Composites

New Hampshire, USA based Warwick Mills, a manufacturer of technical textiles for protective gear has won a $94.3 million contract from the U.S. Army for concealable body armour and vests.

Formax, a leading manufacturer of speciality composite reinforcements, has launched a new recycling initiative at its Leicester, UK production facility. Thanks to the creation of a dedicated Recycling Division and the installation of two bespoke machines, Formax says it is now able to reprocess the majority of its glass and carbon fibre waste.

In the run in to Techtextil, the leading trade fair for technical textiles and industrial nonwovens, organisers Messe Frankfurt have published the following article on the spread of nanotechnology in technical textiles. The article shows how nanotechnology is being used in a growing number of applications from clothing, through construction to regenerative medicine. Techtextil takes place in Frankfurt from 11-13 June.

Century Design Inc. (CDI), a leading global supplier of Prepreg machines and specialist composites processing equipment, will be exhibiting at SAMPE 2013 in Long Beach, CA, next week, where it will showcase its new CD6012 machine, demonstrating how composite part producers can manage and control their own prepreg manufacturing while driving down costs and reducing production lead times.

Well known industry consultant David Rigby (formerly David Rigby Associates) is now providing personal advisory and consulting services to business owners, CEOs and senior managers in technical textiles and industrial nonwovens, with the aim of helping them create more profitable and sustainable futures for their businesses.

Cytec Industries will be exhibiting a range of advanced composite and process material at SAMPE’s Spring Conference in Long Beach, California from 6-9 May, where visitors can learn more about the composite manufacturer’s materials and associated businesses.

This video was made by Robert Newton a TV documentary producer whose family were in textiles in North Carolina for generations. Newton got the idea for the documentary after he found himself constantly correcting people who said that the textiles industry in NC state was dead. It’s a full blown TV documentary which lasts 30 minutes but its well worth watching.

Energy efficient membranes, silicone-coated textile fibres, a new master batch for tintable polypropylene or new technologies for integrating systems into apparel – these are just some of the inventions of the ten winners of the Techtextil and Avantex Innovation Prizes.

UK based Sigmatex has announced it has secured the first of a number of targeted contracts for the automotive sector. The contract has been concluded after significant technical collaboration and development between Sigmatex, a major automotive OEM and an Automotive Tier 1 supplier.

The overall response from the exhibitors and visitors at the latest edition of Techtextil North America was confirmation that they were pleased with the show and venue, organisers say. The tenth edition of Techtextil North America took place from 19-21 March at the Hilton Anaheim in Anaheim, California.