Carbon Fibre - The Future Material

 Because of its high tensile strength and lightweight, many consider carbon fiber to be the most significant manufacturing material of our generation. Carbon fiber may play an increasingly important role in areas such as: Energy: Windmill blades, natural gas storage, and transportation, fuel cells. Automobiles: Currently used just for high-performance vehicles, carbon fiber technology is moving into wider use. In December 2011 General Motors announced that it is working on carbon fiber composites for mass production of automobiles. Construction: Lightweight pre-cast concrete, earthquake protection. Aircraft: Defense and commercial aircraft. Unmanned aerial vehicles. Oil exploration: Deepwater drilling platforms, drill pipes. Carbon nanotubes: Semiconductor materials, spacecraft, chemical sensors, and other uses. In 2015, carbon fiber had a $2.25 billion market size. Projections have the market expanding to $31 billion by 2024. To accomplish this, costs must be reduced and new a...

  MANUFACTURING CHALLENGES The manufacture of carbon fibers carries a number of challenges, including: • The need for more cost-effective recovery and repair. • The surface treatment process must be carefully regulated to avoid creating pits that could result in defective fibers. • Close control required to ensure consistent quality. • Health and safety issues. • Skin irritation. • Breathing irritation. • Arcing and shorts in electrical equipment because of the strong electro-conductivity of carbon fibers.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS: In the manufacturing process, the raw materials, which are called precursors, are drawn into long strands or fibers. The fibers are woven into fabric or combined with other materials that are filament wound or molded into desired shapes and sizes. There are typically five segments in the manufacturing of carbon fibers from the PAN process. These are:  a) Spinning: PAN mixed with other ingredients and spun into fibers, which are washed and stretched b) Stabilizing: Chemical alteration to stabilize bonding. c) Carbonizing: Stabilized fibers heated to very high temperature forming tightly bonded carbon crystals. d) Treating the Surface: The surface of fibers oxidized to improve bonding properties. e) Sizing: Fibers are coated and wound onto bobbins, which are loaded onto spinning machines that twist the fibers into different size yarns. Instead of being woven into fabrics, fibers may be formed into composites. To form composite materials, heat, pressure, or a...

a)Carbon Fiber has High Strength to Weight Ratio (also known as specific strength): Strength of a material is the force per unit area at failure, divided by its density. Any material that is strong AND light has a favourable Strength/weight ratio. Materials such as Aluminium, titanium, magnesium, Carbon and glass fiber, high strength steel alloys all have good strength to weight ratios.(2 NM/KG) b) Carbon Fiber is very Rigid: Rigidity or stiffness of a material is measured by its Young Modulus and measures how much a material deflects under stress. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic is over 4 times stiffer than Glass reinforced plastic, almost 20 times more than pine, 2.5 times greater than aluminium.  c) Carbon fiber is Corrosion Resistant and Chemically Stable: Although carbon fiber themselves do not deteriorate, Epoxy is sensitive to sunlight and needs to be protected. Other matrices (whatever the carbon fiber is imbedded in) might also be reactive. d) Carbon fiber is Electrically ...

Carbon fiber comes in two Weaves: 1 . Unidirectional (all fibers are parallel):  In a 0-degree orientation, aligned with the fibers, unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber provides high bending strength against the progression of forces, which makes it perfect for the carbon-fiber prosthetic blades used by Paralympic sprinters. In a 90-degree orientation, perpendicular to the fibers, it flexes. In either orientation, it has low torsional strength. In all applications, another layer of fabric, such as Perlon, must be laid under and over UD carbon-fiber weave. 2. Bidirectional (fibers cross at a 90-degree angle):  In a 0-degree or a 90-degree orientation, bidirectional carbon fiber features medium bending strength and medium torsional strength. At a 45-degree orientation, it is more flexible and has high torsional strength, which are just the right properties for a transfemoral socket, for example. You can even tailor the composite's properties with fiber length, the type of weave...