Carbon fiber
Introduction
There are a lot of new materials that has emerged and been used by engineers and scientists such as Aerogel, Metal foam, Bioplastic, Carbon fiber, Graphene and others. This is helping engineers build all new types of machines and instruments such as touch screen mobiles, automobile sensors, computers, planes and a lot more.
This report will focus on a certain material called Carbon fiber. This material is being used lot due to It Is properties, for example Carbon fiber is five times stronger than steel and weighs three times less. Most cars use steel for body parts but imagine replacing steel with carbon fiber that would open a whole new road for car industries. The report will discuss some historical events and background information about carbon fiber. Also, it will focus on carbon fiber properties and two applications for It.
Historical events of carbon fiber
In the late 1800s Thomas Edison carbonized bamboo and cotton to produce filaments for his light bulbs Oohnson. n. d. ). In 1958 Roger Bacon created high performance carbon fibers at the Union Carbide. His method was to heat strands of a material called rayon (artificial silk) until they are carbonized, but this method proved to be inadequate because the resulting fibers had only carried 20% of carbon and the properties of it were Inefficient, such as low strength and stiffness (“Carbon (fiber) ,n. d. ” ).
In the early 1960s the process of Carbon fber was developed by Dr. Akio Shindo at Agency Of Industrial Science and Technology of Japan, which improved carbon fiber and contained 50% of carbon (“Carbon (fiber), n. d. In 1963, the properties of carbon fiber were acknowledged, such as high strength, by W. Watt, L. N. Philips and W. Johnson at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, Hampshire (“Carbon (fiber), n. d. ” ). In the early 1960s, engineers began applying carbon fiber to aircraft because of it Is properties like high strength and light weight.
The results of using carbon fiber In this area made aircraft much lighter, faster and also heat resistant due to the aircraft Itself and atmospherically (Johnson, n. d. ). 1 OF3 Between tne years a IYBU, Caroon TIDer was manuTacturea to De given to tne ilitary and also was produced to be used in sports such as NASCAR and Formula 1 to make the vehicles lighter and faster Oohnson, n. d. ). In the early 21st century, the manufacturing of Carbon fiber had expanded greatly through Asia, Europe and the United states, because the industries had been requesting Carbon fiber, industries such as sports and aerospace Oohnson, n. . ).
Properties
Carbon fiber is a material that belongs to the family of polymers. It is made with an extremely thin strings of carbon (like hair) that are twisted, then the strings are oven together to make it look like a piece of fabric. To make the shape of the fabric- carbon permanent is to place it over a selected mold or any shape that is desired and then it is covered with a stiff liquid resin or liquid plastic. Finally, it dries up to maintain the selected shape (Deaton, n. d. . Carbon fiber has a lot of amazing properties and characteristics, such as high strength and high rigidity, even though it is relatively light; it is like the property of steel’s strength and the lightness of plastic combined in one material. Also, Carbon fiber resists fire and heat because the aterial itself reflects heat competently if it is in a condition of a dense layer, which leads us to the matter of expansion due to heat; this material has a low expansion to heat unlike steel.
Comparing steel to Carbon fiber, steel has a low corrosion resistivity which means it is more susceptible to rust unlike carbon fiber that has a high corrosion resistivity (“Carbon fiber characteristics, n. d. ” ). Carbon fiber can absorb vibration, in other words a good vibration damping (Kiron, n. d. ). which opens a door to set or attach carbon fiber to moving machines or automobiles. Moreover, Carbon fiber appears in x-ray vision thus it cannot be stolen or for any illegal activity. Also, in a medical view, Carbon fiber is being used to support limbs or injured knees but this study is still to be researched Oohnson, n. . ).
Applications
Carbon fiber can be used in so many ways; it can be customized for customer’s desire. In this section two applications will be discussed which are automotive and military. Carbon fiber is used for automobile racing and styling, for example car parts such as the hood (bonnet) for it is heat resistivity, trunk, lip, fender, car rims (wheels) nd much more to make the car lighter, faster, able to absorb vibration and more attractive. In addition, if the car is lighter it means that less fuel will be used.
Also, the bodies of motorcycle racing which are called fairings are made out of Carbon fiber; these fairings are especially designed for racing. Exhausts (mufflers) are also made out of carbon fiber for both cars and motorcycles for carbon’s fiber heat resistivity and sound. Carbon fiber not only plays an important role in the racing world but also will play in the normal daily world in cars (“Carbon (fiber),n. d. ” ). Carbon fiber is used in the military; it is used in planes, tanks, military cars, missiles even soldier’s personal gear such as a helmet, boots, rifles, armor other equipment.
Less weight means less energy and faster movement whether if it is a vehicle or a human. Of course there is a lot of information for using Carbon fiber for military reasons, but it is classified, only shallow information is given to civilians Oohnson, n. d. ).
Conclusion
T0 sum up, the history 0f Carbon fiber was 01scussea ana looked Into tnrougnout tne years of development and the people who played an important role in the history of his material were introduced. Also, the family of the material was identified and the making of Carbon fiber was explained thoroughly.
Carbon fiber has outstanding properties such as high rigidity, strength and low weight. To add, Carbon fiber has been widely used in applications such as automobiles and military. These two examples are two of many applications that are being used for carbon fiber in everyday life. Although carbon fiber can be very expensive, it is still used in many industries. Engineers can use Carbon fiber in many designs in various applications hat can be used for people such as modern bicycles, cars, baseball bats, fishing rods and much more.
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon-based_life
- http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-economy/carbon-fiber-oil-crisis.htm
- https://www.thoughtco.com/uses-of-carbon-fiber-820394
- https://www.thoughtco.com/applications-of-carbon-fiber-820384
- http://textilelearner.blogspot.com/
- http://www.christinedemerchant.com/carboncharacteristics.html
- https://aitracing.com/
