Carbon Fibre is synthetic thread that has been heated to such a degree that total carbonisation has taken place. The very fine threads are either left as long fibres along the roll length (uni directional fibre) with good strength in that axis, or woven together to form a fabric cloth giving multi directional strength with the great woven appearance most people associate with cosmetic carbon fibre parts.
Various woven styles of cloth are available such as plain, twill and satin weaves to name a few. The Carbon Fibre is then left dry to be used in resin infusion processes or wet laminating, or impregnated with an epoxy resin to make pre-preg. Both the processes rely on the resin curing either via a catalyst or oven / autoclave heat cured. The cured resin gives the finished part its moulded shape, stiffness and rigidity.
Carbon Fibre's weight, stiffness and strength properties are why it is commonly used in aerospace, sports equipment, motorsport and boat building.
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Below are links for further information on carbon fibre & its properties. |
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Google Define |
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F1 Technical |
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Net Composites (Fabric - Woven) |
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Net Composites (Fabric - Multiaxial) |
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Net Composites (Fabric - Other) |
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Net Composites (Material - Carbon Fibre) |
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Net Composites (Material - Glass Fibre) |
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Net Composites (Material - Kevlar/Aramid) |
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Net Composites (Material - Comparisons) |
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Net Composites (Resin - Epoxy) |
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Net Composites (Resin - Polyester) |
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Net Composites (Resin - Vinylester) |
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Net Composites (Structural Properties) |
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Rapra/Merl |
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Wikipedia |
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ZOLTEK |
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Below are links for further information on honeycomb sandwich panels & its properties. |
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Hexcel |
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ReVerie predominanly use resin pre-impregnated carbon fibre (Pre-Preg) & vacuum bagged pressure curing (Autoclave process) as used in Formula 1. The advanges this offers over cheaper wet-lay, oven cured carbon production are excellent surface finish, low void contents, very high inter-laminar strength, high fibre to resin ratio & weight reduction.
Below are links for information on carbon fibre manufacturing processes.
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F1 Technical (Processing) |
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Net Composites |
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Net Composites (Filament Winding) |
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Net Composites (Other Infusion) |
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Net Composites (Pre-preg Moulding) |
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Net Composites (Pultrusion) |
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Net Composites (Resin Film Infusion) |
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Net Composites (Resign Transfer Moulding) |
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Net Composites (Spray Lay-up) |
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Net Composites (Vacuum Bagging) |
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Net Composites (Wet/Hand Lay-up) |