What Exactly Is Carbon Fiber?

[hkspowers]

Ok, I am sure that by now everyone has heard of Carbon Fiber. Or may even sport a carbon fiber aftermarket part on their ride. But what is all the hype about you may be asking, I know what you are thinking, carbon fiber is lighter than standard sheet metal duh! Well Yes carbon fiber is a lot lighter than its sheet metal predecessor. But that can't be the only factor that has made carbon fiber so popular lately could it? Nope Sit back and Let me enlighten you as to why carbon fiber is so widely used in the world not only on import cars but everything.

Carbon Fiber was developed in the late 80's as a lightweight replacement for F-1 series racecars. An F-1 car is almost completely made from carbon fiber even some engine parts are made from it. But what is it? Well Carbon fiber is just what the name implies It's fibers of carbon. Right? Well that?s a very general description of it. Its actually a Polymer form of graphite, Graphite is type of pure carbon the most basic element. In graphite the carbon atoms, which are shaped like hexagons all line up in flat straight sheets, think of a flat honeycomb. Well These sheets of Carbon are attracted to each other and form fibers of carbon hence the name "Carbon Fiber"

Well these fibers are just as flexible as any of your average nylons out there, what makes them so strong is when they are used in conjunction with resins like fiberglass or epoxy resins. When combined with a resin these combinations that we generally refer to as carbon fiber become extremely strong for their weight, proportionally stronger than steel, but at a third of the weight. As you can imagine this has a great possibility in the car area as well as many other applications.

Used widely from Space shuttles to sports equipment, Used heavily on bike frames for its supreme tinsel strength (strength property that describes an objects resistance to breaking from being pulled in opposite directions) There are several ways to make carbon fiber the first and most common is to take a few sheets and lay them down by hand in a mold, then paint fiber glass or some type of thermal resin on top of it trying not to get any air bubbles in it. (This would cause weak points in the piece and cracking down the road.) This is called the wet method.

The second method is called the dry method. The difference is that the Carbon Fiber sheets already have the resin in them so the carbon fiber must be refrigerated before use. This dry carbon fiber produces a matte finish and results in an even stronger and lighter carbon fiber, mainly used by the mega racing companies to make pieces that can take an impact.

So why do we see the use of carbon fiber skyrocketing in the import scene recently? I mean there has been fiberglass for years and that?s even lighter than Carbon Fiber. Because it has a few advantages over fiberglass, first and foremost it is WAYYYYY stronger, Secondly Paint adheres to it without any special prep and or adhesive promoter, and third Just plain and simply because it looks so damn cool!

Well I hope this little article helps some of you out with any questions you may have had about carbon fiber, if you have any questions feel free to pm me.


Later,
James

[estebones]

great info.

[aperfectnightmare]

Great article format!