People who look at carbon fibre for more than aesthetic reasons will, sooner or later, come across concerns that carbon fiber is an unsafe material. This is because of stories that you will hear and read about concerning the catastrophic failure of carbon fibre components. What this means is that carbon fibre parts have been known to suddenly break without warning, rendering the part useless and possibly causing serious injury.

Unlike steel or aluminum which will show cracks, bends or other forms of stress, carbon fibre will break with very little warning. These failures are quite common in bicycle components made from the high-tech composite. Unfortunately, carbon fibre parts are also one of the most expensive parts, so the failure of these parts has left consumers wary. Another less publicized area of catastrophic failures of CFRP parts is in aircraft propellers. Various reasons have been found for these failures, from improper engineering to inconsistent manufacturing techniques.

Properly done, however, carbon fibre is a wondrous material, combining light weight with strength. This composite material is approximately five times stronger than steel while offering weight savings of up to 60 percent. However, while CFRP is strong in tension, it does not tolerate shock or compression forces very well. This where poorly designed, engineered and manufactured composite components come in, and this is what has given carbon fibre components a bad name.

Much has been learned about carbon fibre manufacturing over the years though, so much so that composite technology is part of our modern everyday lives. From letter openers to Boeing’s 787 Dream liner, carbon fibre has become the material of choice, both for form and function. Although the merits of composites in cell phone casings and bathtubs is doubtful, carbon fibre has been embraced in a big way by the automotive industry. Initially, this material was used to replace panels only, such as hoods or trunk lids. But in the 1980s, the safety advantage of reinforced composites was amply demonstrated when McLaren used a carbon fiber tub as the foundation to build a Formula One race car. Engineers from competing teams scoffed at the use of this material, but when one of McLaren’s cars crashed heavily without injury to the driver, other teams took notice and pretty soon, composite tubs were the norm.

Nowadays, the world’s top manufacturers are designing and using composites for the strength and lightness that these materials provide. Lighter yet stronger, composites give benefits in fuel efficiency, performance and safety. It should be no surprise then that companies like BMW and Volkswagen have bought into carbon fibre manufacturing companies, first as an investment and secondly as a way to ensure that their supply of this material is unhampered.

To add a comment please login by clicking here