Carbon fiber is a new type of material, showing excellent high performance, known as the "king of new materials" and "black gold". Nowadays, it is found in many fields, ranging from wallets and fishing rods to high-speed rail, airplanes and satellites. Since the 1980 s, China has vigorously carried out the research and development of carbon fiber technology, and has achieved remarkable results in recent years, completing the production of large tow high-performance carbon fiber, making China successfully become a country with aerospace-grade carbon fiber technology. And in the domestic aerospace and other high-performance industries in the successful completion of the production of carbon fiber products. This article will take you a deeper understanding of the magic of carbon fiber materials.

The magic of carbon fiber

The first is as thin as hair, as thin as hair is actually not enough expression, carbon fiber diameter is only 5-8 microns, about one-tenth of the hair, which brings more possibilities to the carbon fiber, can be multi-tow integration, bring higher performance advantages.

The second is as light as a feather, carbon fiber silk density is very low, only 1.6g/cm3, is the 1/5 of steel, titanium 2/5, aluminum 3/5. This can play a very good effect in lightweight applications. In practical applications, such as a carbon fiber bicycle, weighing only 5kg, a woman can easily lift it. Stretchers and luggage products including carbon fiber applications can also become easier. For airplanes and automobiles, it is carbon environmental protection and energy consumption is reduced a lot. At the same time, it can reduce the performance while reducing its own weight. Very good improvement.

The third is as strong as steel. In the application of carbon fiber materials, more is to ban traditional steel products. The strength of carbon fiber materials is very high, and the axial strength can reach eight times that of steel. Higher modulus carbon fiber tow, a bundle of 12K carbon fiber can easily bear a weight of 130kg.

The fourth is stable as a rock, carbon fiber has good corrosion resistance. Carbon fiber can withstand a variety of acid, alkali, oil and other corrosive media, even in the marine environment can also show good corrosion resistance, more than gold and platinum. This makes carbon fiber have the potential to be widely used in aerospace, marine engineering and other fields, and can extend the service life of the product. Its expansion coefficient is close to 0, and its size remains essentially unchanged between minus 100 degrees Celsius and plus 100 degrees Celsius. It has very good fatigue resistance.

The fifth is temperature-resistant like rock. The carbon fiber itself is refined at several thousand degrees Celsius. The inorganic fiber with a carbon content of more than 90% keeps it stable in high temperature environment and can withstand temperatures of up to 3000 degrees Celsius without damage. This makes carbon fiber play an important role in aerospace, energy and other fields, and can cope with the work requirements under extreme conditions. (The production of a product depends on the high temperature resistance of its substrate.)

High performance applications of carbon fiber

As we all know, carbon fiber is the basis for the development of strategic emerging industries such as new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, high-end equipment manufacturing, and new energy vehicles. It is also a new structural material for major infrastructure construction, and it is also the development and upgrading of large aircraft, satellites, ships and other equipment. An important foundation.

Before 2017, China's carbon fiber was mainly imported, and since 2017, the expansion of domestic carbon fiber production capacity has accelerated. In 2019, China's carbon fiber production exceeded 10,000 tons for the first time, and then began to soar all the way. In 2021, China's carbon fiber production capacity surpassed that of the United States for the first time and became the world's largest carbon fiber producer. In 2022, China's carbon fiber localization rate exceeded half for the first time. At present, China's carbon fiber market has accounted for 55.1 of the global share, has a pivotal position. In just a few years, China's carbon fiber industry has achieved 60 years of development abroad.

First, the field of high-performance demand. The aerospace field is an important application field of carbon fiber composite materials. China has become the third country in the world to have its own satellite navigation system. In this regard, carbon fiber is indispensable. Beidou satellite looks like a house with two wings. Its house and wings are made of carbon fiber composite material.

First of all, the satellite must be equipped with enough instruments and equipment, and its structural weight ratio is required to be less than 5%, so carbon fiber must be used; secondly, satellite antennas, cameras and other equipment require high precision. To solve the problem of thermal deformation, carbon fiber Just have this advantage, so now high-performance satellites including Beidou satellites are all carbon fiber composite satellites.

Second, in the field of daily life, such as sports competition, carbon fiber has been widely used in sports equipment. Carbon-fiber tennis rackets are now a must-have for champions. Tennis rackets made of carbon fiber have a maximum ball speed of nearly 250 kilometers per hour, but high-performance aluminum alloy tennis rackets can only reach about 200 kilometers per hour, and the speed is increased by more than 20%. Federer, a recently retired tennis player, won the 20th Grand Slam championship with a carbon fiber tennis racket like Pro staff.

Third, after the application of high-performance industrial revolution, carbon fiber will be an important material support for the fourth industrial revolution. In the coming era of interstellar navigation, clean energy and artificial intelligence, carbon fiber will also make a big move. Human beings want to enter space, explore the moon, carry out manned landing on the moon, explore Mars, and possibly carry out manned Mars exploration, and explore other planets and asteroids. Whether entering the space to stay in the space, and then to explore the space, including the future establishment of space research station, carbon fiber is indispensable.

Including the future era of the Internet of Things, intelligent robots will be applied in more fields. In actual applications, these intelligent robots require higher structural weight, and lighter weight can better Complete the endurance and be able to respond quickly. As well as the development of thermoplastic carbon fiber in full swing, carbon fiber composites with higher performance will play a very important role in more and more fields.