrator structure was able to compete directly with aluminum in terms of both weight and global warming potential. This demonstrated that high-performance composites, when paired with recycled materials, can meet automotive structural requirements while being produced at industrial manufacturing rates. The innovative approach could lead to a new class of lightweight, cost-effective structures that offer significant weight reductions compared to aluminum, all while maintaining comparable production costs.

Unique business model enables adoption

Complex layup pattern enabled by RTS, demonstrating variable fiber orientation across a single flat panel.

ICOMAT continuously refines its material intelligence, manufacturing capabilities and software and hardware systems based on manufacturing experience.

“We’re not just a technology developer or machine manufacturer,” explains Zympeloudis. “Our business model is organized into three integrated units: one builds the manufacturing machines but retains ownership, another creates the software but keeps it proprietary, and the third uses these internal technologies to manufacture parts or preforms that we sell to Tier 1s or OEMs. Our customers pay per manufactured component, benefiting from our integrated expertise.”

This approach addresses a fundamental disconnect in traditional composite supply chains. Typically, machine manufacturers focus on maximizing equipment sales without optimizing for specific processes, while end users lack the specialized knowledge to fully exploit the technology. By combining machine development and operation under one roof, iCOMAT continuously improves its products for its customers and its own operational practices.

“This setup lets us streamline the supply chain and align incentives with our customers,” Zympeloudis says. “We’re motivated to make preforms and parts as efficiently as possible, refining machines and processes to suit each application. Customers avoid upfront capital expenditure, benefiting from lower costs, while we achieve operational sustainability through ongoing improvements.”

The company’s approach has attracted significant investment, including a $22.5 million Series A funding round in 2024 led by 8VC (Austin, Texas, U.S.) and co-led by NATO Innovation Fund, with participation from Syensqo (Brussels, Belgium) and existing investors. Zympeloudis contends that this represents one of the largest Series A investments ever in composites manufacturing.

Future developments and applications

ICOMAT is actively expanding its technological capabilities beyond the current Sigma RTS system. The company is currently developing a next-generation system optimized for direct 3D deposition, targeting applications like aircraft wing skins and other large-scale components.

“Our current system excels at producing frames, spars and smaller skin components using the lay-flat-and-form approach,” says Zympeloudis. “The next evolution will enable direct deposition for very large structures, completing our solution set for aerospace and automotive applications.”

The company is also exploring applications beyond structural performance, including thermal management and vibration control. The ability to precisely control fiber orientation enables tailored mechanical properties that can address multiple design requirements simultaneously.

RTS-manufactured fuselage panel for a fighter aircraft, formed without wrinkles or defects using iCOMAT’s lay-flat-and-form process.

“With RTS, we can design for thermal expansion, vibration damping and structural performance concurrently,” Zympeloudis notes. “In space applications, where thermal management is critical, we can engineer structures that maintain dimensional stability across extreme temperature gradients while simultaneously optimizing for load-bearing capacity.”

ICOMAT is currently working with more than 25 customers across aerospace, automotive and defense sectors, and has successfully delivered demonstrator parts for demanding applications including fighter aircraft panels, space launcher structures and Formula 1 components.

As the company scales up production at Factory 1, it’s positioning RTS as the next major evolution in composites manufacturing. “Our goal is to do for carbon fiber what Carnegie did for steel [during the Industrial Revolution],” Zympeloudis says, referencing how steel manufacturing innovations enabled widespread adoption across multiple industries. “We want to make carbon fiber composites accessible at industrial scale and enable applications that aren’t possible with current technology.”

SPECTRA fuselage panel demonstrator with integral frames welded by conduction. Source | IRT Jules Verne 

The French Institute for Technological Research (IRT Jules Verne, Bouguenais) and its partners Airbus, Airbus Atlantic, Cero and Safran, have launched the SCRATCH project, a continuation of the SPECTRA project that focused on welding thermoplastic composites (TPC) for aeronautics.

The 3-year project’s objective is twofold: to increase production rates while reducing the assembly costs of composite elements, a key issue for the competitiveness of the aeronautics industry. To achieve this, SCRATCH aims to mature a conduction welding solution for aerospace-grade TPC materials via two chosen industrial case studies presenting complementary geometries and technical challenges.

SCRATCH will consist of testing, evaluating and optimizing this welding technology on these two configurations, in order to better understand its potential and its limits. Several areas of development will be pursued including:

• Exploration of the performance and limits of the process according to the geometries studied
• Implementation of precise monitoring for better welding control
• Optimized clearance management during assembly
• Development of suitable tools based on advanced thermal simulations.

The expected advances will pave the way for broader industrial integration of conduction welding for high-performance TPC materials. In particular, they will enable new applications to be considered on complex parts requiring high mechanical strength.

LIFT High Bay, part of its Future Manufacturing Technology Showcase and Sandbox in Detroit. Source | LIFT 

LIFT (Detroit, Mich., U.S.) is the Department of Defense-supported National Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a nonprofit, public-private partnership between industry, academia and government that supports the U.S. economy and enhances its national security by accelerating innovative advanced manufacturing technology and talent development.

LIFT has been awarded a contract to accelerate the development of ceramic- based materials for use in industrial and defense applications. This 4-year, $9 million “Critical Materials Processing” program, which was supported by U.S. Senator Gary Peters in the FY2024 federal budget through the Department of Defense’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, will advance the state of technology and readiness for ceramics, ceramic matrix composites (CMC) and ultra-high temperature (UHT) materials.

“We risk both our economic and national security when we depend on foreign adversaries like China for materials that are vital to our manufacturing and defense industries,” says Senator Peters, who recently reintroduced the Intergovernmental Critical Minerals Taskforce Act. “We must use our partners like LIFT to accelerate the development and production of these materials here at home. Doing so will help create jobs while ensuring our manufacturers have reliable access to these important materials.”

The project’s technical approach is multifaceted, and includes a working group of experts from government, including the Air Force Research Lab and industry — including Exothermics, Kratos SRE and Materials Research & Design (MR&D) — and academia to pursue technology advancements to scale initiatives, such as solid-state ceramic batteries, as well as to onshore and scale technologies associated with carbon fiber, a precursor material for defense-related protection systems that often use CMC and that are in severely limited supply within the U.S.

“Ceramic-based materials hold significant promise for the technological challenges our industrial base and workforce are seeking to resolve, including withstanding extreme temperatures and other extreme environments,” says Nigel Francis, CEO and executive director, LIFT. “Despite the promise of ceramic materials and their composites, no organization exists within the U.S. to address the scale-up to commercialization of ceramic-related technology and talent initiatives. With this program, LIFT is positioned to achieve exactly those goals.”

LIFT and its partners will also investigate prototype solutions to accelerate:

• Production of UHTCMC
• Community integration and unification
• Gap analysis
• Identify modeling and simulation tools
• Cross-industry standardization.

For prototype solutions aimed at accelerating production, the use of compression molding and/or resin transfer molding (RTM), combined with high-pressure resin injection, will be a specific focus for the rapid impregnation and curing of CMC preform layups.

Source | Getty Images 

On Sept. 10, the European project Lithium-based Innovation for Modular Energy (LIME) officially launched under the umbrella of Europe’s Clean Aviation program, with a €5 million grant awarded to the consortium led by Exoes, Ascendance Flight Technologies, Basquevolt and RWTH Aachen University. This recognition reflects strong support from major aircraft manufacturers including Airbus, ATR and Daher.

The LIME project aims to develop a next-generation battery system for an ultra-efficient hybrid-electric aircraft concept. The system will be designed to meet CS-23 and CS-25 certification standards, with a focus on safety, modularity and integration into future hybrid-electric propulsion architectures. This initiative is part of Clean Aviation’s broader mission to accelerate the decarbonization of air transport and contribute to the EU’s climate goals.

The project addresses six key objectives for the aerospace industry: 

• Safety and end-user-centric design: Design a battery system that meets stringent certification standards and user requirements for aviation, especially CS25 applications. 
• Disruptive battery innovation: Push the boundaries of current technology with a battery system surpassing existing capabilities in cell technology, thermal management and composite casing.
• TRL 4 prototyping: Manufacture and test a TRL 4 prototype including cell blocks, battery management and thermal systems, followed by ground demonstrations.
• Digital twin agility: Use high-fidelity digital twins to optimize development, reduce costs and minimize physical prototyping, ensuring rapid design validation. 
• Roadmap to entry into service: Support integration studies and create an industrialization plan to prepare the battery system for service in regional aircraft, specifically targeting the ATR 42/72 for entry into service by 2035. 
• Maximize European impact: Advance critical aviation technology to benefit European society, economy and competitiveness by disseminating research and results widely.

Exoes (Gradignan), a French company specializing in high-voltage battery systems, thermal management and hazardous testing, is responsible for the design, prototyping and testing of the cell blocks. The company brings its expertise in high-performance battery and cooling technologies and system integration to ensure performance, safety and certification readiness.

LK Metrology has introduced the Surfacers SRP, a plug-and-play probe with a resolution of one micron. This probe is designed for analyzing the surface roughness of a component as part of a CNC measuring cycle on any CMM equipped with an industry-standard probe head. The Surfacers SRP is designed to assess small, fine-scale variations and imperfections in the surface, including peaks and valleys, rather than larger-scale features like waviness or form.

The sensor removes the need for secondary surface roughness inspection, whether conducted manually with a hand-held instrument or automatically at a separate metrology station. Manufacturers can perform comprehensive inspections on a component in a single setup within a CMM environment, resulting in significant savings in time and cost. Engineered for ease of use and versatility, the equipment comes with its own downloadable application software, facilitating integration without requiring third-party software.

The Surfacers SRP mounting is compatible with change racks, enabling automated sensor changing and improved operational efficiency. User-friendly swapping between touch probes, tactile scanning probes, noncontact laser scanners and the roughness probe provides users with extended multisensor capability.

At the core of the roughness probe is a special body that accommodates three interchangeable, skidded, stainless-steel probe modules. One module evaluates flat, conical and cylindrical surfaces, another measures concave, convex and spherical surfaces, and a third is suited for inspecting grooves more than 3-mm wide by less than 10-mm deep, or steps of similar height.

During operation, the CMM positions a stylus in contact with the part, after which the machine axes remain stationary while the probe moves the stylus across the surface under investigation. Wireless communication with the CMM computer via a Bluetooth 4.0 adapter provides seamless data transfer for analysis, simplifying installation.

The skid serves as a straight-line datum that guides the stylus across a surface to maintain probe stability. The stylus travels independently of and slightly in front of the skid, with surface deviations recorded as the difference in the relative movements of the two elements in the Z-axis. This design captures even minute surface irregularities with high accuracy.

Further improving the precision of the Surfacers SRP is an integrated preload mechanism, which isolates the stylus from the CMM kinematics during operation, providing accurate and consistent results regardless of external vibration or machine movement. The force exerted by the stylus tip, which has a radius of 5 microns, avoids surface deformation. The measurable roughness range is 0.5-6.5 Ra, representing the average roughness between the profile and the mean line.

Dave Robinson, marketing manager at LK Metrology, says, “By integrating surface roughness measurement directly onto the CMM, we are providing manufacturers with a powerful tool to streamline their inspection processes, reduce costs and improve product quality. The ability to perform multiple metrology functions on a single platform eliminates the need for time-consuming transfers of components and promotes greater accuracy by maintaining part orientation between measurements.”

