Composite Materials Improve Efficiency

Composites are the construction materials of the future!

Their use is increasingly seen in applications where optimum efficiency is paramount. From the creation of renewable energy to the next generation of air travel, composites have the ability to transform our world. Quite literally in the case of the aircraft industry as composite materials can be used to make wings that will change shape in flight to better make use of flying conditions. And at up to a 30% reduction in weight over traditional materials, fuel savings are significant.

The wind farms that are increasingly important to our energy needs would be considerably less viable without composite materials. Composite materials lend themselves particularly well to the renewable energy sector as a whole, not only for their lightness and strength. Metallic turbine blades, for example, would be uneconomic and would not last as long, but composites are particularly corrosion resistant, and durable even in a hostile environment.

As the two examples of research from the University of Bath and the University of Plymouth show, composite materials are the future for efficiency.