How Composite Materials Lead The Way To New Products
Every great invention comes from a place of necessity. In each case, those who create new products must take the resource of whatever materials are available at the time to create something unique that has never existed before. Whatever incredible things humans have achieved – from installing GPS- enabled maps on smartphones to landing on the moon – have always occurred within this scope.
Between Materials And History
At many points in the history of human invention, it is a new and powerful building material that drives the creation of new things. Consider, for example, the changes that occurred between
• The Copper Age
• The Bronze Age
• The Iron Age
In each of these historical periods, people were able to create an abundance of new products due directly to the ability to work with a new building material.
The discovery and ability to craft new things with each of these metals made them so valuable to each of these eras that the periods in which they were predominantly used became synonymous with each respective kind of metal.
Welcome To The Composite Age
When you consider the importance of new composite materials in developing new products today, it seems that things are not significantly different from the ancient past.
The idea of creating a composite material is not new since composites have existed since at least the invention of ancient mud thatched roofs and glued plywood. However, it wasn’t until recently that new technologies like carbon fiber composite engineering have become widespread use that composites began to take over.
The State Of Composite Manufacturing Today
It might not seem like the composite age when you look around at the materials currently used in manufacturing, such as wood, metals and plastics. That said, for those working in manufacturing, the tide is shifting. That’s because each of these common manufacturing materials has flaws that composites may be able to overcome as they become more prevalent.
Wood manufacturing may never disappear entirely, but many of the most durable wood materials that have been used in the past are becoming rare commodities. As the supply gets low due to a particular kind of tree getting over-harvested, its item may be no longer available or practical to use in mass-produced products.
Plastics have many advantages in manufacturing and health care, but the overuse of plastics has also contributed to polluting the earth. Composite materials may be more expensive to produce than most plastics, but they are also designed to last rather than be disposable.
Metals likely represent the most frequent kind of material that is replaced by composites. In this case, composite materials exhibit more desirable properties than those existing in parts made of metal. Metals are usually heavy and expensive, two factors that make it a poor solutions for many product designs.
The Creation Of New Products
Composite materials often replace parts on existing items, but they can also point toward new inventions. As composites become better-known, they will be sought after more and more for creating innovative solutions.
If you are interested in creating a prototype for a new invention or want to find out whether a composite material will work in a product you’re already building, contact a manufacturer to learn about the right solution.
