Carbon Fiber

MEEN 3344Oscar E. Corripio Luna

Carbon Fiber

• Also called graphite fiber.• It is in the form of several long strands of a

material mainly composed by carbon atoms.

• Each strand is 0.005 – 0.010 mm thick in diameter.

• First made by Dr. Roger Bacon.

Advantages

• It has the greatest compressive strength of all reinforcing materials.

• High strength to weight ratio.• Low coefficient of thermal expansion.• Its density is much lower than the density of steel.

Applications

• Used to reinforce composite materials

• Used structurally in high-temperature applications.

• As an electrode with • high surface area and • impeccable corrosion • resistance.• Anti-static component.

Creation

• Spinning: A polyacrylonitrile plastic is spun into fibers which are then washed and stretched to the desired diameter.

• Stabilizing: fibers are heated with O2 to make their bonding more thermally stable.

• Carbonizing: fibers then are heated without oxygen, they lose non carbon atoms and bonded carbon crystals are made.

• Treating surface: the surface is slightly oxidized.• Sizing: fibers are coated and wounded into

bobbins.

Carbon Fiber’s Future

• Alternate Energy: wind turbines, compressed natural gas storage and transportation fuel cells.

• Fuel Efficient Automobiles: moving towards large production series cars.

• Construction Infrastructure: light weight pre-cast concrete, earthquake protection.

• Oil Exploration: Deep sea drilling platforms, buoyancy, umbilical, choke, kill lines and drill pipes.