SAMPE Journal - September/October 2016 - 58

Perspectives

Steven Rodgers
SAMPE Past President and
Consultant, EmergenTek LLC
Steven.R@EmergenTek.com

The Inevitability of End-of-Life Issues
"They say death and taxes are the only things that are inevitable. The truth is, you cannot pay your taxes. I've done it, and there's consequences,
but it can be done. Death you're not going to get out of, and you kind of got to deal with it." - Musician and singer Steve Earle

It was Benjamin Franklin who first said, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and
taxes." Recently that statement was expanded to, "There are only four constants in life: 1) Death, 2) Taxes,
3) Change and, 4) People's aversion to the first three."
American cowboy philosopher and humorist Will Rogers commented that, "The only difference between
death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets." No matter how one might
phrase it, the inevitability of death ranks high on the scale of universal human experience. We are all
confronted during our lives with end-of life issues and they come in many forms.
I have been in the advanced composites industry for over [mumble, clear throat] years and over the
last [cough, mumble] decades this industry has had one major hurdle to growth. It wasn't related to
performance issues. The hurdle is that there has been difficulty in competing with other materials on a
cost-per-pound basis.
As we have developed composite markets we have had to supplement the improved performance with
lifecycle cost data. One of the major drivers to the increased use of composites in commercial aircraft is that
beyond the reduction in fuel costs comes a reduction in other operating costs as well. The environmental
stability of many composites means that the intervals between routine maintenance schedules can be
extended, sometimes dramatically. Reduced operating costs can go a long way toward completing the
lifecycle justification of composites over more conventional materials.
And therein lies the problem.
For decades we have been taking durability into account as a part of the benefit of designing and building
composite structures. Composites don't have the magnitude of problem with corrosion, rot and overall
degradation that many other materials experience. When the cost of maintenance and replacement is
considered, they can often be quite cost effective over the life of the structure. They last forever. Well not
quite, but close enough. Ultimately we know that all things that come to an end.
Once we started selling more composite products into a broader array of industries, composites began
to experience end-of-life issues. Carbon fiber hockey sticks get broken. Bicycles have accidents. Broken
parts need replacing. People driving automobiles will have accidents, running into inanimate objects
or each other. Adequate repair techniques can help address these issues, but unless we make some
changes the destination ultimately remains the same: A land fill.
As "the player" said in the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, ". . . look on every exit as being an
entrance somewhere else." We have made some wonderful products out of composites, but you don't
want something that "lasts forever" to end up in a landfill.
Fortunately, there are some within our industry who have anticipated this particular "unanticipated
outcome". Instead of producing these highly durable items they are working to correct the problem.

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SAMPE Journal, Volume 52, No. 5, September/October 2016
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAMPE Journal - September/October 2016
