Group Members

Muhammad Nabeel

Muhammad Yasir Khalid

Aakash Ali
What is Carbon
Fiber?
 Carbon Fiber
Carbon fiber is defined as a fiber containing
at least 92 wt % carbon, while the fiber
containing at least 99 wt % carbon is
usually called a graphite fiber.
It is a material consisting of several fibers
and composed mostly of carbon atoms.
Each fiber is about 5 10 m thick in
diameter.
 Carbon Fiber
o The crystal alignment gives the fiber high
strength- to-volume ratio.
o Carbon fibers are usually combined with
other
materials to form acomposite.
o When combined with aplastic resin and
wound
or molded it formscarbon fiber reinforced
 Carbon Fiber
o Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic has a very
highstrength-to-weight ratio, and is
extremely rigid and brittle.
o Carbon Fibers are also composed with
other materials, such as with graphite to
form carbon-carbon composites, which
have a very high heat tolerance.
 History
o Carbon fibers were developed in the 1950s as
a reinforcement for high-temperature molded
plastic components on missiles.
o Firstly manufactured by Dr. Roger Bacon.
o The first fibers were manufactured by heating
strands of rayon until they carbonized.
 History
This process proved to be inefficient, as
the resulting fibers contained only about

20%carbon and had low strength and

stiffness properties.
 Carbon Fiber Vs
Steel
Carbon Fiber is actually 5 times
stronger than steel. It is also 2
times more stiff. This material has a
really very strength-to-weight ratio,
which makes it great for almost
anything that requires high
strength and low weight.
 Manufacturing Challenges
The manufacturing of carbon fibers carries
a number of challenges, including:
The need for more cost effective
recovery and repair.
Close control required to ensure
consistent quality.
Health and safety issues
Skin irritation
Breathing irritation.
 Manufacturing of Carbon
Fibers
Carbon fiber is currently produced in relatively limited
quantities mostly via two manufacturing processes:
Based on pitch (coal tar and petroleum products)
Based on Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)
o Current global capacity for pitch-based carbon fiber is
estimated at about 3,500 metric tons per year.
Global use for PAN-based carbon fiber is increasing
rapidly, and total production capacity currently does
not meet the demand.
PAN-based carbon fiber is more expensive to produce,
hence, limiting its use to high end applications, (used
primarily by aerospace and sporting equipment
industries).
 Manufacturing
Process
In the manufacturing process, the raw
material, which is called precursor, is drawn
into long strands or fibers. The fibers are
woven into fabric or combined with other
materials that are molded into desired
shapes and sizes.
There are typically five segments in the
manufacturing of carbon fibers from the
PAN process. These are:
1)Spinning:
PAN mixed with other ingredients and spun
into fibers, which are washed and
stretched.
Stabilizing:
Chemical alteration to stabilize bonding.
Carbonizing:
Stabilized fibers heated to very high
temperature forming tightly bonded
carbon
crystals.
Treating the Surface:
Surface of fibers oxidized to improve
bonding
properties.
Sizing:
Fibers are coated and wound onto
bobbins, which are loaded onto
spinning machines that twist the
fibers into different size yarns.
Instead of being woven into fabrics,
fibers may be formed into
composites. To form composite
materials, heat, pressure, or a
vacuum binds fibers together with a
plastic polymer.
 Structure
The atomic structure of carbon fiber is
similar to that ofgraphite, consisting of
sheets of carbonatomsarranged in a
regularhexagonal pattern.
Graphite is acrystallinematerial in which
the sheets are stacked parallel to one
another in regular fashion.
o A 6 m diameter carbon filament
compared to a human hair.
 Properties
High tensile strength.
Low thermal expansion.
Electrically and thermally
conductive.
Light weight and low density.
High abrasion and wear resistance.
 Advantages
It has the greatest compressive strength of all
reinforcing materials.
Long service life.
Low coefficient of thermal expansion.
Its density is much lower than the density of steel.
Exhibit properties better than any other metal.
Insensitive to temperature changes
 Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of carbon fiber is

its cost.
This fiber will cause some forms of cancer
of the lungs.
 Applications

Aerospace and Aircraft Industry.

Sports equipments.
Automotive parts.
Acoustics.
Civil Engineering.
 Applications

Portable power.
Rechargeable batteries and fuel
cell electrodes.
Fiber reinforced plastics, FRP.
Energy production; windmill blades.
Building and construction
materials.
 Applications

Air Craft Car Parts

 Applications

Musical Instruments Mobile Case

 Applications

Wind Turbine Blades Helmets

Fabric made of woven carbon filaments.
 Carbon Fibers
Future
The future efforts on carbon fiber
research will be focused on cost
reduction and property improvement.
The mechanical property of carbon
fiber heavily relies on its
microstructure.
The improvement on the tensile,
flexural, and shear strength of pitch
carbon fibers has been observed by
randomizing the graphite distribution
in the fiber transverse direction.
 Carbon Fibers Future
Alternate Energy:

Wind turbines, compressed natural gas

storage and transportation fuel cells.
Fuel Efficient Automobiles:

Moving towards large production series

cars.
 Carbon Fibers Future
Construction Infrastructure:

Light weight pre-cast concrete,

earthquake protection.
Oil Exploration:

Deep sea drilling platforms, choke

and drill pipes.
 Conclusion
It revolutionized the field of light
weight materials.
The new substitute for metals.
In short it is the future
manufacturing material.
ThAnK Y0U