Breaking Molds: A look at innovation, achievement, and ideas in manufacturing and the composites industry

By Rebecca D’Amico

Over the Bounding Main
Seven Percent Annual Growth Predicted for Boat Industry, E-Composites Report
According to the Global Recreational Boating Industry Analysis and Forecast 2006-2001, a new E-Composites market research report, the worldwide demand for recreational boats will grow at a rate of seven percent annually from 2006 to 2011, estimated to reach $26.4 billion in annual sales by the end of this year growing to $37.1 billion by 2011. Recreational boat sales—which includes the sale of inboard boats, outboard boats, stern drive boats, personal watercrafts, and sailboats—are currently the highest in North America, but have the highest growth rate in Europe. The 477-page market report covers a range of topics affecting the marine industry, valuable for boatbuilders, distributors, material suppliers, toolmakers, and service providers to identify industry trends and plan for the future markets. The report examines boat market share by region and by major boatbuilders, as well as ranking boatbuilders by annual sales volume and annual boat production. Based on annual revenues of recreational boat sales, E-Composites’ estimates rank U.S.-based Brunswick first in the global recreational boat market. Fellow market leaders Genmar, Groupe Beneteau, Ferreti, and Azimut follow Brunswick as the top ranked recreational boatbuilders. The report examines composite material consumption by region and boat type, and calculates the percentage of boats that use woven roving, chopped fibers, knitted fabrics, advanced fibers (carbon, aramid, and S-2 glass), polyester resins, vinylester resins, epoxies, coremats, etc. Processes are also discussed, covering the lay-up sequences used for the production of hulls and decks by the top 30 boatbuilders, and the percentage of open molding versus closed molding processes. The effects of new EPA MACT regulations on boatbuilders also are examined, looking at the impact on manufacturers, as U.S.-based boatbuilders are required to increasingly control air emissions. General information on market trends and forecasts, as well as detailed market, materials, and technology analyses are also included. The report, published in October, includes 165 figures/charts, and 42 tables in addition to in-depth market analysis. Go to
www.e-composites.com.

Waste Water in Paradise
Isla Contoy Environmentally Friendly to Humans
Located at the at the intersection of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico is Isla Contoy, an island and protected National Park that serves as home to more than 150 migrating and resident bird species and is a nesting place for sea turtles. With minimal facilities—a visitor center with a pier, museum, souvenir store, resting area with benches and grill, and a watchtower—the island provides a great natural habitat for groups of government-sponsored biologists who monitor and study the island’s ecosystem. Though the facilities and visitors are minimal, the island does require a reliable wastewater treatment system. But the lack of power available, and the desire to maintain environmentally friendly facilities, posed a problem. To overcome these issues, the Mexican-based equipment manufacturer and distributor Pixan-Ha was contracted to supply and install a Cromaglass CA-12 wastewater treatment system. The Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) tanks—constructed of lightweight fiberglass, and manufactured by Williamsport, Penn.-based Cromaglass—had to meet strict local regulations. The tanks receive untreated sewage from the buildings on the island, which is flowed through the tank treatment and recycling process. The waste water system installed on Isla Contoy runs on solar energy collected via solar cells on the roof of the visitor center, which also powers appliances and lighting for the facility. The installation provides an example of environmentally friendly wastewater treatment systems for other environmentally protected areas. These fiberglass Cromaglass systems also were recently installed for wastewater treatment at the American Embassy in Iraq to improve infrastructure destroyed by lack of upkeep and the war. www.croma glass.com; www.pixan-ha.com

Worth the Weight?
Assessing the Airworthiness of Unmanned Aerial Systems
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded researchers at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) a grant for $80,000 to assess the airworthiness of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). With the introduction of unmanned systems, the FAA will need to establish new standards and operational requirements for these vehicles. According to the Center of Excellence for Composites and Advanced Materials’ newsletter Technology Bulletin, the FAA hopes research will provide the basis for developing airworthiness standards, devising operational requirements, establishing maintenance procedures, and conducting safety oversight activities. These things will be investigated with research projects focusing on technology assessments, methodology development, data collection, and validation both in the lab and field. The goal of the work being completed at WSU is to investigate the current technologies used to design and produce UAS airframes, providing the FAA with a better understanding of this technology. The WSU research—being led by Department of Aerospace Engineering, Professor Walter Horn and Allison Crockett NIAR research engineer—also aims to determine the additional and/or different regulations that the FAA should apply to UAS operation, in comparison to current regulations. For the purposes of WSU’s investigation, a UAS is defined as an aircraft in which the pilot in command is not onboard the aircraft, and will exclude very small lightweight, remote controlled aircraft that are used for sport or recreation. To begin the investigation, researchers will analyze the certification standards for manned aircraft, determining the processes, testing, material selection, quality control, manufacturing process, and verification procedures major manufacturers use for traditional manned aircraft production. They will use this analysis to develop a “checklist” of steps aircraft manufacturers take from initial concept through the aircraft certification process. This will allow the researchers to take the next step in their investigation, which will be to compare the development process of manned aircraft to the development process for UAS. This will bring them to the ultimate goal of the project, which is to identify the regulatory needs the FAA should consider when developing UAS standards. www.wichita.edu

Room with a View
Custom Molded Windows for Oceanfront Research Center
The Atlantic coast in Logy Bay, Newfoundland, Canada can serve up harsh conditions for buildings. With winds and rain gusting over 100 mph, and salt spray consistently beating the Ocean Sciences Center (OSC) over the years, 70 existing windows on the building had deteriorated beyond repair and had to be replaced. The window replacement project was made more difficult because the windows were set in 12-inch concrete walls, requiring precise design for effective retrofit. Based on these factors, fiberglass molded windows were commissioned, which then presented another challenge—the designers needed a single measurement that could work for all units in the building. Accepting the design and production challenge, Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Duxton Windows & Doors began manufacture of the windows. The 100 percent custom job required a lot of back and forth between Duxton and project managers City Thermo Pane, which began with a CAD design that was customized until it met OSC’s project specifications. The result was a “one pour” monolithic frame, liner, and brickmold component. A custom finish was applied and AFG insulating glass covered with Super Spacer thermal resistant tape was installed with a flexible stop system. Manufacturing the seventy 7-inch round custom windows, some of which required custom fit awning windows within the round window, took Duxton about 6 months. “The design was completed and the windows installed with very little problems, none that we didn’t address and fix with the help from Duxton Windows,” Project Manager Ray Hayward reported. The OSC is a research facility operated in conjunction with Memorial University of Newfoundland, which conducts research on the North Atlantic fishery, aquaculture, oceanography, and behavior and physiology of organisms ranging from bacteria to seals.
www.duxtonwindows.com