TEXTILES.ORG
Ever since I first got involved with the textile industry, I’ve puzzled over composites. As a Specialty Fabrics Review editor, we typically covered flexible composites, but not rigid composites. It was our perception that few of our members and readers were involved in this market area. It was also easier to identify with flexible composites because they “behaved” similarly to more familiar materials: something that can be folded, rolled, cut and sewn. Flexible, often with some stretch in at least one direction. Some drape easily, others are so lightweight they practically float. They flap in the wind.
Except when they don’t. That would be when a textile—or fibers that can be made into a textiles—are found in imbedded in layers of other materials to make a composite. We all know this, but we don’t often talk about this huge industry that has a critical role to play, worldwide, in uses as varied as race cars, airplanes, wind turbines, wheel chairs, bicycles, and a host of parts to be found in products used in almost every facet of our lives.
Yes, rigid composites have textiles in them. They’re in there, and they are essential. The process for making these materials is quite specialized, and I don’t pretend to understand it in depth, although I do grasp the concept. The ability to build a layered material to match specific performance requirements is somewhat familiar to all of us; the kind of sophisticated end product typical of many rigid composites … that’s where things get fuzzy.
About 10 years ago, ATA (IFAI at the time) partnered with the composites industry’s JEC trade show at our Expo. That year, I walked the JEC show with the chair of our association’s board of directors. He said, simply, “all composites have textiles in them,” and proceeded to show me around and introduce me to some of the companies making composites. I’ve never thought about composites the same since.
Today’s rigid composites are even more innovative. For an up-to-date look at this market
area, I encourage you to read our feature, “Hidden and essential: Fibers and textile structures are critical components in today’s composites,” by Dr. Marie O’Mahony. You may not think of composites the same again, either.