In response to limitations within material testing and simulation in early design stages for automotive/aviation composites, Forward Engineering GmbH has developed a modular approach to testing and material card creation. Source (All Images) | Forward Engineering

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have become indispensable in automotive and aviation industries, offering exceptional strength-to-weight ratios, design flexibility and tunable properties. However, their full potential is often unrealized due to challenges in accurately modeling their mechanical behavior for simulations. It is particularly difficult to predict the behavior in crash or impact scenarios, as composites can exhibit a high strain rate dependency. Moreover, the inherent variability in material properties and a lack of standardized input data complicate the creation of reliable material cards, forcing engineers to rely on high safety factors. This conservative approach undermines the weight-saving advantages of composites and stifles innovation.

Thus, more accurate structural simulations with material cards that are capable of capturing the complex behavior of composites can help enable their full lightweight potential. However, usually not all material data is available and required in early design phases.

To address these challenges, a modular framework has been developed by Forward Engineering GmbH (Munich, Germany) that systematically guides engineers through the generation of simulation-ready data. The methodology begins with basic stiffness modeling and progresses to advanced scenarios like impact resistance and post-failure behavior, enabling temperature or strain rate-dependent structural simulations at component- or full-scale level. This stepwise approach allows engineers to initiate simulations in early design stages with preliminary data and refines accuracy as the design evolves, incorporating additional test results over time.

In the automotive industry, this approach supports the early concept stages with basic simulations to achieve a load path-oriented design. In this phase, stiffness- and strength-driven simulations are usually sufficient. For later detailed design, the material card can be expanded with failure and damage models. Furthermore, for crash validation, the material card is extended with a strain rate-dependent behavior.

The aviation industry’s relentless pursuit of lightweight solutions makes accurate material cards essential for maximizing the weight-saving potential of composites. For this industry, Forward Engineering’s approach provides a rigorous framework for validating material behavior at every development stage, but also from initial design to final certification. This method is particularly effective in accounting for real-world material variability — such as production batch differences and environmental effects — through controlled, data-driven refinement. By progressively reducing uncertainty in performance predictions, it enables precise modeling while maintaining the highest safety standards.

Module 1: Basic mechanical properties and early simulation

Module 1 (see sections 1A in Figs. 1-2) serves as the foundation of Forward Engineering’s modular framework, delivering fundamental elastic and strength properties required to model composite parts up to initial failure. These properties are derived from standard coupon-level tests in tension, compression and shear. For early stage design tasks — particularly those not involving crash- or failure-level loads — this basic material card provides sufficient accuracy, making it ideal for stiffness-driven applications and initial concept evaluations.

Figure 1. Forward Engineering’s modular FRP testing program for material card creation.

Optional extensions to Module 1 include hygrothermal testing to assess temperature and humidity effects, as well as damping properties for noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) simulation. These extensions allow the same foundational data to be repurposed for other domains, such as dynamics and vibration control. For instance, predicting aircraft wing behavior under extreme temperature cycles or optimizing automotive body panels for seasonal weather variations while managing structural vibrations becomes more efficient.

Module 1B (see section 1B in Figs. 1-2), a subset of Module 1, introduces crush screening — a cost-effective method for comparing the crash energy absorption potential of various material combinations, including resins, fiber types and additives. In the automotive sector, this enables early evaluation of crashworthy materials for bumpers or battery enclosures before final geometries are defined. Similarly, in aviation, it supports rapid assessment of impact-relevant structures such as wings or casings, aligning with phased certification timelines. While Module 1B lacks the depth required for full crash or impact simulation, it efficiently identifies promising material systems for further development.

A key advantage of Modules 1A and 1B is their applicability before final part geometry or boundary conditions are established. With this flexibility, development teams are able to begin material selection and simulation work early, accommodating the fast, iterative timelines of the automotive industry and the rigorous, phased development cycles of aviation.

Module 2: Post-failure and crash-level characterization

When applications demand modeling beyond initial failure — particularly for components designed to absorb impact energy — Module 2 becomes essential (see sections 2A and 2B in Figs. 1-2). This stage focuses on characterizing material behavior as damage initiates and evolves.

Module 2A employs coupon-level tests, such as compact tension and compression, to evaluate post-first-failure performance. These tests quantify crack initiation, energy release and delamination propagation, providing critical insights for early crash modeling. Module 2B advances to component-level testing, where complex geometries, hat sections or closed profiles are subjected to quasi-static or dynamic loading. These tests, often conducted using three-point or four-point bending setups, simulate multiple interacting failure modes, offering a more realistic representation of crash scenarios.

The distinction between Modules 2A and 2B reflects the escalating complexity of failure modeling in real-world structures. While Module 2A isolates specific failure modes, Module 2B captures their combined effects in integrated parts. Together, they refine material card inputs for higher simulation accuracy — whether validating energy absorption in automotive crash boxes through combined coupon and component tests, or certifying aircraft fuselage panels by correlating delamination behavior from coupon tests with full-scale impact performance.

The modular method’s ability to decouple validation geometry from simulation input ensures data applicability across structurally similar components, enhancing simulation flexibility and reducing redundant testing.

Figure 2. Material values, simulations for advancing from basic to fully described material card.

Module 3: Dynamic effects and high-fidelity crash simulation

In crash-critical applications where strain rate effects and energy absorption dominate design considerations, Module 3 (see sections 3A and 3B in Fig. 1-2) extends material cards with high-strain rate and dynamic crush data.

Module 3A introduces strain rate-dependent material properties through high-speed testing methods like drop tower tests or Split-Hopkinson pressure bars. These tests replicate the rate-sensitive behavior of FRPs under conditions such as automotive crash events or aircraft impact scenarios such as bird strike or tire impact, ensuring high-accuracy simulation at component- or full-scale levels.

Module 3B focuses on axial crushing, the primary failure mode for components like automotive crash tubes. Drop tower testing on generic and part-representative geometries measures energy dissipation under realistic crash conditions, incorporating failure modes unique to high-energy, high-strain scenarios.

The shape and complexity of test specimens in Module 3B are critical, as real-world vehicle or aircraft structures often feature curvature and varying thickness, influencing energy absorption. Module 3B material cards account for these factors, delivering application-relevant yet geometry-transferable simulation inputs.

This level of testing ensures material cards accurately predict not only failure but also energy absorption patterns — whether optimizing an electric vehicle’s (EV) battery enclosure for crash safety or validating the behavior of a turbine blade during bird strike. Such fidelity is indispensable for final-stage validation, regulatory compliance and full-system crash modeling.

Scalable workflow, confident material selection

This modular framework provides a scalable, resource-efficient workflow for simulation-based design with composites. As projects progress, material cards can be expanded without duplicating earlier tests, with each module building on its predecessor to create a seamless pathway from concept to full crash simulation.

By addressing industry-specific challenges — such as automotive cost-efficiency timelines or aviation’s certification phasing — this modular approach accelerates confident material selection. Forward Engineering’s continuous refinement will expand the database of standard materials and deliver ready-to-use toolkits, enabling broader adoption. Ultimately, this methodology empowers the automotive and aviation industries to fully exploit FRPs’ benefits — whether achieving lightweighting targets for EVs or optimizing critical airplane structures without weight penalties.

About the Author

Ganesh Lokanath

Ganesh Lokanath holds a master’s degree in automotive engineering with a focus on composite material processing and simulation, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He has more than 7 years of experience in composite materials, working in both process engineering and simulation. His master’s thesis involved material card development through the characterization of mixed-mode delamination. He has been with Forward Engineering for 3 years and previously worked at a bio-based composites start-up. lokanath@forward-engineering.com

Dennis Bublitz

Dr. Dennis Bublitz is leading the group for Simulation Driven Design at Forward Engineering GmbH. He holds a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering and a M.Sc. in aeronautical engineering. In his Ph.D., he focused on composites manufacturing simulations for RTM processes, where he developed his own material model to describe the complex time-dependent and orthotropic behavior of composites. Bublitz has more than 12 years of experience in composite simulations for structural analysis and manufacturing processes. He was involved in countless projects in the automotive and aviation industry, where accurate material cards and high-fidelity simulations were used to design lightweight structures. d.bublitz@forward-engineering.com

MSP PerfectPart cut the production time of Leonardo’s tiltrotor blades from 20 weeks to 3 days. Source (All Images) | MSP 

Global industrial group Leonardo (Rome, Italy) has experienced a leap in its production of complex carbon fiber tiltrotor blades for one of its helicopter programs after implementation of advanced CNC metrology solutions from Metrology Software Products (MSP, Northumberland, U.K.) cut production time from 20 weeks to 3 days, an increase in productivity of more than 4,500%.

Leonardo has also seen its part alignment process reduced from days to 5 minutes, estimated scrap rate reduced from 95% to 0% and reliance on using fixtures for part alignment processes eliminated.

Faced with the challenge of producing large, twisted composite blades that were deemed “impossible to manufacture” by simulation software due to varying levels of distortion and a thin tip making them hard to fixture, Leonardo turned to MSP’s PerfectPart suite of metrology products.

“To align our parts, we would normally probe and measure parts using CAD, but as the composite blades are often all different and never conform to this data, we had to find another way,” explains David Madigan, Leonardo tooling design engineer.

Originally, Leonardo considered tackling the problem itself using traditional manufacturing methods, but this was predicted to create a 18-20 week lead time and was therefore deemed an unsuitable option. A feasible solution was metrology-package MSP PerfectPart. According to MSP, its NC-Checker and NC-PartLocator product modules give manufacturers error-free and right-first-time part production.

NC-Checker was introduced as a standard operating procedure at Leonardo for its ability to assess the geometric performance of a CNC machine tool to check that it is capable of machining parts to tolerance. “The tiltrotor blades are low volume and high value, so you don’t want to risk scrapping any,” says Madigan. “NC-Checker allows us to monitor the machine tool in a simple way and gives us the confidence that no error on the machine will negatively impact the parts. Before we machine a blade, it is a stipulation that the software is run. Then, if something does go wrong, the first question is ‘Well, did you run NC-Checker?’”

NC-PartLocator was introduced to solve Leonardo’s main challenge of accurately aligning the blades despite the unknown amounts of distortion. Unlike traditional part alignment methods, NC-PartLocator uses five-axis probing to measure a part on the machine and generate an accurate best fit alignment in six degrees of freedom.

MSP’s James Dent (left) pictured with Leonardo tooling design engineer David Madigan (right) and CAD CAM engineer Keith Upton-Pittaway (middle).

Most importantly in Leonardo’s case, the software compensates for any discrepancy between the physical part location and the nominal machining program to show where the part “really is” on the machine. The updated alignment is automatically uploaded to the controller and any misalignment errors are automatically removed.

Madigan admits the product shocked him. “NC-PartLocator’s alignment results can be quite surprising. The software often shows that the blade should be somewhere else entirely, even when it doesn’t look any different on the surface.” It has also aided his fixturing routine. “I designed the fixtures based on the fact that you move the machine to the part instead of moving the part. All I needed to do was hold the part in position so it could be probed. It didn’t matter that the blades were all variable and the position wasn’t correct, as I knew NC-PartLocator would compensate for that. It’s night and day compared to traditional methods.”

And the results certainly show this difference. Using MSP as part of its processes, Leonardo has cut its estimated 20-week production time and 95% scrap rate to a stable 3-day production time with a potential for 0% scrap rate.

Source | NIAR ATLAS FPP Documentary

Wichita State University’s (WSU, Kan., U.S.) National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) has released a documentary-style video that shows how their ATLAS lab team approaches fiber patch placement (FPP) leveraging their 10-axis Samba Pro system by Cevotec (Munich, Germany) — featuring an ultra-fast Scara pick-and-place robot and a six-axis tool manipulator — and how it’s relevant to current challenges in aerospace composites manufacturing. The video can be found below.

