Many friends like to add some carbon fiber embellishments when choosing appearance kits when modifying motorcycles, but do you know the difference between the two types of carbon fiber currently on the market?
1. Learn about carbon fiber materials
First, let’s first understand some of the characteristics of carbon fiber materials. Carbon fiber materials are special fibers with a carbon content of more than 95% (made of acrylic and viscose fibers as raw materials and oxidized and carbonized at high temperatures). They have high strength. A new type of fiber material with low density, lightweight, high temperature resistance, friction resistance and conductivity. It is lighter than metal aluminum, but is stronger than steel and has corrosion resistance and high strength. Therefore, it is currently widely used in the production of aviation, military industry, ships, sports, water sports, medical care, automobile interior/exterior decoration, etc.
2. Production methods and characteristics of wet carbon fiber
The first is the hand lay-up method. After cutting the carbon fiber cloth that has not been soaked in epoxy resin in advance into the desired shape, first apply a release agent on the abrasive tool, and then apply a layer of epoxy to each layer of carbon fiber cloth. The resin acts as a binder until complete.
The second is the vacuum method. The production method is not much different from the hand lay-up method, but epoxy resin does not need to be applied layer by layer in large quantities. Because during the production process, the conduits and diversion nets are laid first. The function of the conduits is to fully introduce the resin, and the diversion nets are to guide the resin so that the resin can flow and distribute more evenly on the carbon fiber cloth. After vacuuming, excess resin will be sucked away to avoid glue overflow.
The shortcomings of hand lay-up and vacuum are also obvious, that is, the product has serious glue overflow, is easy to deform, is not strong enough, is not flat enough, is easy to yellow, is easy to deform, is not durable, is not resistant to low temperatures, is not three-dimensional in texture, and has low surface smoothness. , the accuracy is not high.
3. Production methods and characteristics of dry carbon fiber
Dry carbon fiber uses prepreg cloth, which is coated with epoxy resin. The prepreg fabric is cut and laid on a steel mold, and then the whole piece is put into an autoclave for molding. For some parts that require higher precision, lay prepreg cloth on the epoxy resin model or steel model, then cover it with a vacuum bag and send it to the autoclave. The reason why it needs to be sent to the autoclave is because dry carbon fiber parts must be cured and formed under specific temperatures and pressures, so an autoclave is needed.
4. Contrast
Due to the essential difference in the production process, dry carbon is integrally formed using prepreg cloth under high temperature and high pressure, which can achieve sufficient light weight and high strength, while wet carbon is fixed and formed using adhesives and requires more brushing. Resin, its weight is generally heavier and its strength is second. The production of wet carbon fiber is much easier than dry carbon fiber, and the cost is also very different. Generally speaking, wet carbon is cheaper than dry carbon.
5. Compare wet carbon and dry carbon products
Some dry carbon fiber motorcycle parts.
