What is carbon fiber? What is it used in?

Carbon fiber (carbon fiber, referred to as CF), is a new type of fiber material containing more than 95% of the carbon content of high-strength, high-modulus fibers. It is made of organic fibers such as flake graphite microcrystals stacked along the axial direction of the fiber, carbonized and graphitized by the microcrystalline graphite material. Carbon fiber is "soft on the outside and rigid on the inside", lighter than aluminum metal, but stronger than steel, and has the characteristics of corrosion resistance and high modulus, which is an important material in the defense industry and civilian use. It not only has the inherent intrinsic properties of carbon materials, but also has the soft processability of textile fibers, is a new generation of reinforcing fibers. \x0d\ Carbon fiber has many excellent properties, carbon fiber axial strength and high modulus, low density, high specific performance, no creep, non-oxidizing environment resistant to ultra-high temperatures, good fatigue resistance, specific heat and electrical conductivity between non-metals and metals, small coefficient of thermal expansion and anisotropic, good corrosion resistance, good X-ray permeability. Good electrical and thermal conductivity, good electromagnetic shielding, etc.. \x0d\ Carbon fiber is more than three times the Young's modulus compared to traditional glass fiber; it is about two times the Young's modulus compared to Kevlar fiber, insoluble and non-expandable in organic solvents, acids and alkalis, and has outstanding corrosion resistance. \x0d\\\\\x0d\Application areas\x0d\ Carbon fiber is an important strategic material for the development of national defense industry and the national economy, belonging to the technology-intensive key materials, with the academic research from the staple carbon fibers to the long-fiber carbon fibers, the use of carbon fibers to make heating materials technology and products are gradually popularized. In today's world of high-speed industrialization of the background, carbon fiber use is tending to diversify. China has been the use of long fiber as a high-performance fiber, in the requirements of high temperature, high physical stability of the occasion, carbon fiber composite materials have irreplaceable advantages. The higher the specific strength of the material, the smaller the weight of the component, the higher the specific modulus, the greater the stiffness of the component, it is due to both excellent performance, carbon fiber in the field of national defense and civilian have a wide range of application prospects. \x0d\ Carbon fiber carbon materials have been widely used in various fields of military and civil industry. From aerospace, aviation, automotive, electronics, machinery, chemical, textile and other civilian industries to sports equipment and leisure goods. Carbon fiber reinforced composite materials can be used in aircraft manufacturing and other military fields, wind power blades and other industrial fields, electromagnetic shielding in addition to electrical materials, artificial ligaments and other body substitute materials, as well as used in the manufacture of rocket shells, motorized boats, industrial robots, automotive leaf springs and drive shafts and so on. Sports fields such as baseball bats. Carbon fiber is typically a new industrial material in the high-tech field. \x0d\\\\\x0d\ Composite Materials\x0d\ Carbon fiber is traditionally used in addition to being used as an adiabatic insulation material. More as a reinforcing material added to the resin, metal, ceramics, concrete and other materials, constituting a composite material. Carbon fiber has become the most important reinforcing material for advanced composite materials. Due to the carbon fiber composite material has light and strong, light and rigid, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance, good stability of structural dimensions and good design, can be a large area of the whole molding and other characteristics, has been in the aerospace, defense industry and civil industry in various fields are widely used. Carbon fiber can be processed into fabrics, mats, mats, tapes, paper and other materials. High-performance carbon fiber is the most important reinforcing material for manufacturing advanced composite materials. \x0d\\\\x0d\\civil construction\x0d\civil construction field: carbon fiber is also used in industrial and civil buildings, railroad and highway bridges, tunnels, chimneys, tower structures, etc., reinforcing reinforcement, in the railroad building, the large-scale top system and soundproof wall in the future will have a very good application, these will also be the carbon fiber is very promising aspects of the application. With low density, high strength, good durability, corrosion resistance, acid, alkali and other chemical corrosion, good flexibility, strain capacity. Carbon fiber tubes made of truss beam frame roof, about 50% lighter than steel, so that large structures to achieve a practical level, and construction efficiency and seismic performance has been greatly improved. In addition, carbon fiber reinforcement of concrete structures, do not need to add bolts and rivets, less disturbance to the original concrete structure, the construction process is simple. \x0d\\\\x0d\\\Aerospace\x0d\ Carbon fiber is a strategic base material essential for cutting-edge weaponry such as rockets, satellites, missiles, fighter jets and ships. Carbon fiber composite materials used in strategic missile body and engine shell, can greatly reduce the weight, improve the range of missiles and surprise ability, such as the United States in the 80's the development of intercontinental missiles three-level shells are all using carbon fiber and epoxy resin composite materials. Carbon fiber composite materials in a new generation of fighter jets also began to get a lot of use, such as the United States fourth-generation fighter F22 using about 24% of the carbon fiber composite materials, so that the fighter has a supersonic cruise, beyond visual range combat, high mobility and stealth characteristics. The United States Boeing launched a new generation of high-speed wide-body airliner sonic cruiser, about 60% of the structural components will be made of reinforced carbon fiber plastic composite materials, including the wing. The performance of China's self-developed carbon fiber composite brake pre-fabricated parts has reached the international level. The use of this prefabricated parts technology prepared by the domestic carbon and carbon brake discs have been batch equipped with key models of military aircraft in the national defense, and in the B757-type civil aviation