Lin Yuru | Publication Date: July 8, 2024 17:34 | Category: Cutting-edge Technology, Materials

In the history of mankind, many materials have been used, such as ceramics, steel, and plastics. The Wall Street Journal believes that we are currently at the forefront of the next era, the era of "composite materials," such as carbon fiber materials used in wind turbines, racing cars, and the Boeing 787.

The advantages of carbon fiber materials are that they are lighter and stronger than alternative metal components, require fewer resources to manufacture, but are also more expensive due to the labor-intensive manufacturing process, making them suitable for the aerospace industry. However, with technological advancements, composite materials can now be produced using cheaper and faster manufacturing techniques.

In addition to the aerospace industry, composite materials can also be used in consumer electronics products such as smartphones, wearable devices, and military weapons.

Some start-up companies have developed various small objects using composite materials, such as Arris Composites in California, 9T Labs in Zurich, and Orbital Composites in Silicon Valley, which can produce at a faster speed and lower cost.

9T Labs hopes to have at least one customer announce the use of their manufactured components in bicycles by the end of this year, while Orbital Composites has signed a contract with the U.S. military to develop composite materials for satellites, rockets, drones, and hypersonic aircraft.

Although composite materials may seem like futuristic technology, they can actually be traced back to previous material technologies used by humans, such as wood. Wood is lightweight, strong, can withstand compression and tension, and is easy to process into different shapes, but is also prone to splitting along the grain. Similarly, composite materials also face many obstacles, such as delamination.

Jeremy Koh, Director of Advanced Materials Solutions at ST Engineering, points out that the biggest challenge faced by current advanced composite material technologies over time is fatigue damage. His company is currently experimenting with composite materials to replace titanium bolts on aircraft using Arris technology.

Preliminary tests indicate that the performance of these composite material bolts is as good as metal bolts, but they are lighter, easier to manufacture, possibly cheaper, and not subject to geopolitical influence related to major titanium suppliers in Russia and China.

As for the consumer electronics application of new composite materials, they may enter the market sooner. Arris is in discussions with at least one company to use composite materials in virtual reality equipment because weight has always been a major obstacle for such equipment. Therefore, in the future, consumers may have the opportunity to buy smartphones and electric cars made of composite materials instead of metal.

• A New Age of Materials Is Dawning, for Everything From Smartphones to Missiles

(Source of the first image: Applied Materials)