The Ultimate, All-Inclusive, and Totally Detailed Guide to the Construction and Use of Carbon Fiber

Element 6 Composites is an industry leader in providing a wide range of services, including but not limited to carbon fiber design, analysis, prototyping, and manufacturing. We have extensive knowledge in a wide range of high-performance materials, including carbon fiber composites, for example.

Carbon fiber is composed of strands of fiber that range in diameter from 5 to 10 microns and are made up of long chains of carbon atoms that are tightly interlocked with one another to form a microscopic crystalline structure.5 to 10 microns. Because of their exceptional rigidity, strength, and low weight, these fibers are utilized in a variety of processes that ultimately lead to the production of high-performance building materials.

Where do the strands of carbon fiber originate?
The very first high-performance materials made from carbon fiber rod and tube were produced using the precursor of rayon. These materials were used in the production of rayon.

At the moment, polyacrylonitrile is used in the production of approximately 90% of carbon fiber, while rayon or petroleum pitch are used in the production of approximately 10%. During the course of the process, the procedure will strip the structure of the vast majority of the atoms that are not composed of carbon. After that, the fibers are heated to extremely high temperatures in an anaerobic gas mixture. This is done to prevent the material from catching fire, as anaerobic means that there is no oxygen present in the mixture.

The third step in the process is treatment.
After the carbonization process is finished, the surface of the carbon fibers need to be treated in order to improve their ability to bond with epoxies or other resins. This can be done in a variety of ways.

Depending on the particular circumstances, there are a variety of distinct approaches that can be taken to carry out this oxidation. It is possible to process the carbon fiber round tube using electrolytic means, as well as by exposing it to a variety of gases, such as carbon dioxide or ozone, as well as liquids, such as nitric acid, or even by exposing it to a variety of gases and liquids. The fibers are then wound onto bobbins, followed by the process of spinning, and finally processed into a variety of weaves and other formats.

Reason Number One: The Capabilities We Possess
The primary advantage of using carbon fiber is the high level of stiffness it possesses in comparison to its total weight; this is a significant selling point for the material.

A measurement known as the modulus of elasticity can be utilized to ascertain the level of rigidity possessed by a substance.8 Gpa). When compared to 2024-T3 Aluminum, which has a modulus of only 10 MSI and an ultimate tensile strength of 65 KSI, or 4130 Steel, which has a modulus of 30 MSI and an ultimate tensile strength of 125 KSI, this material has a significantly higher modulus and tensile strength than either of those materials.

Epoxy is the type of resin that is utilized most frequently in the manufacturing of composite carbon fiber components. Both the fiber and the resin contribute to the overall strength and stiffness of a carbon fiber composite part, but their combined effects are what determines the part's final characteristics. Regardless of how the component is designed, this will always be the case.

In the field of engineering, it is common practice to quantify the benefit of a structural material in terms of its strength to weight ratio (Specific Strength) and its stiffness to weight ratio (Specific Stiffness), in particular in situations in which decreased weight is related to improved performance or decreased life cycle cost. This is especially true in situations in which decreased weight is related to improved performance or decreased life cycle cost.

An elastic bending modulus of approximately 0.5 pounds per square inch can be attained by a plate made of carbon fiber that has a balanced and symmetric 0/90 layup as well as standard modulus plain weave carbon fiber. Because this plate has a strength of roughly 90 KSI, we can deduce that the specific strength of this material is roughly 1800 KSI.3 lb/in3Specific Stiffness is calculated to be 100 MSI, while Specific Strength comes in at 417 KSI as a result of this calculation.

Because of this, even a basic carbon fiber panel with a plain weave possesses a specific stiffness that is significantly higher than that of steel or aluminum.

When one considers the possibility of customizing  carbon fiber rod and tube panel stiffness through strategic fiber placement and includes the significant increase in stiffness that is possible with sandwich structures using lightweight core materials, it is obvious the advantage that  composites can make in a wide variety of applications. Carbon fiber composites have the potential to be used in a wide variety of applications because of their ability to make carbon fiber panels more rigid. For instance, a foam-core sandwich has a strength-to-weight ratio that is exceptionally high when it comes to bending, but this does not necessarily hold true when it comes to compression or crush. It is therefore impossible to determine the thickness of a carbon fiber rod and tube plate that would directly replace the thickness of a steel plate in a particular application if all of the design factors are not taken into careful consideration. These tubes have a resistance to bending that is comparable to that of I-beams, while still retaining the high torsional stiffness that is characteristic of tubes.

Reason No. 2: The Thermal Expansion of Our Products Is Reasonably Low
Utilizing carbon fiber is advantageous for a number of reasons, one of which is that its dimensions do not change significantly even when it is subjected to a range of temperatures.

The third justification has to do with anisotropic properties.

When designing composite parts, it is not possible to make a direct comparison between the properties of carbon fiber and those of steel, aluminum, or plastic. This is because carbon fiber is a unique material. As a direct consequence of this capability, the ability to Taylor the mechanical properties of a part along any axis is made available to the user.