n-tech Research Report States That Market for Smart Composites will Climb to US $875 Million by 2020

GLEN ALLEN, Va. - Oct. 8, 2015 - PRLog -- Glen Allen, Virginia:  Industry analyst firm n-tech Research today announced the release of a new report titled “Markets for Smart Composites: 2015 to 2022.”  According to the report the market for smart composites will grow to around US$ 875 Million by 2020.

Details about the report, including a downloadable excerpt are available at: http://www.ntechresearch.com/market_reports/markets-for-smart-composites-2015-to-2022

This report is the latest from n-tech’s research program on smart materials. Other n-tech reports from 2015 have covered smart windows, smart coatings, smart surfaces, self-healing materials, smart antimicrobials and color-shifting coatings. n-tech has carried out analysis of the smart materials business for almost seven years.

About the report:

n-tech’s analysis suggests that smart composites will have a growing role in a number of important applications and industry sectors.  This report discusses the latest products and R&D developments in smart composites including how product/market strategies related to smart composites are emerging at both the largest specialty chemical and at startups. It also discusses the business models being employed by the firms in the smart composite space, as well those who n-tech thinks will enter this space in the next few years.

This report provides eight-year revenue  and volume forecasts for smart composites by functionality and end user segment.  Functionalities considered include structural health monitoring (SHM) and other sensing, self-cleaning, anti-fouling, de-icing, self-healing.   The industries analyzed include aerospace, automotive, construction, clothing and fabrics, robotics and energy storage.

Companies discussed in this report include: Airbus, Autodesk, BMW, Boeing, Briggs Automotive, Carbitex, Cornerstone Research, DuPont, GM, Impact Technologies, Industrial Nanotech, IsraZion, Lauzon, Lockheed Martin, NanoSonic,  NEI Corporation, Nissan, Peugeot Citroen,  Photocat, Physical Acoustics, PPG, Stratasys, Structural Monitoring Systems, Toyota and Välinge

Highlights:

Aerospace will be the largest user of smart composites with more than $460 million in revenues being clocked up in this segment of the smart composites business by 2020.  Conventional composites are already a big success in aerospace and the industry is a prime candidate to spending on smart composites. Two applications for smart composites in aerospace currently attracting attention are SHM and self-healing materials.  Other potential applications are smart composites that are intrinsically anti-corrosive or de-icing.

By 2020 SHM and other sensing applications for smart composites will account for almost $560 million. Today SHM systems use advanced sensors and MEMS technology, but they will switch to smart composites both to reduce the cost of SHM and also to reduce response times for SHM systems.  There are already some SHM systems using smart composites flying on commercial and military planes.

The advent of smart composites may help reduce the cost of manufacturing composites. Initially, making composites smarter will lead to higher value-added products, offsetting the higher cost of manufacturing.  Longer term, the smartness inherent in the composite itself can be leveraged to make composites easier and less expensive to manufacture. This will be especially important as composites extend from cost insensitive markets (aerospace and performance cars) to cost sensitive environments (mainstream automotive).

Also suggesting a future in which the smartness of composites will facilitate manufacturing and product design is the arrival of so-called 4D printing – the ultimate goal here is programmable composites that can change shape in response to different environmental changes in temperature, air pressure, or other factors.

About n-tech:

n-tech Research is the rebrand of NanoMarkets.  Our firm is a recognized leader in industry analysis and forecasts of the emerging smart coatings and materials business ecosystem.  Visit http://www.ntechresearch.com for a full listing of the firm's reports and other services.