Carbon Fiber in Civil Engineering and Vehicle Production - Assignment Example

CARBON FIBER Question a) Advantages of carbon fibre of reinforced polymer over traditional metallicin vehicle applications Carbon fiber is very robust. This property makes it very good performers in civil engineering. The thin strands that make up carbon fiber enhance its tensile strength, a property essential in vehicle production. The strength to weight ration of this substance is 2547 kn.m/kg, an aspect that allows for less weight while maintaining good material strength for manufacture of vehicle bodies (Hagenbeek et al. 2003). Tensile strength can be indicated as a rate which a certain material can stretch before succumbing to the pressure. Spectra fiber 3619 Kevlar 2514 Carbon Fiber 2457 Glass Fiber 1307 Spider Silk 1069 Carbon Epoxy Composite 785 Balsa axial load 521 Steel alloy 254 Aluminum alloy 222 Polypropylene 89 Oak 87 Nylon 69 Table 1: comparison of tensile strength of various materials Rigidity in a product allows it to withstand pressure to great extents while subjected to stress. Carbon fiber is very rigid, and surpasses other similar products like glass reinforced plastic, pine and aluminum. The substance is also known to have high resistivity to corrosion, a factor that greatly enhances its chemical resistivity. The product can withstand very high temperatures. This property has made the product very essential in firefighting as it is used in the manufacture of some of the equipment. This makes the product do well in situations that require high temperatures. A good example is welding scenarios in a vehicle garage where it can withstand the high heat generated when nearby products are being pieced together. The low thermal expansion coefficient allows carbon fiber withstands possible contractions and expansions that are not desired in the manufacture of vehicle body parts. b) Discuss the effect of the high production rates required for many standard classes of vehicles On the use of the such composite materials with respect to their processing characteristics when such materials are supplied in the form of pre-preg that must be vacuum bagged and Autoclave moulded Carbon fiber prices are heavily affected by demand as well as fluctuations in energy prices. Considering the less production of carbon fiber as compared to such materials aluminum or steel, single projects requiring extensive use of carbon fiber, therefore, have resounding impacts on prices. A good case sample is the production of Airbus A380. This plane, as at the time of its production was the biggest and demanded a lot of carbon fiber. Due to its size, there was a lot of attention, a factor that led to a consequential increase in demand of the product (Vogelesang & Vlot 2001). This demand resulted in augmented production and a later decrease in the wholesale price. Such a move tends to attract more vehicle manufacturers to use it as the preference product, in body parts construction. Increased carbon production within many regions is mainly influenced by the various advantages that are presented by the material. The benefits that carbon fiber has over other materials of being strong and durable makes it more preferred than these other materials in many engineering products (Belingardi & Obradović 2012). Consideration of the strength of carbon fiber and the weight makes it a perfect material for utilization in the manufacturing of aircrafts and vehicles. This ensures that the vehicles are capable of meeting other desiring requirements once carbon fiber has been used as the material for their manufacture. The materials has the fundamental advantage of reducing the production costs while improving the performance o the vehicles; resulting in an increased utilization of the material within engineering projects. There have been constant improvements in carbon fiber production, a factor that has led to vested interests in use of the material for the manufacture of wind turbines. This is mainly due to its lightness, great strength, and stiffness. All these properties are requisite for the production of high-quality wind turbines. The lightness of the product enhances construction of light turbines that can utilize low wind speeds and produce a lot of power. Due to this usage, there is increased demand for carbon fiber production, which is the supply offered by the factories. As much as the demand might lead to the eventual increase in costs, the power produced by the turbines surpasses what would have been produced using most other conventional materials that are heavier and less durable. Carbon fiber is normally subjected to treatment to ensure it meets certain required specifications, and this means that the material is able to meet the aesthetics required for the final product. Increased utilization on the material in the manufacture of vehicles is enhanced through its capability to be recycled and re-used. Worn out vehicles commonly create a fundamental challenge of disposal once they reach their end life. The materials can be recycled and reinforced using carbon fiber and be used to manufacture new vehicles. The recyclability of carbon fiber has increased the utilization of this material in the production of cars. The recycled materials that are manufactured from carbon can be coated to bring a different appearance and be able to appeal to the customer through appearance. This becomes critical in creating vehicle with different colors since the colors can also be mixed with the material during the process of manufacturing. 2. Some niche vehicle manufacturers are currently moving away from carbon fibre components For their medium production volume vehicle structures because of long processing times needed for high integrity carbon fibre composite components” Discuss this in relation to this Society of Automotive Engineers article The emergence of other materials couples with the various disadvantages of carbon fiber utilization has made some vehicle manufacturers to shift away from the usage of carbon fiber as the primary material for their vehicles. Ferrari, which mostly employs automated production processes in within its plant, prefers aluminum over carbon alloys (Carney 2011). Carbon has been established as a metal that is difficult to mould in using automated production system. The density of the material requires continuous adjustment of the mechanical properties, and this can slow production when utilizing automated systems. Although carbon reinforced plastics present a perfect material, combining strength and weight, its application is limited in Ferrari since they manufacture up-market vehicles and can be able to use aluminum to create uniqueness in their vehicles. The slow process, when using carbon in the manufacturing process, renders the material inefficient for use in a mass production plant. The malleability characteristics of aluminum make it preferred in mass production processes. The consideration of the efficiency of production plant has resulted on many vehicle manufacturers shifting to the utilization of aluminum, like the case of aircrafts. The simplicity in forming some material like aluminum presents the other advantage that the manufacturers have considered in preferring other material over carbon. This makes the certain desired qualities of a vehicle to be integrated within the vehicles that have been made. The materials like aluminum can be reinforced to meet the desired strength while maintaining the operational costs and other factors for the production and manufacture of the vehicle. This will be fundamental in increasing the efficiency of the production plants in which the vehicles are manufactured. The fundamental disadvantages of carbon present the reasons why many organizations are shifting from the utilization of carbon despite its advantages. Despite the prices of carbon falling, they have still remained relatively high compared to the other materials. Due to the consideration of these costs, carbon fibers have been transformed significantly seeking to achieve the desired levels of specification and be able to equally compare with other materials (Evans 2014). Combination of carbon fiber with materials like titanium and Kevlar have been developed to meet the price requirements and enhance their usability in vehicle manufacturing. Colored fiber has been developed as a result that seeks to improve the designs that have been developed. References Belingardi, G. & Obradović, J., 2012. Recent development in car body lightweight design: A contribution toward greener environment. Mobility & Vehicle Mechanics, 38(4), pp.9–23. Carney, D., 2011. Ferrari prefers aluminum over carbon fiber. Automitive Engineering Magazine. Available at: http://articles.sae.org/10391/ [Accessed December 7, 2014]. Evans, J., 2014. Carbon Fibre 101. Available at: http://www.google.co.ke/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDEQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.glos-mfc.co.uk%2Finfo%2Fcarbon.doc&ei=y-iDVJm0N4KBU9v5gdAP&usg=AFQjCNFS66JQwb42gXOfie6hY0YeRCS6Ig&bvm=bv.80642063,d.d24 [Accessed December 7, 2014]. Hagenbeek, M., VanHengel, C., Bosker, O. J., Vermeeren, C. A. J. R. 2003. Static properties of fibre metal laminates. Applied Composite Materials, 10(4-5), pp.207–222. Vogelesang, L.B. & Vlot, A., 2001. Development of fibre metal laminates for advanced aerospace structures. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 103(1), pp.1–5.  Read More