Important guidelines to use Carbon Fiber for CFRP profiles

CFRP is the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic that has high structural strength, stability and robustness. Manufacturers of CFRP profiles use two designs of Carbon Fiber- Unidirectional and Bidirectional. In Unidirectional design, all fibers are parallel, whereas in Bidirectional design, fibers cross at a right angle. One can custom the composite’s properties with fiber length, fiber orientation, type of designs and resin system to enhance the material’s strength to withstand mechanical loads.

Generally, every CFRP profile and component has about 30% of carbon and is made of two types of resin system-

  • Epoxy- it produces stiff, sturdy structure of CFRP profiles.
  • Acrylic- It manufactures colorless, transparent CFRP structure.

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Few guidelines by manufacturers of CFRP profiles for using Carbon fiber are as follows:

Handle the delicacy-

Carbon fiber may be popular for its lightweight strength, but it is surprisingly fragile in nature. You need to handle its delicacy with care; any fold or scratch with a sharp tool can harm the filaments and can result in weak areas in the composed product. Carbon fibers have tendency to stretch, therefore, you need to be cautious while using them for making CFRP profiles.

Determine the low flexible areas-

CFRP profiles possess limited flexibility. If the CFRP product has low flexible areas, then you should identify these areas to prevent premature failure of the profiles.

Determine the areas that need torsional resistance-

The torsional strength claims carbon fiber as the ideal choice for a prosthetic socket. You need to select the stockinette width that is bidirectionally weaved at 45 degrees as any other angle will reduce the torsional resistance. An extra sheath of bidirectional cloth can add more torsional resistance near the thigh cuffs, brim and calf cuffs.

Considering the resin for manufacturing quality CFRP profiles-

CFRP is durable, light and has unique retention property even when used in thin walls. These are duroplastics that are manufactured by using cross-linking chemical process in which resin and hardener are core elements.