Carbon Fiber Knowledge
The latest from the world of advanced composites and carbon fiber technology.
South Korea entered the carbon fiber race late and has since assembled one of the most complete domestic supply chains outside the traditional leaders. Hyosung Advanced Materials produces PAN-based carbon fiber under the Tansome brand; Kolon Industries supplies towpreg and aerospace-gra
Every large carbon fiber structure — a wing skin, a wind blade shear web, an automotive floor pan — starts with a decision about how to turn flat material into a three-dimensional shape. Automated fiber placement (AFP) extrudes slit tow directly onto a contoured tool, at the cost of mil
Qatar is a small country with an outsized industrial footprint. With the world's third-largest proven natural gas reserves and a per-capita GDP among the highest on earth, the state funnels hydrocarbon revenue into infrastructure, defense and prestige projects at a pace that keeps speci
In high-rate composite production — drone fuselages, automotive body panels, wind blade spar caps, aerospace skins — the cutting room is where material cost is won or lost. Prepreg and dry reinforcement fabric typically account for 40-60 percent of a composite part's cost, and the cutti
Adhesive bonding has become the preferred joining method for carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) structures because it eliminates fastener holes, spreads load over large areas, and avoids the fiber damage caused by drilling. But a bonded joint is only as strong as its weakest interfa
Conventional composite laminates are built from straight unidirectional plies at fixed angles — 0, 45, 90 and their negatives — and this fixed-angle architecture limits what a laminate can do. Loads arriving between the fiber directions are carried partly by the resin matrix, and geomet
For cylindrical pressure vessels, hydrogen storage tanks, and rocket motor cases, the material form of the carbon fiber is as important as the fiber itself. A 40-70 liter Type IV hydrogen tank carries 50-65 percent of its raw material cost in carbon fiber, so the choice between wet wind
The spar cap is the structural backbone of a wind turbine blade: a thick carbon or glass fiber laminate running along the blade length that carries most of the bending load. For blades above 80 meters, spar caps are typically manufactured from thermoset epoxy prepreg or infuse with carb
Every satellite is a thermal machine: payload electronics generate heat, and in the vacuum of space that heat can leave the spacecraft only by radiation. The radiator panel is the component that carries waste heat to a radiating surface and emits it to deep space, and it must do so whil