The video offers a concise look at FPP process intent and aerospace use cases, including performance test results. In addition, for those who prefer the technical basis, NIAR’s SAMPE‑recognized paper, “Design Optimization and Analysis Validation of Complex Composite Parts Manufactured Using Fiber Patch Placement,” offers additional information on how complex geometry parts can experience significant performance gains by design optimizations that are unique to FPP.

What can aerospace programs take from this? FPP is best used in applications dominated by geometrical complexities like conical transitions, step features and domed shapes (convex /concave) — think fairings, antenna domes, nacelle inlets and sandwich structures with chamfer transitions. NIAR’s work results points to the same outcome: For challenging shapes, where other technologies struggle, a patch-based laminate strategy can maintain the fiber orientation and achieve thickness build-up close to the design requirements at a production rate that future aerospace programs are targeting.

In addition, Cevotec Samba systems supports true multi‑material placement in a single automated sequence, including auxiliary materials like adhesive films and glass fiber veils. Along with adjustable gaps/overlaps definition of the laminate, a distinctive FPP design feature, full single-layer coverage can be achieved. According to Cevotec, this differentiates FPP for complex material stacks and is a key enabler for full lay-up automation of high-performance structures like sandwich panels.

NIAR offers a broad range of development services to aerospace manufacturers, including material tests, prototyping and process development with FPP on-site in the U.S. This enables manufacturers to reduce their risks in the deployment of new technologies and typically shortens overall development cycles. Moreover, Cevotec offers a complimentary first screening and feasibility evaluation.

Record growth will drive increased use of composites, which are playing a key part in the rapid innovation of launch vehicle and satellite structures. Source | Novaspace, Kerberos Engineering, Orbion Space Technology, Patz Materials and Technology/A&P Technology

Market intelligence group Novaspace (Paris, France) has published the 28^th edition of its annual Satellites to Be Built and Launched, forecasting a decade of record-breaking orbital growth. More than 43,000 satellites are expected to be launched by 2035 — an average of 12 satellites and 8 tons of payload every day. This surge is set to drive a $665 billion market in manufacturing and launch services, fueled by mega-constellations, defense demand and rapid innovation in launch technology.

“We’re seeing a rapid expansion in satellite activity and a shift in how space is used,” says Gabriel Deville, manager at Novaspace. “Satellites are no longer just custom-built assets, they’re evolving into interconnected nodes within decentralized networks. This marks a new chapter in orbital complexity and global connectivity.”

Source | Novaspace

Five mega-constellations will account for 66% of satellites launched between 2025 and 2034 yet contribute just 11% of total market value. The rise of such non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) systems and the shift away from legacy geostationary/ geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) models has largely been fueled by Starlink’s demonstration of scalability and flexibility. Budget priorities, meanwhile, sits with defense. Defense remains the market’s economic anchor, capturing 48% of total value despite representing just 9% of satellite volume.

Read about composites in launchers and satellites:

• Composites end markets: New space (2025)
• Revolutionizing space composites: A new era of satellite materials
• Ultra-thin woven fabric enables 90% resource reduction in satellite solar array manufacturing
• Low-cost, efficient CFRP anisogrid lattice structures

Source | CIRA 

Looking to the launch market, the space transportation sector remains under bottleneck, with SpaceX enjoying a near-monopoly over heavy launch activity in the West. As several providers strive to introduce or ramp up competing vehicles, Starship promises to profoundly redefine space transportation and the space economy at large.

Overall, the manufacturing and launch market offers significant revenue potential, however, targeting this opportunity will require a nuanced approach.

Only 7% of the manufacturing market in value is fully open to any manufacturer and 70% is considered “nationally captive,” with the remainder locked by vertical integration of constellations. To compete here, consideration of strategic partnerships through the supply chain is now a must.

About the report

The 28th edition of Satellites to Be Built and Launched offers a 10-year market forecast along with a 20-year strategic outlook, covering demand, supply, technologies and trends across the satellite and launch ecosystem. It includes a complete database of all satellites launched and planned, based on Novaspace’s proprietary forecasts.

Source | Novaspace

The Classic edition provides an in-depth analysis of satellite applications and missions, satellite operators, and users and technology trends in PDF format. It includes Excel databases, covering all satellites, launched in the last decade, as well as satellites currently under construction, and launch forecast for the next decade as well as detailed status and maturity assessments of 550 commercial constellations of five satellites or more and discusses of business cases of the four mega-constellations.

The Premium edition adds access to quarterly update of the satellites launches and manufacturing contracts as well as an extended database of all government and commercial satellites launched and to be launched (10-year backlog and forecast), featuring 30 columns with detailed breakdown: constellation, specific application, manufacturing and launch contract status, information about satellite operator, manufacturer and launch provider.

With more than 40-year legacy of expertise in guiding public and private entities in strategic decision-making, Novaspace offers end-to-end consulting services, from project strategy definition to implementation, providing data-led perspectives on critical issues. Novaspace presents an expanded portfolio of services, featuring combined expertise in management and technology consulting, top-tier executive summits and market intelligence. 

This week’s Pic is of a structural component for the Boeing 787. In the background is the form made via Rapid Plasma Deposition (RPD), a wire-fed method of directed energy deposition (DED) developed at Norsk Titanium. In the foreground is its final form after finish machining. 

Why wire-fed DED? It offers a way to make titanium parts with forging-like properties at a lower cost. 

• Material: Titanium 6Al4V
• Process: Rapid Plasma Deposition
• Heat treating: None required to proceed to machining
• Final weight: 0.45 kg

FACC AG Plant 6 is located 30 kilometers from Croatia’s capital, Zagreb. Source (All Images) | FACC AG

FACC AG (Ried im Innkreis, Austria) is a global Tier 1 supplier specializing in composites and lightweight structures across multiple divisions including engines & nacelles, aerostructures and cabin interiors. The company is also successful in the fields of maintenance & repair operations (MRO) and advanced air mobility (AAM). Since CW’s 2014 tour of Plants 1-4 in Austria, FACC has grown significantly, reaching €884.5 million in annual revenue and over 3,800 employees at 15 locations across four continents. While the majority of FACC’s production remains in Austria, its vision for more than 20 years has been to invest globally, including its sister company FESHER Aviation in China and in India via its continued partnership with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL, Hyderabad), where FACC began manufacturing composite components for Rolls-Royce engines in 2009.

“India is on the rise,” notes the July issue of FACC’s magazine, BEyond, “offering enormous potential as a manufacturing and service location” and “an attractive location for FACC to further diversify its supply chain.” Indeed, using such locations to further strengthen its flexibility and resiliency is key to the company’s vision of helping to meet the global demand for more than 42,000 new commercial aircraft by 2043 and capitalizing on continued opportunities for growth. 

FACC is also investing in new technologies, recognized as a finalist for the 2025 JEC Composites Innovation Award in the aerospace category for an aeroengine exit guide vane made from thermoplastic composites (TPC) in a hybrid molding process. Recognizing potential for TPC across its businesses, FACC has been a member of the ThermoPlastic Composites Research Center (TPRC) since 2021 and participates in the COMPASS project using digital technologies to advance recycling of TPC parts.

Legacy and future in composite interiors

FACC began developing aircraft interiors in the early 1990s with the MD-95. It now supplies aircraft interiors for every major aerospace OEM including composite components and assembled modules for galleys, lavatories, sidewalls, baggage bins, partitions/dividers, ceilings, entryways and cockpits. For these products, FACC is pursuing its BIOS-Future Cabin concept.

“We’re currently working on bio-based resins to replace the phenolic resin currently used,” explains FACC CEO Robert Machtlinger. “Our goal is more sustainable products that will retain light weight and durability but also make our processes more efficient. We have already trialed such resins in several lower-volume applications with success, including much better surface finish.”

FACC aircraft interiors production from 2024 annual report. 

“TPC materials could also be used,” he continues. “We’ve seen this for some time for parts like automotive dashboards, which come out of the mold or press with the surface finish already integrated. This approach could eliminate operations like surface preparation and painting, but also offer much more flexibility, both in our manufacturing and in customization options for the customer. To meet global aircraft demand, production rates must continue to increase. If we want to achieve a real step change in composites, we need to adopt new technologies. Significant improvements aren’t possible with current materials and processes.” (See further discussion in “Future for new composites, growth in interiors” below.)

“When new technology is implemented for aircraft interiors,” says Machtlinger, “it will go to FACC Plant 6 in Croatia.” This 15,000-square-meter facility near Zagreb is the company’s long-term Aircraft Interiors Center of Excellence, with room to expand and a focus on meeting the need for increased mass production of high-quality interiors for large commercial aircraft.

Plant 6 – Interiors Center of Excellence

Aircraft interior sidewalls in production at FACC Plant 6.

As part of its strategy to expand its international footprint, FACC decided to invest in Croatia right before COVID-19 hit, explains Matija Ferić (“FEH-reej”), CFO of FACC Plant 6. “The company moved forward, believing that production would return and then increase, and completed Phase I construction in 2021, with first parts delivered in December of that year. Phase II expansion, which began in summer 2023, was completed in September 2024.”

“We now have a workforce of more than 400 employees,” adds Edvin Brčić (“BUR-cheej”), COO of FACC Plant 6, noting that 85-90% of its production is for Airbus interiors.

“This site was not set up to be just one facility, but to play a major role in FACC’s global manufacturing,” says Ferić. “We have established a firm foundation and shown that we can meet goals for increasing production. And though we are still missing some steps of the full process chain — such as the presses — this, too, is moving forward.”

Path for increased automation

“The processes we wanted to establish in Croatia first are the most labor-intensive, primarily the surface preparation to make sure that interiors components are ready for application of the final finish,” explains Machtlinger. “And now this final finish step has been automated in Plant 6 with the new paint line [see “Automated paint line” below]. But the surface preparation operations of sanding and filling are hard to automate. We did investigate this, but there are still many parts with radiused areas that are difficult to sand robotically and require the skill of a human hand. We found that a robot could only replace about 10% of labor hours. In the end, achieving the look and feel that our customers want to see remains a very manual process.”

“So, our first priority is to automate the front-loaded processes,” he continues, “including layup and press molding of the parts as well as loading and unloading the press. This is what we are doing now, and where we see a real advantage in reducing cost and labor with relatively straightforward automation. The remaining labor required will be combined with this automation to reach the next level of supply chain performance for commercial aircraft interiors.”

Until now, laminates for interiors have been pressed in Austria’s Plant 2 and shipped to Plant 6 in Croatia. “The first new press will be installed later this year,” says Brčić, noting Plant 6 has been designed to accommodate nine presses. “After the first press is commissioned, we will no longer receive parts from Plant 2 but will instead procure prepreg and honeycomb and press our own parts.”

“We are also looking at installing a clean room and autoclave in the future,” adds Ferić, “which will expand our portfolio of possible products.”

Operations in the current process chain include CNC milling, pre-assembly and surface preparation, including applying fill and putty and sanding, says Brčić, “followed by assembly of wiring, brackets and many other parts, before inspection of final assemblies and shipment to FACC in Austria where some are further integrated into larger modules and then sent to Airbus final assembly lines.”

A more complex component after final assembly shows why automation here is difficult but could include cobots working alongside technicians in the future.

“These assembly operations are also not easy to automate,” notes Machtlinger. “Plant 6 today may seem to use mostly manual processes across a large volume of parts, but once the presses and automated paint line are at full speed, combined with our CNC operations, this facility will appear more balanced between manual and automated operations. We may also add some cobots working alongside people to help optimize time and cost for certain assembly operations at the end of the process chain.”