aircraft, the use of other types of aircraft is also in the experimental assessment, and will be to the tanks, high-speed trains, high-grade cars, racing cars, etc. to promote the use of. Carbon fiber is lighter than aluminum but has similar strength. Carbon fiber in the ship also has an important application value, can reduce the ship's structural weight, increase the ship's payload, so as to improve the ability to transport combat materials, carbon fiber does not exist corrosion rust problem. The use of carbon fiber materials can significantly reduce the weight of the structure, and thus can significantly improve fuel efficiency. The use of carbon fiber and plastics made of composite materials manufactured aircraft, as well as satellites, rockets and other space vehicles, low noise, and because of the small mass and low power consumption, can save a lot of fuel. It has been reported that for every 1kg reduction in the mass of a space vehicle, the launch vehicle can be lightened by 500kg. \x0d\ Carbon fiber is also the perfect material to make modern transportation such as large civil aircraft, automobiles and high-speed trains "lightweight". Demand for carbon fiber in aerospace applications is increasing, with the new generation of large civil airliners, the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787, using about 50% carbon fiber composites. The Boeing 777 aircraft utilizes carbon fiber for structural materials, including horizontal and vertical cross tails and beams known as critical structural materials, so the quality requirements are extremely demanding. The fuselage of the Boeing 787 is also made of carbon fiber, which allows the plane to fly faster and get lower fuel consumption, while increasing cabin humidity and making passengers more comfortable. Airbus also uses a lot of carbon fiber in their planes, and carbon fiber will be used in large quantities in the new airliner A380. This reduces the structural weight of the aircraft body by 20% and can save up to 20% of fuel compared to similar aircraft, resulting in significantly lower operating costs and reduced carbon dioxide emissions. \x0d\\\\\x0d\\ automotive materials\x0d\ Carbon fiber materials have also become a favored material by automobile manufacturers, \x0d\\\\x0d\ in the interior and exterior of automobiles began to be used in large quantities. Carbon fiber as an automotive material, the biggest advantage is the light weight and strength, the weight is only equivalent to 20% to 30% of steel, but the hardness is more than 10 times that of steel. Therefore, the use of carbon fiber materials in automobile manufacturing can make a breakthrough in the lightweighting of automobiles, and bring the social benefits of energy saving. The industry believes that the use of carbon fiber in automotive manufacturing will become larger. \x0d\ CAS R & D a carbon fiber car mainly in the shell: in the ordinary material of the car hood, hammer hard, paint cover is likely to have a dent, while the car shell is very strong, hard to hit the hood will rebound swiftly, the surface has not been damaged in the slightest. The researchers said that the use of carbon fiber composite materials to do the car, compared with the ordinary use of steel to make the car's biggest feature is light and fast. Carbon fiber car abandoned the traditional steel structure, a large number of carbon fiber materials made of ordinary steel than the weight of the car can be reduced by 60%. The car can drive 50 kilometers more per hour with the same fuel usage. \x0d\ Carbon fiber is light but has better safety, although carbon fiber's looks like plastic, but in fact this material is more impact resistant than steel, especially the steering wheel made of carbon fiber, mechanical strength and impact resistance is higher. In conjunction with composite materials, carbon fiber cars have become the armored cars of family cars. This carbon fiber material has been used in the skirts of high-speed trains. \x0d\\\\x0d\\fiber reinforcement\x0d\carbon fiber reinforcement includes two kinds of carbon fiber cloth reinforcement and carbon fiber board reinforcement. Carbon fiber materials for concrete structure reinforcement repair research began in the 80s in the United States, Japan and other developed countries. China's start of this technology is very late, but with the rapid development of China's economic construction and transportation, a considerable portion of the existing building due to the low design load standards at the time caused by the historical legacy of the problem, some buildings due to the change in the use of the function of the building, it is difficult to meet the current specification of the use of the needs of the urgent need for repair, reinforcement. There are many commonly used reinforcement methods, such as: increasing the cross-section method, external steel reinforcement method, sticky steel reinforcement method, carbon fiber reinforcement method. Carbon fiber reinforcement repair structure technology is another new type of structural reinforcement technology after increasing the cross-section of concrete, sticky steel. \x0d\ China from 1997 began to introduce carbon fiber composite materials from abroad to reinforce concrete structure technology research. It has become a hot spot for research and engineering application. Dozens of colleges and research institutes in China have carried out this research work and achieved a number of research results close to the international advanced level. As China has the world's most enormous civil engineering construction market, the application of carbon fiber reinforced building structures will show a growing trend. \x0d\\\\\x0d\\ Sporting Goods\x0d\ Carbon fiber is used in the field of sports and leisure, such as clubs, fishing rods, tennis rackets badminton rackets, bicycles, ski poles, skis, windsurfing masts, nautical hulls, and other sporting goods are one of the main users of carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is used in everyday products, like stereos, bath tubs, heaters and other household appliances, as well as cell phones, laptops and other electronic products can also be seen in carbon fiber. \x0d\ Three important applications in sports applications are bats and racket frames. It is estimated that 34 million pairs of bats are produced each year. 40% of the world's carbon fiber bats are made of carbon fiber. The worldwide production of carbon fiber fishing rods is about 20 million pairs per year. The market capacity of tennis racket frames is about 6 million pairs per year. Other sports applications include hockey sticks and ski poles. Carbon fiber is also used in other marine sports such as boating and rowing.