Thanks Chris! I will definitely be using this when I start making production tooling. I've been debating if I will use carbon, and if this is 50% the cost of woven, then yes, it feels like a win.
I need to test more, but it seems like lots of things look encouraging for CTE matched tooling. There would be less actual carbon by volume but that may not matter. The cost savings is really in the thickness building and cost relative to resin. You wouldn’t usually stack 6mm of 200g in a tooling application because it would take forever. Not having to fuss so hard about ply tailoring and fiber orientation is a plus too.
The fibers are really long and might be too hairy and clumpy to cut a decent fillet of a normal size. You can buy shorter chopped/milled carbon - 1mm or so - that might make decent fillets if mixed with silica or some other filler.
... So any comments on bulk CTE after nearly a year? I'd imagine most of the strength & rigidity comes from the woven outer plies, and 18% fiber volume means 82% resin in the core - could have a substantial CTE impact unless that's the uncompressed figure?
You're right, there's a lot of resin and the carbon mat does act a lot like a core. Even at 18% FVF, the carbon probably keeps the CTE low but it is hard to know how much the uniform face plies are doing the work. I'd shoot for about 1/3-1/2 the thickness in structural face plies and use the recycled mat as a core to increase thickness and stiffness of the tool shell. It can be a challenge to wet through though, so testing is important and slow filling helps. Resin is still cheaper than carbon but not by as much!
It's half in price until people figure out it's great material for that price. When this happens manufacturer will increase the price making it 90% of woven material and it will be forgotten like everything else.
It is about half the price of a 200g woven - but it isn’t a substitute or a structural equivalent. They will be useful for very different things. Hopefully there will be growth in recycling of carbon materials and products like this will be more common and available from a range of suppliers.
In the late 70's Nomex was new and cheap so small companies like Stiletto catamarans could make a profit using it on their lightweight boats but then military Aerospace industry started using it for fighter jets and the price of kevlar went thru the roof, forcing Stilleto to use cheaper fiberglass which made their boats slow and heavy.
Your channel fuels my passion for composites, thank you!
It's channels like yours Chris, that make UA-cam brilliant. Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Thank you!
Thanks Chris! I will definitely be using this when I start making production tooling. I've been debating if I will use carbon, and if this is 50% the cost of woven, then yes, it feels like a win.
I need to test more, but it seems like lots of things look encouraging for CTE matched tooling. There would be less actual carbon by volume but that may not matter. The cost savings is really in the thickness building and cost relative to resin. You wouldn’t usually stack 6mm of 200g in a tooling application because it would take forever. Not having to fuss so hard about ply tailoring and fiber orientation is a plus too.
I feel like this would be great for filleting instead of cotton flock.
The fibers are really long and might be too hairy and clumpy to cut a decent fillet of a normal size. You can buy shorter chopped/milled carbon - 1mm or so - that might make decent fillets if mixed with silica or some other filler.
... So any comments on bulk CTE after nearly a year? I'd imagine most of the strength & rigidity comes from the woven outer plies, and 18% fiber volume means 82% resin in the core - could have a substantial CTE impact unless that's the uncompressed figure?
You're right, there's a lot of resin and the carbon mat does act a lot like a core. Even at 18% FVF, the carbon probably keeps the CTE low but it is hard to know how much the uniform face plies are doing the work. I'd shoot for about 1/3-1/2 the thickness in structural face plies and use the recycled mat as a core to increase thickness and stiffness of the tool shell. It can be a challenge to wet through though, so testing is important and slow filling helps. Resin is still cheaper than carbon but not by as much!
It's half in price until people figure out it's great material for that price. When this happens manufacturer will increase the price making it 90% of woven material and it will be forgotten like everything else.
It is about half the price of a 200g woven - but it isn’t a substitute or a structural equivalent. They will be useful for very different things. Hopefully there will be growth in recycling of carbon materials and products like this will be more common and available from a range of suppliers.
In the late 70's Nomex was new and cheap so small companies like Stiletto catamarans could make a profit using it on their lightweight boats but then military Aerospace industry started using it for fighter jets and the price of kevlar went thru the roof, forcing Stilleto to use cheaper fiberglass which made their boats slow and heavy.
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