“Another issue is that interiors are not as standardized as aerostructures,” says Ferić. “For example, each airline has their own configurations for seating, baggage bins, lavatories, etc. So, even as the industry demands a higher production rate overall, there are many different series of parts that must be made, which adds complexity and lowers standardization.”

Machtlinger notes that FACC’s approach is to try to keep products as standardized as possible to maximize production output and minimize cost. “Up to the CNC machining, all hat racks, ceiling panels and baggage bin doors are essentially the same per aircraft model and sometimes across multiple models. But once we drill holes and perform custom trimming, then we have conformed a product to the individual specifications by Lufthansa or Air France, for example. Note that from that point, it only takes 2-3 days for us to complete the part and begin preparing it for shipment.”

Plant layout, capacity, training and quality system

From the first floor conference room, we enter the main corridor which connects all the production areas. “When we designed this facility with the Fraunhofer Institute,” notes Ferić, “we laid it out to reduce non-value-added steps. Parts flow straight from north to south through the facility.”

The process chain starts with receiving of pressed laminates and blanks for parts from Austria in Area 1 and moves through CNC machining (Area 2) and pre-assembly, which includes putty/filling, sanding and surface prep (3-4) and the automated paint line (5),  followed by final assembly (6) and logistics (7). The final assembly area has a ground level for larger and more complex parts plus a mezzanine for smaller parts. Areas 3-5 are the largest and where the most labor-intensive activities occur, and all of the areas have inspection gates where parts must pass quality checks before they can proceed.

Here, we are joined by aerospace engineer and program manager, Bruna Jurić (YOO-reej) and process/manufacturing engineer, Ivan Cindrić (TSEEN-dreej). “Our engineering team is currently 45 people, focused mainly on production,” says Jurić. “We do some work with the R&D team in Austria, but especially with the main engineering office there, and are fully connected as Plant 6.”

The engineering team will increase as this site continues growing, with expectations to reach nearly 600 employees by 2028. “That is our target for 100% capacity utilization,” says Ferić. “This year, we will reach 60% utilization of our current capacity, which is 1 million production hours.”

“Croatia had the second largest ship producer in the world in the 1990s,” he adds. “It’s no longer in operation, but we’ve been able to easily scale our production team, sending key personnel to Austria for training. They come back and then train their work groups. We maintain a strict training matrix.”

This matrix is also part of the site’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Each part has a barcode which enables tracking. “We can see where every part is, who is working on it, how much time it has spent at each area and the projected completion date, plus other KPIs,” says Ferić. Regarding the training matrix, a worker will scan his/her badge and the part’s barcode, then check the production step to be completed. “If you don’t have the training qualification to do that step, you won’t be cleared to do the work,” he explains. “This enables traceability, which is key. We know which materials have been used, which operators have worked on each part and which batch of components have been installed in each assembly.”

Laminates and CNC machining

Incoming parts and laminates in Area 1 include hand layup/autoclave-cured components for door frame linings (left) and pressed glass fiber/phenolic resin prepreg and honeycomb cored curved sheets for baggage bin doors (right).

Our tour begins in Area 1 where all incoming parts and laminates are inspected. Cleared parts are sent to CNC milling while damaged parts are sent to rework. “We don’t scrap many parts,” notes Jurić, “which is important to reduce waste not only for cost but also our environmental footprint. We try to save every part by doing repair ourselves, such as parts that have delaminations or porosity in core splice edges.”

Cindrić shows a hand layup/autoclave-cured component for a door frame lining and a pressed laminate for a baggage bin door. Throughout this tour, we will follow the progress of these stowbin doors.

The left side of Area 2 houses three milling machines.

Both of these parts will next move through a large roll-up door into Area 2 for CNC machining. On the right is a large CNC machine (FFG Jobs, Eislingen, Germany) and a space ready for installing a second such cell when needed. On the left are three milling machines (EIMA, Frickenhausen, Germany). There are also numerous shelves with machining jigs and fixtures.

“For each of the milling machines, we have one table in process and one outside the cell being loaded, so that as a part is finished, the next one is ready, to help maximize machine utilization,” says Cindrić. One more CNC milling machine will be installed this year, and all of the machines are connected into the site’s ERP and tracking system.

Pre-assembly Areas 3 and 4

The baggage bin door has now been trimmed to have a specific radius on certain edges and inserts have been installed per Airbus and airline specifications.

Door frame lining components are being bonded into larger modules in one part of the pre-assembly Area 3.

We next move into the pre-assembly bay. As we walk into this area, we see some belly fairings on the left and in front of us are A320 ram air inlets — this forward-facing air intake is part of the aircraft’s environmental control system (ECS). The baggage bin door has now been trimmed to have a specific radius on certain edges and inserts have been installed into its glass fiber-reinforced phenolic prepreg and honeycomb-cored laminate.

There are two sides within the pre-assembly Area 3. On the left is fastener insert installation and trimming, while an area on the right is where multiple composite components are adhesively bonded into larger units. These are cured for 1-2 hours in two ovens here, with another oven at the back of this area where rework is completed. Some parts, such as the ram air inlets, also combine external parts such as the plastic air outlet panel which is basically a vent cover.

In the back of this bay is the commissioning area. This is the second such area where parts must pass inspection before moving to the next bay in the pre-assembly section of the facility. We walk into the rework area where parts are being repaired. This can include edge filling. If the core splice adhesive at the edge of a part is broken or has porosity, for example, then the edge is filled with adhesive, cured and sanded.

Pre-assembly Area 4 includes sanding, putty and filler application. Most parts receive two to three cycles of these steps.

These baggage bin doors show the progress between first and second cycles, with one layer of putty on the topmost part and a second layer of putty on the bottom part.

The adjacent Area 4 in pre-assembly comprises the putty and filler application, followed by sanding. Most parts require two to three cycles of these steps. Cindrić holds up two parts illustrating the progress between cycles. The one on top has been sanded and received a first layer of putty with its edge shaped to a specified radius. The bottom part has more layers of filler and a second layer of putty. As we walk down the hall, sanding bays are to the left and a dust removal station is at the end. Large roll-up doors to our right allow parts that have putty and filler applied to be shuttled directly to the sanding bays.

We turn right at the dust removal station and open a door to enter the putty and filler area. An enclosed room to the left is where filler is sprayed onto the parts. The rest of this bay contains all kinds of stations where workers apply putty to specific areas of a wide variety of parts. Large roll-up doors on the right allow parts to be first dried and then shuttled into the sanding bays. These parts will then move through the dust removal station and cycle through filler and putty again if needed.

Here, Jurić shows a production KPI board with headings Quantity, Takt, Errors and Standards. Quantity shows all the employees in that area and all work tasks for the day. Takt tracks cycle time for various operations. Errors shows first pass yield and quality levels for the past few weeks, while Standards track safety and housekeeping/cleaning in this area. “The idea is to get workers involved by meeting daily for both first and second shifts to track our production and performance,” she explains. “We also want to get their ideas because they are the experts at their jobs and stations. We want to acknowledge their capabilities, encourage contributions and enable continuous improvement. We also are planning to upgrade these KPI boards to digital versions in the future.”

Automated paint line

We exit this area back into the hall next to the dust removal station and walk through an air lock into Area 5, which houses paint operations. From the front of this area, we can see non-automated operations extending to the back on the left. These have been the norm until now and include small rooms for applying primer and topcoat. After parts are sprayed, they are dried in one of several ovens.

The centerpiece of this area is the new automated paint line supplied by Giardina Group (Figino Serenza, Italy), which is the largest equipment investment at this facility. Smaller-quantity and more complex-geometry parts are not the priority for automation, notes Cindrić, and will continue to be painted in the traditional way. “But the parts that present the surface the passengers see are very important for the airlines and are also the highest volume for us. We automate the final painting of these parts to improve repeatability, reduce human error and increase process stability.”

Demonstrating the automated paint line, the operator loads baggage bin doors onto the conveyor. 

Paint is then applied to the parts by two robotic paint guns.

The parts then move into an automated drying oven.

A baggage bin door out of the automated paint line. 

The process is fully automated through several steps. For example, baggage bin doors first get a smooth layer which is dried and then followed by a texture coat where the paint is deposited in a kind of speckled pattern. The doors get painted on both sides but only their exteriors get the texture coat. Jurić notes it has been a challenge to achieve this surface texture for the stowbin doors. “Our painters have learned how to do this by hand, but in the automated system, this had to be configured by optimizing various parameters to achieve the final finish specified by Airbus and its customers.”

An operator demonstrates the automated line for us. “First, he will load the parts onto the conveyor,” says Cindrić. “We can fit six doors in one tray and multiple trays in a row. Then, he selects which paint will be used. The paint is prepared by the system using an automated mixer and then sent to the paint guns. Paint and process specifications have been entered into the system for the specific parts being painted, such as these baggage bin doors.”

“The parts get scanned several times before painting begins to check their geometry and position,” adds Jurić. The machine then applies paint. Next, parts go into a flash oven. After that, the second texture coat is applied, followed by another flash oven cycle and then a final cycle in the drying oven. The operator can see every process stage and the status of all process parameters. For example, in the flash oven, the painted doors move through multiple steps and the operator can track this progress. Jurić notes the ovens can’t be opened during operation without a deliberate override of the integrated safety system.

“Finished parts are then taken to the inspection station here and once they pass this quality gate, they move into the adjacent area for final assembly,” says Cindrić. “Every part is inspected for gloss and with spectroscopy to check for thickness, as well as for pinholes, scratches or other defects.”

Final assembly

An automated system applies heat and vacuum to finish sidewall panels with durable thermoplastic foils.

In Area 6, larger parts proceed through final assembly on the ground floor and smaller parts on the mezzanine.

Final assembly stations feature screens to a digital system where technicians scan the part’s barcode to pull up all relevant drawings and hardware lists. 

This area was part of the Phase II expansion, says Cindrić. “There is still some empty space, but it will be filled soon. In addition to assembly, some parts will receive a final decorative laminate.” For example, sidewalls are not painted but instead a polymer film like Tedlar is applied for a final durable, aesthetic surface. “We apply heat and vacuum to the decorative thermoplastic foil to conform it to the composite sidewall,” adds Cindrić.

We walk upstairs to the mezzanine that extends across the majority of this final assembly area, where electrical wires, foam bumpers and inserts, lights, brackets and other components are installed. “We also combine multiple composite parts into a single module,” says Cindrić. “We use special jigs for each part assembly. The workers can pull up all the drawings they need on screens at each station using an internal material number which is connected to all the related specifications.”

“They scan the barcode to enter the work number,” adds Jurić, “and then pull up everything they need, including the list of parts and hardware. Everything in this system is also automatically updated, which is key to minimize issues, because part revisions are pretty frequent.”

 A finished baggage bin door with hardware.

A more complex assembly shows why automation here is difficult but could include cobots working alongside technicians in the future.

We come back down from the mezzanine and walk toward the front of the building where the final inspection stations are located for assembled parts and modules. From here, we walk left and pass through a door into Area 7 for logistics, where parts are prepared for shipping out to FACC Austria.

This section is divided between the front of the building where inbound auxiliary materials, hardware, consumables and other supplies are received and stored on large floor-to-ceiling racks. Finished parts packed in boxes or special containers awaiting loading onto trucks are in the area toward the back of the building. Jurić notes trucks are loaded and leave every day, sometimes as often as four times per day.

Future for new composites, growth in interiors

As we walk back to the facility’s front lobby, Jurić notes that the Croatian workforce here has formed into a strong team. “They are creative problem-solvers and open to discussion, always approachable and willing to listen. We are a very lean and fast-growing operation. While this presents many challenges, it’s also exciting to be part of this team opening up not just this new site, but this new vision for FACC.”

