Special Shapes

When it comes to standard and custom composite products, Composite Resources has a proven track record in the design, engineering, prototyping, fabrication and manufacture of small quantities to production runs in the millions. One design area that we specialize in is the development and production of special shapes in composite materials.

One example of our manufacturing and design innovation in special shapes is a composite carbon fiber/fiberglass hybrid triangular tube that was developed for an aerospace subcontractor. Developed at Composite Resources, this hybrid composite tubing is used as an integral part of a commercial airline seat structure and system.

In developing this special shape hybrid composite triangular tubing, the Composite Resources engineering staff was given a design challenge – the custom composite triangular tubing needed to be lighter in weight than steel or aluminum, meet Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 25.853a flame retardant requirements, and withstand a 3G crash test (as part of the airline seat) to meet the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) air worthiness guidelines. The end product – our custom-sized hybrid carbon fiber/fiberglass triangular tubing – met all of these requirements. In terms of weight savings, our special shape custom triangular tubing was over 50% lighter than the equivalent aluminum component and 75% lighter than the same steel counterpart. One significant benefit was that the weight savings of this hybrid composite triangular tube contributed to the fuel savings initiative for commercial airliners. In this age of extremely high aviation fuel costs, reducing weight in aircraft – and, at the same time, not compromising passenger safety – were important considerations that were met by Composite Resources.

For prototyping and production of special shapes, custom tooling is developed and produced right in our 52,000 square foot facility – unlike other composite manufacturers, there's no need here at Composite Resources to farm that work out to a subcontractor. This means that we can design, prototype and manufacture composite special shapes in as little as four weeks, half the time as most other composites companies. Our engineering staff is experienced in using 3-D SolidWorks® design software, and will work with your engineering group in CAD files including .dxf, step, and .igs files. To enhance our special shape design, we have the capability to work in four-axis. Composite Resources assists you in material selection, and we'll also recommend hybrid composites for special shapes. Our in-house special shapes production capabilities include from one, two or three parts to production of one million-plus components. We realize that every special shape application requires different production techniques – to that end we can perform multiple fabrication processes, such as roll wrapping, hand lay-up, and turning, to name a few. In addition, Composite Resources has recently added gel coating to our finishing capabilities. View a complete list of our in-house manufacturing and fabricating capabilities.

Here at Composite Resources, we do a "little bit of everything" when it comes to composite special shapes. As noted earlier, we'll recommend hybrid composites for your particular project or component, combining the optimum properties of two materials (such as carbon fiber and fiberglass), when a blend of materials is the best answer. We use simulation software to calculate what hybrid designs will work for your specific application, tailoring the strengths and other properties for the ultimate end product.