Carbon fiber composites are currently used in many different applications due to its superior properties in comparison to other materials, such as aluminium alloys, titanium alloys and steels. It is mainly the stiffness and strength to weight ratio, but also EMC properties, corrosion resistance, moulding advantages amongst others. This article reviews composite material properties and how their adoption can improve your products.

What is a composite material?

The advantage of a composite material is that the properties of the composite material are better than those of its constituents. This is true if the material is well designed and manufactured. Bold Valuable Technology has experience in both to offer our customers the advantages of composite materials.

Classification of composite materials

There are four common categories for composite materials. Carbon fiber can be found amongst them:

• Fibrous composite materials that combine fibers with a matrix: an example of these type of fibrous composite materials would be city buses bodywork. For this type of application, the fibers of choice are fiberglass in a matt form with a polyester resin.

• Laminated composite materials: layers of continuous fibrous materials in a stack. For example, carbon fibers with an epoxy matrix. A Formula 1 chassis is made of carbon fiber / epoxy material. Within carbon fibers there are a number of different fibers and matrixes which offer a huge variety of properties for the final composite material.

• Particulate composite materials in a matrix: this type would be similar to fibrous composite materials, except the reinforcement material (i.e. carbon fiber) is no longer a fiber but a particle. An example of these kind of materials are metal matrix composites (MMC) which are used in high performance applications such as aerospace and motorsport. The reinforcement materials are currently SiC, TiB2, Al2O3, B4C, used within different aluminium alloys.

• Combinations of some or all of the above.

What is carbon fiber?

Carbon fibers are widely used for structural applications mainly due to its high specific strength and stiffness to weight ratio. Typically carbon fibers can be classified into three groups: High modulus, High strength and Intermediate modulus.

Carbon fibers are made from an organic precursor produced from a polymer that undergoes a process of carbonization. Most of the carbon fibers used for automotive and aerospace applications are PAN fibers. Another type of carbon fiber is Pitch, but it is used in smaller quantities.

Properties of carbon fiber

Some properties that relate to composite materials, in particular the ones using carbon fiber as one of its constituents, are shown below:

• Strength
• Stiffness
• Corrosion resistance
• EM Transparency
• Attractiveness
• Low density
• Fatigue life
• Thermal conductivity

Benefits of carbon fiber

When describing the properties of carbon fiber one must make a comparison with other materials available for manufacturing components to be able to comprehend the actual benefits. Obvious choices for manufacturing components are metals, of which competitors to carbon fibers are aluminium alloys, titanium alloys and steels. For structural applications, the relationship between stiffness and strength to weight is the most critical factor for the designer.

Cost is an important factor too, however for vehicle applications the performance of the material usually outdoes the cost factor in the lifespan of the vehicle. All three mentioned metals have a specific stiffness ratio around 25 (GPa / g/cm3). Carbon fibre composites range from 66 to 150 (GPa / g/cm3), depending on orientation and type of reinforcement. This is around a factor of 3 to 6 times better.

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