“We are located apart from Austria but fully connected to it, and with a copy and paste of its standards and systems for FACC’s global quality output,” adds Ferić. “We are continuing to scale production and when we expand, we will mirror this facility’s layout into an adjacent building but with additional capabilities and improvements to further enhance flexibility as the aircraft industry continues to change.”

“Ultimately, removing the manual work in the surface preparation of aircraft interior components will require new materials,” notes Machtlinger, “because the current phenolic prepregs generate too many volatiles and create the pinholes which necessitate filling and sanding operations to make the surfaces flat and smooth for application of paint or films. But there is interest from both OEMs and airlines to start using new composites technologies.”

He notes trends where airlines and operators are willing to pay for customizations that enhance the travel experience for their passengers. “We are already seeing this in the business jet market, and in the long term, a new approach will be needed to enable this flexibility at an affordable cost.”

OEMs are also looking at how to enable customization and reduce cost, says Machtlinger, “developing new concepts and processes for how fuselage structures can work with interiors to reduce assembly time and weight while improving flexibility for their customers. But this also requires a different interface with the power system than what is being used today.” He notes one solution is to print wire harnesses onto the rear face of aircraft interior sidewalls, which would be similar to how smartphones are made. “This not only eliminates the weight of wiring harnesses but also the multistep logistics, reducing cost and simplifying installation for the OEM, which then helps to meet increased aircraft production rates at affordable costs.” Similarly, TPC parts with molded-in attachment fittings and features are also being explored.

“There is a lot of work going into the development of these future technologies,” he continues, “which for sure will be used in the next generation of single-aisle [NGSA] aircraft to enter service by 2035, but there are advancements possible even before then.” Citing multiple upgrades in interiors design from Airbus (e.g., Enhanced Cabin, Airspace Cabin), Machtlinger points out that widebody aircraft have been in service for 15 years with no new models in planning. “Customers are already looking at possible interiors upgrades. We see an opportunity for new composites technologies to be tested in such an in-between step before NGSA, providing a refresh and new options, possibly even in the next 2-3 years.”

“We see growth coming,” concludes Machtlinger. “I expect further expansion in Croatia in the next 2 years, with the next phase on the blueprints and as our Aircraft Interiors Center of Excellence, new customer orders will go to Plant 6.”

The “DNA” of Faserinstitut Bremen e.V.’s (FIBRE) research is materials testing. At its ECOMAT site, much of its composites research is focused on aerospace and/or sustainability, including work in (pictured clockwise from left) cryogenic testing, tailored fiber placement (TFP), natural fiber composite pultrusion and automated tape winding. Source (All Images) | FIBRE 

As aircraft and spacecraft manufacturers advance toward next-generation technologies including large thermoplastic composite primary structures, reduced carbon-emissions propulsion including hydrogen power, and multifunctional structures, there is a lot of materials testing and validation work required before qualification and commercialization are possible.

CW had the chance to recently catch up with Faserinstitut Bremen e.V. (FIBRE, Germany), a legally independent research institute operating in four sites with about 60 employees, focused on research of fiber-reinforced polymer composites and fibers for technical applications with a large focus on supporting next-generation aircraft and spacecraft technologies.

In what capacity? “Our DNA is materials testing,” explains Professor David May, FIBRE director. In fact, the institute started as a spin-off in the 1950s from the Bremen Cotton Exchange, conducting quality testing on cotton materials for use in textiles. By the late 1980s, the organization had evolved into an independent institute and, partnered with the local University of Bremen, its work began to transition from quality testing to more advanced research on a variety of fibers including cotton, wool and plant fibers, followed later by synthetic fibers and processing technologies. Over the past 25 years, composites were gradually added into the mix and expanded, and today composite materials comprise about 75% of FIBRE’s research. In particular, thermoplastic composites (TPC) are a strong focus.

“We say materials testing is our DNA because we characterize fibers, polymers and composites all the way from single fiber tests to yarn tests to coupon-level composite testing. Beyond that, we have activities related to development of manufacturing processes, process simulation, monitoring and quality assurance, and part design,” May says.

FIBRE receives about 10% of its funding from the government of Bremen and 90% from third-party funds. Since 2012, the institute has been involved in more than 100 publicly funded research projects, as well as numerous industry-funded R&D initiatives.

Bremen’s ECOMAT facility, which houses research spaces occupied by FIBRE, Airbus, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and more. Source | Jann Reveling

The institute currently runs sites at the University of Bremen campus, the ECOMAT (Center for Eco-Efficient Materials & Technologies) research & technology center, and the Bremen Cotton Exchange, as well as the Technology Center in Stade.

Beyond research itself, FIBRE is also involved in teaching and student research programs through its partnership with the university, and in developing the technical program for the ITHEC Conference, a TPC conference held every other year in Bremen for the past 15 years. “It’s the only conference in Europe really focusing on high-performance TPC,” May says. “I love this conference, because all participants work on thermoplastics and are experts who are genuinely interested in advancing the field, and so the quality of the presentations is top-notch.”

Earlier this year, CW had the chance to visit FIBRE’s ECOMAT site, and to catch up more recently with May, who stepped into the director role in August 2024 and also teaches at the University of Bremen and serves as Airbus Endowed Chair for Rivet-Free Assembly Technologies.

ECOMAT itself opened in 2019, and is a joint research facility run by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen along with Airbus and other partners, with the goal of advancing technologies that will enable climate-neutral aviation. With more than 500 total researchers on site, ECOMAT houses a variety of tenants — including FIBRE, Airbus, Testia GmbH, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and more.

Located within Bremen’s airport center, where it is neighbored by Airbus, ArianeGroup, MT Aerospace and others in the space and aviation fields, FIBRE’s ECOMAT site naturally emphasizes research projects related to aerospace applications. “Bremen is the city of aerospace, including spacecraft,” May adds.

Within this focus, the site’s research has a variety of branches, including cryogenic hydrogen, lightweight design and manufacturing technologies, 3D printing, virtual testing and approval procedures (more on some of these research areas below).

As part of ECOMAT, there is also a deep focus on technologies related to sustainability. “Indirectly, basically everything we’re doing is contributing to sustainability,” May says. “For example, we’re doing cryogenic testing so that Airbus can develop tanks for hydrogen-powered aircraft. Thermoplastics allow for more energy-efficient processes. We’re doing research on bio-based polymers and fibers, and recycled carbon fibers. It’s all about sustainability in some way.”

Capabilities: Cryolab, pultrusion, TFP, automated layup and more

In the last 6 years since opening the ECOMAT site, FIBRE has gradually added staff and capabilities into the facility. Today, the 1,500-square-meter space employs about 30 researchers plus graduate and undergraduate students from the local university.

FIBRE’s on-site’s capabilities and research areas include:

• Cryogenic testing
• Pultrusion and winding
• Automated fiber placement (AFP)
• Welding and patch repair
• Tailored fiber placement (TFP)
• Thermoforming
• Injection molding and overmolding
• Walk-in radiation shielding cabin for X-ray development and analysis, and more.

The newest and most prominent area seen on CW’s visit was the cryolab.

Cryogenic testing to support hydrogen storage, future aircraft

Airbus may have pushed back its timeline for launching its ZEROe hydrogen-powered aircraft into the 2040s, but the company is still committed to the program — and, notably, multiple partnerships and projects related to hydrogen-powered aircraft were announced by Airbus and others at this year’s Paris Air Show in June 2025.

On FIBRE’s end, the postponement doesn’t affect the research being done, May explains. “We’re focusing on coupon-level testing, so no matter what the timeline is on the commercial side, we have to start now to investigate how materials behave under cryogenic conditions.”

The newest research space at FIBRE’s ECOMAT site is its cryolab, which includes capabilities for coupon-level material testing in liquid nitrogen and gaseous helium. Part of this work includes developing new methods for acoustic testing while samples are submerged in cryogenic tanks.

To support this work, in 2024, FIBRE’s ECOMAT site installed a laboratory for cryogenic material testing (cryolab), built and maintained in part with collaboration from Airbus. 

Currently, the lab features a machine capable of performing tensile and bending tests on material coupons immersed in liquid nitrogen at temperatures as low as -196°C and up to 100 kilonewtons (kN) pressure, either in quasistatic or dynamic testing. The lab is also installing a test machine for testing samples in gaseous helium as well, at temperatures as low as -250°C and up to 100-kN loads. This machine is capable of not only static tests but dynamic thermal cycling — “to investigate thermal- and mechanical-induced crack initiation and propagation,” May explains. In situ permeation testing is currently under construction. Airbus also has a dynamic helium system in the lab allowing for temperature cycling of samples.

The lab is currently focused on thermoset composite and TPC tests, but also characterizes other materials such as metals or adhesives.

In addition to mechanical behavior, the researchers can also use the test machines to measure properties such as coefficients of thermal expansion from 4K to 200°C  — which enables for research of permeation, potential cracking in the materials and component design.

These machines serve as a first step toward ultimately testing material behavior while subjected to cryogenic hydrogen. “The first step is figuring out how to do the tests,” May adds. “You have to rethink your testing equipment when you’re suddenly working with a sample that is submerged in a cryogenic liquid nitrogen tank. How do you measure the elongation? How do you measure acoustic emissions? Everything is new.” FIBRE researchers have developed new approaches for acoustic emissions testing using microphones capable of picking up sound travel through the immersion tank.

He adds, “Helium allows you to cover a very large temperature range, and it’s much easier to handle than the liquid nitrogen or even hydrogen. Of course, we are not sure yet as an industry whether the tests done in helium is transferrable to hydrogen, so that’s the first thing we will have to investigate.”

FIBRE’s cryolab aims to help researchers understand how composite materials behave at cryogenic temperatures, including the formation and propagation of cracking. 

In addition to FIBRE’s cryolab, ECOMAT also has plans to construct a nearby ECOMAT Hydrogen Center (EHC) within the next few years, May explains, which will house research facilities involving Airbus and others studying the use of hydrogen propulsion in aircraft.

Ultimately, all of these efforts aim to support and enable infrastructure such as storage systems and pipes for transporting cryogenic hydrogen, and FIBRE plans to install capabilities for testing samples in liquid cryogenic hydrogen in the EHC. “This set of testing machines will enable us to investigate not only the mechanical behavior under cryogenic conditions, but also to evaluate transferability — for example, between the easier and cheaper helium tests and the more complex but closer-to-the-application hydrogen tests,” May says.

Thermoplastic composites research: Manufacturing, joining, repair

The largest lab space in FIBRE’s ECOMAT site houses areas for pultrusion, TFP and AFP systems, and current research projects are focused largely on optimizing manufacture, welding and repair processes using TPC, in addition to some bio-based materials.

“TPC in particular are very attractive for aircraft OEMs because you can do it quite a bit faster than with thermosets to meet the production rate increases that they are wanting. But it’s an area that really needs research, because [redesigning a part in TPC] also means you have to rethink everything, from manufacturing to joining to repair,” May says.

FIBRE’s TPC research at ECOMAT includes:

• Understanding the bond strengths and internal stressors on overmolded TPC, in order to optimize both part design and manufacturing process
• Resistance and ultrasonic welding to enable rivet-free aerospace assembly
• Part repair using inductive heating, and more.

FIBRE demonstrates its research into induction-based repair on curved thermoplastic composite (TPC) panels.

