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96 February/March 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology AUSTRALIA Composite Components +61 405 457 383 www.compositecomponents.com.au CANADA M1 Composites Technology +1 450 686 8864 www.m1composites.com FRANCE Rexiaa Group +33 4 73 897100 www.rexiaa.com GERMANY 3C-Carbon Composite Company +49 8191 970 050 www.3C-carbon.com Germa-Composite +49 2234 991510 www.germa-composite.de Neuform Composites +49 2387 900725 0 www.neuform-composites.de Schuetz +49 2626 77 1230 www.schuetz.net Structural Engineering +49 221 294 8270 www.struct-engineer.de UB Composites +49 7144 8143 0 www.ubc-gmbh.com ITALY Bercella +39 0525 53680 www.bercella.it CRP +39 0598 21135 www.crp.eu Some examples of composite manufacturers and suppliers The future A notable trend over the past few years has been the growing use of structurally hybridised materials – a combination of varying the fibre types, material compositions and fabric types. For example, a manufacturer might want woven fabric and a UD mat stitched together to create a material with greater strength and stiffness in one direction while still protecting against transverse loads in the other. Alternatively, a company might combine a woven carbon fabric with a discontinuous fibre component to achieve the structural strength and stiffness of the fabric while still being able to have a complex part manufactured at the 3D level, which chopped fibre components tend to enable. Such materials were researched in the 1960s and ’70s before being overtaken by advances in single-reinforcement, single-matrix composites, but interest is gradually being revived. Further to this, combining different fibres into single matrixes – either layer by layer, yarn by yarn or fibres of two or more reinforcements combined into single matrices – could give the advantages of those fibres while eliminating any disadvantages. Interspersing glass fibres between carbon fibres, for example, could make a system less costly while leaving the strength and stiffness unaffected, or barely unaffected. Test materials can also be produced in this way. If a fibre paired with another inside a matrix fails faster than its partner owing to greater brittleness, for example, the data collected from the test observations can be analysed to predict the behaviour and failure rate of the material or to study any warning signs before a critical failure is discovered during hull or component inspections between missions. Also, as the world’s economy looks increasingly towards sustainability and reducing production costs, composites suppliers and end-users are paying more attention to the issue of recycling materials. Modern composites manufacturing still creates a certain amount of scrap, which can be challenging to re-use but is still useable and therefore has value. Beyond this, unmanned vehicles will continue to be applied in evermore niche sectors, each with its own materials challenges and body of data on environmental and mission considerations. As the analysis and evaluation of these materials are refined, new composites will continue to emerge and proliferate as they are optimised towards a perfect fit for every unmanned vehicle, in every realm. Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Wayne Smith of North Thin Ply Technology, Claire Baker of TenCate Advanced Composites, Mark Crouchen of Rockwood Composites, Peter van der Flier of A Schulman Engineered Composites, Dannielle Tooley of SHD Composites, Paul Jackson of Forward Composites, Jack Taylor of Composite Metal Technology, Louise Eriksson Jacka of Diab Group and Mike Dewhirst of Lentus Composites for their help with researching this article.