Comparison of the performance of carbon fiber with other major materials

There are so many different types of materials on the market, why choose carbon fiber with a higher price? Let’s take a look at the performance comparison between carbon fiber and some mainstream materials.

Material	Density (g/cm^3)	Tensile strength (Gpa)	Tensile modulus (Gpa)	Advantage	Shortcoming
Carbon fiber	1.5-2	2.0-7.0	200-700	It has excellent mechanical properties and a high degree of lightweight	The cost is high and the manufacturing process is complex
Fiberglass	2	1.5	42	Excellent insulation, corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, low price	It is brittle and has poor wear resistance
Aluminum alloy	2.8	0.47	75	The manufacturing technology is mature and the physical properties are good	The cost is high, the bearing capacity, and the high temperature resistance performance is poor
Titanium alloy	4.5	0.96	114	Low coefficient of thermal expansion, good plasticity, corrosion resistance, environmental protection	The cost is higher and the proportion is larger
High-strength steel	7.8	1.08	210	The manufacturing technology is mature, the corrosion resistance is good, and the cost is low	The mechanical properties are weak and the strength is low

Introduction to carbon fiber reinforced plastics(FRP)

Composites are a combination of two or more components in different proportions that can significantly improve the engineering properties of materials.

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) is a versatile, high-strength composite material made by mixing reinforced carbon fiber with plastics (such as PLA, nylon, ABS, PEEK, etc.). It can be widely used in aerospace, health care, racing cars, sports equipment and other fields.

It is also a non-metallic lightweight material that can be selected for product lightweighting. In airplanes, race cars and high-end cars, we often see FRP parts, which are more than three times stronger and stiffer than aluminum, but are 40% lighter. Therefore, it can replace metals in certain application scenarios.

How are carbon fiber parts made?

The traditional manufacturing technology of carbon fiber parts is to first weave carbon fiber filaments into cloth-like fiber layers, and then laminate them on the final parts one by one.

The fibers can be directed to mono-weave and strategically aligned to produce strength relative to the vector. Cross-woven fibers can be used to generate strength in multiple vectors, and they are also responsible for the signature quilted appearance of composite parts. But this technique has distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

1) It can manufacture large parts, such as car body parts.

2) Support high-volume production

Disadvantages:

1) Do not manufacture small and complex delicate parts.

2) The mold needs to be opened, which is more time and cost. Of course, combined with 3D printing technology, this problem is solved, which provides a low-cost and fast solution for the production of molds and models for making carbon fiber parts.

Post-processing for carbon fiber parts

1) polishing

Carbon fiber parts generally need to be polished, which can quickly remove impurities on the surface of carbon fiber composites, and can improve the degree of surface texturing, increase the occlusion ability, and thus increase the durability of structural adhesives.

2) Wash and bake

Wash off the toner particles that remain on the surface of the workpiece during polishing and bake until the water has completely evaporated.

3) Paintng

Carbon fiber parts are painted three times: primer, color paint, and transparent surface paint, and each spray needs to be baked once. If you find a defect such as paint particles or dents on the surface, you need to polish or fill it up until the surface is smooth.

Protosoon can provide you with one-stop carbon fiber solutions, we have carbon fiber lamination technology and 3D printing technology, which can meet your carbon fiber applications in different scenarios, if you need to consult, please contact us.