Uses And Characteristics Of Carbon Fiber Composites

Carbon fiberIt is a high-quality fiber material with a density of only 1.78 grams per cubic centimeter and a tensile strength of 3400 MPa. Compared with traditional plastics and metals, it has higher strength, stronger designability and wider application fields. More than 90% of carbon fibers are not used alone, but are added to resins, metals, ceramics and other matrices as reinforcing materials to form composite materials. In this article, the editor will talk about the uses and characteristics of carbon fiber composite materials.  

The biggest feature of carbon fiber composite material is light weight and high strength, its strength is four times higher than that of steel, and its density is only one-fourth of its density. In addition, it has the advantages of electrical conductivity, high temperature and low temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance, high elastic modulus, small thermal expansion coefficient, high X-ray transmittance, waterproof, and no rust.

Carbon fiber is a reinforcing material for advanced composite materials. It has a series of advantages such as light weight, high strength, high modulus, chemical corrosion resistance, and small thermal expansion coefficient, which are summarized as follows:

Light Weight, High Strength And High Modulus

The density of carbon fiber is 1.6-2.5g/cm3, and the tensile strength of carbon fiber is above 2.2Gpa. Therefore, it has high specific strength and specific modulus. Its specific strength is more than 7 times higher than that of most metals, and its specific modulus is more than 5 times that of metals. Due to this advantage, its composite materials can be widely used in aerospace, automotive industry, sports equipment, etc.

Small Thermal Expansion Coefficient

The thermal expansion coefficient of most carbon fibers is negative (-0.5~-1.6)×10-6/K indoors, zero at 200~400℃, and 1.5×10-6/K at temperatures below 1000℃. The expansion coefficient of the composite material made of it is naturally relatively stable and can be used as a standard weighing instrument.

Good Thermal Conductivity

Generally, both inorganic and organic materials have poor thermal conductivity, but the thermal conductivity of carbon fiber is close to that of steel. This advantage can be used as a solar collector material and a thermally conductive shell material with uniform heat transfer.

Good Chemical Corrosion Resistance

It can be seen from the composition of carbon fiber that it is almost pure carbon, and carbon is one of the most stable elements. In addition to strong oxidizing acids, it is very stable to acids, alkalis and organic chemicals, and can be made into a variety of chemical preservative products. China cnc machining company has been engaged in application research in this area. As the price of carbon fiber continues to decrease in the future, its application scope will become wider and wider.

Good Wear Resistance

When carbon fiber grinds against metal, there is little wear. Carbon fiber is used to replace asbestos to make advanced friction materials, which have been used as brake pad materials for aircraft and automobiles.

Good High Temperature Resistance

The performance of carbon fiber is very stable below 400°C, and does not change much even at 1000°C. The high-temperature resistance of composite materials mainly depends on the heat resistance of the matrix. The long-term heat resistance of resin-based composites is only about 300°C. The high-temperature resistance of ceramic-based, carbon-based and metal-based composites can match the carbon fiber itself. Therefore, carbon fiber composite materials are widely used in the aerospace industry as high-temperature resistant materials.

Outstanding Damping And Excellent Transparent Sonar

These two characteristics can be used as structural materials for submarines, such as sonar domes for submarines.

High X-Ray Transmittance

Taking advantage of this feature, it has been used in medical equipment manufacturing.

High Fatigue Strength

The structure of carbon fiber is stable. After millions of stress fatigue cycle tests, the composite material made of carbon fiber still has a strength retention rate of 60%, compared with 40% for steel, 30% for aluminum, and only 20% for fiberglass. -25%. Therefore, carbon fiber composite materials have the lowest safety factor when designing products.

In the earliest days, carbon fiber composite materials were only used in the field to solve the problem of weapon heat insulation. With the advancement of the times, various industries have put forward new requirements for materials. For example, in the automotive field, the components are required to be lightweight, which can speed up driving and reduce fuel consumption; in the mechanical field, a shell structure with light weight, high elasticity and high strength is required. parts, which is conducive to the fast and smooth operation of the machine.

Carbon fiber can meet a number of demanding requirements, currently involved in the fields of medical equipment, automobile manufacturing, machinery, sports and entertainment, high-speed rail, furniture, etc., and the scope is still expanding.  

The forming methods of different carbon fiber products are different. Generally, the plate uses the lamination hot pressing process, the pipe uses the winding or pultrusion process, the three-dimensional structural parts use molding, autoclaving, vacuum introduction, etc. According to the needs, the product can be polished after forming, After grinding, spraying, etc.Guess You Like: Carbon Fiber Reinforced Resin Matrix Composites.

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What Is Carbon Fiber?Carbon fiber is made of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) (or pitch, viscose) and other organic fibers by carbonization (removal of most elements except carbon) by pyrolysis method under inert gas at high temperature above 1,000 °C. Inorganic polymer fibers with a carbon content of more than 90%.