The Aeronautical Journal: Volume 102 -

Innovative approaches to composite structures
K. D. Potter, M. R. Wisnom, M. V. Lowson, R. D. Adams
Published online by Cambridge University Press:

04 July 2016, pp. 107-111
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The precise birth date of the aerospace composites industry cannot readily be identified; perhaps one should really talk about its rebirth as the first aircraft relied on natural composites such as wood. McMullen gives 1946 as the date that work on cellulose based composites for aircraft use was abandoned in favour of much more stable inorganic reinforcement fibres. This change in the direction of approach was crucial to further developments and can be thought of as marking the start of the aerospace composites industry that can be seen today. Whatever the exact date the industry is now about 50 years old so this golden jubilee edition seems an appropriate place to look at the constraints on the use of composite materials and at recent work at Bristol University aimed at reducing these constraints.

The Aeronautical Journal