Introduction of carbon fiber and its application

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Introduction of high performance carbon fiber and its typical application

August 9, 2022

Carbon Fiber is a polymer and is sometimes known as graphite fiber. It is a very strong material that is also very lightweight. Carbon fiber is five-times stronger than steel and twice as stiff. Though carbon fiber is stronger and stiffer than steel, it is lighter than steel; making it the ideal manufacturing material for many parts. These are just a few reasons why carbon fiber is favored by engineers and designers for manufacturing.

What is Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber or carbon fibre is composed of carbon atoms bonded together to form a long chain. The fibers are extremely stiff, strong, and light, and are used in many processes to create excellent fiber building materials. Carbon fiber material comes in a variety of "raw" building blocks, including yarns, uni-directional, weaves, carbon fiber fabric, and several others, which are in turn used to create carbon fiber composite parts.

Within each of these categories are many sub-categories of further refinement. For example, different types of carbon fiber weave cloth result in different properties for the composite part, both in fabrication, as well as the final product. In order to create a composite part, the carbon fibers, which are stiff in tension and compression, need a stable matrix to reside in and maintain their shape. Epoxy resin is an excellent plastic with good compressive and shear properties and is often used to form this matrix, whereby the carbon fibers provide the reinforcement. Since the epoxy is low density, one is able to create a part that is light weight, but very strong. When fabricating a composite part, a multitude of different processes can be utilized, including wet-layup, vacuum bagging, resin transfer, matched tooling, insert molding, pultrusion, and many other methods. In addition, the selection of the resin allows tailoring for specific properties.

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Product features

On top of being strong, carbon fiber:

● Is high in stiffness

● Is high in tensile strength

● Has a low weight to strength ratio

● Is high in chemical resistance

● Is temperature tolerant to excessive heat

● Has low thermal expansion

Because of this, carbon fiber is very popular in many industries such as aerospace, automotive, military, and recreational applications.

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How is Carbon Fiber Made

An Overview of The Carbon Fiber Manufacturing Process

Carbon fiber is made from a process that is part chemical and part mechanical. It starts by drawing long strands of fibers and then heating them to a very high temperature without allowing contact to oxygen to prevent the fibers from burning. This is when the carbonization takes place, which is when the atoms inside of the fibers vibrate violently, expelling most of the non-carbon atoms. This leaves a fiber composed of long, tightly inter-locked chains of carbon atoms with only a few non-carbon atoms remaining.

A typical sequences used to form carbon fibers from polyacrylonitrile involves spinning, stabilizing, carbonizing, treating the surface and sizing.

Application classification

Due to their typical light weight, high strength, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance and other properties, carbon fiber and its composite materials have been widely used in various fields. The typical applications and main advantages of carbon fiber are briefly introduced in four fields such as , aerospace and automobile.

Sports and Leisure

Representative material: carbon fiber cloth

Typical Products: Windsurfing masts, bike racks, backpack tanks, hang glider parts, stand-up paddle shafts and blades, kayaks, rowing boat shafts and paddles

Key benefits: Composites have durable flexural properties that can withstand moisture without rusting, making them the material of choice for marine applications such as boating and other water sports.

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Military and Law Enforcement Fields

Representative materials: Kevlar fiber, fiberglass/Kevlar/carbon fiber composite fiber

Typical Products: Bulletproof vests, protective helmets and other ballistic protection devices, telescopic mast assemblies, antennas, carbon fiber reinforced structures, ballistic aramid protection, military vehicle drive shafts, tactical handguards and scopes

Main advantage: Composites are used for protective body armor because the material is strong enough to repel bullets, flames, and some explosives.

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Aerospace and Renewable Energy

Representative material: carbon fiber, glass fiber roving

Typical products: UAV main flight structures, tie rods, pressure rods, high-altitude telescope structures, cooling pipes, space shuttle actuator brackets and turbofan blades

Key benefits: reduced weight, improved fuel efficiency, reduced vibration, complex shapes, enhanced durability and excellent structural properties make composites ideal for aerospace applications.

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Automotive industry

Representative material: carbon fiber

Typical Products: Driveshafts, Suspension Control Arms, Structural Brackets, Crash Structures and Seat Structures

Key benefits: When used in automotive applications, composites have cosmetic and functional applications. In automotive chassis, for example, composites provide a smooth surface that car enthusiasts love, and their lightweight properties not only improve fuel efficiency, but also reduce vibration.

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Conclusion

Learn why, in a world of harmful hazards, carbon fiber is the appropriate option to help safeguard your environment and the health for future generations. Hebei HaiDing Fiberglass Manufacturing Co.,Ltd is a well-known glassware producer. Contact us for more information about fiberglass items, or better yet, place an order with us.

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