Model Airplanes

The world’s largest airplane is taking shape for Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Vulcan Aerospace venture, but it’s not yet clear what kind of rocket would be launched from the Stratolaunch super-jumbo jet.

The uncertainties reflect transitions taking place at Vulcan Aerospace as well as in the launch industry. Last month, the venture’s president, Chuck Beames, said he was still in the midst of defining where Stratolaunch fit in the context of Vulcan’s wider “NextSpace” vision. Meanwhile, there’s been a switch in the CEO spot for the Stratolaunch Systems subsidiary, from Gary Wentz to Jean Floyd.

The past few months also have been marked by rapid shifts in the satellite launch industry – particularly for small to medium-size satellites, which are supposed to be in the sweet spot for Stratolaunch’s air-launch system. The Wall Street Journal quotes unnamed aerospace industry officials as saying those shifts could threaten the project’s overall viability.

In a statement emailed to GeekWire today, Vulcan Aerospace said the Journal’s report was “inaccurate” and “based on nothing more than rumors and speculation, not facts.” The statement went on to sketch out Vulcan’s vision of transforming space transportation to low Earth orbit by changing the current model for launching payloads into space:

“Today, space launch continues to be hampered by long delays and high costs, especially for the burgeoning class

Article source: http://www.geekwire.com/2015/work-continues-on-paul-allens-stratolaunch-plane-but-rocket-plans-are-still-under-wraps/

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Article source: http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/under-eiffel-tower-way-over-bar-reno-180957317/

Stanford researchers inserted chain-like molecules of polystyrene – the same material in Styrofoam coffee cups – between layers of nanocomposites to make these materials tougher and more flexible. (Image courtesy of Stanford/Dauskardt Lab.)

Nanocomposites are a special class of materials made out of components smaller than one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair.  

They are designed to possess physical properties greater than what can be achieved by their constituent parts, such as greater flexibility, strength and resistance to chemicals or temperature.

A team of materials scientists and engineers at Stanford University have been testing the upper boundaries of lightweight nanocomposite mechanical toughness in a class of materials that have been toughened by the inclusion of polystyrene molecules. 

Their research resulted in a model of a previously unknown toughening mechanism they have described as “confinement-induced toughening.”  

This new model diverges from the conventional understanding of how composites get their toughness, a quality defined as the ability to resist fracture.

Toughening Up Nanocomposites

The existing understanding was that toughness results from polymer molecules entangling with each other within a composite material. 

The Stanford team’s composite, however, disperses the polymer molecules throughout the composite in a way that confines them inside the pores within the material, preventing and limiting the effect of entanglement.

They

Article source: http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/10999/Confinement-Induced-Toughening-May-Mean-Stronger-Materials-for-Aerospace.aspx

Philippe Starck is telling me about how he doesn’t like nightclubs.

That’s right. The acclaimed French designer who outfitted the famous Parisian clubs La Main Bleue and Les Bains Douches—essentially the Studio 54 of Paris—doesn’t like going out.

“Even when I designed them, I never went to them,” he says. “I would never want people to see my wife and I in trendy places like that. We prefer to live simply, like monks. We’re boring.”

Well, that might be a stretch. The man is wearing neon, tie-dyed, track pants to this interview, after all, on a four-hour layover between continents. During 40-plus years in design, Starck has been called many things—innovative, verbose, self-confident—but probably not boring.

We meet at his usual suite at the Mercer Hotel in New York. (He has a residence in the neighboring SoHo, one of many he keeps sprinkled around the world.) Naturally, Starck has a lot to say. In fact, he kind of talks at me—essentially interviewing himself—for about an hour.

We’ve met to discuss his eyewear line, which—unbeknownst to many—has been around for nearly 20 years. His

Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-17/philippe-starck-s-eyewear-collection-more-futuristic-than-ever

Nov 17, 2015 | By Kira

Materialise has made two big announcements at this year’s Formnext, which in its first day has already proven to be a hotbed of industry innovation. First, the company has announced that it will be manufacturing 3D printed, flight-ready plastic parts for Airbus through its certified Factory for 3D Printing; and second, its latest software release, Magics20, is now available, offering a new user interface and support for all current file formats, including voxels and .3MF.

Earlier this year in April, Belgian-based Materialise announced that they had obtained EN9100 and EASA 21G certification, thereby authorizing the company to deliver airworthy additively manufactured end-use parts—an extremely important qualification, as more and more aerospace and defense organizations are looking to 3D printing and AM technology to manufacture high-quality, reproducible and highly complex end-use parts. Thanks to this certification, Materialise’s Factory for 3D Printing is today manufacturing plastic parts for Airbus’s latest model in the family of Airbus aircraft, the A350 XWB.

Offering 25 per cent lower fuel consumption and higher comfort standards for passengers that previous models, the A350 XWB is considered a ‘new generation’ of aircraft. In order to meet these high performance requirements, while ensuring reliability and lower maintenance, Airbus sought out the topology optimization and functional integration that comes with 3D printed end-use parts.

This isn’t the A350 XWB’s first run-in with 3D printig. Previously, Airbus partnered with Stratasys, who produced over one thousand 3D printed parts for the Airbus A350 XWB, delivering lightweight parts

Article source: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20151117-materialise-3d-prints-flight-ready-parts-for-airbus-unveils-magics20-am-software.html