Regarding repair, one technology FIBRE is working on starts with the manufacture of a carbon fiber/polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) patch manufactured using FIBRE’s robotic, AFP system (supplied by Conbility, Herzogenrath, Germany). This system enables fabrication of highly tailored, curved patches that closely match the performance of the original part.

This patch is welded to the scarfed damage area using msquare GmbH’s (Stuttgart, Germany) induction-based mats. “You pull a vacuum, put the mat inside, and can use it to do in situ consolidation or repair of TPC parts,” May says. FIBRE is working toward induction-based consolidation of curved TPC parts laid up using its ATP machine.

FIBRE’s Conbility tape winding system, delivered in early 2025, comprises a modular tape processing applicator on a KUKA (Augsburg, Germany) robot, a winding axis and a placement table surrounded by a certified laser safety cell. 

Regarding joining, FIBRE is investigating various welding techniques using TPC. “Applying conventional bonding strategies to TPC is more complex than bonding thermoset composites. So, there’s a lot of potential for welding, and large demonstrators like the MFFD [Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator] that have been set up to show this potential, but there is a lot of work that still needs to be done, and understanding at the material level that still needs to happen. That’s where research institutes come in,” May says.

Process monitoring for TFP

FIBRE operates a ZSK (Krefeld, Germany) TFP system for researching the fabrication of highly tailored preforms currently focusing on and mainly using carbon fibers and hybrid carbon fiber/thermoplastic yarns. Recent work has included the study of process monitoring methods for detecting defects in the preform and capabilities for adjusting the process in real time.

“It’s not always clear when you’re programming a stitch profile on the computer how the fiber and roving in the end will be exactly on your preform,” explains Marius Möller, research associate at FIBRE.

FIBRE demonstrates its TFP process monitoring research on aircraft window frame preform demonstrators.

The team has installed a 3D laser-based monitoring system that scans the preform while it is being stitched, measuring and reporting height data to help the user determine whether there are any defects such as cracks or creases in the fabric. This is combined with a high-contrast camera that supplies images and width measurements for detecting potential gaps in the fibers.

“We use this data to predict what the final preform will look and can make adjustments,” Möller says. The goal is to work with an industry partner to translate this into a machine learning software system. “This would help to adjust your stitching profile automatically while you’re going, so you don’t have to do it in an iterative process.”

Optimizing natural fiber composites pultrusion

While aerospace is a strong focus for the ECOMAT site, it’s worth noting that FIBRE’s location in Bremen lends itself to other industrial research areas as well. “Besides space and aeronautics, the city of Bremen is also well-known as a trading city with shipbuilding yards,” May says. This led to a collaboration with nearby Bremen-based Circular Structures GmbH, a flax fiber composites specialist that got its start in boatbuilding with its Greenboats brand.

The BMWE-funded (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy) BioPul project began officially in August 2024 as a 2-year initiative aimed at optimizing the pultrusion process for use with natural fibers.

Circular Structures has specialized in flax fiber/bio-epoxy infusion — originally for the manufacture of boats and ultimately diversifying into applications like wind blade nacelles and recreational vehicles. “However, infusion can be expensive and labor-intensive, so we’ve been investigating lower-cost options like pultrusion,” explains Paul Riesen, head of R&D at Circular Structures.

In the BioPul project, Circular Structures works with FIBRE and pultruder Thomas Technik (Bremervoerde, Germany) on material selection and design for the trial profiles, basing the prototypes on real load cases.

Using FIBRE’s in-house Thomas Technik pultrusion machine, “we started with a really small profile to see if it’s even possible,” explains Simon Boysen, research associate for structural design and manufacturing technologies at FIBRE. “Compared to typical glass fibers, natural fibers have short lengths —  as short as 20 centimeters — which leads to a lot of issues when it comes to pultrusion. Not the least of which is the distance between the die to the pulling units.” It took a trial-and-error process to adjust and optimize the pultrusion system for natural fibers.

A flax fiber composite profile demonstrator emerging from FIBRE’s pultrusion process. FIBRE and partners have since progressed to more complex shapes including omega-shaped profile demonstrators.

An additional challenge is that natural fibers in general take in more moisture and humidity than synthetic fibers, necessitating the installation of an oven as the first step after the rovings are pulled off the creels. “Part of what we’ve been working on is evaluating the process parameters for the pre-drying, and our current process is about a 10-minute pre-drying process for optimal moisture content going into pultrusion,” Boysen says.

The researchers began by pultruding flat profiles to perfect the pre-drying and pultrusion process using unidirectional (UD) flax rovings impregnated with liquid epoxy. Next, they started integrating a layer of biaxial twill flax fabrics as a middle layer within the pultruded profile — acting as a sort of core.

Why do this? “We want to be able to improve and control the mechanical properties not just in the 0° direction like in a conventional pultruded profile, but +/- 45° and 90° as well,” Boysen explains. “We know how to achieve UD pultruded profiles, including, now, using flax fiber. The goal here is to use these materials for applications requiring more flexible arrangement of the fibers and textiles.”

There were challenges with introducing this part of the process at first, Boysen notes. “Initially, we weren’t able to pre-dry the textiles, and so the extra moisture content led to issues with hardening of the profiles. The next step was to add guide plates onto the oven so that we can pre-dry the textiles as well.” A future goal is to inverse the arrangement and create profiles where two woven fabric skins sandwich a UD pultruded core.

FIBRE’s Thomas-Technik pultrusion line, shown here processing glass fiber composites.

From there, the researchers were able to test pultrusion of more complex geometries, starting with L profiles and ultimately demonstrator omega-profile parts, with and without additional textile reinforcement.

According to the researchers, results so far have demonstrated 30% greater tensile strength and stiffness and porosity of less than 3% with a fiber volume content of up to 65%. 

What applications could this be used for? Circular Structures’ Greenlander brand aims to use pultrusion to manufacture camper profiles faster and with less material compared to hand layup and vacuum infusion of the same parts. The Greenboats brand could also use this technique to fabricate marine components like cable canals and stringers.

Learn more and get involved 

Cryogenic materials testing, thermoplastics research, process monitoring and natural fiber pultrusion represent only a few of the many projects FIBRE is working on with its industry and academic partners, at ECOMAT and its other sites. Visit faserinstitut.de/en to learn more about the organization’s ongoing projects and learn how to get involved.

Omni Aerospace is still testing the spindle life for its first Ecospeed, eight years on. As the machine monitors signs of spindle performance like temperature and vibration — and has accidentally cut bolts without issue — O’Neill is confident that his team will be able to detect errors well before they occur. Image courtesy of Starrag.

The Challenge

O’Neill says his shop’s claim to fame is its willingness to work on difficult, interesting parts that shops in the surrounding area won’t touch. These are often large, structural aerospace components up to 24 feet in length, at order volumes as small as two parts and rarely larger than 20.

For years, the shop used three-, four-, five- and six-axis mills to create these parts, as well as mill-turn machines and a horizontal broaching machine. But these machining capabilities were common to other aerospace shops in the area, and around 2017 Omni began looking to invest in technology that would give it a unique value proposition for customers. O’Neill soon found his eye caught by a large, six-axis horizontal mill with a tripodal machine head and decided to give the machine and Starrag, its unfamiliar supplier, a try.

Stiff and Stable

According to O’Neill, successful part production relies on stiffness of the machine tool, the tooling and the part setup. The Starrag Sprint Z3 parallel kinematic machining head on Omni’s Ecospeed machines meets the first requirement through its tripod shape, which O’Neill says is more geometrically stable than a traditional “A over C” design. The head itself includes three rotational axes, with a positional axis in the machine arm. Its travels are a few inches larger than the table, which itself is 159 inches on the X-axis by 61 inches on the Y-axis, giving the head the space it needs to tilt and move when adjusting its angle for a five-axis cut.

The spindle’s horsepower-torque curve also functions differently from the competition, reaching its full 160 horsepower at 14,000 RPM rather than at 30,000 RPM. O’Neill says this makes it safer to run larger-diameter routers on the Ecospeed, as the sort of 50-mm routers Omni needs would cause catastrophic damage if thrown at 30,000 RPM. What’s more, the machine’s 160-horsepower rating is for continuous runs rather than a time-limited duty cycle, enabling more flexibility in how the shop can schedule continuous roughing.

Both these factors help Omni with parts that require high material removal (up to 95% in some cases) and with its largest patterns (which can involve up to 16 parts on the table during a single setup). The ease of part access through the machine’s axial configuration also enables the shop to consolidate most of its operations for parts, eliminating setups.

O’Neill credits his shop’s success with the Ecospeed machines to the staff’s willingness to take part in Starrag’s training program. After all, he reasons, with an unfamiliar machine brand, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” The program provided Omni’s machinists with maintenance instructions and best practices for programming and operation. Image courtesy of Starrag.

Omni has been able to ensure the reliability of its operations on the Ecospeed through careful tool management and other process control techniques. All of the tooling on the Ecospeed has clearly defined life limits and backups in the tool carousel. If all goes well on a job, the machine can swap out tooling without issue — but even a small issue in the tool can spell disaster for the part. As such, Omni relies on a built-in Blum-Novotest laser to inspect tooling for chips and other types of damage. If a tool shows damage, the company removes the pallet containing the job and tries to determine what in the program caused tool damage before returning the pallet to production.

Beyond tool breakage detection, O’Neill says the Ecospeed is the only machine in the shop that automatically controls the temperature of its coolant. This enables much closer control of the expansion and contraction of the aluminum material being machined. O’Neill and his team also say the machine’s chip conveyor layout keeps up with production, eliminating the need to regularly stop the machine to flush chips.

And though Omni hadn’t known it would be a factor, the machine’s reliability and stability also helps it meet Boeing’s BAC 5114 requirements, which were announced and implemented only after the shop bought its new machine. As part of these requirements, all holes in structural parts must be full-size fastener holes with tight tolerances in their diameters and in relation to one another. These requirements also stipulate that components should not require match drilling or other fix-up work during assembly. Without the reliable, repeatable stability offered by the Ecospeeds, Omni may have needed to perform match drilling on the parts, a time-consuming process that would have also required additional operations for deburring the holes. Instead, the Ecospeed has enabled Omni to meet these standards during regular roughing and finishing, saving the company multiple operations.

The Ecospeed is also equipped with a Siemens 840D control. O’Neill says Starrag’s machine makes use of some of the higher-end functions of the control. He points to the control’s SP Mon function, which enables machinists to monitor vibration in certain cut areas alongside spindle load and the temperature of both spindle and bearings. Omni has also made great use of the Siemens control’s ability to automatically optimize feeds and speeds by analyzing spindle load and cutting speeds against the part model. He says this one feature could save 15-20% of spindle cut time by itself, and had an ROI of six months.

Lights-Out with Ecospeed

These cycle time reductions became even more potent after Omni added a second Ecospeed F 1540 in 2019. Where Omni had bought the first machine with a rollover table to enable swapping between two pallets, with this second machine the shop purchased an optional palletized cell and retrofitted it to the first machine as well. This is a Schmittwerke two-story pallet system with eight pallet stations that each fit the 159-inch by 61-inch table, a changing station and a robotic guided vehicle with an elevator that can elevate pallets and roll them into buffer stations. The machines have few differences, so all parts programmed for one of the machines can also run on the other.

Omni Aerospace is a family business, run by Founder and CEO John O’Neill and his wife, President Gretchen O’Neill. They are joined by their son, Complex Machining Manager John O’Neill. Image courtesy of Omni Aerospace.

Omni runs three staffed shifts, during which time the shop can regularly load and unload parts from the cell, but also runs a fourth unstaffed shift which relies on the cell to switch between pallets. O’Neill says that some shifts can largely be dedicated to loading and unloading parts already, as he estimates the machines have cut the cycle times on parts by at least 50%.

