ENGINEERING

CompositesWorld and Composites Technology magazines, has announced that the agenda is nearly set for its High-Performance Fibers 2010 conference, which will be held Nov 9-10, 2010, at the Doubletree Guest Suites Historic Charleston Hotel in Charleston, S.C.

This year’s conference co-chairs will be Dana Granville, senior materials engineer at the Weapons & Materials Research Directorate of Army Research Laboratory (AMSRD), and Patrick J. Owens, global marketing director, public sector, DuPont Advanced Fiber Systems.

This international conference is designed for executives from leading manufacturers of high-performance fibers, such as p-aramids (Kevlar and Twaron), high-performance polyethylenes (HPPE, Spectra and Dyneema), boron, silicon carbide, specialty glasses like S-2 Glass, and other specialty fibers, to network with end users, such as OEMs, Department of Defense and other research labs, and composites parts manufacturers. Discussions will cover the diverse business opportunities and technical challenges that lie ahead in high-growth applications such as body and vehicular armor, high-performance rope and cordage and flame resistant fibers, as well as in the blast-resistance, marine, aviation and aerospace markets.

“This year’s agenda will have some different presentations, including one on geotextiles that incorporate fiber optic sensors that provide structural health monitoring of critical earth structures like walls, slopes, roads, rails, levees and dams, identifying unseen problems before a catastrophic failure occurs.” said Scott Stephenson, conference director.

In addition, there will be a pre-conference seminar the morning of Nov. 9.
"High-Performance Fibers for Military Composite Applications" will be presented by Dr. Joseph M. Deitzel and Dr. Ahmad Abu Obaid, associate research scientists at the Center for Composite Materials at the University of Delaware (UD-CCM). This seminar will provide an overview of novel and commercially available high-performance fibers and fabrics used in advanced composite applications. The topics will be presented in an informal lecture format where questions and audience interaction are encouraged. Topics to be covered include: an overview of structure/property relationships in high-performance fibers, environmental effects on fiber mechanical performance and the role of the fiber/resin interface in composite performance. The effects of 2-D and 3-D weaving on yarn mechanical properties and recent advances in nanofiber composite processing will be discussed as well. The content of the workshop is designed to be accessible to a range of individuals with varying degrees of experience in the fields of fiber science and composite science.