Revenue Revolution

Since installing its first Ecospeed machine, O’Neill says Omni’s revenue has increased two and a half times, with most of that attributable to its Ecospeeds. The single parts that come off the machine are usually among its highest-value parts, though fitting a full pattern of sixteen parts onto the pallet can be its own high-value batch. Omni is now in the process of acquiring a third Ecospeed machine (this one equipped with Siemens’ Sinumerik One) and is also exploring Starrag’s catalog of hard-metal machines. Already, the shop is growing 15-20% year-over-year through its investments in technology and rare capabilities for the region, and Omni looks to maintain this pace of growth into the future.

Radome panel under radio frequency testing. Source | Rock West Composites (RWC)

The delivery of nine Ka-band and KaKu-band radomes to R4 Integration Inc. (Fort Walton Beach, Fla., U.S.) by Rock West Composites (RWC, San Diego, Calif., U.S.) completes a contract that continues work on a previous aerospace program facilitating military search and rescue operations. The sandwich panel radomes meet multiple demanding requirements including very low view angles, a large band of frequencies, truncated schedule and no tooling. The program is anticipated to have follow-on adjacent panel designs in 2026.

The contract called for radomes made of a fiberglass and foam core sandwich configuration, following the design of the original proof of concept. The Ka-band radomes are made of Quartz Btcy1-A/4581 by Toray Advanced Composites (Morgan Hill, Calif., U.S.) and Diab (Laholm, Sweden) foam. The KaKu-band radomes are made of Toray 2510 and Diab foam with a foam tuning layer. The exterior shapes are the same and require very low view angles of 20° relative to the horizon within several frequency ranges: 10.7-14.5 gigahertz (GHz), 17.7-21.2 GHz and 27.5-31 GHz. RWC met an abbreviated schedule and used no tooling by creating a highly optimized flat panel design. The company performed in-house radio frequency testing to verify performance to requirements.

“This opportunity has enabled Rock West to demonstrate a key capability, successfully producing radomes for aerospace applications without the need for tooling, bringing better value and improved schedules to our customers and end users,” notes Adam Saunders, RWC program manager.

LEAP engine. Source | CFM International

Safran Aircraft Engines (Paris, France) launched its new LEAP engine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) shop on Oct. 13. This Casablanca, Morocco MRO facility, which was originally announced in October 2024, is located in the Casablanca airport zone. It will support the rapidly increasing demand for CFM International (note: CFM is a 50/50 joint venture between Safran and GE Aerospace) LEAP engines, which power the majority of new-generation single-aisle commercial jets — especially the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max.

Spanning 25,000 square meters, the shop will be able to handle 150 engines a year. Operations are expected to begin in 2027, and some 600 new jobs will be created by 2030. The new facility represents an investment of around €120 million.

Safran has also chosen Morocco as the location for a new assembly line for LEAP-1A engines dedicated to Airbus aircraft. The facility will complement production at Safran’s Villaroche site in France to support the significant ramp-up in production planned by CFM International — around 2,500 LEAP engines a year from 2028. Located on a 13,000-square-meter site, the plant will be operational by the end of 2027 and will have the capacity to assemble up to 350 engines per year. The company is investing €200 million into the new facility.

This industrial complex dedicated to new-gen aircraft engines will benefit from a single test bench for both new and overhauled LEAP engines. In addition, as part of its strategy to reduce carbon emissions from its operations by 50% by 2030, compared with 2018 levels, Safran also signed a memorandum of understanding guaranteeing access to renewable energy for most of its facilities in Morocco, taking effect in 2026.

Safran is further bolstering its presence in Morocco through the expansion of three existing sites: Safran Aerosystems – Tiflet, Safran Electronics & Defense – Casablanca and Safran Electrical & Power – Ain Atiq. These newly expanded facilities will begin operations between 2026 and 2027. 

Overall, Safran is investing more than €350 million in Morocco in the two new LEAP engine facilities and the extensions. Furthermore, to support this scaling up of operations, Safran will be recruiting more than 2,000 people over the next 5 years. 

Safran has been present in Morocco for 26 years and employs more than 4,800 people at 10 sites. The group leads Morocco’s aerospace sector and maintains close partnerships with local companies and the country’s government institutions and training centers. 

Sandvik Coromant’s Coromill Plura Barrel line of solid end mills are designed specifically for profiling applications. This solution provides high process security, notable productivity gains and significant cycle time reductions, making it well suited for the aerospace industry and other high-demand sectors.

The Coromill Plura Barrel offers a machining principle for profiling tools, marking a specialized addition to the company’s end mill solutions for ISO S profiling applications, including Coromill Plura Ball Nose, Coromill Plura Lollipop and Coromill Plura Conical Ball Nose. The tool features a one-radius barrel form featuring up to six optimized flutes.

The increased contact radius of the Coromill Plura Barrel is said to provide several advantages over traditional ball-nose machining strategies. This design can reduce cycle times by up to 90% by increasing the step-over, which improves machining efficiency by significantly increasing the surface removal rate (SRR) while also promoting exceptional surface quality.

The optimized barrel design reduces cusp height between passes, leading to superior surface finishes and lower surface roughness. Despite generating higher forces, the stability and process reliability of barrel end mills make them well suited for achieving precise finishes in demanding profiling applications.

According to Liam Haglington, product manager for solid carbide milling tools at Sandvik Coromant, the Coromill Plura Barrel’s large cutting edge radius increases step-over and reduces cycle times, boosting productivity during high-volume material removal. The large barrel radius makes it well suited for machining large, complex contours and 3D shapes, while minimizing scalloping for shallow depths of cut. This tool is particularly suited to demanding applications like aerospace, where components such as engine blisks involve complex geometries and challenging materials. It also improves profiling in other high-demand sectors like medical, oil and gas and power generation.

The tool is available with Sandvik Coromant’s internally developed, material-specific grades, including T2CH for titanium alloys and R2AH for heat-resistant superalloys (HRSA). Both are enhanced by a custom phyiscal vapor deposition (PVD) coating for improved durability and wear resistance. For customers with specific size and diameter requirements, the tool can be customized through Sandvik Coromant’s Tailor Made service, and a tool guide platform can further aid application needs with expert tooling advice.

Sandvik Coromant also offers a comprehensive recycling program for worn-out carbide tools, including the Coromill Plura Barrel and other advanced milling solutions. This service enables customers to return used tools for responsible recycling, reducing industrial waste and conserving critical materials like tungsten and cobalt. By participating, manufacturers can contribute to environmental sustainability and benefit from a more resource-efficient production process.

Cycom EP2190, now included in the NCAMP database, will enable faster aerospace qualifications. Source | Syensqo

Syensqo (Brussel, Belgium) has announced the addition of its Cycom EP2190 epoxy prepreg to the National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP) database. This milestone provides customers with standardized, publicly available qualification data packages, lowering barriers for adoption and enabling faster timelines for aerospace programs.

The NCAMP datasets cover EP2190 unidirectional (UD) tape on intermediate modulus (Teijin IMS65) fiber and plain-weave fabric on standard modulus (Syensqo Thornel T650) fiber. With NCAMP publication, OEMs and Tier suppliers gain access not only to material property data, but also to comprehensive qualification reports, statistical analyses, material specifications and process specifications. According to Syensqo, this full suite of documentation significantly reduces the time and cost of adoption for new aerospace programs.

Cycom EP2190 is a high-performance thermoset material designed for demanding primary structures. It delivers enhanced toughness while maintaining optimal compression properties — a balance critical for commercial aerospace, defense and advanced air mobility (AAM) applications.

“Having Cycom EP2190 in the NCAMP database enables our customers to efficiently adopt this high-performance material and rapidly move into the design phase of their programs,” says Greg Kelly, director of product and asset management, Syensqo Composites. “This is particularly impactful for AAM and defense customers seeking proven, readily available material systems.”

Over the last several years, Syensqo has further broadened its EP2190 portfolio beyond its core UD tape and fabric forms to include AFP carbon tape, S2 glass tapes and the required complementary glass fabrics. These expanded offerings provide engineers with greater versatility across both primary and secondary structures.

Cycom EP2190 is currently produced at Syensqo’s Wrexham, U.K. facility, with plans to expand production to North America as demand grows.

Taiwan made a strong impression at EMO 2025 with 121 exhibitors, ranking fourth worldwide. Under the theme “AI Shaping the Future,” Taiwan demonstrated how artificial intelligence is improving manufacturing with enhanced precision, efficiency and sustainability.

At the Taiwan AI Empowered Machine Tool Industry Executive Dialogue, industry leaders emphasized Taiwan’s comprehensive ecosystem — spanning electronics, ICT, semiconductors and machinery — that facilitates AI adoption in machine tools.

Key highlights included:

• Cosen Precision: AI sawing system designed to improve efficiency and stability in aerospace applications
• She Hong: AI thermal compensation said to improve mold machining accuracy by 60%
• Hosea Precision: An IIoT platform helping SMEs upgrade with predictive diagnostics and energy savings.

Industry associations TAMI and TMBA stressed Taiwan’s shift from price competition to value competition, promoting digital transformation and an AI knowledge-sharing platform to accelerate adoption.

Looking ahead, Taiwan plans to present its latest innovations at TMTS 2026 in Taichung, focusing on AI empowerment and smart, sustainable manufacturing, as well as at TIMTOS 2027 in Taipei, highlighting AI deeply integrated into smart manufacturing.

From aerospace to automotive, and from complete machines to components, Taiwan’s AI-driven machine tool industry is advancing rapidly and positioned to play a significant role in the global transformation of manufacturing.

Source | Airbus

Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL, New Delhi, India) is to build a private sector helicopter Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Vemagal, Karnataka, India, which will produce Airbus’ (Toulouse, France) H125 helicopters. The move is set to expand South Asia’s potential in the rotorcraft market. 

The “Made in India” H125 helicopter will develop new civil and para-public market segments and also meet the Indian armed force’s requirement for a light multi-role helicopter, especially on the icy heights of the country’s Himalayan frontiers. Plans include a military version, the H125M, to be offered out of this Indian factory with high levels of indigenized components and technologies.

Tata intends to undertake manufacturing and testing of H125 helicopters including assembly, integration and testing of structural mechanical, electrical systems and components into a complete helicopter and final flight tests required before the delivery of the helicopter to customers, which is expected to begin in early 2027. The helicopter will be available for exports in the South Asian region as well.

“This is our second FAL in collaboration with Airbus and further reinforces the partnership between Tata and Airbus for India,” says Sukaran Singh, CEO of managing director of Tata Advanced Systems Ltd.

Tata is well placed in the Indian aerospace sector with capabilities to build and deliver fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Its Composite Center of Excellence supports aerospace, space and defense applications, offering expertise in monolithic and sandwich layup, nondestructive testing and quality management systems, and more. This expertise is being proven in the company’s production of Dassault Aviation’s Rafale fighter aircraft fuselage, a new contract for aerostructure assemblies with FACC and work with Airbus’ C295 aircraft, to name a few.

Airbus’ relationship with India began more than 60 years ago on the back of an industrial collaboration agreement with the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. to produce the Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, which have served the Indian armed forces with distinction. 

The H125 FAL is the second Airbus aircraft assembly plant Tata Advanced Systems is building in India, after the C295 military aircraft manufacturing facility in Vadodara, Gujarat — demonstrating Airbus’ long-term commitment to developing a holistic aerospace ecosystem in India across all dimensions: manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, design, digital and human capital development. Airbus sources components and services worth about $1.4-plus billion every year from India, including complex systems such as aircraft doors, flap-track beams and helicopter cabin aerostructures.

The H125, a single-engine helicopter with an accumulated 40 million flight hours worldwide, is already highly composites-intensive, which is supported by the Composites Shop Center of Excellence at Airbus Helicopters in Fort Erie, Canada. This facility delivers everything from engine cowlings to fairings and coverings.

Source | Teijin Carbon, A&P Technology

Teijin Carbon (Wuppertal, Germany) and A&P Technology (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.), have jointly developed IMS65 PAEK Bimax biaxial fabric, a rate-enabling solution using Teijin Carbon’s Tenax TPUD IMS65 PAEK product, a thermoplastic unidirectional (UD) tape. Bimax is designed to meet growing demand for scalable, high-speed production of composites in aerospace, space, defense and other evolving markets.

Tenax TPUD IMS65 PAEK — a high-quality UD tape based on polyaryletherketone (PAEK) resin — is slit into narrow widths and braided by A&P Technology into a 65"-wide +/-45° fabric. The +/-45° braid architecture has minimal crimp, offering a high translation of tape properties while providing optimal drapability for complex geometries. With a fiber areal weight of 184 gsm and 34% PAEK content, IMS65 PAEK Bimax enables out-of-autoclave processing and vacuum bag only consolidation, thus reducing manufacturing time while enhancing mechanical performance and impact resistance.

IMS65 PAEK Bimax fabric’s features mentioned above translate into:

• High fiber volume and low crimp for high mechanical performance
• Extreme drapability for deep-draw parts
• Reduced layup time per layer. The wide fabric enables quick laydown of biaxial reinforcement
• Native air evacuation pathways for optimal consolidation of thick components
• Room temperature preform placement with spot tacking to simplify production workflows.

According to partners, the braided fabric meets or exceeds the properties of existing National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP)-qualified PAEK prepregs, offering a robust and scalable solution for next-generation composite structures. 

ACMA CEO Cindy Squires (left) and SAMPE CEO Rebekah Stacha (right) kick off CAMX 2025 by discussing supply chains and sustainability challenges, along with opportunities for innovation.
Source (All Images) | CW

Trade shows like the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX) often intersect with the relentless pace of magazine production. As my colleagues and I explore the show floor, we’re simultaneously racing against deadlines, finalizing articles and ensuring content is ready to publish. Back at the office, the whirlwind continues, catching up on projects left midstream. Before you know it, days or weeks have passed.

Yet, CAMX 2025, held in mid-September in Orlando, Florida, demands a deeper dive. With nearly 6,000 attendees and more than 500 exhibitors from across the globe, this year’s event — co-produced by ACMA and SAMPE — offered a snapshot of the composites industry’s trajectory, particularly in key markets like aerospace and infrastructure.

The opening general session, led by ACMA CEO Cindy Squires and SAMPE CEO Rebekah Stacha, set a powerful tone. Addressing a rapidly evolving global landscape, the pair underscored the dual nature of today’s industry — unprecedented challenges in supply chains and sustainability, paired with immense opportunities for innovation. As Squires stated, “From sustainability to next-generation applications, the conversations and partnerships formed here will propel composites forward at a time when the world needs our solutions more than ever.”

Hexcel is partnering with A&P Technology, Hawthorne Composites, NIAR and the AFRL to use braiding and overbraiding techniques to enable high-rate production of mass aircraft solutions for defense. 

Aerospace remains a cornerstone of composites innovation, and CAMX 2025 reflected the industry’s push toward high-rate manufacturing and collaborative solutions. Hexcel, a longtime leader in the sector, doubled down on partnerships with companies like A&P Technology , Hawthorn Composites , Fiber Dynamics and HyPerComp Engineering Inc., and with organizations like Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Imad Atallah, vice president of carbon fibers, matrix and reinforcements for Hexcel, emphasized the need for rapid production systems. “We want to be more intentional about collaboration,” Atallah said. “Why not collaborate with people who are innovating and accelerate?”

Hexcel’s advancements, such as IM11 high-tensile strength carbon fiber for pressure vessels with HyPerComp, as well as its cooperation with its partners and the AFRL to produce net-shape preforms for mass aircraft solutions, signal a future where speed and domestic manufacturing — aligned with U.S. policy initiatives — drive aerospace, space and defense applications.

Type 4 COPV highlighted at Hexcel’s booth at CAMX 2025. 

Meanwhile, Syensqo unveiled a breakthrough resin infusion technology qualified by the National Center for Advanced Technologies (NCAT). Marc Doyle, executive vice president for composite materials, highlighted the solution’s forgiving processing window, which enables the production of thick, complex components without exothermic risks. Targeting air mobility, defense and high-performance racing, this innovation democratizes access for smaller manufacturers by providing critical material specs without costly independent testing.

Yet, challenges loom. High material costs, even with reduced manufacturing complexity, remain a hurdle, as does the need to scale these technologies for commercial aerospace. The push for high-rate production also raises questions about quality control and long-term reliability in demanding applications. As aerospace continues to prioritize weight savings and assembly efficiency, the industry must navigate these trade-offs to fully capitalize on these innovations.

Filament-wound conduit enables low pull-through friction for long cable runs, supporting critical infrastructure.

In critical infrastructure, composites are carving out a vital role in addressing aging systems and modern demands. Westlake Corp. composites segment leader, Amitabh Bansal outlined a solutions-driven approach, focusing on lightweight materials for power transmission, data centers and infrastructure installation. Innovations like lightweight façade panels, GFRP rebars, conduits for critical infrastructure and composite piping for water and wastewater systems illustrate how composites can streamline installation and address structural burdens and longevity issues. “We don’t want just to sell a resin or a material,” Bansal stressed. “We want to bring the whole solution to the customer and solve a real problem.”

The opportunities in the infrastructure sector are immense, especially as global infrastructure needs escalate amid urbanization and climate challenges. Composites offer corrosion resistance and reduced maintenance compared to traditional materials like steel and concrete, aligning with sustainability goals. However, adoption faces significant barriers. High upfront costs, regulatory hurdles and a lack of widespread awareness among civil engineers and policymakers slow integration. Additionally, scaling production to meet infrastructure’s vast demands while maintaining cost-competitiveness remains a persistent challenge. Bridging the gap between innovation and implementation requires education, advocacy and strategic partnership.

Woven through the advancements in aerospace and infrastructure at CAMX 2025 was a broader theme of resilience. In a keynote address, futurist Sheryl Connelly challenged the composites community to prepare for uncertainty rather than predict — a sentiment that resonated deeply with an industry navigating supply chain disruptions, geopolitical shifts and sustainability mandates. Composites are uniquely positioned to address these global challenges, whether through lightweight, high-performance materials for next-gen aircraft or durable, eco-friendly solutions for critical infrastructure. Yet the path forward demands collaboration and a problem-solving mindset. CAMX 2025 wasn’t just a showcase of technology; it was a reminder of the human potential behind composites.

Drone arm. Source | Uplift360 

Cleantech startup Uplift360 (Luxembourg and Bristol, U.K.) and aerospace company Leonardo (Rome, Italy) have successfully transformed an end-of-life (EOL) helicopter rotor blade into a prototype drone arm, proving the performance and potential of chemically recycled aerospace-grade composites.

Using its proprietary, low-temperature chemical recycling process, ChemR, Uplift360 extracted high-quality, reusable carbon fiber from a rotor blade taken from an EH101 three-engine helicopter, the forerunner of the AW101. Once destined for incineration or landfill, the reclaimed fibers were repurposed into a structural component.

“This project with Leonardo shows how ChemR can turn what was once unrecyclable into mission-ready material — supporting a more resilient and sovereign defense supply chain,” notes Sam Staincliffe, co-founder and CEO of Uplift360.

The project began under an R&D contract with Leonardo in May 2025 and focused on testing ChemR’s ability to process complex composite waste. Uplift360 exceeded the brief — not only recovering the material but also validating its use in manufacturing. The collaboration directly supports the U.K.’s Strategic Defence Review focus on strengthening supply chain resilience.

Clive Higgins, U.K. chair and CEO of Leonardo, adds that material recirculation is a key component of the Leonardo Sustainability Plan. “Collaborating with innovators such as Uplift360, we can demonstrate how sustainability not only creates positive environmental and social impacts but delivers business and economic benefits.”

The YCM Alliance, part of YCM Technology USA Inc., has introduced the RX65+ five-axis VMC designed for speed, rigidity and accuracy. Engineered with advanced structural, spindle and control technologies, the RX65+ offers manufacturers a reliable platform for precision machining across industries such as aerospace, medical, die and mold, automotive and high-performance job shops.

The RX65+ offers 24.40" × 20.47" × 18.11" linear axis travel, with 220 degrees of motion in the B-axis and a full 360 degrees in the C-axis. Its robust ram-type structure and trunnion rotary table enable fast, accurate machining of complex parts while minimizing setups. Built on rugged Meehanite castings poured in YCM’s own foundry, the machine promotes stiffness, vibration dampening and long-term thermal stability.

To further improve rigidity, fixed, pre-tensioned, double nut ball screws and roller guideways are featured across all axes. This configuration enhances machining performance, surface finish and service life when compared to conventional linear ball-type systems. Hand-scraped joints maximize alignment and geometry, reducing reliance on electronic compensation while providing superior accuracy.

At the core of the RX65+ is a high-precision 18,000-rpm spindle with an HSK63A taper. Built with air-oil lubrication, vibration sensors and an integrated spindle chiller, the system provides the thermal stability and stiffness required for demanding applications. Manufacturers can cut tough materials with fine finishes, while supporting high-pressure 1,000-psi coolant-through-spindle for optimal chip evacuation.

To meet strict machining tolerances, the RX65+ integrates linear scales in X, Y and Z axes, and rotary scales in B and C axes. This fully closed-loop feedback system continuously measures axis positioning, minimizing thermal and mechanical error while supporting repeatable high-accuracy machining.

A direct-drive trunnion rotary table provides a B-axis tilt range of +110/-110 degrees and full C-axis rotation. With a maximum part diameter of 650 mm (25.59") and a height of 450 mm (17.71"), the trunnion design reduces the need for multiple setups and improves efficiency.

The RX65+ is delivered with a Blum kinematics package that includes the TC52 spindle probe, LC50 laser tool setter, calibration ball and Blum Axis Set software. Operators can easily calibrate and reset all five axes when needed. The integrated Blum Kinematicsperfect software simplifies rotary axis pivot point calibration and alignment checks, supporting consistent multiaxis performance.

Supporting efficient workflow, the machine comes equipped with a 40/60 tool cam-type automatic tool changer (ATC), providing 1.8-second tool-to-tool times with heavy tool and big tool functionality. An automatic ATC door reduces chip and coolant contamination, while inverter-driven cam-box motors allow quick recovery in the event of mishaps.

To maintain uptime and part quality, the RX65+ incorporates multiple coolant management systems. A spindle coolant ring with adjustable lock nozzles, air blast, washdown gun and air gun work together for effective chip evacuation. A specialized shower coolant system with up to 10 nozzles supports thorough flushing of chips into the Jorgensen chip conveyor with Ecofilter, reducing maintenance while improving machine uptime.

The RX65+ is powered by the Heidenhain TNC7 control, a benchmark for simultaneous five-axis machining. Offering 0.5-m/s block processing time, 1000-block lookahead and intuitive real-world setup tools, the TNC7 enables operators to achieve improved surface finishes and accuracy, particularly in die and mold applications. With modern connectivity options including Ethernet, USB and RS-232C, the system supports integration into smart factory environments.